《孫真人備急千金要方》Vol. 12

Volume Twelve of The Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand in Gold for Emergencies by Master Sun is divided into six sections. This volume was collated by Lin Yi and others, who held the Song court titles of Gentleman of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Acting Junior Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and Collator of the Secret Pavilion. This chapter, “Prescriptions for the Young and Infants,” presents remedies for treating illness in babies and young children; this section contains prescriptions for cough.

A child about two hundred days old developed small sores on his head and body. They healed after treatment, but in the fifth month he suddenly developed a mild cough and some fever. His condition then changed, and he began having seizure-like episodes about twenty times a day. His limbs drew up and twitched, his back arched, and his eyes rolled upward. For a short while his breathing stopped, then after a long time he came around. He had already been given a decoction for seizures that made him vomit and have diarrhea, continuously for several days. Afterward, he was given only bamboo sap, extracted from bamboo, with the dose gradually increased until he had taken about one sheng over the course of a day and night. The episodes began to occur less often. The next day he was given bamboo-sap decoction. After taking it, he vomited and had diarrhea, and the episodes greatly diminished. Small amounts of bamboo sap continued to be given from time to time.

Bamboo-Sap Decoction: Five ge of bamboo sap; thirty zhu of Scutellaria root; six zhu each of Aristolochia root, antelope horn, and Atractylodes rhizome (another version gives white atractylodes); two liang of rhubarb; three zhu of Japanese yew; and half a liang each of ephedra, Cynanchum root, mulberry mistletoe, Dioscorea root, and licorice.

Chop the twelve ingredients. Boil them in two and a half sheng of water until the liquid is reduced by half, then add the bamboo sap and continue boiling until one sheng remains. Divide into doses of two ge, taking each dose about one meal apart. Another version omits Dioscorea root.

Aster Decoction: For a young child who catches cold or contracts a cold disorder and suddenly begins coughing, or has Qi surging upward, noisy breathing in the throat, or counterflow of Qi; also for nasal congestion with clear, watery discharge.

Six zhu each of aster root, apricot kernels, Scutellaria root, Chinese angelica, licorice, tangerine peel, green-costus root, ephedra, and cassia bark; one liang of rhubarb. Chop the ten ingredients and boil them in three sheng of water until nine ge remain, then strain out the dregs. For infants aged sixty to one hundred days, give two and a half ge per dose; for infants aged one hundred to two hundred days, give three ge per dose.

Schisandra Decoction: For a young child who catches wind and cold, with the pathogenic influence entering the lungs and causing Qi to surge upward, counterflow of Qi, a bluish complexion, rapid breathing, and coughing that continues day and night. The child may also vomit while eating and be unable to swallow food. The prescription lists half a liang each of schisandra and Chinese angelica, as well as ephedra.

Prepare a medicine from dried ginger, cinnamon bark, ginseng, purple aster, licorice, asarum, coltsfoot flower, rhubarb, and white atractylodes. Cut the ingredients into small pieces and boil them in two and a half liters of water until only nine tenths of a liter remain, then strain out the solids. For infants aged sixty to one hundred days, give two and a half tenths of a liter per dose; for infants aged one hundred to two hundred days, give three tenths of a liter per dose. Soak the rhubarb separately in water overnight before adding it. Another version omits coltsfoot flower and rhubarb and uses three jujubes instead.

This prescription treats cough with rebellious Qi, shortness of breath, and rapid breathing in the chest in children and adults, as well as coughing up nasal mucus, saliva, or foul-smelling pus-filled phlegm.

Another prescription: boil light bamboo sap for twenty rolling boils. Give children one tenth of a liter per dose, five times a day; give adults one liter per dose, also five times a day. There is no need to avoid food or breastfeeding while taking it.

Another prescription treats alternating chills and fever in children, cough with rebellious Qi, accumulations in the diaphragm, and vomiting or loss of appetite caused by stagnant breast milk. Take four liang of dried rehmannia, half a liter each of ophiopogon root, schisandra, and honey, and one liang each of rhubarb and xiaoshi (an ancient medicinal substance, usually a nitrate compound). Cut the ingredients into small pieces and boil them in three liters of water until one liter remains, then strain out the solids. Add the xiaoshi and honey, and bring the mixture to a boil. Give two tenths of a liter per dose, three times a day. The accumulated breast milk in the chest should then be expelled, in a quantity of about one liter. For severe cases, give five tenths of a liter per dose.

Shegan Decoction treats cough with rebellious Qi and wheezing in children, with breathing that sounds like a frog calling. Take one liang each of shegan, ephedra, purple aster, licorice, and fresh ginger; five pieces of pinellia; five cun of cinnamon bark; and twenty jujubes. Cut the ingredients into small pieces and boil them in seven liters of water until one and a half liters remain, then strain out the solids. Add five tenths of a liter of honey and bring the mixture to a boil once more. Serve warm, two tenths of a liter per dose, three times a day.

