The spleen wind is a pure Yin syndrome, caused by the rapid transformation from acute to chronic惊 to spleen wind. Therefore, the spleen wind is a pure Yin condition. It is due to chronic惊, there are also cases with deficiency heat and constipation, phlegm blocking and Qi congestion, mistakenly treated as real heat, and improperly using herbs like Ba and Huang to drain phlegm and facilitate defecation; or using brain and musk to open the orifices and cool the internal organs, which leads to an increase in Yin Qi and a decrease in Yang Qi, fortunately, not leading to death but resulting in this condition. There is also a condition called 'deficient wind', caused by prolonged vomiting and diarrhea, where wind evil invades the intestines and stomach, resulting in incontinence of stool, pale and yellow complexion, loss of spleen Qi, depletion of true Yuan, followed by fever, which is considered chronic spleen wind. Therefore, it is not necessarily transmitted from acute惊 to chronic惊. Men are more severe with diarrhea, and women with vomiting. The symptoms include blue tongue, short tongue, drooping head, eyes closed, biting the tongue, deep and low voice, shaking head in sleep, slight twitching of the limbs, coldness that does not recede, with alternating chills and fevers, thick phlegm and sputum, confusion of consciousness, empty hand feeling, drowsiness, without wind to chase, without惊 to treat, and it is extremely serious, with only a few recoverable. The pulse is deep, slow, and weak, and the veins are red and purple at the wind gate if mild. If green, purple, and black veins are intermingled at the wind gate, it is more severe, and even more severe at the Qi gate. The main treatment is to nourish the stomach and spleen, return Yang and benefit the mind, calm the heart and soul, and resolve phlegm and smooth Qi. If the eyes are half open and half closed, the hands and feet are not cold, and there are difficulties with urination and defecation, this still has Yang symptoms, and it is necessary to moderately resolve phlegm and regulate Qi, but not to immediately use methods to return Yang. However, it is also not advisable to use cooling agents due to the presence of Yang symptoms, as this is only a fluctuating deficiency fire, which may appear like a Yang symptom. If there is excessive sweat on the forehead, frequent vomiting of foul-smelling substances, black stools, and extremely rapid breathing, it indicates the collapse of the spleen and stomach, and the life gate shows blue, black, and purple veins, intermingled faintly, or even extending to the nails, showing pure black, which are all incurable.
For children over three years old, it is necessary to look at the left hand for boys and the right hand for girls, and examine the three gates at the wrist. The lines on the left hand should be at the heart and liver, and the lines on the right hand should be at the spleen and lung. Blue lines indicate fear. Purple lines indicate wind evil on the surface. Pale red lines indicate exterior cold and heat. Deep red lines indicate exterior cold and heat, with measles and rashes. Blue and red lines indicate fear and heat. Disordered lines indicate long-standing illness. Fine lines indicate excessive crying in the front of the abdomen and indigestion of breast milk. Coarse and straight lines that shoot to the nails indicate a bad omen of convulsions. Black lines are incurable. Lines seen at the wind gate are less serious, and at the Qi gate are more serious, and at the life gate are difficult to treat. However, Jiebin said: The three gates are the superficial collaterals of the hand Yangming meridian, which are not enough to wait for the Qi of the internal organs, and whether there is a disease or not, the color of the lines is often seen, and there is no difference in thickness, so how can they distinguish between thunder shock and water shock, or wind or food? Recently, it has become common practice, not to investigate the pulse, and when examining the 'Neijing', there is no name of the three gates, only the 'Maijing' says: 'There is a way to examine the color of the hand fish', which is a general way to diagnose, not only for children. Therefore, when diagnosing children, one must examine the pulse at the Qi mouth, the color of the face, the sound of breathing, or also examine the hand fish. But for children under three years old, they are pure Yang, the pulse comes around and is fast, with seven beats as the rate, too much as a number, and too little as a delay. Moreover, children are prone to deficiency and excess, and the pulse changes between movement and rest, so the pulse's seven and eight are also difficult to be accurate, and must be examined with the color and hand fish. (The 'Cun' is the great meeting place of the pulse, but the Qi and blood of children are not yet stable, their pulse is often large or small, often slippery, and the 'Cun' is not reliable. Therefore, the three gates are used to occupy it, which is also said to be the remaining Qi of the hand Taiyin lung meridian.)
Children who are startled in their sleep are due to the delicacy of the internal organs, the unconsolidated Qi and blood, and the floating spirit, which is often caused by insufficient heart and kidney. The spirit of heaven is in the sun and the moon, and the spirit of humans is in the two eyes; when awake, it rests in the heart, and when asleep, it returns to the stomach. When the heart and kidney are weak, the spirit has no place to rest and the Qi has no place to return, so it cannot be tranquil and is startled in sleep. If one hears a sound and jumps or cries in their sleep, it is due to deficiencies in the liver and lung, injured soul and spirit, and the loss of spirit. It is advisable to nourish the liver and lung and not to use medicine for convulsions. For convulsions are mostly due to heat, as the heart has heat and the liver has wind; these two organs are the Yang in the Yang, and the two Yang stimulate each other, the wind and fire fight, and the spirit of the liver and the heart float upwards, causing convulsions. It is only appropriate to guide away the evil heat in the heart meridian, and the convulsions will naturally subside. Moreover, each organ has both Yin and Yang, such as liver Qi being Yang and fire, and liver blood being Yin and water. When liver Qi is strong, the liver's blood becomes more deficient, and when fire is rampant, water is further exhausted. Fire is strong and Yin is consumed, which is inevitable. In addition, children often have insufficient kidney Yin, internal fire moving, extreme heat causing wind, wind coming from fire, not an external symptom. Therefore, it is especially appropriate to nourish water, and it is most忌 to use wind medicine, as pungent can help heat, and wind can dry the blood. Avoiding pungent medicine is to scatter true Yin. Avoiding medicine for convulsions is to harm the stomach Qi. Avoiding purgatives for the lung is because the child's kidney Qi is deficient and the mother is more deficient. Avoiding the treatment for the liver is because the liver is not calm and the spleen is first exhausted. Using too warm medicine will consume Yang, and using too cold medicine will harm true Qi. Those who stop convulsions and cramps have not found the root cause, and those who lightly attack and lightly purgative are not as good as consolidating the foundation. Excess is disease Qi, and deficiency is original Qi. When evil Qi is strong, it is full; when true Qi is lost, it is deficient. Therefore, it is appropriate to recognize and prevent diseases, which will reduce losses. If there is bleeding from the mouth, or black stool, or crying loudly for two or three times, it is a sign of heart failure.
