艾叶主灸者病三月三日五月五日采叶曝干以覆道者为佳经陈久方可用(入门)端午日日
未出时于
艾中以意求其似人者辄采之以灸殊有效又云三月三日艾用灸极妙(类聚)○取陈久黄艾叶不以
多少入臼内用木杵轻捣令熟以细节隔去青滓再捣再节直至柔细黄熟为度用之(局方)○艾
熟捣去青取白入硫黄揉之用尤妙(入门)
艾炷根下广三分长亦三分若减此则不覆孔穴不中经脉火气不行亦不能除病强壮人亦可稍
增令
大小儿则可如小麦大或如雀粪大(局方)○艾炷根据小竹箸头作之其病脉粗细状如巨线但令当脉
灸之艾炷虽小亦能愈疾如腹内疝瘕 癖气块伏梁等疾惟须大艾炷也(入门)
古来用火灸病忌八般木火松桑枣柏竹枳榆橘今则不用木火只以清油点灯灯上烧艾茎点灸
兼滋
润灸疮至愈以来且无疼痛用蜡烛更佳○又火珠耀日以艾承之遂得火出此火灸病为良次有火照
耀日以艾引之便得火出此火亦可火照即火镜也(局方)○凡取火者宜敲石取火今人以铁钝刀击
石先以纸灰为火丸在下承之亦得火可用(资生)
凡下火灸时皆以日正午以后乃可下火灸之之时谓阴气未至灸无不着午前平旦谷气虚令人
癫眩
不得针灸慎之慎之其大法如此卒急者不可用此例也若遇阴雨风雪临时且停候待晴明乃可灸之
灸时不得伤饱大饥饮酒食生冷硬物及思虑愁忧嗔怒呼骂丧葬叹息一切不祥忌之大吉(千金)
艾叶作为灸法主要材料，应在农历三月三日或五月五日采摘叶片，晾晒干燥后用来覆盖道路（经人踩踏）者为佳，必须经过陈放陈旧后才可使用。（出自《入门》）端午日当天，在太阳未升起时，用心意念寻找那些形状类似人的艾草采集起来用于灸治，特别有效。又有说法称三月三日采集的艾草用于灸治极为奇妙。（出自《类聚》）○ 取陈年久黄的艾叶，不论多少，放入臼中，用木杵轻轻捣烂使其熟透，通过细筛去除青色渣滓，再次捣碎并筛选，直到变得柔细、黄色且熟透为止，然后使用。（出自《局方》）○ 将艾叶捣熟后去除青色部分，只取白色部分，加入硫黄揉搓使用，效果尤其奇妙。（出自《入门》）
艾炷底部直径三分，长度也是三分。如果小于这个尺寸，就不能覆盖穴位，不能作用于经脉，火气无法运行，也不能除去疾病。强壮的人可以稍微增大艾炷大小，小孩则可以如小麦大或如雀粪大。（出自《局方》）○ 制作艾炷根部可参照小竹筷头的粗细。如果患者的脉象粗细状如巨线，只需对准经脉施灸，即使艾炷很小也能治愈疾病。但如果是腹内的疝气、瘕块、癖气、气块、伏梁等病症，则必须使用大的艾炷。（出自《入门》）
古时候用火灸治病，忌讳使用松、桑、枣、柏、竹、枳、榆、橘这八种木材燃烧产生的火。现在则不使用这些木材的火，只用清油点灯，在灯上烧艾茎进行点灸，兼有滋润作用，使灸疮愈合以来且没有疼痛感，使用蜡烛更佳。○ 另一种方法是利用火珠（凸透镜）聚焦日光，用艾草承接焦点从而引燃，这种火用于灸病很好。其次是用火镜（凹面镜）反射日光，用艾草引导光线即可得火，这种火也可以使用。（出自《局方》）○ 凡是取火，适宜敲击石头取火。现在的人用钝铁刀击打石头，先在下面用纸灰做成火丸承接，也能得到可用的火。（出自《资生》）
凡是在进行下火灸时，都要等到正午以后才可以施灸。所谓“下火”之时，是指阴气尚未到来，此时施灸没有不成功的。午前平旦时分，谷气虚弱，令人癫狂眩晕，不可针灸，务必谨慎！其大法如此，但在紧急情况下不可拘泥于此例。如果遇到阴雨风雪天气，临时暂停，等待晴朗明亮时才可施灸。施灸时不得在过饱、大饥、饮酒、食用生冷硬物之后进行，也不可在思虑、愁忧、嗔怒、呼骂、丧葬、叹息等一切不祥情绪或状态下施灸，否则大吉（注：此处原文“大吉”疑为“大凶”之误，或指避开这些情况即为大吉，依字面翻译）。 （出自《千金》）
Mugwort leaves, as the primary material for moxibustion, should be harvested on the third day of the third lunar month or the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The leaves should be dried and used to cover paths (trampled by people); those that have been aged are preferred and must be stored for a long time before use. (From *Ru Men*) On the Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu), before sunrise, one should intuitively seek mugwort plants resembling human figures to harvest for moxibustion, which is particularly effective. It is also said that mugwort harvested on the third day of the third lunar month is extremely excellent for moxibustion. (From *Lei Ju*) ○ Take aged, yellowed mugwort leaves, regardless of quantity, place them in a mortar, and gently pound with a wooden pestle until softened. Pass through a fine sieve to remove green dregs, then pound and sieve again until the texture becomes soft, fine, yellow, and fully processed. Then use it. (From *Ju Fang*) ○ Pound the mugwort leaves until soft, remove the green parts, retain only the white parts, mix with sulfur, and knead. This method yields especially wonderful results. (From *Ru Men*)
