风寒在表，舌多无苔，即有白苔，亦薄而滑；渐传入里，方由白而黄，由黄而燥，由燥而黑。
瘟疫一见头痛、发热，舌上即有白苔，且浓而不滑；或色兼淡黄；或粗如积粉。若传经入胃，则兼二、三色，
又有白苔即燥与至黑不燥者。大抵疫邪入胃，舌苔颇类风寒，以兼湿之故而不作燥耳。惟在表时，舌苔白浓，
异于伤寒。能辨于在表时，不用辛温发散，入里时，而用清凉攻下，斯得矣。
风寒在表，舌多无苔，即有白苔，亦薄而滑；渐传入里，方由白而黄，由黄而燥，由燥而黑。
瘟疫一见头痛、发热，舌上即有白苔，且浓而不滑；或色兼淡黄；或粗如积粉。若传经入胃，则兼二、三色，
又有白苔即燥与至黑不燥者。大抵疫邪入胃，舌苔颇类风寒，以兼湿之故而不作燥耳。惟在表时，舌苔白浓，
异于伤寒。能辨于在表时，不用辛温发散，入里时，而用清凉攻下，斯得矣。
风寒在表，舌多无苔，即有白苔，亦薄而滑；渐传入里，方由白而黄，由黄而燥，由燥而黑。
瘟疫一见头痛、发热，舌上即有白苔，且浓而不滑；或色兼淡黄；或粗如积粉。若传经入胃，则兼二、三色，
又有白苔即燥与至黑不燥者。大抵疫邪入胃，舌苔颇类风寒，以兼湿之故而不作燥耳。惟在表时，舌苔白浓，
异于伤寒。能辨于在表时，不用辛温发散，入里时，而用清凉攻下，斯得矣。
风寒邪气侵袭体表时，舌象大多没有苔垢；即使出现白苔，也是薄而滑润的。随着病邪逐渐由表入里传变，舌苔才会由白色转为黄色，由黄色变得干燥，再由干燥转为黑色。
瘟疫病在刚出现头痛、发热症状时，舌上立即就有白苔，而且苔质厚腻而不滑润；或者颜色夹杂淡黄；或者苔质粗糙如同堆积的粉末。如果病邪传入经络并深入胃腑，则舌苔会兼见两种或三种颜色。此外，还有白苔直接表现为干燥，以及黑苔却不干燥的情况。大抵疫邪侵入胃腑时，舌苔的表现颇像风寒病，只是因为兼夹湿邪的缘故，所以不表现为干燥。只有在疾病处于表证阶段时，舌苔白而厚腻，这与伤寒病不同。能够在表证阶段准确辨别（是瘟疫而非风寒），在表证时不使用辛温发散的方法，而在病邪入里时，使用清凉攻下的治法，这样就对了。
When Wind-Cold pathogen is in the Exterior, the tongue usually has no coating; even if a white coating appears, it is thin and slippery. As the pathogen gradually transmits inward, the coating changes from white to yellow, from yellow to dry, and from dry to black.
In Plague (Yi Wen), as soon as headache and fever appear, there is immediately a white coating on the tongue, which is thick and not slippery; or the color mixes with pale yellow; or the texture is coarse like accumulated powder. If the pathogen transmits through the meridians into the Stomach, the coating will present two or three colors simultaneously. There are also cases where the white coating is dry from the start, or the black coating is not dry. Generally, when epidemic pathogens enter the Stomach, the tongue coating resembles that of Wind-Cold, but due to the presence of Dampness, it does not become dry. Only during the Exterior stage, the white coating is thick, which differs from Cold Damage (Shang Han). Being able to distinguish this at the Exterior stage, avoiding acrid-warm dispersing methods, and employing cooling purgation methods when the pathogen enters the Interior, achieves the correct treatment.