《圖經衍義本草》Vol. 26

“Fabi” (pronounced like “bei”; the name of an ancient medicinal substance) tastes bitter and is warm in nature, though slightly cold, and is non-toxic. It is used to treat the five types of urinary obstruction, blockage that prevents normal passage, and difficulty urinating. It is also used for childhood seizures and convulsions in adults. The classic says it can also “return of itself to spirit-transformation,” but interpretations of what this means have long differed.

Egg yolks boiled until they liquefy can be used to treat fever caused by fright in children. Tao Yinju says that Li believed fabi meant the hair of a young boy, but he had never witnessed the strange transformation attributed to this hair. There is also a folk practice in which women add hair to eggs while boiling them for a child, simmer the mixture for a long time, and give the liquid to the child to dispel phlegm-heat and treat various illnesses. The hair used is loose hair that falls out when the child’s father combs his hair. It is unclear, however, whether this is the “fabi” mentioned in ancient books.

The character “bi” is also unclear in dictionaries; some say it is pronounced like “suan.” In folk speech, graying hair is called “suan fa,” while some people call loose hair “juan.” For this reason, some have wondered whether “bi” might be pronounced like “Shun.” Whether it refers to the hair of a young boy remains uncertain.

The Tang Materia Medica Commentary says that fabi is the root of the hair, and that hair kept for a long time works better. It also suggests that the “bi” in the medicinal name may be a mistaken character. The commentator adds that, since “loose hair” and “head dirt” are already listed as medicines, fabi must refer to something else; head dirt is less effective than fabi. Using an old comb, worn-out boat fittings, or a tattered rush mat to treat illness are likewise examples of using old objects as medicine. Zhen Liyan wrote the name as “jiao” and considered it another term for hair. Dictionaries do not record this form of “fa”; they record only terms such as “fa juan,” in which “juan” describes beautiful hair. On this basis, the commentator concludes that “bi” is the correct medicinal name.

Yuxi says that the version from Shu quotes the Inner Classic as saying, “It then returns of itself to spirit-transformation,” while Li says he had never seen such a strange transformation. Yuxi also found a record in the Strange Tales of the Supernatural: human hair can change into eels. Perhaps this metamorphosis is what “spirit-transformation” refers to.

Rihua says that hair is warm in nature and can stop bleeding and treat blood congestion, dizziness, wounds from metal weapons, wind-cold, and bloody dysentery. For medicinal use, it should be burned to ash, but not burned too thoroughly. It can also be boiled into a paste to promote the growth of new flesh in wounds and disperse blood stasis.

Chen Cangqi says that hanging the hair of a living person in a fruit tree keeps crows and other birds from eating the fruit. When someone is fleeing, placing this hair on a spinning wheel and turning it backward will supposedly confuse the person, leaving them unsure which way to go.

The Extended Materia Medica considers fabi and loose hair to be two different things. Fabi tastes bitter…

Medicinal substances stored for many years, such as dried tangerine peel, are still tangerine peel, but when used as medicine, the aged variety is preferred. Langdu, ma huang, Wu Zhuyu, banxia, zhishi, and other medicines are likewise best used when aged. For this reason they are called the “Six Aged Medicines,” and are considered more effective when used in this way. The same applies to bai pu. These statements concern the use of the word “fa” (hair). Today people call it “toufa” (hair), while the entry “luanfa” (loose hair) itself does not use “bi” to mean a wig or hair extensions. These two meanings are already clear, so there is no need to search for further explanations.

Luanfa is slightly warm in nature. It treats coughs, the Five Lin (various disorders causing painful or difficult urination), inability to urinate or defecate, and childhood convulsions and epilepsy. It is also used to stop bleeding. For a nosebleed, burn luanfa to ash and blow it into the nostril; the bleeding will stop at once.

Tao Yinju says: This is ordinary human hair. Its medicinal effects are similar to those of bi.