Another prescription: take four liang of pinellia, two liang each of purple aster, cinnamon bark, fresh ginger, asarum, donkey-hide gelatin, and licorice, two he of coltsfoot flower, and one he of honey. Cut the ingredients into small pieces. First boil the pinellia in one dou of water until six liters remain, then strain out the solids. Add the other ingredients and boil until two and a half liters remain. Give one liter to a five-year-old child and six tenths of a liter to a two-year-old. Adjust the dose according to age and body size; the text says it takes effect quickly.

Almond Pills: A formula for treating cough and upward surging of Qi in adults and children.

Take three sheng of almonds and pound them into a paste. Divide one sheng of honey into three portions. Add the first portion to the almonds and pound until sticky. Add the second portion and continue pounding until it forms a paste, then add the final portion and pound thoroughly until evenly mixed. Eat a meal first; afterward, hold the medicine in the mouth and swallow it slowly. Adjust the amount as appropriate, and take it three times a day. Each dose must not exceed half a fangcun spoonful (an ancient measure for powdered medicine, roughly equivalent to a small spoonful); taking more may cause diarrhea.

Another formula:

Two jin of pinellia (peel it, wash it six or seven times in river water, and use it whole), one jin of alum (ground to a fine powder), and four liang each of clove, licorice, tsaoko, Sichuan snakeroot, and round cardamom (coarsely pounded).

Mix the seven ingredients with one dou of good wine, coating the pinellia, and soak them together. Seal the container and soak for twenty-one days in spring and winter, or seven days in summer and autumn. When the soaking period is over, remove the herbs, rinse them quickly in cold water, and air-dry them. Take one piece at a time, chew it, and swallow it with ginger decoction; it may also be chewed dry. The original text says to wait until the medicine has dried for sixty days before taking it. It also adds, “This is probably not a formula by Sun Simiao,” expressing doubt that Sun Simiao composed it.

Eight-Ingredient Ginger Decoction: A formula for treating cough in children.

Seven liang of fresh ginger, four liang of dried ginger, two liang of cassia bark, three liang each of licorice, coltsfoot flower, and aster root, and one sheng each of almonds and honey.

Combine the ingredients and grind them into a powder. Simmer over a low flame until the mixture becomes as thick and sticky as malt syrup. Give the child an appropriate amount based on age and size, to hold in the mouth and swallow slowly. For an infant around one hundred days old, each dose should be about the size of a date pit, given four or five times a day. The text describes the results as very good.

Four-Ingredient Coltsfoot Pills: A formula for a child’s cough that eases during the day and worsens at night, beginning with wheezing so severe that the child cannot sleep peacefully or cry aloud.

One and a half liang each of coltsfoot flower and aster root, half a liang of cassia bark, and six zhu of Fulonggan (yellow earth from the bottom of a stove firebox).

Grind the ingredients into a fine powder and mix with honey to make a paste. Take an amount the size of a date pit and spread it on the nipple, so the child takes it while nursing. Apply it three times a day, gradually helping the child become accustomed to taking it.

Sweet Flag Pills: A formula for treating cough in children after sudden exposure to cold, as well as cough caused by accumulated Wind-Cold, accompanied by upward surging of Qi and rattling sounds in the throat.

Six zhu each of sweet flag, monkshood, almonds, alum stone, asarum, and Chinese honeylocust. The text then lists coltsfoot flower, dried ginger, and cassia bark, but breaks off without recording their doses or giving instructions for preparation or use.

Aster root and Sichuan pepper, eighteen zhu each; evodia fruit, five zhu; six he. (The dosage markings in the source are damaged, so it is impossible to determine whether “ten/eight zhu” and “six/he” correspond to separate ingredients.)

Grind the twelve ingredients into a fine powder and mix with honey to make pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Give a three-year-old child five pills per dose, gradually increasing to ten pills, three times a day. Adjust the dose as appropriate for younger or older children. For a sudden cough, several doses should bring improvement.

Cinnamon Twig Decoction

Treats infants more than ten days and up to fifty days old who suddenly develop noisy breathing in the throat, coughing, regurgitation of milk, vomiting, upward-rushing breath, and rapid coughing that keeps them from sleeping peacefully day or night.

Cinnamon twig, half a liang; licorice, two and a half liang; aster root, eighteen zhu; and ophiopogon, one liang and eighteen zhu.

Cut the four ingredients into pieces. Add two sheng of water and boil until half a sheng of liquid remains. Soak cotton wool in the liquid, squeeze it out, and feed the liquid to the child. Give it four or five times a day, during both daytime and nighttime, adjusting the intervals between feedings as appropriate.

