《雲笈七籤》Vol. 75

Yunji Qiqian (Seven Slips from the Cloud Satchel), Volume 75, Zheng 5

(Compiled and presented by the Song-dynasty subject Zhang Junfang, Gentleman for Court Service, Vice Director of the Bureau of Revenue of the Department of State Affairs, serving as Collator of the Jixian Academy, granted the crimson fish-bag, and permitted to wear purple.)

Prescriptions and Medicines

Preface to the Secret Instructions on Refining and Ingesting Mica by Immortals

The Bencao Jing records in its jade-and-stone section: mica is sweet in flavor, neutral in nature, and nontoxic. It governs necrosis of the skin and flesh and symptoms of alternating cold and heat within the body, with dizziness and discomfort like riding in a cart or boat. It dispels pathogenic Qi and settles the five viscera; strengthens Jing and Qi and brightens the eyes; regulates Qi and strengthens the muscles and skin; repairs severed or broken places and supplements the body; and treats the five taxations and seven injuries, weakness and depletion, lack of Qi, and chronic diarrhea. Long-term use makes the body light and vigorous, prolongs life, gives a moist and lustrous complexion without aging, enables one to endure cold and heat, elevates the aspirations, and brings one to the realm of immortals.

Mica is also called Yunzhu (“Cloud Pearl”), and its color is mostly reddish; it is also called Yunhua (“Cloud Flower”), which has five colors; it is also called Yunying (“Cloud Essence”), and its color is mostly green; it is also called Yunye (“Cloud Liquid”), and its color is mostly white; it is also called Yunsha (“Cloud Sand”), which is green-yellow; and it is also called Linshi, whose color is pure white. It grows in the valleys of Mount Tai, on Mount Yun in the Qi region, and among the rocks of Mount Ding north of Langya; it is harvested in the second month. Zexie (Alisma) serves as its assistant drug; it fears fish armor and must not be used together with fish armor. (The phrase “reverse-flowing water” is suspected here to be a commentary note, meaning that reverse-flowing water should be avoided.)

The Xianjing says that there are eight kinds of mica. Observed against sunlight, the one that is yellow-white with more green is called Yunying; the one that is green-yellow with more red is called Yunzhu; the one like icy dew, changing between yellow and white, is called Yunsha; the yellow-white, crystal-bright one is called Yunye; the pure white, clear and translucent one is called Linshi; and the blue-white one with more black is called mica. All six are suitable for ingestion, but the months appropriate for taking each are different.

The one that is white and crystalline but dull in color, nearly pure black, or has rust-like spots, is called Yundan; the one that is mottled black and hard in texture is called Dilu. Neither of these two may be taken. Refining mica has special methods; it must be processed finely, otherwise, once it enters the intestines, it will seriously harm the body and cause weakness and depletion. If it is to be made into pills or powders, it is enough simply to pound it, sift it, and grind it into an extremely fine powder.

The mica produced in Langya lies northeast of Pengcheng; Qingzhou also has it. Today in Jiangdong, only that produced on Mount Lu is the best. When mica is cultivated in sandy soil, over months and years it will grow and increase. In present-day refining of mica, if alum is used, it will soften and scatter into powder. Mica fears dew from the hundred grasses, but east-flowing water is good; one may also process it with rainwater collected in the fifth month from a thatched roof.

The Bencao Jing says: mica is an upper-grade medicine; it is sweet in flavor, nontoxic, and grows on Mount Taibai.

In the stone crevices of Qiyun Mountain and Beiding Mountain in Langya, mica can be harvested in the second month.

Mica has eight kinds, each with its own name. By observing them facing the sun, one can distinguish them. Those yellow-white in color and mixed with much green are called Yunying (Cloud Blossom); they are suitable for taking in spring. The texts say that after taking it the body becomes light and vigorous, one does not feel cold upon entering water, and life is extended by four thousand years.

Those greenish-yellow and bright, mixed with much red, are called Yunzhu (Cloud Pearl); they are suitable for taking in summer. The texts say that after taking it the body becomes light and vigorous, one can endure cold and heat, and life is extended by three thousand years.

Those that are cloud-like, now white and now yellow, are called Yunsha (Cloud Sand); they are suitable for taking in late summer. The texts say that after taking it the body becomes light and vigorous and emits light, one can withstand wind and cold, and life is extended by two thousand years.

Those yellow-white and crystal clear are called Yunye (Cloud Liquid); they are suitable for taking in autumn. The texts say that after taking it the sinews and bones are strengthened and the meridians are opened, and life is extended by one thousand years.

Those greenish-white and mixed with much black are called Yunmu (Cloud Mother); they are suitable for taking in winter. The texts say that after taking it the body becomes light and vigorous, one can enter fire without being burned, and life is extended by five thousand years.

Those pure white and bright, clear and translucent, are called Linshi (Phosphor Stone); they can be taken in all four seasons. The texts say that after taking it the sinews and bones are strengthened and the meridians are opened, and life is extended by five thousand years.

Those dull, pure black, with mottled black streaks and resembling iron, are called Yundan (Cloud Gall); they must not be taken. If taken, they cause strangury and sores.

Those of mixed black color, thick and hard in texture, and able to strengthen the muscles, are stones mixed with copper and iron and are called Dilu; they must not be taken, for they harm a person’s life.

In addition, the red and heavy one is called Yangqishi (Actinolite). It is the root of the five cloud stones. Do not take it alone; it may be gathered separately for medicinal use. For any root of the five cloud stones, each inch of thickness corresponds to one thousand eight hundred years. Bury it in earth and sand in a new basin, cover it, and place it in a cool, shaded spot; after a long time it will grow by itself.

Mica also has five names: the purest is called Yunguang (Cloud Light), the second grade is called Yunying (Cloud Blossom), the third grade is called Yunzhu (Cloud Pearl), the fourth grade is called Yunmu (Cloud Mother), and the fifth grade is called Linshi (Phosphor Stone).

Methods for refining mica (ten in total):

When refining, first peel the mica apart into thin sheets and remove the sand and earth; alternatively, first soak it for several days in east-flowing water, then break it up and peel it apart. After peeling, wash it in water more than a hundred times, until it is thoroughly clean, and then arrange the subsequent processing according to when it is to be used.

If it is to be used only later, in the fifth month take rainwater dripping from a thatched roof, collect it in a white porcelain vessel, and soak the mica for one hundred days. After removing it, if there is still scale or unclean matter, wash it several more times with east-flowing water, then remove it and let it dry. The turbid fine particles floating on the surface of the water should also be kept separately in another vessel. In the eighth month, using new cloth, with two people…

It is also acceptable for each person to hold one end; alternatively, tie one end of the bamboo pole to clean grass in the mountains or fields and use the grass to brush up the morning dew. Collect the morning dew and wring out the water, repeatedly brushing the grass with the dew until there is enough to submerge the mica (a mineral commonly used in Daoist refining). You need not collect the full amount in a single day. Soak the mica in dew for more than sixty days, then take it out for use. Keep it in a warm place and do not let it become cold or freeze.