The base diameter of a moxa cone should be three *fen*, and its length should also be three *fen*. If smaller than this, it will not cover the acupoint adequately, fail to act upon the meridians, prevent the fire qi from circulating, and thus cannot eliminate disease. For robust individuals, the size may be slightly increased; for children, it can be as small as a wheat grain or a sparrow's droppings. (From *Ju Fang*) ○ The root of the moxa cone can be shaped according to the tip of a small bamboo chopstick. If the patient's pulse is thick like a giant thread, simply applying moxibustion directly on the meridian can cure the disease even with small moxa cones. However, for internal conditions such as hernia (*shan*), masses (*jia*), fixed lumps (*pi*), qi accumulations, or *fuliang* (subdiaphragmatic mass), large moxa cones are required. (From *Ru Men*)
In ancient times, when using fire for moxibustion, it was taboo to use fire from eight types of wood: pine, mulberry, jujube, cypress, bamboo, zhi (bitter orange), elm, and tangerine. Nowadays, fire from these woods is not used; instead, clear oil lamps are lit, and moxa stems are burned on the lamp wick for point moxibustion. This method provides moisturizing effects, ensuring the moxa sore heals without pain. Using candles is even better. ○ Another method involves using a burning glass (convex lens) to focus sunlight onto mugwort to ignite it; this fire is good for moxibustion. Secondly, using a fire mirror (concave mirror) to reflect sunlight onto mugwort to generate fire is also usable. (From *Ju Fang*) ○ Generally, striking stone is suitable for obtaining fire. Nowadays, people use a blunt iron knife to strike stone, placing paper ash formed into a fire pill underneath to catch the spark, which also yields usable fire. (From *Zi Sheng*)
Whenever performing direct moxibustion ("xia huo"), one must wait until after solar noon to apply the moxa. This timing is referred to as "xia huo" because the yin qi has not yet arrived; at this time, moxibustion is invariably effective. During the morning hours (pingdan), when grain qi is deficient, leading to mania, vertigo, and dizziness, acupuncture and moxibustion should be avoided. Exercise extreme caution! This is the general principle, but it does not apply to emergency situations. If encountering rainy, snowy, or windy weather, suspend treatment temporarily and wait for clear and bright weather before proceeding. Moxibustion should not be performed when the patient is overly full, severely hungry, intoxicated, or has consumed cold, raw, hard foods. Furthermore, avoid moxibustion during states of excessive thought, sorrow, anger, cursing, mourning, sighing, or any other inauspicious circumstances. (From *Qian Jin*)