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 run through the patient [presumably causing diarrhea] and so would be unable to control the extraordinary vessels. Hence, the plan was to use methods of accumulating the essence, and securing it.

Mantidis Ootheca (sang piao xiao), Testudinus Plastrum (gui ban), Euralyes Semen (qian shi), Tribuli Fructus (ci ji li), Testudinus Plastri Colla (gui ban jiao), Coptidis Rhizoma (huang lian), Fossilia Ossis Mastodi (long gu), Rosae laevigatae Fructus (jin ying zi), Rubi Fructus (fu pen zi).[i]

Translated by: Charles Chace

For further reading, please view the intro to this case, Herbs & the Eight Extraordinary Vessels and Ye Tian-Shi & the Eight Extraordinary Channels.

[i] This case record appears in another anthology containing case records attributed to Ye Tian-Shi (葉天士), 2004i, Combined Case Records of Three Physicians (San jia yi an’ he ke 三家醫案合刻), juan 1, Minor Construct the Middle Decoction (xiao jian zhong tang 小建中湯)

Original Chinese: 任脈、 督脈， 分行乎身之前後， 自覺熱蒸， 不夢自遺， 皆奇經虛也。 辛濕藥頗效。 六味加五味於不應方藥僅僅達下， 未能約束奇經， 議用聚精固攝之法。 桑嫖峭， 龜板，熒實, 刺蒺藜 線魚膠, 胡連 龍骨, 金櫻子, 覆盆子