If you want to make the mica into powder, filter it out, dry it, put it into a tanned leather bag, tie the opening tightly, and knead and press it by hand. Work from morning until noon, until the mica breaks into fine powder, then sieve it through a silk sieve; continue kneading and pressing the remaining residue until all of it has been sieved out. If it is still not fine enough, pinch it with your fingers: if you can still see shining star-like points, add a small amount of water to a large wooden basin, work the mica into a mud, grind it for a long time, then wash it with water and filter it through fine silk. Continue grinding and washing the residue until everything has been processed, then let the powder settle and the water clarify.

You may also knead it first, sieve it once through coarse gauze or kudzu cloth, then grind it in a dry white cauldron basin, and afterward filter it through silk as described above. You may also grind it first, filter it through coarse silk and let it settle, dry it, then put it into a leather bag and knead it fine, and sieve it through fine silk. You may also soak it in dew for one hundred days, take it out and dry it, put it into a silk bag, and filter out the liquid in water; after it settles and dries, process it further. All these methods can produce powder, but it must be ground as fine as flour; only when it no longer glistens when pinched between the fingers is it good.

If you still feel it is not fine enough, you can boil the mica powder in dew; when the water boils, take it out, hang it up to dry, then pound it in a mortar and sieve it through heavy silk. If you want to make the powder as quickly as possible, spread the washed mica thinly, put it into a silk bag, plunge it into boiling water, take it out, and immediately put it into cold water; alternate between boiling water and cold water ten times, changing the water each time and letting it cool. When the mica has softened, take it out and sun-dry it, put it into a leather bag, and pound it into powder.

Another method: take three jin of alum stone, put it into a leather bag, and soak it in hot water until it dissolves; then soak the mica in the solution overnight. The mica will become as soft as paper. After that, wash it with water to remove the scum, then grind and knead it; it will then be easy to make into powder quickly. Alum stone is slightly toxic, so it must be washed clean.

There is another method: take four jin of alum stone and soak it in four dou of east-flowing water, then take the solution. Place ten jin of mica in a yellow cauldron vessel, heat the mica until it is red-hot, then put it into the solution; take it out and heat it again, repeating this three times. Add a piece of salt the size of an egg, then put the mica into the solution and heat it until the solution has boiled dry. Afterward wash it with water to remove the scum, soak it, and let it settle; the mica will then crumble into powder by itself. If it is still not fine enough, knead and sieve it again. Using saltpeter is also very good.

Another method is this: take ten jin of mica (a mineral of the mica family), five jin of scallion whites, and three sheng of salt; add water and boil them together. Take out the scallion whites, wash them with water to remove the salty taste, then grind and knead them until they become powder; be sure to grind it fine.

Another method is this: pound the leaves of the mamu plant, take the juice, and soak five-colored mica in it until it becomes soft and mushy like mud; then grind it into powder. The mamu plant grows in mountain valleys. Its tree form resembles the catalpa, it is white throughout, and its leaves resemble those of the tree of heaven but are narrower; when broken, it exudes a white sap. Mountain people steam it and eat it.

Another method is this: heat eight sheng of dew into hot water, divide it into two halves, and wash twenty jin of mica; wash it once more in the same way. Then take another two sheng of dew, heat it, add ten jin of mirabilite, and soak the mica in it for twenty days. After taking it out, put it into a silk bag and hang it under the eaves, letting it dry in the wind and sun. Next, soak and wash the contents of the bag with water, then pound the silk bag from morning until noon; sift away the residue through fine silk, pound it again, and continue until five sheng of superior powder are obtained. This is the method recorded in the Jade Purity Method.

Another method is this: split the mica into thin sheets, take ten jin, put it together with two jin of saltpeter into a silk bag, and place it in a bronze vessel; add one sheng of wine and two and a half sheng of water, and boil it over a charcoal fire. After it comes to a boil, take out the bag, plunge it into cold water, then boil it again with wine; repeat this ten times. When the mica has become soft, pound it in water so that the juice flows out; after it clears, make it into powder.

Another method is this: take mica that has already been washed, soak it for one month in the juice of burnet ash, then carefully filter it out and grind it fine. Wash it more than ten times with boiling water to remove the ashy odor; after it coagulates and dries, take ten jin of mica. Add five jin of cassia, pound and grind it finely; then add two and a half sheng of water and boil until the flavor of the cassia is exhausted. Remove the dregs, take the liquid, and dissolve the mica into something like thin mud. This is Cui Wenzi’s method.

Another method is this: soak the mica in bitter wine—ancient sour wine—for forty-five days, then take it out and process it. Next, soak and wash it with water, stir it, and remove the sour taste; after it coagulates, put it into a single-layer silk bag and rub it in water so that the juice flows out; wait for it to clear, then make it into powder. This is Master Yue’s method.

Another method is this: take three sheng of thatch-house water, boil it in a bronze vessel, add three liang of alum, stir, and filter away the dregs; then put in one jin of mica and bring it to five or six boils. Take it out, dry it in the air, process it, wash it, and make it into powder.

In all refining of mica, one must make it fine and thoroughly processed; otherwise it may injure the organs, cause disease, or even produce growths in the intestines that cannot be cured. Therefore the adepts repeatedly warned: refining with fire is not as good as treating it with hot water; the amount taken should not be excessive, and taking a small amount over a long time is better than taking a large amount all at once.

This is one of the twenty-six methods in The Methods of the Many Immortals for Taking Mica.

The Plain-Text “Mica Formula” in the Jade Casket beneath the Cypress and Cassia, by Shuqing of Zhongshan

Take mica in which all five colors are present and carefully break it into pieces. Soak it for one hundred days in water that has flowed beneath the eaves of a thatched hut and in water touched by the autumn dew of a hundred grasses. Then put it into a leather bag and pound it to pieces; sift it through silk, place it in a bamboo tube, plug the mouth of the tube tightly, and suspend it in the lower part of a steamer. First spread one shi of white sand in the steamer, then place the bamboo tube on top and steam it. After steaming for one day, when the steam has penetrated through, remove the bamboo tube.

Then replace it with one shi of glutinous millet and rice and steam for one day; when the steam has penetrated through, remove it. Then replace it with one shi of millet and rice and steam in the same way for one day; when the steam has penetrated through, remove it. Finally, mix it evenly with one sheng of white honey, place it in a bronze vessel, and cook it in a double boiler until it can be rolled into pills. Each pill should be the size of a hemp seed.

