The notes I compiled are based on the textbook "Prescriptions" of the University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and some prescriptions that I think are good. The prescriptions written are all my personal experience, and the analysis methods are mainly based on the six meridians and the viscera. I am not a medical professional, studying medicine is purely a hobby. It is normal if there are mistakes in the text.
[Source] "Treatise on Febrile Diseases"
[category] reconciliation agent
[Composition] Bupleurum half a catty (24g), Scutellaria baicalensis three liang (9g), ginseng three liang (9g), licorice broiled, three liang (9g), pinellia washed, half a liter (9g), ginger cut, three liang (9g), jujube broken, twelve pieces (4 pieces)
[Usage] Shangqiwei, take one bucket of water and two liters, boil six liters, remove the dregs, fry again, take three liters, take one liter warm, three times a day (modern usage: decoct in water).
[Function] Reconcile Shaoyang.
This recipe is very difficult to say. "Reconciliation" can be divided into broad and narrow senses. In the broad sense, reconciliation includes all treatment methods. Warm the cold, cool the hot, replenish the deficiency, and purify the excess. They all belong to reconciliation. The essence of Chinese culture lies in the two words "zhong" and "harmony". One yin and one yang are called the Tao, and impartiality is called the middle.
"Reconciliation" in a narrow sense refers to reconciling Shaoyang, reconciling with it, and resolving its disputes. So what is "Shaoyang"? This controversy is even greater, and here I only talk about my personal understanding.
Neither on the surface nor on the inside is half surface and half inside. Shaoyang disease is determined by the method of exclusion, because yang syndrome and yin syndrome are easy to judge. In the three yang diseases, the external syndromes are excluded first, and then the internal syndromes are excluded. The same is true for the three yin diseases. First rule out the superficial yin syndrome, and then rule out the interior yin syndrome. In the end, only the half-surface and half-inner yin syndrome is left, that is, Jueyin disease.
According to Mr. Hu Xishu, Shaoyang diseases are mostly lesions of the chest and abdomen, and most of them are lesions of orifices (such as eyes, nose, ears, etc.). According to my observation, Shaoyang disease has the highest occurrence rate among six meridian diseases, and many superficial and internal syndromes are more or less involved in Shaoyang disease.
The human body has two important "functions", ascending and descending and entering and exiting. The "Neijing" says: "Entering and exiting is useless, and the mechanism of the spirit will be destroyed, and the movement of the breath will be isolated and dangerous." Zhou Xuehai of the Qing Dynasty said: "The disease of entering and exiting is extremely sick, and the ascending and descending will also be involved." The movement of qi is called the movement of qi. Ascending, descending, exiting and entering are the four basic forms of qi movement. The spleen and stomach are the pivots for the ascending and descending of qi, the stomach governs descending, the spleen governs ascending; Shenji is in charge of the inside of the human body, and Qili is responsible for the communication and resonance between the inside and the outside world, and the adjustment of Shenji and Qili needs to start from the half surface and half interior, and Shaoyang disease is more common in the half surface and half interior, and Shaoyang disease is mostly treated with Xiao Chaihu Decoction, so there is a saying that "Xiao Chaihu is indeterminate".
In addition, some people summed up the "eight symptoms of Shaoyang", and Xiao Chaihu Decoction can be used to try to treat these eight symptoms. Although I have reservations about this argument, let me tell you what these eight symptoms are:
Intermittent cold and heat, fullness in the chest and hypochondrium, silent reluctance to eat, upset, vomiting, bitter mouth, dry throat, and dizziness. In Shaoyang disease, the pulse is more stringy, but stringy pulse is not necessarily Shaoyang disease.
Let’s look at Fang Yi again, Bupleurum soothes the liver and promotes qi, Scutellaria baicalensis clears heat and lowers gallbladder, pinellia lowers stomach and stops vomiting, ginger warms stomach and relieves exterior, ginseng nourishes spleen, jujube nourishes intestines, roasted licorice nourishes spleen and harmonizes various herbs. In this way, the lifting and exiting are all taken into account. From a certain point of view, Xiao Chaihu Decoction is not a pure prescription for treating Shaoyang disease, but a prescription for treating Shaoyang-taiyin disease.
TCM treatment should still follow the process of diagnosis, syndrome differentiation, legislation, and treatment, focus on the overall situation, and adjust the treatment plan according to the specific situation. There is a certificate, and the use is medicine. When encountering patients with unknown pathogenesis, it is still possible to use Xiao Chaihu Decoction to explore the way. I personally do not agree with the idea that Xiao Chaihu Decoction (pure original prescription) can cure all diseases.
The syndrome of half exterior and half interior, especially Shaoyang disease is the essence of syndrome differentiation of six meridians. But I feel that I haven't explained it clearly after talking for a long time, so everyone can make do with it.
