Principles of Conditioning for Externally Contracted Diseases (with Audio)

↑Click the card above to follow me↑

【This article is part of: Dr. Peng’s Lecture Series on the Huangdi Neijing (with audio) – Essence Volume – One Thousand One Hundred and Two。（More exciting content is continuously updated…）】

“The Yellow Emperor asked: Now, those with febrile diseases are all similar to cold damage; some recover while others die, and those who die do so within six or seven days, while those who recover do so after more than ten days. What is the reason for this? I do not understand the explanation and wish to hear the reason. Qi Bo replied: The great yang is associated with all yangs, and its pulse connects to the Wind Palace, thus it is the master of qi among all yangs. When a person is harmed by cold, it results in febrile disease; even if the heat is severe, one does not die; however, those who are affected by cold and become ill will certainly not escape death.”——Huangdi Neijing · Discussion on Heat

(Continuing from the previous text) Let us look further, “When a person is harmed by cold, it results in febrile disease.” How should we understand this? In the Suwen, there is a saying, “When harmed by cold, it transforms into heat, why is this?” (Please follow WeChat: pengxinboshi) Qi Bo said: “When cold is excessive, the body becomes hot.” This actually means the same thing, because externally contracted cold pathogens are essentially all external pathogens that invade the body, and the body automatically has a mechanism to generate heat. The ancients believed that being harmed by cold and transforming into heat is because the excessive cold causes the body to generate heat to expel the cold pathogen.

Modern medicine believes that when you have an externally contracted disease, whether it is bacteria or viruses invading the body, the body will automatically raise its temperature, which facilitates white blood cells, macrophages, and other immune system cells to eliminate these viruses and bacteria. Fever is also a form of protection for the body, putting the body in an emergency state to respond to these pathogens, so this is the principle of being harmed by cold and transforming into heat.

Yang Shangshan commented: “When harmed by cold, the pores open, and one feels cold; when the pores are closed, the extreme cold becomes heat. The three yin and three yang meridians, as well as the five zang and six fu organs, suffer from heat as a disease, called febrile disease.” This means that when the pores open, cold qi enters, and the three yin and three yang meridians, along with the five zang and six fu organs, will all suffer from heat, which is called extreme cold becoming heat. The disease caused by extreme cold becoming heat is called febrile disease. This mechanism is simply that the cold nature constricts, leading to the closure of the pores, preventing yang qi from dispersing, thus causing fever. Therefore, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, when we see this kind of fever, most of the time we use what? We use Ma Huang Tang (Ephedra Decoction), Gui Zhi Tang (Cinnamon Twig Decoction), Qing Long Tang (Blue Dragon Decoction), which are formulas from the Shang Han Lun, (Please follow WeChat: pengxinboshi) as well as current physicians’ formulas, whether it is Jing Fang Bai Du San (Schizonepeta and Forsythia Powder) or Yin Qiao San (Honeysuckle and Forsythia Powder), in short, we need to release the exterior, and releasing the exterior means opening the exterior qi to expel these pathogenic factors, preventing the pores from becoming too tightly closed, allowing the cold pathogens, or even dampness, heat, or warmth to be expelled, hence the term releasing the exterior.

Therefore, Wang Bing commented: “When cold toxins invade the skin, yang qi cannot disperse and remains hidden, thus those harmed by cold are prone to febrile disease.” This means that cold qi has closed the skin’s pores, preventing the body’s yang qi from dispersing, causing it to become stagnant. After stagnation, those harmed by cold are more likely to develop febrile disease. Therefore, we see in the Shang Han Lun that for the exterior syndrome of cold damage, why do we use Ma Huang Tang? It is because the cold pathogen wraps around the body, and after being wrapped, the body’s heat cannot escape, and the person does not sweat. In this case, with pain in the whole body and a stiff neck, high fever, we use Ma Huang Tang. Once the exterior is released, (Please follow WeChat: pengxinboshi) and sweating occurs, the heat immediately decreases. In clinical practice, some children with these issues can be treated with guasha (scraping therapy), and many children will sweat after guasha, and once they sweat, the heat decreases. The principle is the same, we must induce sweating to release the exterior, at this time, cold refers to the narrowly defined cold of cold damage, not the five types of cold, so we need to understand this based on the context.（To be continued）

After learning from Dr. Peng’s lecture today, I believe you have a deeper understanding of the Huangdi Neijing. Finally, let’s have an interactive quiz to test your learning outcomes. This article is part of: Dr. Peng’s Lecture Series on the Huangdi Neijing (with audio) – Essence Volume – One Thousand One Hundred and Two. (More exciting content is continuously updated…)

Disclaimer: This article is a health knowledge sharing. The medications, prescriptions, acupuncture, and various treatment and health preservation methods mentioned in the text should be applied under the guidance of a professional physician, and should not be used independently. We are not responsible for any issues arising from improper use.

Copyright Statement: This article is authored by Dr. Peng Xin, this is an original article, and reproduction or citation without permission is prohibited.

（Copyright belongs to the original author, and all legal rights are reserved）

Related posts:

Leave a Comment Cancel reply