When the stars appear, take three pills, twice a day. After thirty days, change to rolling them the size of wutong seeds; still take three pills each time, and ordinarily take one pill at cockcrow. According to the formula, after thirty days of use the body becomes light and the eyes bright; after fifty days the abdomen itches; after seventy days the “three worms” (in ancient health-cultivation thought, creatures believed to dwell in the body and harm a person) are expelled; after eighty days the skin has luster; after ninety days one can enter water without drowning, the complexion turns white, and one sheds the mortal frame and exchanges one’s bones; after three hundred days one runs faster than a galloping horse; after one year one becomes a Zhenren (Perfected). It also says that people over seventy must take it for four hundred and fifty days before they can become immortals.

This is a formula prepared with one jin of mica; if more is prepared, the amount of medicine is increased accordingly. Another version says to use two sheng of mica.

The Mica Formula Taken by Fang Hui, Teacher of Yao

Take three jin of mica powder and five sheng of “Yunzi” (Cloud Nourishment) and boil them down. When they are about to boil dry, add three sheng of pine resin, then add three sheng of cliff honey; mix evenly and steam-cook. Steam from morning to evening; remove and let cool, and it will congeal into a confection. Each time take one pill the size of a slingshot pellet, three times a day; one may drink water and may also eat seven jujubes. The formula says that long-term use enables one to fly over mountains and seas, become a divine immortal, and attain long life; cold and heat cannot harm one.

The Mica Formula Taken by Han Zhong

Take one sheng of mica powder and two sheng of barley grits, cook them together until done, remove the dregs, and take the medicinal liquid. The formula says that after taking it the body has luster, and one can attain long life and transcend the mundane world.

The Mica Formulas Taken by Chisongzi (two formulas in all)

Take three jin of mica and one jin of saltpeter. Soak the mica in rich wine for three days, then carefully crush it, put it into a fresh bamboo tube, and add the saltpeter. Pour in another one and a half sheng of rich wine, place it over fire, and boil it dry, stirring continuously without stopping. After a while the medicine will become paste-like; take it out and place it on a board for half a day, and it will finely crystallize into powder.

At dawn, take it with well-flower water (well water drawn at dawn), the dose being about one square cun. According to the formula, take it once a day; after one hundred days the Three Corpses (in Daoist belief, malevolent deities dwelling in the human body and obstructing cultivation) will be expelled in the form of black mud, which should be put into a tube and buried.

When taken beside a tomb for about one hundred days, one will feel worried and depressed; after this period it will improve. After taking it for two hundred days, it is said that one can recover youth and become like a child again. When the medicine is used up, it can be prepared again.

Another formula: take scallion whites, steam them until cooked, pound them, and squeeze out two sheng of juice; add one jin each of cinnamon shavings and cloud powder. Mix them, put the mixture into a fresh bamboo tube, and steam it beneath one shi of rice. Make it into a liquid, then sun-dry it until it congeals. After taking it, it is said that one can return from old age to youth. Mica and Alisma are used as auxiliary medicines.

Another formula: grind one jin of mica and two liang of Alisma into powder; grind eight liang of asparagus tuber and eight liang of Poria into powder as well. Mix the above four ingredients into a powder. Each early morning take one square-inch spoonful (fangcunbi, the capacity of an ancient small measuring spoon), gradually increasing to three square-inch spoonfuls; it is best taken with wine.

The Lord of the Nine Immortals said: blend “dew powder” with white-dew water and take one square-inch spoonful each time, three times a day. After taking it for one hundred days, it is said that one’s face will become radiant; after two hundred days, the “three worms” in the body (in Daoist medical thought, disease-causing worms within the body) and “fushi” (latent pathogenic miasma or illness in the body according to Daoist belief) will be expelled, and impure blood will flow from the nose.

People’s constitutions differ, and the Qi (vital energy) they receive also varies: some are deficient, some excessive; some hot, some cold. When first taking the medicine, the body will show different reactions, and one should adjust according to how one feels. If one feels heat within the body and dryness of the lips and mouth, add three medicines of cold nature and take them together with the powder; if one feels cold, add medicines of hot nature. Only after the Qi mechanism flows freely and the viscera are harmonized may one take it alone. When taking the medicine, one may begin with a small dose but should take it regularly without interruption.

When first taking the powder, one may take one sheng of jujiang (often referring in ancient texts to sesame), steam it, sun-dry it, grind it, then rinse it with water and strain to obtain a liquid; cook japonica rice with the liquid into a congee of moderate thickness. When one feels warmth in the abdomen, take one square-inch spoonful of the powder together with the congee. Because the powder is greasy and the jujiang congee is smooth and moistening, it helps the medicine move downward. Most people tend to have heat in the upper body and cold in the lower body; after long-term use, one may continue taking it according to the original formula.

The Scripture of the Nine Immortals says: mica is the essence of the 1,200 essences and the flower of cloud Qi among the seventy-two kinds of Qi. Its substance is pure and lustrous; it is not damaged by water, nor scorched by fire; it coexists with heaven and earth and shines together with the sun and moon. For gathering mica, that produced on the sunny side of a mountain is considered best.

Master Jiong’s Formula for Taking Mica (two formulas in total):

Pare a fresh bamboo tube until thin, put in half a sheng of white salt, cover it with a wooden basin, seal it with lacquer, and bury it in damp ground beside a well, five chi deep. After more than ten days, the salt will turn into water. Then add one sheng of saltpeter and let it turn into water; next add two jin of mica powder, seal the bamboo tube firmly again, and bury it. After ten days, take it out and steam it with an equal amount of white honey in an iron vessel until it congeals into a paste-like consistency; then it can be taken. It may also be made into pills the size of wutong seeds and taken three times a day. It is said that after taking it the body will have luster and be able to endure both cold and heat.

The Yuqing Method of Ingesting Mica

Take one jin of mica that has been pounded and refined into powder as described above, then take half a jin of Ophiopogon powder and half a jin of white honey; mix them evenly and put the mixture into a fresh bamboo tube, sealing the opening. Place it over three dou of non-glutinous rice and steam it; after about half a day, remove it. The preparation should be viscous like maltose syrup. Take it three times a day, each time a lump the size of a pellet. If one takes it single-mindedly, one can attain long life and not die.

Cui Wenzi’s Formula for Ingesting Mica

Take mica that has previously been soaked and processed into powder using Sanguisorba ash, and put it into green bamboo tubes. Each tube should be one chi long; peel off the outer skin. When filling with the medicine, do not fill it completely—leave five cun below the opening—and cover the opening with fine silk, securing it in place. Put the bamboo tube into a steamer and bury it in fine sand, with the tube opening exposed five cun above the sand, and steam for one day. Remove the medicine and put it into a new porcelain bottle; stopper the bottle tightly with fine silk, then seal it firmly with lacquer.