The Tang Materia Medica commentary says: Luanfa burned to ash can treat urinary retention caused by pressure on the bladder or obstruction of the urinary tract, red and white dysentery, obstruction in the throat, nosebleeds, abscesses and swellings, fox-urine thorn, corpse-infestation, furuncles, bone abscesses, and various sores.

Su Yuxi, citing the Treatise on the Nature of Medicines, says: Used as an auxiliary medicine, luanfa tastes bitter. It can disperse blood stasis, clear blockages, and promote urination.

A method in the Essential Secrets from Beyond the Palace for treating the agitation and restlessness of cholera: Burn a clump of luanfa the size of an egg to ash and mix it with three sheng of salted broth for the patient to drink. If the patient does not vomit, give another dose.

A method in the Tested Prescriptions for treating hot sores in children: Take a clump of luanfa about the size of a pear and mix it with the yolk of a hard-boiled egg. Put the mixture in a pot and cook it over charcoal. At first it will be very dry; after a while the hair will scorch and liquid will seep out. Keep collecting the liquid until none more comes out. Store it in a porcelain cup, apply it to the hot sores, and then sprinkle on ku shen powder.

A method in Mei Shi’s Prescriptions for treating nosebleeds, dizziness and mental dullness, and near-fatal emergencies: Burn luanfa to ash, grind it finely, and mix it with water to drink, using one square-inch spoonful. Also take some more and blow it into the nostril; recovery will follow.

A method in the Concise Prescriptions for Saving the People for an emergency case of heavy tongue in a child, in which the area beneath the tongue swells and the tongue becomes difficult to move: Burn luanfa to ash and grind it finely. Apply half a qian beneath the tongue, and continue applying the medicine.

Su Xueshi says: Burn luanfa, wasp nest, and shed snake skin separately to ash, but do not burn them until all medicinal properties are gone. Take one qian spoonful of each and mix with wine to treat sores that have long failed to heal. The results are remarkable.

Old Tang says: Collect your own luanfa, wash it, and let it dry. For every liang of hair, add fifty peppercorns. Seal the mixture tightly with clay and calcine it in a furnace over high heat. When it has become like black dregs, grind it finely and take one qian spoonful with wine. This can make the beard and hair grow thick and black.

For the related material in the Expanded Meaning, see the entry “fa.”

Human breast milk is said to nourish the five viscera, make a person plump, give the complexion a fair, lustrous glow, and brighten the face.

Tao Hongjing says: Zhang Cang took human breast milk regularly for many years and therefore lived to be over a hundred. He was stout, and his complexion was as fair as a gourd.

The Tang Bencao commentary says: The Bie Lu records that milk from a woman who has given birth to a boy for the first time can treat red, painful eyes and excessive tearing. It can also counteract poisoning from horse liver and beef. The milk is mixed with a thick liquid made by simmering fermented soybeans and taken by mouth; this is said to work very well. Another account says that mixing breast milk with sparrow droppings can clear redness of the eyes and remove fleshy growths on the white of the eye.

The Rizhuazi says: Human breast milk is cold in nature. It can strengthen Qi, treat emaciation and a withered appearance, moisten the skin, and nourish the hair. Applying it to the eyes can stop tearing, treat redness, and make the eyes bright and moist.

The Yanyi says: Human breast milk is said to have many benefits in treating eye disorders. Why is this? The heart produces blood, and the liver stores it. Only when the liver is nourished by blood can the eyes see. Water enters the body’s channels and is transformed into blood. It is also said that blood becomes milk in the upper body and menstruation in the lower body. Thus, breast milk is blood, and applying it to the eyes is naturally appropriate.

Blood belongs to Yin, so breast milk is cold in nature. People with a cold, deficient constitution should not eat too much milk cake, cheese, or similar foods. Cow’s milk and goat’s milk are the same in this respect, though all follow the principle by which Yin and Yang transform and generate things. People in the Western Regions also make butter and cheese from camel’s milk and mare’s milk. For an older person with mouth sores who cannot eat or drink, warm milk is very good.

