In terms of Chinese medicine, cough is classified as cold, hot, deficient or real. A hot cough is a cough with some heat symptoms, i.e. coughing with yellow sputum or very thick sputum, accompanied by fever, no chills, sore throat, runny nose, dry mouth, a tendency to drink, especially cold drinks, dry stools, and a red tongue, yellow moss, and number of pulses. Cold cough is a cough with cold symptoms, accompanied by white thin sputum, itchy throat, fear of cold, runny nose, and a preference for hot drinks, with a light tongue and thin white moss. In the treatment, it is necessary to distinguish between hot and cold properties and treat the symptoms by evidence. If the cough is mainly hot, with superficial evidence, it is necessary to relieve the symptoms, and if there is internal heat, it is necessary to clear heat and resolve phlegm, etc. If the cold cough is caused by wind-cold, the main treatment is to dispel wind-cold and promote the lung, while if it is mainly caused by internal cold, the treatment is to disperse cold, dissolve drinks and dispel phlegm.