At the spring equinox, place the porcelain bottle at the bottom of a well; at the autumn equinox, take it out. First take one sheng of white honey, two sheng of refined beef tallow, and half a jin of wax; place them in a copper vessel and simmer over a gentle fire, blending them together. Then add the mica and continue simmering until it can be made into pills. To take it, swallow three pills, each the size of a wutong seed, three times a day. After three years of taking it, it is said one will no longer feel hunger or thirst, will be able to withstand cold and heat, and will not fear wind-damp. After five years, white hair will turn black, and the body will become light, healthy, and strong. Taken over the long term, one may become an immortal.

Master Yue’s Formula for Ingesting Mica

Take mica that has previously been soaked in bitter wine and processed into powder, add fresh bamboo juice, and cook over a gentle fire for three days and three nights. Afterward, wash and refine it with clear water, then sun-dry it. After thirty days, add scallion juice and mix it into a paste; place it in an earthenware vessel and steam for half a day. Remove it and sun-dry it, then blend it with white honey. Take it three times a day, three pills each time, each pill the size of a wutong seed. It is said that in this way one may become an immortal, attain the Dao, and transcend the world.

Yuenü Yuanming’s Formula for Ingesting Mica (Nine Methods in All)

Take ten jin of mica powder. First put one jin of bamboo juice into a vessel, then add half a jin of cinnamon bark—do not grind the cinnamon into powder. After mixing, steam everything together for five days and five nights, until the bamboo juice has steamed dry. Remove it and put it into a copper vessel; add two jin of true cinnabar and three jin of white honey, stir evenly, and steam for another day, until the preparation is viscous like maltose syrup. Put it into bamboo tubes and form pills the size of sour jujubes; take one pill a day. After one month of taking it, it is said one will regain one’s youth; after a full year, one will take on a childlike appearance.

Another method: crush white scallion flowers and squeeze out two sheng of scallion juice; put in one jin each of cinnamon powder and mica, place the mixture into a fresh bamboo tube, and steam it over one dan of rice until the preparation turns into liquid, then sun-dry it…

Ningqian Zhifu: take it three times daily, one daogui each time (an ancient measure, roughly a small pinch). After twenty days, it can make the face ten years younger and the complexion like a child’s; after forty days, the face will be like an infant’s; after one hundred days, one may enter fire without feeling heat and enter water without feeling cold.

Another formula: first take one sheng of cassia powder and steam-cook it until it turns into water; then add honey and mica and continue steaming until it becomes a paste. Take it with fine wine; effects will appear after one month.

Another formula: take ten jin of cassia, pare away the outer wood to obtain its heartwood, getting three jin, then pound and sift it. Next take forty jin of scallion whites and flowers, pound them thoroughly, and press out the juice. Mix the scallion juice with the cassia powder, put it into a fresh bamboo tube, seal the tube mouth tightly, and suspend it for steaming. After five dou of broomcorn millet have been steamed, the medicine will turn into water. Then add one jin of mica powder; after one day the medicine will again turn into water. Take one xiangdou (an acorn-cup measure) daily, divided into three doses. After twenty days, the appearance will become childlike.

Another formula: mix cassia powder with scallion juice and let it soak for three days; then filter out the dregs, and use the resulting medicinal liquid to mix mica powder. Put it into a thin bamboo tube and seal the tube mouth tightly. Place the bamboo tube in full-bodied bitter wine; after twenty days the medicine will turn into water. Take one xiangdou each time, three times daily; it is said to make the lifespan endless.

Another formula: take three sheng of scallion juice, two jin of cassia powder, and five jin of mica powder, pound and mix them together, put the mixture into a fresh bamboo tube, and bury it three chi deep in soil in a shady place. After one hundred and twenty days, the medicine will completely turn into water. Take one xiangdou each time, three times daily; it is said that after taking it one may attain long life.

Another formula: take five sheng of scallion juice and half a jin of cassia powder, place them in a bronze vessel and steam-cook; then add one jin of mica, knead together, and bury it in the earth so that the vessel is level with the ground, and cover it tightly. After three days the medicine will all turn into water. Take one spoonful each time, three times daily; it is said to confer long life without aging.

Another formula: take one jin of mica powder and three sheng of white honey, place them in a bronze vessel, seal the vessel mouth tightly with lacquer, and bury it beneath the north wall. After thirty days take it out; the medicine in the vessel will already have turned into a thin liquid, which may be drunk as desired. After twenty days of taking it, the body will emit light; after thirty days, one will not be harmed by wind-damp; after one hundred days, the appearance will become childlike.

Another formula: take mica complete in all five colors, carefully split it open, boil it in saltpeter solution, then immediately plunge it into cold water, repeating this nine times. Then dry it in the sun, put it into an iron vessel and heat it until its color is the same as flame; then take it out, pour it into white honey, and stir so that it mixes into a paste. Filter it through silk to remove the dregs, take the liquid, and let it cool and congeal into a paste. Take it before meals, each dose the size of a pellet, three times daily; it is said that one may become an immortal and live forever.

Lord Lao’s Formulas for Ingesting Mica (six formulas in all): The above records are formulas for ingesting mica.

One jin of mica powder and one jin of white saltpeter, pounded and sifted, are mixed with three sheng of white honey and stirred into a porridge-like consistency, then put into a fresh bamboo tube. The opening is sealed firmly with lacquer, and the tube is buried beneath the north wall. After thirty days take it out and keep it in a bronze vessel. The medicine will gradually become like water or wine and can be taken. After twenty days of taking it, the body will emit light; after thirty days, dew will not touch the body; after fifty days, one can enter the mountains and avoid tigers and wolves, and water and fire cannot harm one; after one hundred days, one can move freely in and out of the dark realm and travel in all directions, and one can become an immortal.

Another formula: one jin of mica powder, toad fat (the grease of a toad, about the size of a pellet), and white saltpeter and calcite (each about the size of a pellet). In spring put them into a bamboo tube, seal it tightly, and bury it four chi deep in damp ground. After nine days take it out and smear it on the hands; then one may hold fire without feeling heat. If heat is felt, bury it again for seven days, after which it is ready and can be taken. Take one sheng each time, twice a day. It is said to eliminate all diseases and to make the body and complexion moist and lustrous; after taking it for two hundred days, one can communicate with Heaven.

Method for Dissolving Jade

Take one jin of top-grade jade, grind it into fine powder, and place it in mica water for ten days; the jade will dissolve. One may take half a jin. If powder from various stones is put in, it too will dissolve—not only jade. This formula is extremely secret and wondrous; do not transmit it to others.

Another formula: two jin of mica powder and one jin of saltpeter, pounded together into a paste and put into an earthen jar. Seal the opening firmly with lacquer and bury it three chi deep in damp ground; alternatively, suspend it in a well three chi above the water. After ten days it turns into water. Use an acorn cup (a measuring vessel) to measure out the medicine, taking it three times a day and gradually increasing the dose. It is said to delay aging, restore youth, and make the body lustrous.

