The cold and warm nature of ancient epidemic diseases was differentiated from their names. Clinically, the treatment of cold and warm epidemic diseases should be divided into three categories, namely, warming method, clearing method and cooling-warming combination method. For the coexistence of Shanghan and Wenbing in the clinic, we should trace back the origin of epidemic diseases, think about how to understand the inter-relations between Shanghan and Wenbing in the development process of epidemic diseases and take them as a whole to facilitate the study of traditional Chinese medicine and clinical practice.