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Helping things along their course
顺势利导 〔順勢利導〕 shùn shì lì dǎo
Deciding on the best course of action in accordance with the current trend or locus of the disease, so as to relieve the condition in the quickest way, at the least expense. When there are evils in the outer body or upper body, treatment involves expelling them upward and outward. For example, exterior evils are treated with acrid dispersing medicinals to open the interstices and expel the evils by sweating. Evils in the inner body or lower body are removed by flushing them out with the stool or urine. For example, intestinal heat causing constipation is treated by offensive precipitation (powerful purgation), while dampness in the lower burner is treated by disinhibit water (diuretic action).
Sù Wèn (Chapter 5): What is high is brought up and out; what is low is drawn out and exhausted; center fullness is treated by draining in the inner body…
其高者，因而越之；其下者，引而竭之；中满者，写之于内…。 Qí gāo zhě, yīn ér yuè zhī; qí xià zhě, yǐn ér jié zhī; zhōng mǎn zhě, xiě zhī yú nèi.... These principles are all instances of helping things along their course.