Another formula: one jin of mica powder and a thin, freshly cut bamboo tube. Put the mica powder into the tube, add two liang of crude mirabilite, seal it tightly, and bury it in silkworm droppings for seven days; the medicine will turn into water. Take it out, condense and refine it and steam it, and bury it in yellow earth for three nights—or perhaps four or five days—until the medicine dissolves. Then wrap it tightly in three layers of yellow silk and place it in a shaded flower bed for seven days; it will again turn into water. Take it out, sun it on a rooftop for three days, and then place it in a well five or six zhang deep, but do not let it sink to the bottom. After ten days the medicine is complete and can be taken. This medicine is called “Cloud Liquid.” Take one daogui (a small medicine spoon) each time, three times a day. It is said that one can see clearly for a thousand li, and after taking it for one hundred days one can attain long life.

Another formula: three jin each of mica powder, Tianmendong (asparagus fern) powder, and Poria powder. Mix and process them, and make pills the size of parasol-tree seeds with white honey. Take twenty-one pills each time, gradually increasing to thirty. After ten days change to taking them twice a day; after twenty days change to taking them once a day. If one wishes to take mica...

Before taking this medicine, it must first be refined and processed; only afterward may it be taken on its own. Whenever one takes mica, one must abstain from sexual intercourse, avoid stepping on filthy things, and avoid contact with pungent foods or the odor of blood.

Methods of the Immortals for Refining and Taking Mica

This formula differs from ancient formulas. It is said that a woman of the Eastern Sea who sold salt sold the formula to a recluse at Mount Meng; the recluse then obtained this formula. The formula says: when taking mica powder, take one bowl of japonica rice congee of moderate consistency, add one spoonful of mica powder, stir thoroughly, and take it. The Xian Jing (Scripture of Immortals) says that this medicine has many benefits, which are difficult to enumerate one by one.

Before compounding the medicine, one must first sacrifice to the stove, prepare various fragrant flowers, the five fruits, wine and beverages, butter, honey, oil, and other items, and pay special attention to cleanliness. After the medicine is prepared, it is said there are no taboos. In compounding the medicine, one must also choose days on which the deities descend. According to what is listed in the scriptures, one should choose the days designated Chu (Remove), Cheng (Complete), Shou (Receive), Kai (Open), Jian (Establish), and Man (Full), believing that the deities will come and the medicine will thereby be efficacious; one must not choose the days designated Zhi (Grasp), Po (Break), and Bi (Close), for otherwise the compounded medicine will be poor and will have no effect after being taken.

It is best to compound the medicine in spring or summer; the seventh month of early autumn is also acceptable. After the fifteenth day of the eighth month, when the weather turns cold, even if the medicine is prepared, its effects will not be good. The medicine must not be near fire, nor may it be soaked in hot water; these are major taboos. It is best to use a vessel shaped like an axe to hold the medicine when taking it; some also say that grinding the medicine with a jade bowl and jade pestle is more beneficial, and that steeping and processing mica this way is especially good. These are all secret methods of the immortals; those who transmit them warn that they should not be passed on to unsuitable people, and that they should be treasured and kept in a golden casket.

Your servant Fazang says: From childhood my family was poor, and in my early years I also suffered from serious illness, so I entered the valleys to seek out a good physician. Afterward I took medicines to recuperate, and after many years, such was the situation.

Formula of the Perfected for Regular Use of Mica

Pound and extract two sheng of juice from white scallion stalks; take half a jin of cassia heart, blend one jin of mica with the scallion juice, then add half a jin of honey, put everything together into a fresh bamboo tube, and steam it in a steamer capable of steaming one dan of rice. After the medicine is prepared, form it into pills; take thirty pills each time, twice a day. It is said that one may attain immortality thereby.

Mica is a superior medicine and occupies the position of chief ingredient; it is claimed to be able to cure all kinds of diseases. The method of taking it is roughly as above, with only a few taboos: one must not eat blood, hu-sui (coriander), or raw carp slices. After passing the “welcoming three and sending off seven” period, one may eat as one pleases.

When an elderly person takes mica powder for twenty-one days, it is said that the bone marrow becomes full, the voice becomes clear, and the body becomes stronger; these are signs that the medicine is taking effect. When young people take it for fourteen days, effects are also said to appear. Although the above explains the method of taking the medicine, it has not yet clarified whether the medicinal nature is cold or hot, nor has it explained constipation...

If the medicinal nature is astringent, it may be taken mixed with drinking water; if the body is cold and the stools are loose and slippery, it is better to take it with wine.

Master Liu the Alchemist’s Formula for Taking Mica

After the mica has been collected, first strike it lightly from the side with a wooden mallet so that the layers loosen one by one, then remove the sand and stones. Put the mica into a cloth bag, place it in a jar, and soak it in east-flowing water. Change the water every five days; after soaking for about twenty days, take it out and wash it in a large wooden basin until it is clean.

Then put the mica back into the cloth bag, place it in a pot, and boil it according to the previous method for ten to twenty days. Add water when it runs low, and change the water in the pot every five days. The water from the first change is discarded; at the second change, clarify the water, take out the mica powder, put it back into the bag, and continue boiling. When the mica feels like flour when rubbed between the fingers, it may be stopped.

Put the mica back into the wooden basin, wash it, dry it in the sun, and pound it into powder with a wooden pestle and stone mortar. The pounding should be done inside a paper tent (a cover used to keep out wind and dust), so that wind and dust do not mix in. After pounding, put it into a silk bag according to the previous method.

Before boiling the mica, first decoct Wujia (the name used in the original) and Diyu, take the concentrated juice, and store it in a large jar; when boiling the mica, gradually add this liquid to the pot, and still boil it according to the previous method. If there is no niter, it can also be boiled, but the mica will be harder to soften. For every one jin of Wujia, use two jin of Diyu.

When selecting mica, remove the black, hard, flawed, or grain-obscuring pieces. When viewed against the sun, the bright, translucent, blue-white pieces are the best.

Methods for Transforming Mica into Water (Three)

First method: Take scallion juice; if there is no scallion juice, boil scallions and mash them as a substitute. Pound cinnamon heart (the central part of cinnamon) into powder, grind niter finely, mix them with scallion juice into the mica powder, and bury it in earth in the shade of a wall for one month; it will then transform into water. Lady Li said that mixing mica only with scallion juice and honey can also transform it into water, with a better effect than adding niter; she also said that niter damages the bones. In both methods, the materials should be placed in a green bamboo tube and sealed tightly.

Second method: Take two jin of mica powder and one jin of niter, pound them together into a paste, put it into an earthenware jar, seal the mouth of the jar tightly, and bury it three chi underground. After fourteen days, take it out and hang it in a well for seven days; it will then transform into water.

Third method: Take one jin of mica and three jin of white honey, put them into a bronze vessel, mix them evenly, and heat over a gentle fire until they boil. Cover with another vessel and seal it tightly, then bury it beneath the north wall.

