this is wind-cold attacking the exterior where it constrains or bottles up the protective qi (wei qi). this inhibits the flow of the yang qi in the exterior, which produces chills. the battle between the external pathogenic influence and the normal qi causes fever and makes the skin warm to the touch.

the head is the meeting place of the yang channels and an attack of wind-cold on the superficial (yang) aspects of the body results in headache. cold causes the interstices and pores to close and prevent sweating. it also interferes with the flow of nutritive qi (ying qi), which produces generalized body aches.

the bottling-up of the exterior leads to constraint of the lung, which results in rebellious lung qi manifested as wheezing. this is an exterior condition only, and the tongue is therefore not affected. the floating pulse indicates that the pathogenic influence is in the exterior, and the tight pulse indicates the presence of cold.