The Shenghui Fang records: For a sudden stroke that leaves a person unable to speak, with a stiff tongue root, mix five ge of aged soybean paste—preferably paste aged for three years—with five ge of human breast milk. Grind them together, strain the liquid through plain cloth, and take small amounts repeatedly at any time. After a while, the person is said to be able to speak.

The Jinkui Fang records: How can one tell if someone has been poisoned after eating snake and beef? If the snake’s scales grow backward, in the direction of its tail, it is the kind said to be poisonous. If eating such a snake puts someone’s life in danger, drinking one sheng of human breast milk is said to bring immediate relief.

Scalp grime is said to treat difficulty urinating.

Tao Hongjing says: A medical text says to place scalp grime on the surface of water. If a needle floats on it, this is because the grime is oily. One should take grime from someone whose hair is glossy and knead it into pills. It can also treat food obstruction in the throat and relapse caused by exertion after an illness.

Xixi says: According to the Yaoxing Lun, scalp grime can treat food obstruction in the throat. Boil it with sour rice-washing water until it forms a paste; taking it is said to work quickly.

The Rizhuazi says: Scalp grime is warm in nature. It can treat poisoning from Gu parasites and mushrooms. Mix it with rice water or wine and take it until vomiting occurs.

The Waitai Miyao records: To prevent relapse caused by exertion after a cold illness, burn scalp grime and make it into pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Take one pill with water each time.

The Qianjin Fang records that to treat disturbances by various evil spirits and ghosts, one may take an amount of scalp grime—the dirt from the hair and scalp—about the size of a mung bean and swallow it with water.

An old headscarf is not toxic. For exhaustion and a relapse after a seasonal illness, accompanied by thirst, soak an old headscarf and collect the liquid. Warm it and drink one sheng. Another prescription says that if someone is poisoned after mistakenly eating the liver of a bird or animal that died on its own, take one qian and seven fen of grime from an old headscarf, dissolve it in hot soup, and drink it.

To treat sudden heart pain with an old headscarf, put the scarf in boiling water and drink the liquid. At the same time, place the scarf in a secluded spot and cover it with a bowl. Then uncover it at the same moment; the text says this will bring a cure. The “headscarf” mentioned here is a piece of cloth used to tie up the hair.

Human teeth are neutral in nature. They can treat consumptive illness, malaria, and gu poison, and should be burned before being used as medicine. Tooth tartar can be gently ground and applied to an affected area to draw out arrowheads and splinters. It can also be used on abscesses that have burst open.

Ge Zhichuan treated breast abscesses by burning a human tooth to ash, grinding it finely, mixing it evenly with butter, and applying it to the swelling.

Li Shiji treated cases where an arrowhead could not be removed, or where someone had been pierced by a splinter, by grinding tooth tartar and helv together and applying the mixture to the affected area.

Human feces are cold in nature. They treat high fever caused by seasonal illnesses and delirious running about, and can also counter various kinds of poison. Fully dried feces are best: pound them into a powder, stir it into boiling water, and drink it. Green mud from the urine pit in an eastern latrine can treat throat obstruction and reduce abscesses; if an abscess has already formed pus, it can prompt it to burst.

Tao Yinjü said: Among the people of the Jiaozhou and Guangzhou regions, arrowheads are made from burned copper. When an arrow wounds someone’s skin, the person will die, but drinking fecal liquid can cure them. Arrows shot into pigs or dogs do not kill them, because pigs and dogs eat feces. Drinking fecal liquid can also cure high fever caused by seasonal illnesses. Nowadays, near monasteries outside the city, some people seal the mouth of an empty clay jar and place it in a cesspit. After many years, liquid collects inside. It is very dark and bitter-tasting, and is called “Yellow Dragon Soup.” It is said that patients with warm diseases who are critically ill and near death all recover after taking it.