Bury it three chi underground; after forty days, the mica will turn into water, called “mica slurry.” When taking it, take it with japonica rice broth.

Physician Li’s Method for Refining Mica Powder

Take mica and strike it from the side so that it splits layer by layer into thin sheets; then place it in a bronze vessel and boil it. Bring it to a boil a dozen or so times, until the heat has penetrated the mica. Next sew a double-layer bag from fine cloth and put the mica into it.

Pour warm water into a basin and rub the bag containing the mica in it. Once a white liquid has been rubbed out, pour it little by little into another basin. Continue rubbing with warm water until the liquid becomes thick, then pour it into yet another basin. Repeat this until all the liquid in the mica has been extracted.

Combine the mica liquid from all the basins, put it into a double-layer cloth bag, and rub it again; following the previous method, pour the liquid into an oil-smeared basin until all the mica liquid has been filtered out. Then put the mica back into a double-layer silk bag and rub it again as before until all the liquid has been filtered out. In this way, after the mica has been put into a double-layer silk bag and rubbed and washed twice, the powder will become fine. Finally, put the powder into a double-layer silk bag, hang it in the air to drain off all the water, and then store it in a porcelain bowl.

A Daoist Priest’s Method for Refining Mica (white, bright, and transparent mica is considered top grade)

Iron vessels must not be used in refining mica. It is best to boil and refine it in an earthenware basin. Take one jin of mica and four liang of white alum; grind the alum and dissolve it in boiling water to form a slurry. At first, mix the mica only with the alum slurry, then put it into a bag and steam it for seven days; afterward soak it in alum slurry for one month, until the mica turns into powder. Then filter it through a three-layer silk bag and repeatedly rinse with water and let it settle to make a powder. Next, place the powder in Huangxi sand and steam it for seven days, also mixing it with alum slurry during this time.

Take one jin of the refined mica powder and add two sheng of white honey. After refining and filtering the honey, put it together with the mica powder into a bamboo tube, seal the mouth of the tube tightly with lacquer, and bury it three chi underground. After one month, the mica powder will turn into a slurry. If it has still not turned into slurry and still looks cloudy, bury it for another half month; in cold weather, it must be buried for a full month.

Method of Taking: Each day on an empty stomach, mix one ge of mica slurry with two ge of well-flower water (water drawn from a well at dawn) and take it. A little alcohol does no harm; avoid eating sheep’s blood.

Methods for Boiling and Refining Mica (two in total)

Take fifty jin of mica and half a jin of saltpeter. Strike the mica open from the side, peel it into thin sheets, put it into a coarse cloth bag, and swish and wash it in clean water until all dirt has been removed.

Next, put the mica into a pot and boil it with saltpeter for six or seven days, until it becomes soft and decomposed and turns into powder.

Then take Acanthopanax bark (wujiapi) and scallion juice and boil the mica with them. After only about one shichen (a two-hour period), the mica will soften and turn into powder. Once the powder is made, put the mica into a silk bag and wash it once; the effect will be better.

The Zhenren’s (Perfected One’s) methods for taking water mica (three in total): Extract juice from scallion stems; grind and sift one jin of cinnamon; then take one jin of mica and grind it into powder. Mix these materials, put them into a bamboo tube, and steam them for about the time needed to cook one dan of rice. Afterward, reduce the heat so that the medicinal substance congeals, then take it out and dry it in the air. Each time take one fangcunbi (an ancient square-inch spoon for measuring powders), three times a day. After taking it for thirty days, the complexion will become like jade; after one hundred days, one may enter water without drowning and enter fire without being burned.

Mica has five colors, and most people of the time could not distinguish them. One should carefully examine the color in sunlight and identify it clearly before use. When observed with the light behind it, if no mixed colors can be seen and the overall color is evident: if blue-green predominates, it is called “Yunying” and is suitable for taking in spring; if white predominates, it is called “Yunye” and is suitable for autumn; if black predominates, it is called “Yunmu” and is suitable for winter; if other colors predominate, it is called “Yunsha” and is suitable for the end of the season; if the crystalline, pure-white portion predominates, it is called “Linshi” and is suitable for all four seasons; if it is yellow in color and hard in texture, it is called “Yunjing” and may be taken regularly in spring, autumn, winter, and summer.

The five processing methods for mica are: some use cinnamon, scallion, and jade-like materials to prepare it into water; some place it in an iron vessel and soak it with Xuanshui (mysterious water) to make water; some mix it with saltpeter, put it into a bamboo tube, and bury it to make water; some prepare it with honey or milk curd; some soak it in autumn dew for a hundred days and then put it into a leather bag to make powder; and some mix it with wuxincao (heartless grass) juice and take it. The scripture states that taking it for one year can cure illness, three years can make the old return to youth, and five years enables one to command ghosts and spirits; one can also enter fire without burning, enter water without drowning, suffer no injury from thorns, and see immortals.

The scripture also says that other substances rot when buried and scorch when placed in fire; mica, however, does not burn when placed in fire and does not rot when buried in earth, and therefore it can make people long-lived. It also says that after ten years of taking it, the Qi (vital energy) of mica will constantly cover and protect the body. If the mica is pure black and has protrusions, it must not be taken; otherwise it will cause strangury with dribbling urine and sores on the body.

When using mica, one should soak it for a hundred days in rainwater from a thatched roof, east-flowing water, or dew, then wash it and remove sand, soil, and stone fragments; only after that may it be used.

Another formula: pound scallion stalks, squeeze out two sheng of juice; take one jin of cassia (cassia bark or cinnamon), pound and sift; take one jin of mica and grind it into powder. Mix the three ingredients, put them into a bamboo tube, and steam for the time required to cook one shi of rice. After one day the ingredients transform into water; take out the water and let it congeal, then sun-dry it. Each dose is the amount of a piece one cun square. The formula says that after fifty days of taking it one can return to youth; after one hundred days, one will not drown in water and will not feel cold when walking on ice.

Formula for Immortals Consuming Mica

Take ten jin of mica complete in all five colors, carefully split it apart, remove the blackened portions, and select only the bright and clean pieces. In the eighth month, when dew is present, use dew to grind the mica into a fine powder; it must be ground fine enough that when observed against the sunlight no glinting light can be seen, and only then may it be used. Take two sheng of the prepared mica powder, place it in a fresh bamboo tube, seal the opening tightly, and steam it in a zeng steamer; then cover it with white sand and steam for one day and one night. Remove the white sand, cover it instead with one hu of broomcorn millet, and steam for another day and night; remove the millet, replace it with rice as a covering, and steam for yet another day and night.

