Original Case by: Ye Tian-Shi (叶天士)
At the onset of the illness there was numbness and tingling, the tongue was stiff, the sinews were hoisted (tight?) and back of the head was painful. There was also phlegm obstruction in the throat. This is Liver wind ascending and guiding. This certainly is caused from constraint and clumping of the  emotions.
Saigae tataricae Cornu (líng yáng jiâo)
Forsythiae Semen (lián qiáo xïn)
Fresh Rehmanniae Radix (xiān shëng dì huáng)
Scrophulariae Radix (xuán…

Case from Fei Sheng-Fu (费绳甫）
Mr. Wu from northern Jiangsu [suffered] from Liver wood encroaching the Spleen until only it’s [qi] was present in the abdomen  致成單腹. The abdomen was distended like a drum, the umbilicus protruded outward, the tendons were blue. The back was normal but the waist full. This constituted a dangerous pattern. In this situation [the appropriate strategy] is to curb wood and support earth, unblock with warming [medicinals], and leach out dampness. Prescription was:

Aconiti Radix…

Original case by: Fei Bo-Xiong (费伯雄)
[1st Visit]: Qi deficiency with fullness of the middle [burner]. The abdomen is distended and resistant to palpation. Both flanks are acutely painful, with focal distension and a stifling sensation in the chest and diaphragm. On getting up [in the morning] the patient feels well, but in the afternoon the stifling feeling becomes worse and the mood depressive. The stools are loose. The pulse is deep and wiry on the right, and wiry and…

Case by: Ye Tian-Shi (叶天士)
Yu, 55 years old, suffered from constraint that harmed the Heart yang. The yang sunk into the yin leading to a  turbid painful urinary dribbling disorder. This was internal damage from the emotions leading to a  yin [area?] deficiency resulting in disease. Merely seeing the symptoms will bring about a disordered (incorrect) treatment and is most inferior.
The Heart stores the Spirit. The spirit was damaged with symptoms such as muddle-headedness; all the orifices were disturbed. The herb treatment…

Original case by:  Ye Tian-Shi
The case of Tang: Right, posterior rib pain radiating to the low back and hip producing aversion to cold and icy-cold extremities. [The patient was so cold that] it took a long time to get the patient warm. This was a lack of movement of qi and blood within the vessels and networks, culminating in congealed cold producing pain that was an obstruction pattern of the vessels and networks and is understood in the context…

Orignal Case by: Ye Tian-Shi
The ren vessel and du vessel divide and travel to the anterior and posterior aspects of the body. The spontaneous appearance of a steaming fever and spontaneous [seminal] emissions without dreams indicate that all of these extraordinary channels are deficient. Acrid, moistening herbs are quite effective. Administration of Six-Ingredient Pill [with Rehmannia] (liu wei di huang wan) with the addition of Schizandrae Fructus (wu wei zi) was inappropriate.
The medicinals in this prescription would simply…

Original Case by: Ye Tian-Shi
A woman was postpartum for over 10 years. When her disease broke out there was a droopy head, painful spine, sagging vertebral qi, heart pain[1], and a cold sweat. This was a du and ren vessel qi disharmony and loss of use of the qiao and wei vessel, and the five yin fluids were completely dried up. In this type of situation plant-based medicinals are ineffective, being unable to treat the exhausted essence and blood.…

By: Ye Tian-Shi (Case #3)
Zhou was a 17-year-old unmarried girl with menstrual irregularities. Her menses were sometimes early and sometimes late. Prior to her menses she had abdominal pain that was worse than normal, and her intake of food and drink was greatly reduced. This problem started at the beginning of summer, and going into autumn her lower burner was often cold. There were abdominal sounds, and alternating diarrhea and constipation. The examination revealed that she easily had depressed…

Ye Tian-Shi was one of the most influential doctors in Chinese medical history in developing clinical applications of the eight extraordinary channel herbal theory. Following is a translated excerpt that summarizes some of the core ideas that he used. Following this piece will be numerous case studies demonstrating these principles in action.
Ye Tian-Shi’s Pattern Differentiation and Treatment of the Eight Extraordinary Channels
Ye Tian-Shi used eight extraordinary channel theory in 165 recorded cases. Case Records as a Guide to…

Charles Chace recently brought this following passage to my attention. We both found it interesting in helping to understand Ye Tian-Shi’s case studies and putting into context the shorthand style that his cases are presented in. It is an excerpt from Thinking with Cases — Specialist Knowledge and Chinese Cultural History(2007) by Charlotte Furth. A great read.
“… the admirers of Ye Gui (1666-1745) saw to it that after his death some of this legendary doctor’s personal clinical records found…