The Tang Ben Zhu says: Human feces treat various poisons, as well as sudden, severe febrile illnesses, jaundice, and chest oppression so acute that one feels close to death. Fresh feces are most effective and should be mixed with water and taken. Dried feces should be burned until they no longer smoke, then immersed in water; drink the liquid that seeps out. This is called “Coffin-Breaking Decoction” and treats the toxic heat of cold damage. It works even better when soaked in water before drinking. To treat a ding swelling, a type of boil or toxic swelling, open the affected area and apply fresh human feces. The text says that after one day, the root of the sore will rot out.

Yuxi says: According to the Rihuazi, fecal clear liquid is cold in nature. In the twelfth lunar month, cut a piece of light bamboo, scrape off its green outer skin, soak it, and collect the liquid. It treats delirium, high fever, and poisoning caused by seasonal illnesses, as well as malignant sores and mushroom poisoning. Soap pods and sugarcane can also be soaked in it to treat seasonal febrile illness.

The Waitai Miyao records that this prescription treats bone-steaming heat, the sensation of heat deep within the bones caused by prolonged fever. It should not be passed on casually to those for whom it is unsuitable. Burn dried feces until black on the outside and charred within, then put them in water and let the contents settle. Each morning, drink a small…

For pale-colored urine, take one small sheng at a time until the illness improves. It may also be taken regularly thereafter.

There is another method: dig a large, fresh pit and burn it with fire. At night, pour in two sheng of urine and add three sheng of water to soak. Then gradually reduce the amount taken. The urine used should be from a young boy.

The Doumen Formula records a treatment for irritability, confusion, and frantic running caused by feverish illness or epidemic disease, with symptoms resembling epilepsy, incoherent speech, and a prolonged inability to sweat. It also treats confusion of mind after contracting an epidemic illness. Take a suitable amount of human-yellow (a medicine made in antiquity by processing human feces), put it in a large jar, seal the jar tightly with clay, and heat it over a strong fire for half a day. Remove it from the fire and, once the jar has cooled, take out the medicine. Place it on the ground and cover it with a basin for about half a day. Grind the medicine into a fine powder and mix three qian with freshly drawn water to take. If the illness has not eased, prepare and take another dose in the same way, continuing until the condition improves.

The Yao family formula says there are three kinds of poisoned arrows. In the areas around Jiaozhou and Guangzhou, some local peoples make arrowheads from copper heated until red-hot. In various places north of the mountain ranges, people collect venom from snakebites in tubes and use it to soak arrowheads. If either kind merely grazes the skin, the wound quickly festers and ulcerates, and the person may die. After being struck by one, immediately drink fecal juice and apply it to the wound; this can also treat the injury and is considered the most effective method. Another kind of arrowhead is coated with “shewang” (an arrow poison). Being struck by it is also dangerous: a wound to a vital area may be fatal, and even a wound near the abdomen should be treated at once. The poison arrows described in the Ge Family Formula today are of this “shewang” kind.

The Essentials of Cold Damage records a treatment for an epidemic febrile illness on its sixth or seventh day, when the patient has a high fever, agitation, mania, and visions of ghosts: squeeze out human fecal juice and drink several he.

The Extended Meaning says to grind dried, aged human feces into powder. In a clean patch of yellow earth in a shaded place, dig a small pit five or six cun deep and put in two or three spoonfuls of the powder. Mix it with freshly drawn water. After a while, when the liquid has settled and cleared, give the clear liquid from the top to someone suffering from an epidemic illness, high fever, mania, and thirst. The condition will then ease. People today call this clear liquid “earth-clear.” Do not take too much, to avoid an excessive dose. This method is also used for boils, sores, and swellings caused by various heat toxins, as well as for painful sores filled with pus and blood that have not yet burst. Take half a qian each of dried feces powder and musk and grind them finely. Mix an amount the size of a bean with saliva and apply it to the center of the sore. Then secure it with a small, coin-sized medicinal cake made from vinegar and flour. Remove the medicine once the abscess has burst.