Ephedra Decoction

Treats infants and young children who suddenly develop raised shoulders and wheezing, rapid breathing, and an inability to lie down comfortably. This is caused by pathogenic Wind invading the lungs.

Ephedra, four liang; licorice, one liang; cinnamon bark, five cun; Schisandra fruit, half a sheng; and pinellia and fresh ginger, two liang each.

Cut the six ingredients into pieces. Add five sheng of water and boil until two sheng remain. Give an infant one hundred days old one he per dose. Adjust the dose for children of other ages as appropriate. The condition should improve after taking it.

Accumulations, Knotted Masses, and Abdominal Distension, Section Seven (including Moxibustion and Cholera)

Double Purple Pill

Treats children with fever, headache, undigested food accumulation, abdominal distension, cramping pain in the lower abdomen, or inability to pass urine or stool. It is also suitable for frequent bowel movements or repeated, unsuccessful urges to defecate. It may also be used when a child has no other illness but has overeaten without restraint or been fed irregularly, and develops palpitations, alternating chills and fever, or similar symptoms. If there is no improvement after taking it, another dose may be given.

The following signs in a child may indicate food accumulation in the abdomen and intense internal Heat: reduced intake of milk and food, labored breathing, crying at night, and restless sleep. This pill is suitable for all these conditions, and no other medicine is needed. It has been used many times with marked results and is a precious secret formula.

The officials Sun Yi and others observe: in the preface and examples, whenever taking the “Purple Pill” is mentioned, it refers to the four-ingredient medicine listed earlier in the section on “transformation and steaming.” If taking the Purple Pill does not clear the accumulation, take the Red Pill. The Red Pill acts more forcefully and should be used when the condition is severe. However, no Red Pill is listed among the formulas in this section, and the source text is incomplete from this point onward, so the following content cannot be translated on that basis.

(When cinnabar is used, the medicinal effect is stronger than when the purple pills are used; the “purple pills” mentioned here are probably the red pills.)

Croton seeds, kernels of the Chinese plum (eighteen zhu each), Ophiopogon tuber (ten zhu), licorice (five zhu), kansui root, cinnabar (two zhu each), oyster shell, and beeswax (eight zhu each).

Wash the croton seeds in hot water, grind them, then wrap them in fresh cloth and squeeze out the oil. Pound the licorice, kansui root, oyster shell, and Ophiopogon tuber separately, then sift them. Grind the Chinese plum kernels very finely. Add the medicinal powders and pound everything another two thousand times. If the mixture is too dry to roll into pills, add a little honey and mix well.

For a six-month-old child, give two pills, each about the size of a perilla seed. For children aged one to two, give two pills the size of half a hemp seed; for those aged three to four, two pills the size of a hemp seed; for those aged five to six, two pills the size of a large hemp seed; for those aged seven to eight, two pills the size of a small bean; and for those aged nine to ten, two pills slightly larger than a small bean. The medicine is usually given at cockcrow. If the child has not had a bowel movement by sunrise, give a few measures of hot rice porridge to help expel the pills. The pills usually pass in pairs. If the diarrhea is too severe, give cold porridge to stop it.

This formula treats heat accumulated in the womb before birth, as well as conditions caused by a nursing mother’s poor diet and overexertion, which can leave her with too little milk. A child may remain thin despite nursing, with a distended chest and abdomen, a sallow complexion, wasting and weakness, and weak or cramped limbs. The medicine is said to gradually strengthen the child and bring color to the complexion.

White peony root and bupleurum (two liang each), rhubarb and ginseng (one liang each), dried ginger (if there are signs of heat, it may be replaced with immature bitter orange), and licorice (half a liang each), Chinese softshell turtle shell and poria (one and a half liang each).

Grind the eight ingredients into a fine powder and use honey to form pills the size of soybeans. For a child over one year old, the nursing mother takes three pills; for a seven-year-old child, give ten pills twice daily.

Ox Gallstone Pills: Used to treat undigested milk accumulation, abdominal pain, and startled crying in children.

Ox gallstone (three zhu), aconite (two pieces), pearl, croton seeds, and apricot kernels (one liang each).

Grind the aconite and pearl into a fine powder and sift it. Separately, pound the croton seeds and apricot kernels into a paste. Add the powder and ox gallstone, then pound everything another twelve hundred times. If the finished pills are too dry, add a little honey and mix well. For an infant one hundred days old, give a pill the size of a millet grain…

For a three-year-old child, give one pill per dose, about the size of a hemp seed; for a child aged five or six, give one pill about the size of a broad bean. Give the medicine twice a day. Feed the child first, then administer the medicine. Whether the illness is above or below the diaphragm, the medicine should gently promote downward passage. If the pill is passed intact, the illness is considered cured. If it is passed in fragments, give the medicine again until a whole pill is passed.

