Patterns and Treatment for Blood Bi and Consumptive Disease
Overall Paraphrase
This chapter discusses the causes, pulse patterns, manifestations, and ancient treatment methods for two categories of disease—Blood Bi and Consumptive Disease. All formulas, dosages, and decoction methods below are recorded verbatim from classical texts and are provided solely for scholarly study; they do not constitute medication guidance.
I. Blood Bi
Someone asked: How does Blood Bi disease arise?
The teacher replied: Those who live in comfort and lack physical labor have fragile bones and fleshy bodies; if they also suffer from fatigue, sweating, and frequent restless turning during sleep, then encounter a slight wind-pathogen💨, they are prone to develop Blood Bi. At this time, if the Cun pulse is faint and choppy, and the Guan pulse is slightly tight, acupuncture should be used to guide yang qi🩺, allowing the pulse to harmonize—once the tightness resolves, recovery follows.
If Blood Bi further manifests as the pulse being faint at both yin and yang positions, or faint at Cun and Guan with slight tightness at Chi, with the body surface numb and insensitive, resembling Wind Bi, then Astragalus and Cinnamon Twig Five-Herb Decoction is the primary treatment.
- Astragalus and Cinnamon Twig Five-Herb Decoction: Astragalus 3 liang, Cinnamon Twig 3 liang, Peony 3 liang, Fresh Ginger 6 liang, Chinese Dates 12 pieces. Ancient method: Boil in 6 sheng of water down to 2 sheng, take 7 ge warm, three times daily.
II. Consumptive Disease
A man who appears outwardly normal, with a large pulse, has consumptive disease; if the pulse is extremely vacuous, this too is consumptive disease.
Those with a pale, lusterless complexion often suffer from thirst and blood loss; sudden wheezing, palpitations, and a floating pulse indicate interior vacuity.
If a man's pulse is vacuous with deep and wiry qualities, without chills or fever, yet with shortness of breath, abdominal tightening, difficult urination, pale complexion, occasional blurred vision with dizziness, nosebleed, and lower abdominal distention—this is caused by consumptive disease.
In consumptive disease, the pulse is floating and large, with heat and vexation in the hands and feet; symptoms worsen in spring and summer, and ease in autumn and winter; the genitals feel cold, seminal fluid leaks spontaneously, the flesh is weak and wasted, and walking becomes difficult.
If a man's pulse is frail, floating, and choppy, this signals inability to father children—the essence and qi are cold and clear.
In those who habitually lose seminal fluid, the Shaoyin pulse is wiry and tense, the genitals are cold, with dizziness, blurred vision, and hair loss. If the pulse is extremely vacuous, scattered, or slow, there is likely undigested food in the stool, blood loss, or seminal loss. When the pulse shows scattered, stirring, faint, or tight qualities, men will experience seminal emission, and women will have dream intercourse—treated primarily with Cinnamon Twig, Dragon Bone, and Oyster Shell Decoction; Tianxiong Powder may also be used.
- Cinnamon Twig, Dragon Bone, and Oyster Shell Decoction: Cinnamon Twig 3 liang, Peony 3 liang, Honey-Fried Licorice 2 liang, Fresh Ginger 3 liang, Chinese Dates 12 pieces, Dragon Bone 3 liang, Oyster Shell 3 liang. Ancient method: Boil in 7 sheng of water down to 3 sheng, strain, and take warm in three divided doses.
- Tianxiong Powder: Processed Tianxiong 3 liang, Atractylodes 8 liang, Cinnamon Twig 6 liang, Dragon Bone 3 liang. Ancient method: Grind into powder, take half a qian spoon with wine, three times daily; if ineffective, the dose may be slightly increased, stopping once effective. ⚠️ Tianxiong is a toxic Aconite-type herb; this formula is for study only and is strictly prohibited for self-use.
A man who appears outwardly normal, with a vacuous, frail, faint, and thin pulse, is prone to night sweats.