Human urine can be used to treat alternating chills and fever, headaches, and warm diseases. The urine of a young boy is considered more effective.

Tao Hongjing says: When someone first develops a headache, drinking several sheng of urine directly often brings relief. The effect is better still if the person also drinks a soup made by cooking scallions and fermented soybeans.

The Tang Materia Medica Commentary says urine can be used to treat sudden surges of blood attacking the heart, as well as internal blood stasis after a beating.

To prepare as a decoction, take one sheng per dose. It can also treat abdominal masses and distension that have not responded to other medicines. After taking it, blood clots will be expelled, usually after about twenty days. It can also treat chronic cough, asthma, and hoarseness. Bamboo or wood soaked in urine in a pit can be used to treat children whose teeth have not come in: scrape some off and apply it on the first day of the first lunar month.

Chen Cangqi said: Human urine is cold in nature. It can improve eyesight, strengthen the voice, moisten the skin, ease bowel movements, help expel old accumulations, and promote new growth. It can also treat cough, pulmonary atrophy (weakness and decline of the lungs), “ghost qi” (an old term for certain illnesses), and convulsions (spasms and rigidity of the sinews and vessels). Urine that has been stored for a long time and has a strong odor is better. If its cold nature is a concern, mix it with something hot and warm it before drinking.

For a spider bite, soak the affected area in aged urine kept in an earthenware jar. At the same time, fry black-chicken droppings and soak them in wine, then drink the mixture; otherwise, the poison may enter the body.

Rihua Zi said: Human urine is cool in nature. It can relieve thirst and cough caused by deficiency taxation and moisten the heart and lungs. It can treat oppression from blood stagnation, delirium during febrile illness, blood stasis from falls and blows, fainting, and fatigue. Washing the skin with it treats chapping and moisturizes the skin. For bites from people, snakes, or dogs, pour warm urine over the wound.

For difficult labor or failure of the placenta to descend, take one sheng of human urine, add one fen each of fresh ginger and scallion, and bring it to a boil two or three times. Drink it hot; it is said to bring down the placenta. For persistent vomiting of blood or nosebleeds, pound one fen of fresh ginger to extract its juice, mix it with one sheng of urine from a healthy adult man, and drink it all at once while hot; it is said to cure the condition.

Yang’s Chanru records: To treat pain in the heart and abdomen caused by injury to the fetus and clotted blood, take a child’s urine, two sheng each day; this is said to cure the condition.

The Yanyi says: Human urine should be taken from a young boy. Drinking a cup of it warm after childbirth can help expel stagnant, deteriorated blood and lochia. Some people drink it for seven consecutive days. But taking too much may, over time, chill the blood organs (an old collective term for the organs associated with blood) and impede the movement of Qi and blood. The patient may not notice this. Those with weak Qi and blood and no signs of heat should especially avoid taking much. Human urine is cold in nature, which is why it is also included in prescriptions for deficiency taxation.

A woman’s menstrual blood can be used to neutralize certain poisoned arrows and to treat relapse after illness due to sexual intercourse, a condition called “female-labor relapse.” Additional material is recorded by Tao Hongjing.

Chen Cangqi said: Menstrual cloth can stop bleeding from metal-inflicted wounds. Warm the cloth and press it against the wound; it can also be burned to ash and applied to bites from tigers or wolves. The ash may be taken with wine, one square-inch spoonful each dose, three times a day; it is said to treat an arrowhead lodged in the abdomen.

The Meishi Fang records: If a man resumes sexual intercourse after recovering from a febrile illness and the illness returns, with the testicles drawn up into the abdomen, gripping intestinal pain, and life in danger, burn a red cloth used during a woman’s menstruation to ash and take one square-inch spoonful with warm water.

