The concept “blood stagnation leads to water retention” is an important summary by Zhang Zhongjing of the pathogenesis involving blood stasis and water retention.When blood stagnates，water fails to circulate，and when water accumulates，blood cannot flow.Both blood and water are tangible forms of yin，and the presence of this tangible evil obstructs the movement of qi，weakening its function.When evil manifests as yin，it depletes yang，making it difficult for the body to transform and expel.As both yang and qi are intangible forms of yang，when the qi's propulsion and the yang's transformation weaken，it leads to blood and water stagnation，resulting in the pathological outcome of “yang and qi deficiency and blood stasis leading to water retention，forming internal masses”.Zhang Zhongjing's principle that “body fluids and blood share the same origin” provides a groundbreaking discussion on the physiological and pathological relationship between blood and water，guiding the clinical treatment of edema.His work has profoundly influenced subsequent generations，fostering the use of integrative approaches，such as activating blood and dredging collaterals，warming yang and activating blood，benefiting qi and activating blood，and warming yang and resolving masses，thereby promoting fluid metabolism，to treat various forms of edema from “deficiency-stasis-water”.However，modern clinical observations and mechanism studies on “blood stagnation leading to water retention” often explore it from linear thinking focused on material basis and molecular mechanisms.These approaches fail to reflect the multi-layered，multi-target，interconnected，and dynamic characteristics of the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) therapeutic methods of activating blood，promoting fluid metabolism，and warming yang，and they do not fully align with the holistic view and treatment philosophy based on syndrome differentiation inherent in TCM.