Line 176 When in cold damage the pulse is floating and slippery, this means there is heat in the exterior and cold in the interior, bai hu tang governs.
Editors of the Song version believe this to be an error. According to Wiseman and the editors of the Song version it should read. There is heat in the exterior, and heat in the interior.
This makes no sense according to the theory of opening, closing and pivoting.
Tai yang opens, yang ming closes, and shao yang pivots.
The slippery pulse indicates heat. The yang qi has been damaged and the yang is on the exterior. The pulse follows the yang. But now the yang is becoming excessive. The tai yang pattern is turning into a yang ming channel pattern.
The tai yang opens. But now it is opening excessively. If left unchecked it continues and fails to make its descent into the yang ming. Yang ming closes and this ensures that the yang qi descends into the interior. When yang fails to descend the interior will not be warmed. This gives rise to coldness and dampness.
Tai yang is summer and yang ming is fall. The yang ming qi is one of coolness and collecting. The yang ming ensures that the yang qi goes into storage for the winter.
The formula Bai hu tang is ensuring that the yang qi is collected and cooled. Bai hu tang brings the autumn to the excessive summer. It represents the west and the qi of the west is descending.
Liu Lihong, After tai yang begins the process of opening the yang door, the yang qi gradually begins to rise as it is released and emerges from storage. The aspect that carries out the closing of the yang qi is the yang ming. The transition between opening and closing depends on the pivoting function of shao yang.
Once tai yin initiates the process of opening the door of gathering and storage, the yang qi enters into the state of gathering and storage in earnest. The door that opened by tai yin is closed by jue yin. Shao yin acts as the pivot between opening and closing.
The white tiger, bai hu, is used to clear yang ming channel heat. This is the spirit of the western direction, and it dominates the changes and transformations associated with that particular cardinal direction. These changes are the collecting and descending, and using bai hu tang is saying that there is a problem in the collecting and descending of the yang qi.