Six Evils - Wind

The wind in six exil is a yang evil. Wind evil tends to invade the barrier of skin, to fight against defensive (wei) qi. The defensive qi fails to consolidate the skin and results in chill, fever, sweating, and aversion to wind. The lung is in charge of respiration. Nose is the orifice of the lung. The throat is the tract of qi. When wind evil attacks this system, the flow of qi is obstructed, that is marked by cough, itching or sore throat, and stuffy or running nose. Floating pulse and white tongue mean pathogenic factor in the exterior of the body.

Wind evil, if attacks body in combination with heat evil, is shown in fever, sore throat, and floating-rapid pulse; when combined with cold evil, is shown in aversion to cold, body ache, and floating-tense pulse; while combined with dampness evil, is shown in fever with peak in the afternoon, and migratory arthralgia. The lung is the upper source of the water in the body. The water flowing is obstructed when lung qi impaired, which is marked as puffy face, general edema. Wind evil, in combination with heat, fights against qi between muscles and skin, marked by itching and rash. Wind evil invades meridians and results in muscular stiffness, numbness, itching, and wry face.

The pathogenic characteristics of wind evil:
A. Wind is yang evil. Discussion of Taiyang and Yangming in Plain Questions said: "Yang is vulnerable to wind. . . . Wind evil usually attacks the upper parts of the body. " So, head, surface of body and lung are always attacked firstly by the wind.
B. Wind evil is apt to migrate and change. So attacked by wind evil, the onset is rapid, the location of disease tends to be unsteady and migratory. It often combines with other evils to cause diseases from exterior to interior.
C. Wind evil leads to mobility. It appears tremor, convulsion, vertigo, quiver of tongue and stroke fall.

Key Words: six evil, wind