If a child's eyes roll back and the nails turn blue and black, it is liver failure. If diarrhea does not stop, it is spleen failure. If vomiting stops and then starts again, it is stomach failure.
If a child's eyes are not open or closed, and suddenly makes a crowing sound, it is lung failure. If the child spits white foam, it is kidney failure. If all four limbs are soft, and the spirit is confused with shortness of breath, and if they cannot sneeze through opening the meridians, all are incurable.
Chronic convulsions belong to the deficiency of wood, fire, and earth. If not deficient, the spasms are small and it seems like spasms but not very intense. 'The Canon' says: 'Wood is insufficient.' It refers to the symptoms of委和, shaking and fear. It means that the hands and feet are trembling, the abdomen is leaking, and the heart is afraid. If the fire is deficient, the body and breath are cold. If the earth is deficient, vomiting and diarrhea appear, so the treatment should be warm and nourishing. As for chronic spleen, with extreme yin and extreme deficiency of stomach qi, the disease has reached its peak, and it all returns to the deficiency. Therefore, it is said that it is due to the spleen wind, which is the transformation of chronic convulsions into an extremely deficient state, and it is not a different name.
For children with acute convulsions and hand and foot spasms, it is imperative not to press them down, but to wait for them to calm down naturally, as the wind energy travels through the meridians, naturally stopping without injury. The tendons are the union of the liver, and if one presses and binds them, the meridians will be blocked by pathogenic wind, phlegm, and qi, leading to an imbalance of Qi and blood, causing a fixed disease that is difficult to treat in old age.
Excessive sweating, diarrhea, and vomiting, although with four symptoms, have the same principle. 'Startle' refers to the fire riding the liver's wind wood. 'Syndrome of malnutrition' refers to the heat riding the spleen's damp earth. 'Vomiting' refers to the fire riding the stomach and diaphragm upwards. 'Diarrhea' refers to the fire riding the spleen and large intestine downwards. The milk, derived from the metal and being very cold, makes the child's muscles full. However, the body is water, so if too much milk is consumed, it will turn to dampness, with hot and moistness combined, leading to vomiting and diarrhea. If doctors overuse dry and hot strong attacks, then the dampness is removed but the heat remains, leading to the occurrence of heat diseases. Some say that children have a pure yang body and are mostly treated with coolness, which is also a mistake. Women at the age of 14 and men at the age of 16, when the heaven's essence arrives. The heaven's essence is the yin energy. Because the yin energy has not arrived, it is said to be pure yang, which is not to say that the yang energy is in excess, but only a youthful yang. How much is the yang of the youthful yang? If the yang is not real, and cold and coolness are misused, then the yin is insufficient, and the yang is also attacked, leading to the failure of both yin and yang, and both the spleen and kidney are injured. What can one rely on, and what can one expect for growth? Therefore, it is important to understand one's endowment, the imbalance of yin and yang, and to balance them, thus avoiding any harm.
Acute convulsion usually occurs in the early stage of the disease and is a real symptom. It may be caused by shock, wind-heat, phlegm-heat, or food retention, and treatment should be based on the cause, with the addition of drugs that clear the superficial symptoms. As for chronic convulsion and chronic spleen wind, inappropriate treatment may lead to the involvement of the disease due to external pathogens. The time for the elimination of external pathogens is uncertain, and there is little Qi left to rely on. If one ignores the main disease and focuses only on eliminating the external pathogens, it is like forgetting oneself while living in a house. At this time, it is absolutely not advisable to use drugs that clear the superficial symptoms. For those with spleen deficiency, one should strengthen the spleen Qi; for those with Yin deficiency, one should nourish the true water; for those with excessive虚 fire, one should use sweet and warm herbs to reduce it; for those with severe deficiency-cold, one should use warming and tonifying herbs to protect them. When the vital Qi is strong, the minor pathogens will naturally be resolved. For treating external diseases, since the Qi is not too weak, one does not need to be overly cautious, and the goal is to eliminate the disease and save the life. For strengthening the vital Qi, since the Qi is already very weak, there should be no delay, and it is essential to save the life. Treating diseases without considering the vital Qi is merely a name for treating diseases without the actual aim of saving lives. Ah, the infantile convulsion and diarrhea should both be treated with Wu Ling San to drain the fire of the spleen, penetrate the dampness of the earth, as it contains cinnamon that can suppress the liver wind and support the spleen earth.
