The common cold is manifested by heightened sensitivity to cold, fever, headache, nasal obstruction with running nose and cough. It occurs in all seasons, but is especially prevalent in autumn. The etiology involves an invasion of pathogenic factors. Since the climates in the four seasons are so different, the normal clinical diagnostic division is into wind-cold and wind-heat categories. The treatment principle is to benefit the lung qi, eliminate the exterior syndrome and dispel the external wind.