Methodology · 方法
How the material is built
This page explains the decisions behind the pages: which patterns, which signs, which citations, and what the self-check is actually calculating.
1 · Which patterns, and why eight
The eight were chosen to cover the distinctions that get confused in practice rather than to represent the whole system. They separate along three axes: deficiency from excess, dryness from dampness, cold from heat. Between them they account for most of the cases where a reader's symptoms could plausibly be read two ways.
This is a starting set, not a taxonomy. Eight patterns cannot describe Chinese medicine, and the site does not claim they do — the pattern index states the limit explicitly.
2 · The three tiers of signs
Signs on each page are grouped rather than listed, because a flat list makes every sign look equally important and that is not how the pattern is recognised in practice.
| Tier | Meaning | How it is used |
|---|---|---|
| Defining | The pattern is hard to claim without it | Two or more present is what makes the pattern worth considering at all |
| Common | Present in most cases | Raises confidence, but rarely decides between neighbours |
| Supporting | Consistent, not distinctive | Only counts when the higher tiers already point the same way |
| Negating | Argues against the pattern | Listed separately, because absent signs and contradicting signs are not the same thing |
The negating list is the part most reference material omits, and it is the part that makes a differential possible. A page that only tells you what fits will always seem to fit.
3 · How neighbours are chosen
Each page compares itself with two or three patterns that share most of its signs — not with patterns that are theoretically related. The comparison gives what is shared first, then the single question that separates them, phrased as something a reader can answer about themselves (for example: is the bloating worse after meals, or after a difficult conversation).
4 · Translation
Classical passages are quoted in the original and translated by us. The working principle is to keep the technical term visible rather than to produce smooth English: if the Chinese says qi, the translation says qi and explains it, rather than substituting a word that removes the concept.
Terms follow the WHO International Standard Terminologies for Traditional Chinese Medicine (2022) where an entry exists. Acupoint nomenclature follows the WHO standard for acupuncture points. Where the standard and common usage diverge, the page gives both and says which is which.
5 · Cross-walking to Western medicine
The section titled "What Western medicine calls this" describes overlap, not equivalence. Chinese medicine groups by mechanism as it conceives it; Western medicine groups by pathology. The two groupings cross each other at angles, so a pattern may correspond to parts of several diagnoses and to none of them fully. Presenting the correspondence as a translation would be misleading in both directions.
6 · What the self-check calculates
The self-check is a transparent weighted count, not a diagnostic model and not a prediction. Its parameters are public:
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Signs scored | Defining ×3, common ×2, supporting ×1 |
| Answers | Yes = 1.0 · Sometimes = 0.6 · No = 0 · Not sure = not counted |
| Negating signs | Reported present subtracts 2 from that pattern |
| Questions asked | Twelve, fixed — the same twelve for everyone |
| Answers stored | None. Answers are encoded in the URL, in your browser |
Because the question set is fixed rather than adaptive, some results are less precise than an adaptive interview would give. That is a deliberate trade: a fixed set can be read, audited, and reproduced by anyone, which matters more here than a marginal gain in accuracy.
The results page always shows what did not fit. A result with no dissenting evidence is not a strong result — it usually means the answers were too sparse to separate the top patterns.
7 · Known limits
- No tongue or pulse examination. Signs that require looking or feeling are described, not assessed.
- No individualised advice, dosage, or formula.
- No coverage of acute presentations — those belong with a clinician, not a web page.
- One tradition's textbook consensus, not a survey of all schools.
Last revised: 23 October 2026.