When a person reaches fifty or sixty years of age, with a large pulse, suffering from Bi disease along both sides of the spine; or with intestinal sounds, or swellings resembling "horse-knife and clamped goiter" (similar to tuberculous lymph node masses)🩺 in the armpit or neck—all are due to consumptive disease.
Those with a small, deep, and slow pulse have a condition called "qi depletion"—they wheeze and become thirsty when walking quickly; cold hands and feet are also signs of consumptive disease.
In consumptive disease presenting with abdominal tightening, palpitations, nosebleed, abdominal pain, seminal emission during dreams, soreness of the four limbs, heat and vexation in the hands and feet, and dry throat with thirsty mouth, use Minor Construct the Middle Decoction as the primary treatment.
- Minor Construct the Middle Decoction: Cinnamon Twig 3 liang, Peony 6 liang, Honey-Fried Licorice 3 liang, Fresh Ginger 3 liang, Chinese Dates 12 pieces, Maltose 1 sheng. Ancient method: First boil the five herbs, strain, then add maltose and dissolve over gentle heat; take 1 sheng warm, three times daily.
In consumptive disease with abdominal tightening and multiple deficiency manifestations, use Astragalus Construct the Middle Decoction as the primary treatment. This formula is Minor Construct the Middle Decoction plus Astragalus 1.5 liang. For shortness of breath with chest fullness, add Fresh Ginger 1 liang; for abdominal fullness, omit Chinese Dates and add Poria 1.5 liang; for constipation, omit Chinese Dates and add Immature Bitter Orange 1.5 liang; for lung qi deficiency damage, add Pinellia 3 liang.
For consumptive disease with lumbar pain, lower abdominal tightening, and difficult urination, use Kidney Qi Pill as the primary treatment.
- Kidney Qi Pill: Rehmannia 8 liang, Chinese Yam 4 liang, Cornus 4 liang, Alisma 3 liang, Moutan Bark 3 liang, Poria 3 liang, Cinnamon Twig 1 liang, Processed Aconite 1 piece. Ancient method: Make into honey pills the size of parasol seeds; take 15 pills with wine, gradually increasing to 25 pills, twice daily; those who cannot drink wine may take with plain water.
For consumptive disease with deficiency vexation and inability to sleep, use Sour Jujube Seed Decoction as the primary treatment.
- Sour Jujube Seed Decoction: Sour Jujube Seed 2 sheng, Licorice 1 liang, Anemarrhena 2 liang, Poria 2 liang, Chuanxiong 1 liang. Ancient method: First boil the Sour Jujube Seed down to 6 sheng, then add the remaining herbs and boil down to 3 sheng; take 1 sheng warm, three times daily.
When the five labors exhaust deficiency to the extreme, with emaciation, abdominal fullness, and inability to eat—caused by damage from overeating, worry, drinking, excessive sexual intercourse, hunger, overexertion, or injury to the channel and collateral, nutritive and defensive qi—the body generates "desiccated blood" (static blood). The skin becomes rough like fish scales (scaly skin), and the eye sockets become dark. Treatment should "relax the middle and supplement vacuity," using Rhubarb and Eupolyphaga Pill as the primary treatment.
- Rhubarb and Eupolyphaga Pill: Rhubarb 10 liang, Scutellaria 2 liang, Licorice 3 liang, Peach Kernel 1 sheng, Apricot Kernel 1 sheng, Peony 4 liang, Rehmannia 10 liang, Dried Lacquer 1 liang, Gadfly 1 sheng, Leech 100 pieces, Grub 1 sheng, Eupolyphaga (Ground Beetle) half sheng. Ancient method: Make into honey pills the size of small beans; take 5 pills with wine or water, three times daily. ⚠️ This formula contains multiple insect-based blood-activating herbs and Dried Lacquer; it must be strictly differentiated by a qualified professional physician and must never be self-prescribed.
