典藏书目

If the complexion is yellow or clean, or both yellow and clean are present simultaneously, and the pulse is inconsistent in floating and sunken levels, slow and delayed, the injury is in the Taiyin (Greater Yin) channel, which is the Spleen channel.

Renshen (Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma, one tael; double the dose if abdominal pain is present) Gancao (Prepared Licorice Root) Baizhu (Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma) Ganjiang (Dried Ginger, each one tael).
Grind the above herbs into a fine powder, mix with refined honey to form pills the size of a chicken egg yolk. Dissolve the pill in several he (a traditional unit of liquid measure) of decoction, grind until broken down, and take warm. Administer three times during the day and twice at night. If warmth is not felt in the abdomen, increase to three or four pills. Take with hot congee broth. Cover slightly for warmth, do not remove clothing. Pill preparations act slower than decoctions.
Haicang stated: For constipation, pills are suitable; for loose stools, decoctions are suitable. Zhang Zhongjing stated: In cases of "no Yang and strong Yin" where the stool is hard, purgatives should not be used; using them will result in undigested food in the stool and abdominal fullness.
The pulses mentioned in the above three channels as inconsistent in floating and sunken levels indicate that these conditions resemble a state of solitary Yang depletion.
It is also said: Taking medicine three times by day and twice by night seems extremely tedious when read, but upon careful consideration, the implications are significant. To prevent misunderstanding, there is a section on "Yin and Yang, Cold and Heat generating according to their kind."

Suppose Fuzi (Prepared Aconite Lateralis Radix) and Dahuang (Rhubarb Radix et Rhizoma) are taken together. Taken during the day, they act as Yang medicines, achieving success more through Yang action than Yin; taken at night, they act as Yin medicines, achieving success more through Yin action than Yang, because drugs follow their own kind. How much more so for human diseases! If it is a Yang syndrome, symptoms worsen during the day and ease at night; if it is a Yin syndrome, symptoms ease during the day and worsen at night. This is because human Yin and Yang, cold and heat, follow the movement of Heaven and Earth's Yin and Yang. The transformation of cold and heat follows this pattern. Therefore, ancients treating Yin syndromes with Yang medicines continued administration after midnight to dispel Yin that transforms according to its kind and to reconnect with the Yang generated in the body at Zi hour (11 PM - 1 AM). *Tongxuan Leizheng* states: After Xiaojianzhong Tang (Minor Construct the Middle Decoction), the regimen of three times by day and twice by night is also listed, and Huangqin (Scutellariae Radix) is added if the Chi pulse is absent.
I once stated: Loose stools suit decoctions; constipation suits pills, because pills contain honey which moistens. Why did Zhang Zhongjing use pills for Huoluan (Cholera-like disorder) with vomiting and diarrhea, where Spleen dampness is excessive?
The answer is: Regarding dampness, how could there be a rationale for further moistening? This indicates that dampness has become excessive, and body fluids are extremely depleted, leading to muscle cramps. Tendons require blood nourishment to flex and extend. Excessive purging leads to Yin loss; hemorrhage leads to dryness. Dryness prevents flexion and extension. Thus, using a moistening agent via pills is appropriate, consistent with using Siwu Tang (Four Substances Decoction) as a moistening agent for women with severe uterine bleeding that does not stop. The method of the Ten Categories of Medicines requires careful examination.