A prescription by Sun the Perfected records: To treat cholera when the condition is critical, take menstrual cloth used by a young girl, burn it to ash together with the menstrual blood, and take one square-inch spoonful mixed with wine.

Bian Que said: To treat cold damage caused by “Yin-Yang Exchange,” burn a woman’s menstrual cloth to ash, grind it finely, and take it with warm water. Each dose should be the amount held by a square-inch spoon, an ancient medicinal measure.

The skullcap has a salty taste, a balanced nature, and is non-toxic. It is used to treat corpse-transmission disease, corpse-spirits, invasions by ghostly influences, and conditions such as chronic miasma-induced wasting fever and alternating chills and fever that flare up unpredictably. The skullcap is the crown bone of the deceased, marked by a cross-shaped suture. The old method was to burn it until it blackened, grind it to a fine powder, and take it mixed with plain water; it could also be combined with other medicines to make a powder. Physicians sometimes referred to it euphemistically, avoiding its direct name.

Chen Cangqi said: It can be taken even after the corpse has decomposed. On the skullcap is a piece of bone about three fingers wide: the part of the skull that has not yet fused at birth, namely the bone at the fontanel. According to the old method, after obtaining it, cover it overnight with warm ash from spent charcoal, until its rank odor has dissipated. Then put it in an earthenware jar or pot filled with a child’s urine and boil it for an entire day. After taking it out, dig a pit about one foot deep indoors and bury the skullcap there for a full day. It is said that this returns the medicine’s “soul” to its proper place and gives it wondrous efficacy. People with a Yang constitution use it to replenish Yin, while those with a Yin constitution use it to replenish Yang.

The Wai Tai Mi Yao records: If a dog bite does not heal despite repeated treatment, and the poison enters the body, causing the patient to become agitated and delirious, or even to bark like a dog, burn the skullcap to ash, grind it into powder, and take it with water in a square-inch-spoon dose. It is said this can save the patient’s life.

The Bie Shuo says: After careful examination, I conclude that among the human medicines in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, only hair and hairpieces are included. Most other claims about using human body parts as medicine come from later physicians or from forbidden arts; their contents are strange and bizarre, and contrary to reason. People say Sun Simiao did great service to the world, yet he once treated illness with substances obtained by killing living creatures, which may have incurred blame from the unseen realm. How much more so when using human bones? In recent times, physicians have often used skullcaps to treat corpse-transmission disease, yet I have not seen a single case in which it worked. The Ben Jing’s omission of this medicine causes no loss. It is cruel and harms the spirit, while its efficacy is unreliable. If there are other, compassionate alternatives, every effort should be made to use them. If someone insists that it is indispensable and there is truly no other choice, it is best to select an old bone, covered in dust and mud and already decayed.

Human beard: During the Tang dynasty, Li Ji fell ill. After examining him, a physician said that taking ash made from a beard would cure him. Emperor Taizong then cut off his own beard, burned it to ash, and gave it to Li Ji to take. He also applied the beard ash to Li Ji’s carbuncle, which soon healed. For this reason, Bai Juyi wrote: “He cut his beard, burned it for medicine, and bestowed it on a meritorious minister.” Emperor Renzong also gave his beard to Lü Yijian, saying that the ancients believed a beard could cure illness, and that he was now cutting off his own beard for Lü to use in preparing medicine, as an expression of his regard.

Human blood can treat symptoms such as bodily weakness and wasting, dry and withered skin and flesh, flaking skin like bran, and madness. After a dog bite, if chills and fever alternate and the illness is about to break out, one can draw warm blood with a needle and drink it.

Human flesh can treat consumptive disease, an ancient term for chronic wasting illnesses such as pulmonary tuberculosis.

Human gallbladder can treat conditions called “ghost qi,” “corpse infestation,” and “hidden transmission.” These were names the ancients used for difficult-to-diagnose illnesses or conditions thought to be caused by ghosts and spirits.