For female strain (jaundice from kidney damage due to sexual excess), with bladder tightening, lower abdominal distention, generalized yellowing of the body, black forehead, hot soles, abdominal distension as if containing water, loose and black stools, and chest fullness—this is difficult to treat, and Niter and Alum Powder is the primary treatment.
- Niter and Alum Powder: Niter (dry-fried to yellow) and Alum (calcined), equal parts. Ancient method: Grind into powder and take with barley congee juice, one square spoon per dose, three times daily. The stool turning black and urine becoming yellow after taking is the documented response. ⚠️ For scholarly study only.
🧠 Deep Understanding
Core Principles 💡
- Blood Bi: The core is insufficiency of nutritive and defensive qi and blood, with yang qi obstructed, compounded by exposure to mild wind. The faint, choppy, and slightly tight pulse reflects yang qi's failure to reach the body surface. Both acupuncture to guide yang qi and Astragalus and Cinnamon Twig Five-Herb Decoction to supplement qi, warm yang, and relieve Bi embody the principle of "unblocking yang."
- Consumptive Disease: The essence is deficiency damage to the yin, yang, qi, and blood of the five viscera. The pulse patterns are therefore diverse, but all center on "vacuity" as the guiding principle. The treatment approaches reflect multiple strategies: sweet and warm construction of the middle (Minor Construct the Middle, Astragalus Construct the Middle) to restore the middle burner; warming the kidney and transforming qi (Kidney Qi Pill) for kidney yang deficiency; nourishing yin and calming the spirit (Sour Jujube Seed Decoction) for deficiency vexation and insomnia; suppressing and securing (Cinnamon Twig, Dragon Bone, and Oyster Shell Decoction) for seminal loss and dream intercourse; and activating blood to resolve stasis while relaxing the middle and supplementing vacuity (Rhubarb and Eupolyphaga Pill) for desiccated blood consumptive strain.
Modern Understanding 🌟
- The numbness and insensitivity of "Blood Bi" bears some resemblance to certain peripheral nerve dysfunction or poor peripheral circulation, but the ancients explained it through nutritive and defensive qi and blood, not modern neurological concepts.
- "Consumptive disease" is an ancient comprehensive term for chronic wasting and weakened states, possibly involving malnutrition, chronic fatigue, anemia, tuberculosis, immune dysfunction, and many other conditions—but it cannot be equated with any specific modern disease name.
- The formulas in this chapter continue to be used and studied in modern Chinese medicine clinical practice, but must be administered under the pattern differentiation of a licensed practitioner. Formulas containing toxic or insect-based herbs carry higher risks.
Health Guidance ⚡
- Avoid wind after sweating💨: After perspiration, the pores are open; one should not immediately expose oneself to drafts or cold, reducing the risk of "Blood Bi"-type external contraction.
- Balance work and rest🔥: Avoid prolonged overexertion, late nights, and excessive sexual activity; give the body time to recover.
- Moderate diet🌿: Avoid irregular eating and excessive alcohol consumption.
- Emotional regulation: Reduce worry, fear, and other forms of emotional depletion to help preserve essence and qi.
📚 Related Knowledge
- Related Concepts: Blood Bi, consumptive disease, five labors, desiccated blood, seminal loss, nutritive and defensive qi, horse-knife and clamped goiter, relaxing the middle and supplementing vacuity.
- Further Reading: Huangdi Neijing·Suwen·Bi Lun, Huangdi Neijing·Suwen·Shanggu Tianzhen Lun, Jingui Yaolue·Chapter on Blood Bi and Consumptive Disease, Zhubing Yuanhou Lun·Vacuity Consumption Chapters.
🔎 Bua Gua Note: This content is based on classical Chinese medicine texts and is provided solely for traditional culture study and research. It does not constitute medical diagnosis, medication, or treatment advice. If you feel unwell, please seek medical attention promptly.
