Phlegm in Chinese Medicine indicates products of Qi transformation disorders in human body due to various factors.Scholars and doctors know it from multiple perspectives,such as the attribution to five zang-viscera,etiology and pathogenesis,shape,color and texture,etc which leads to different concepts of phlegm.Phlegm is characterized by gradual gather, variable flow,viscous stagnation,turbid decay and weird diseases,etc.Researches on these characters are very important for understanding,diagnosing,treating and preventing phlegm.

This article aims at clarifying the formation and accumulation of the'phlegm'in the body.If the phlegm can't be dispelled,it would do great harm to the body health from many aspects,even leading to various diseases which are complex and hard to cure.'Becloud deities','Qi activities blocking','the blood vessels choking','muscular striae overflowing','tumor accumulated','inveterate phlegm loss the path',are the outstanding pathogenic characteristics of the 'phlegm'.Ancient and modern physicians accumulated rich experiences on preventing and treating the phlegm diseases.Those are worth to excavating,organizing,clarifying deeply for being used to the prevention,diagnosis and treatment of the phlegm diseases efficiently.

The characteristics of phlegm are accumulating gradually,owing un-predicted,being adhesive in nature,turbidity and corruption,causing strange disease.Once the phlegm was formed in the body and accumulated to a certain range which was can't be removed,it would cover mind,block the activities of qi,stagnate the blood vessels,over ow the skin,accumulate to the tumors,or the inveterate phlegm lost its way,further causing the phlegm disease with complicated and strange clinical manifestation.The key of the diagnosis,prevention and treatment of the'phlegm disease'is understanding and grasping the clinical characteristics correctly.From three aspects of physical sign,symptom and syndrome,the article summarized and discussed the basic clinical characteristics of the'phlegm disease'in order to provide good inference to the diagnosis and prevention and treatment of the phlegm disease.

This article mainly discussed the prevention principle, treatment principle and basic treatment method of ‘phlegm disease’. The prevention of the phlegm disease emphasized removing pathogenic factor to stop the sources of phlegm; improving the phlegm-turbidity physique to decrease the onset of disease; removing turbid phlegm to avoid harm of the excess phlegm; early diagnosis and treatment for phlegm disease to avoid its development. The treatment principles of the phlegm disease, one is improving the qi transformation, the other is removing the turbid phlegm in time. The basic treatment methods of the phlegm disease are strengthening qi to resolve phlegm, warming yang to resolve phlegm, relieving depression to resolve phlegm, clearing heat to resolve phlegm, drying dampness to resolve phlegm, moisturizing dryness to resolve phlegm. In clinic, the methods were used according to the specific pathology and syndromes.

In TCM, there are many prescriptions for treating the phlegm diseases. Many of those prescriptions came down and were applied in clinic which had great effects. While, even the prescription is famous and still being used in clinic, it also need to be added or subtracted by the clinical physician. In this article, the major classification and syndrome were discussed simply, including strengthening Qi to resolve phlegm, warming yang to resolve phlegm, relieving depression to resolve phlegm, clearing heat to resolve phlegm, warm resolving the cold phlegm, drying dampness to resolve phlegm, moisturizing dryness to resolve phlegm, stopping wind to resolve phlegm, relieving food retention to resolve phlegm, resolving phlegm and dispersing accumulation, resolving phlegm and opening orifi ce. Hoping these ancient prescriptions could provide benefi cial reference for the diagnosis and treatment of the phlegm disease in modern times.

The ‘removing phlegm drugs' discussed in this article referred to the single drug recorded in the material medica literatures which had the function of"removing phlegm, resolving phlegm, clearing away phlegm, purging phlegm, sweeping away phlegm, eliminating phlegm, opening phlegm, plundering phlegm, clearing-up phlegm, draining offphlegm, lowering phlegm, purging phlegm, dispersing phlegm.The understanding and application ofthe removing phlegm drugs in TCM had long history.Lots ofrelated contents were recorded in the material medica literatures and ancient medical books.Systematical summary and theoretical research were needed.The author classified the common removing phlegm drugs into clearing the heat phlegm drugs, warm removing the cold phlegm drugs, drying dampness to resolve phlegm drugs, moisturizing dryness to resolve phlegm drugs, stopping wind to resolve phlegm drugs, regulating Qi to resolve drugs, relieving food retention to resolving phlegm drugs, resolving phlegm and relieving depression drugs, resolving phlegm and opening orifice drugs.The summary and discussion ofthe drugs would provide reference to the removing phlegm drugs application ofthe clinical doctors on the prevention and treatment ofthe phlegm diseases.

Traditional Chinese Medicine has its own academic thoughts and practical experience on diagnosing and treating phlegm disease,which has sprouted in Qin and Han Dynasties,originated in Jin and Tang Dynasties,developed in Song and Yuan Dynasties,become prosperous in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and made much progress in the recent years.This article shows researches of academic thoughts and clinic experiences on diagnosing and treating phlegm disease,which is based on ancient books and records of Traditional Chinese Medicine from Pre-Qin Period to the Sui and Tang Dynasties.Hope to provide beneficial reference to modern clinic,health preservation,prevention and treatment of phlegm disease.

During the Song、Jin、Yuan dynasties,great progress had been made on the theoretical and clinical aspects of phlegm disease diagnosis and treatment in TCM accompanied with the vigor and prosperity of the TCM learning. It mainly showed that:rich diagnostic and treating experience had been accumulated and summarized to serve as a legacy based on the theoretical innovation of the clinical practice. ZHU Dan-xi、WANG Gui made epoch-making academic achievements on the aspect of the phlegm disease diagnosis and treatment. YANG Shi-ying、SHI Zai-zhi、YAN Yong-he also had made their own contributions. Besides,the medical formularies of the Song、Jin、Yuan dynasties had special summary and discussion to the all kinds of prescriptions for treating the phlegm. A fair number of those prescriptions were used until now for their effects.

During the Ming dynasty,great progress had been made on the theoretical and clinical aspects of diagnosis and treatment of phlegm disease in TCM.It mainly showed that: during this period,unprecedented monographs about phlegm diseases such as 《Tan Huo Zhuan Men》,《Tan Huo Dian Xue》 appeared.The ancient medical scholars all paid attention to the in? uence and harm of the phlegm to the body and accumulated abundant experience in clinical diagnosis and treatment,further made a great summary to provide reference to the posterity.In this article,several physicians’ academic thoughts of phlegm disease were chosen to research.The theories and experience of ancient medical scholars were explained.It has important theoretical and practical values for the health preservation and clinical diagnosis and treatment.

The physicians of Qing Dynasty made deeper knowledge to the formation and harm of the phlegm and systematically summarized the theory of the diagnosis, syndrome differentiation and treatment of the phlegm diseases. In the literatures of such as CHEN Shi-duo, LIN Pei-qin, HE Meng-yao, YOU Zai-jing, the special discussion of the phlegm diseases diagnosis and treatment which contents were theory, principle, prescription and drugs. Next, in the surgery, ophthalmology, gynecology, pediatrics, the physicians paid attention to the diagnosis and treatment from the phlegm and summarized the clinical practical experience. Moreover, in the Chuan Ya Nei Bian, Chuan Ya Wai Bian written by ZHAO Xue-min, the experience of "Zou Fang Yi" on treating the phlegm disease by the method of Ding, Chuan, Jie had its own characteristics.