Take out the mica, place it in a bronze vessel, add one sheng of mica powder, and mix evenly. Place the bronze vessel over a pot of boiling water and heat it in a double boiler for half a day, until the mica is completely melted and can be formed into pills. Make the pills the size of small beans. When the stars appear, take three pills, three times a day. After fifteen full days, the body becomes light; at cockcrow take three pills, and after another fifteen days increase the dose to four pills each time, three times a day. After another fifteen days, the body will be light and strong and the eyes bright; after fifty days, the intestines will transform into sinews; after seventy days, the “three worms and corpse-lying” entities within the body (disease-causing evil worms in Daoist and traditional medical thought) will all be expelled; after eighty days, the body will be lustrous and moist; after ninety days, one will not drown in water nor burn in fire; after one hundred days, the skin will be renewed; after two hundred days, the sinews, bones, and hair will change; after three hundred days, one will move like a flying dragon and run faster than a swift horse; in one year one can achieve the immortal Dao.

The formula also says that people aged twenty to forty who take it for three hundred days can become immortals; people aged fifty to seventy who take it for three hundred sixty days can become immortals; people over eighty who take it for four hundred days can become immortals. Mica is the essence of the “Five Stones”; it is an immortal medicine formed by the congealing of the essences of heaven and earth and the radiance of the sun and moon. It must not be transmitted to anyone who is not virtuous.

Formulas for Perfected Persons Consuming Mica (Four Formulas in Total)

Mica five jin, pine resin twelve jin, poria ten jin, aconite forty-five pieces, and beeswax ten jin—five ingredients in all. Combine them and pound thirty thousand times, grind into a fine powder, sun-dry, and make three dou of medicinal powder. Place it in rich, strong bitter wine, seal it, and allow it to clarify; take one dou and five sheng of the clear liquid...

Put the ingredients into a container and have a group of people stir them with their hands until thoroughly mixed; then bury it underground. After a full thousand days, take it out. The medicine will be naturally completed; there is no need to doubt. When the medicine is ready, its fragrance can spread as far as three li.

Take one jin, and it is said the three worms and hidden corpses within the body (pernicious internal entities believed to cause illness in Daoist medical thought) will all be expelled, and the hundred diseases will be eliminated. Take five jin, and the body will become light and nimble, and the complexion excellent. Take six jin at the fifteenth hour, and one can fly, and the hands can touch the sun and moon. Take seven jin, and there will be nothing one cannot do: one may move freely in and out, manifest the body wherever one wishes, enter the gate of Dao to teach sentient beings, and secretly transcend the world. Those in disaster can all be rescued and brought to safety, and one can command and assist the immortals, propagate the Great Dao, and teach according to circumstances. This medicine is extremely secret; do not transmit it to anyone who is not a worthy.

Another recipe: soak scallion juice and cinnamon bark powder for three months, filter out the residue, use the resulting liquid to blend the powder, and put it into a bamboo tube. The bamboo tube should have its outer skin shaved off and be made thin, then sealed and placed in a wine jar containing vinegar to ferment for twenty days. After it is made, take it, and it is said one can become a spirit and no longer age.

Another recipe: one dou of mica powder and two sheng of barley; cook them together, remove the residue, and take the medicinal liquid. It is said the body will emit light, extend life, and never age.

Another recipe: take ten jin of cinnamon tree flesh, pare away and take the medicinal part, obtaining three jin; pound and sift it. Take forty jin of scallion whites, crush them, and squeeze out the juice through cloth. Put the cinnamon powder into a bamboo tube, cover it, and seal the opening; then suspend it above five dou of glutinous millet and steam. When the millet is cooked, the contents of the tube will transform into liquid. Add one jin of mica powder and leave it for another day; it will again transform into liquid. Take one cup each day; after forty days, it is said one’s appearance will be like a child’s.

Cloud Syrup Method (two recipes)

First recipe: one jin of mica powder, four liang of saltpeter, two liang of crude saltpeter, and five sheng of white honey. Boil the honey until it can blend all ingredients, then mix in the mica powder and stir into a paste like batter for pancakes. Put it into a bamboo tube, cover it, and seal all around with mud so that no qi escapes; bury it one or two chi underground. After one hundred and fifty days it is ready; take it, and it is said the skin will become glossy and the appearance like a child’s.

Second recipe: one large jin of mica powder, four liang of Ze Xie (Alisma), five sheng of honey (boil down by two sheng, taking three sheng), four liang of crude saltpeter, four liang of saltpeter, and three liang of cinnamon heart. Mix these ingredients and stir into a paste like batter for pancakes; put it into a bamboo tube with the green skin shaved off, and seal the opening firmly with lacquer. When the lacquer is dry, bury it in a well.

Dig a pit to the north, seven or eight chi deep, bury the object three chi five cun from the well, and then fill it firmly with earth. After one hundred and fifty days, take it out; the contents will have congealed into a bluish-green substance, clear and bright. It is said to be ingestible, to cure all kinds of illness, and, taken over a long time, to bring long life.

The Formula for Divine Mica Powder Transmitted by Chisongzi (Master Red Pine)

I once saw high immortals and Zhenren (Perfected beings) studying the Dao in the mountains and then roaming by the great sea. They saw a man who, after bathing, radiated light from his body; his skin was white and bright, unlike that of ordinary people. They asked him the reason, and he said he had taken a divine powder, and only then had such a luminous and pure complexion. Thereupon he transmitted the formula to me: each morning take mica powder and swallow one square-inch spoonful (about one small spoonful) with the first water drawn from the well at dawn. It is said that the body will then develop a lustrous sheen.

Method for Steaming Mica

Build a stove in the southeast, place the mica on top of a cauldron, and steam it with mulberry wood for nine days and nine nights. For every dou of mica cooked, add two sheng of salt flowers.

Formula for Taking Mica Powder Recorded in the Plain Book in the Jade Casket beneath the Cypress and Cassia Trees of Wei Shuqing (a Legendary Immortal) at Mount Zhongnan

Take one jin of mica powder and one sheng of white honey, put them in a copper vessel, and double-boil until the mixture can be formed into pills. Make each pill the size of a hemp seed. Take three pills when the bright star appears, and seven pills at cockcrow. It is said that after thirty days of taking it, the body becomes light and strong and the eyes bright; when one has taken up to five liang, the abdomen becomes firm; at seven liang, the three worms in the body are expelled; at eight liang, the skin becomes lustrous. After ninety days of taking it, one enters water without getting wet and enters fire without being burned; after one hundred days, one sheds the mortal frame and changes bones; after two hundred days, one can outrun a galloping horse; after one year, one can fly freely and ascend to heaven as an immortal.

Formula for Mica Pills for Long Life and Grain Abstention

Take three jin of mica powder and two sheng of white honey, put them in a copper vessel, and double-boil; then gradually add three sheng of light bamboo sap, stirring constantly from side to side with a bamboo whisk until all the bamboo sap has been added. During preparation, keep everything pure and clean, and do not let chickens, dogs, or women see it.

