Supplementation followed by attack

The therapeutic principle of supplementing vacuity before eliminating an evil, applied where the evil is strong, and right is weak (with depletion of both yīn and yáng) and incapable of withstanding attack (offensive treatment). For example, a patient displaying an exterior pattern who is mistakenly given precipitation that damages the spleen and stomach may be left not only with the exterior pattern but also an interior pattern of persistent clear-grain diarrhea. Such a patient displays an interior pattern characterized by persistent clear-grain diarrhea and an exterior pattern characterized by generalized pain. These signs mean that a strong evil is located in the exterior and a vacuity of right qì is in the interior. Persistent clear-grain diarrhea indicates that right qì is severely weakened and unable to expel the eviland is also susceptible to yáng collapse vacuity desertion. Thus, the first concern is to support right qì. When the interior pattern has been treated and the bowels have returned to normal, further treatment may be directed toward resolving the exterior by expelling the evil before it passes into the interior, causing new complications.