Objective

2

To summarize the experience of famous Lingnan School of cold damage doctor LI Tianyou in using categorized formulas of

Sini Decoction

（四逆汤）.

Methods

2

The information on the syndromes， therapeutic principles and methods， and the constitution of the patients in relation to the categorized formulas of

Sini Decoction

were extracted from the

Chongzheng Compilation of ‘Treatise on Cold Damage’

（《伤寒论崇正编》） and

LI Biliu's Medical Records

（《黎庇留医案》）， and were standardized to construct a database. Partial order structure visualization was used to establish the order background， and to generate a partial order attribute diagram， which would be compared with the overall group structure diagram and the corresponding prescription-syndrome group structure diagram previously finished by the authors on the categorized formulas of

Sini Decoction

recorded in

Treatise on Cold Damage

（《伤寒论》）

.

Results

2

The results of the partial order attribute diagram indicated the characteristics of LI Tianyou's categorized formulas of

Sini Decoction， Sini Decoction

syndrome and

Zhen Wu Decoction

（真武汤） syndrome， that was， in LI Tianyou's opinion， deep faint pulse and cold/ reversal cold of the hands and feet （cold hands and feet with cold moving proximally to the elbows and knees） are the key manifestations of using

Sini Decoction.

Based on ZHANG Zhongjing's， LI Tianyou extended the application of

Zhen Wu Decoction

in treating fever， abdominal pain， difficulty urinating， heavy pain in limbs， diarrhea， general weakness， poor appetite， insomnia based on syndrome differentiation.

Conclusion

2

LI Tianyou's experience in using categorized formulas of

Sini Decoction

is characterized by the emphasis on the empirical and proven experience， the junction of pulse and syndromes， and the treatment of acute and critical cases with

yang

-reinforcing method.