When taking it, first eat a hearty meal, eating as much as possible; early the next morning, on an empty stomach, take one pill the size of an egg, facing the direction of life-generating Qi (the direction believed to have life-generating Qi). When thirsty, one may eat and drink light wheat cakes, goji berries, turnips, alfalfa, black nightshade, and the like. After taking two courses, if illness erupts or the teeth fall out, do not be alarmed; in less than a month, the teeth will certainly regrow and return to normal. Thereafter, when eating wheat-based foods, add two or three spoonfuls of mica powder and prepare them together; one will not notice any difference.

Method for Cloud Syrup

Take one jin of mica powder and three jin of white honey, put them in a copper vessel, and heat over a fire...

Let the medicinal liquid come to a boil, then stop the fire. Let it cool, then put it into a new porcelain vessel, seal it tightly, cover it with a wooden board, and bury it beneath the north wall three chi deep in the ground. After forty days, the medicinal liquid will transform into water, called “Cloud Syrup.”

First observe a purification fast for thirty days. On a “Wangxiang day” (an auspicious day calculated according to the Five Phases), in the early morning draw one sheng of well-flower water (water drawn from a well in the early morning), add one ge of Cloud Syrup, mix well, and drink it three times a day. After taking it, the body will emit a luster; even when near the clouds one will not get wet, and one can summon Jade Maidens and immortals.

Taboos While Taking Mica

During the period of taking the medicine, celery, cilantro, pork, eel, hemp seed, catfish, and stale, foul-smelling foods will not interfere with the medicine, but they may weaken the efficacy of the powder. Huangyi (a type of yellow millet) and rice vinegar should also not be eaten; otherwise the medicine’s power will be difficult to exert. Bran vinegar may be slightly permitted and can be eaten.

If one only wishes to treat illness, supplement and strengthen the body, and prolong life, one need not necessarily abstain from meat foods, eggplant, or flesh-and-blood foods; if cultivating the immortal Dao, it is best to strictly observe the taboos.

Master Hanzang’s Methods for Healing Illness

To treat the five strains and seven injuries (various kinds of exhaustion and deficiency symptoms), bodily depletion, and easy sweating, apply the powder to the body and massage it with the hand. When the powder has penetrated the skin and is no longer visible, one may stop. Sweating even after eating is also regarded as bodily weakness. One may repeatedly apply the powder and massage; if one wishes to dispel wind pathogens from the skin and flesh, one may apply more. It is said that this can make the skin and bones smooth and moist.

To treat gan-dampness and tinea sores, take the powder together with japonica rice congee, and stop after recovery. To treat metal wounds (injuries caused by swords and blades), put a little powder into the wound, then mix the powder into japonica rice congee and take it twice; it is said to cure the wound, and after healing no scar remains.

For ailments of the lower body that have dragged on for fifty years without healing, take the powder twice a day for a total of twenty doses, and it is said to cure them. During the ten-odd days of taking the medicine, abstain from the five pungent vegetables, cilantro, pork, and raw or cold foods.

To treat high fever, headache, and fullness and distension in the chest and abdomen caused by epidemic toxic disease, as well as yellow disease, take three liang of the powder, mix it into half a bowl of congee, and adjust it to a moderate consistency and a temperature close to body temperature; take it three times a day, and it is said to quickly stop the illness.

To treat headache and high fever caused by the outbreak of the properties of mineral and metallic drugs, take “one-seven” of the powder (a dosage notation in the original; the exact amount is unclear), mix it with two ge of cold water, and take it three times a day; the symptoms are said to cease.

To treat wind-induced hemiplegia (conditions such as half-body paralysis after stroke), half-body paralysis, facial deviation and asymmetry, and mental confusion, take “two-seven” of the powder daily (a dosage notation in the original; the exact amount is unclear), mix it into a beverage, and take it until recovery; at the same time, massage the body with the powder. It is said to be very effective.

To treat the seven kinds of wind qi, as well as fullness and distension in the chest and abdomen caused by cold and hot qi, pain extending to the chest and back, shifting pain, and rebellious qi in the chest, take “one-seven” of the powder, mix it with three ge of wine and take it, or mix it into congee, three times a day until recovery. The original text says its curative effect is reliable.

To treat bone-steaming deficiency heat, dryness of the lips and mouth, emaciation and weakness of the four limbs, and inability to eat: take this powder according to the method described above, up to three jin, and all the symptoms will be eliminated.

To treat the twelve kinds of heart pain and flying corpse (feishi, an acute condition in ancient medical texts): simply take it according to the previous method, and it can also be cured.

To treat white dysentery that has not healed for many years: take three spoonfuls (a dose measured with a spoon-shaped ladle) of the powder, mix it into japonica rice porridge, and take it; after fourteen consecutive doses (“two sevens,” that is, two times seven), it will take effect. During treatment, avoid eating blood foods.

To treat persistent leukorrhea (abnormal vaginal discharge in women, dripping without stopping) that has long resisted treatment: place the powder into the lower part, and at the same time take it according to the previous method; it will heal. This has been verified as effective.

To treat stabbing wind (a condition mainly characterized by needle-like pain): take it according to the previous method and rub the body with the powder. Especially avoid sexual intercourse and eating the five pungent vegetables (onions, garlic, chives, scallions, asafoetida, and other pungent foods).

To treat bloody stool caused by insect poison, as well as the three worms, hemorrhoids, and anal fistula and leakage: take it according to the previous method; it has been verified effective.

To treat cold in the abdomen and inability to digest food: rub the body with the powder, then take one fangcunbi (an ancient medicine-measuring implement or dosage unit) of powder, mix it evenly with an appropriate amount of good wine, and take it; there is no case in which it fails to work.

To treat cold conditions, as well as xuanpi and zhengjia (conditions of accumulation and masses in the abdomen): take it with clear wine according to the previous method, up to three jin, and it will be completely eliminated.

Once someone was bitten by a snake on the ankle; the whole body swelled, the pain was severe, and he could not bend or stretch. So the wound was pricked with a needle to disperse the toxic qi; then three liang and seven [units] (as in the original; the exact dosage is unclear) of powder were mixed with wine and taken, and a little powder was applied to the bite. After a while, the poisonous fluid flowed out, and the swelling and pain subsided.

Another person, after becoming drunk, was stabbed with a knife in three places; the wounds were all deep, the abdomen was perforated, and various medicines failed to save him. Later, “coagulated powder: three-seven as two liang” (the dosage wording in the original is unclear) was taken in two doses. After the congealed blood dispersed, the time of one meal later, blood and fresh blood clots were discharged from below, the pain immediately disappeared, and the whole person suddenly felt relieved, as if ice and snow had melted. From this it can be seen that this powder is indeed effective for dispersing and breaking blood stasis.

Yunji Qiqian, juan 75