Mángxiāo Zǐ Yuán (Mirabilite and Purple Pill): Used to treat children with long-standing food accumulation, stagnant Qi, phlegm-fluid retention, alternating chills and fever, poor appetite, and wasting.

Mirabilite and rhubarb, four liang each; pinellia and kansui, two liang each; ochre, one liang; croton seeds, 200; and apricot kernels, 120.

Grind the seven ingredients into powder. Separately pound the croton seeds and apricot kernels into a paste, then gradually add the powder and pound everything together 3,000 times until thoroughly mixed. For children with a stronger constitution, a little honey may be added. For an infant younger than 100 days, give one pill per dose, about the size of a broad bean; for a child aged 100 days to one year, give two pills per dose. Adjust the dose according to the child’s age and build. If the medicine is seen in the child’s stool, the illness is considered cured; if it is not passed, repeat the dose as before.

Formula for children over eight with heat binding, abundant phlegm, excess, and inability to eat:

Peony, gardenia, anemarrhena, and rhubarb, two liang each; bupleurum, two liang and six zhu; cimicifuga, coptis, and scutellaria, two liang and a half each; one and a half sheng of chopped bamboo leaves; platycodon, one liang and a half; and asarum, fifteen zhu.

Chop the eleven ingredients and decoct them in six sheng of water until two sheng and eight ge remain. Strain out the dregs and divide the liquid into four doses. For a ten-year-old child, divide it into three doses. Another version adds one liang and a half each of immature bitter orange and apricot kernels, and omits platycodon and coptis.

Formula for children under fifteen with heat binding, abundant phlegm, and reduced food intake:

Rhubarb, bupleurum, and scutellaria, three liang each; immature bitter orange, one liang and eighteen zhu; cimicifuga, peony, anemarrhena, and gardenia, two liang and a half each; fresh ginger, eighteen zhu; apricot kernels, two liang; and one and a half sheng of chopped bamboo leaves.

Chop the eleven ingredients and decoct them in six and a half sheng of water until two sheng remain. Children aged ten to fifteen should take the liquid in three doses.

“Pill” refers to a medicinal pill; “broad bean” indicates a unit of size resembling a fava bean; and “fǔjǔ” means to chop or coarsely process medicinal ingredients before decocting them. The doses and methods described in the source are records of prescriptions from ancient times.

Niuhuang Shuangyuan: Used to treat food retention and indigestion in children, causing pain in the chest and abdomen.

Niu Huang (bezoar) and Taishan Gansui, half a liang each; pearl, six zhu; Xingren (apricot kernels), Shaoyao (peony root), and Huangqin (baical skullcap root), one liang each; Badou (croton seeds), eighteen zhu.

Grind the seven ingredients into a fine powder and make it into pills with honey. The text says that a one-year-old child should take two pills per dose, each about the size of a sesame seed. Adjust the dose according to the child’s age and build.

Niuhuang Biejia Yuan: Used to treat abdominal masses in young children, fever, undigested food, and what was called “zhong’e wuchi qi”—an old term for sudden discomfort, abnormal upward surges of Qi, and similar conditions.

Niu Huang (bezoar), Houpo (magnolia bark), Fuling (poria), Guixin (cinnamon bark), Shaoyao (peony root), and Ganjiang (dried ginger), half a liang each; Biejia (soft-shelled turtle shell), Maiqu (malt ferment), Chaihu (bupleurum root), Dahuang (rhubarb), Zhishi (bitter orange), and Chuanxiong (Sichuan lovage rhizome), one liang each.

Grind the twelve ingredients into a fine powder and make it into honey pills the size of small beans. Give them three times a day, adjusting the dose as appropriate.

Yuanhua Yuan: Used to treat fullness and distension below the heart, accumulated phlegm and fluid, abdominal swelling, fever, and refusal to nurse.

Yuanhua (lilac daphne flower buds) and Huangqin (baical skullcap root), one liang each; Dahuang (rhubarb) and Xionghuang (realgar), two and a half liang each.

Grind the four ingredients into a fine powder, mix with honey, and pound the mixture repeatedly a thousand times. The text says that children from three years old down to under one year old should take one pill per dose, about the size of a millet grain. Place the pill in the child’s throat, then have the mother nurse the child. For continued use to clear the condition, adjust the dose as needed and give it at a different time from nursing.

Zhenzhu Yuan: Used to treat accumulated phlegm and fluid, longstanding accumulations, and chronic abdominal disorders, when a child is thin and weak and unable to eat.

Pearl, half a liang; Maimendong (ophiopogon tuber), one liang; Ru iren (Chinese plum kernels), two hundred pieces; Badou (croton seeds), forty pieces.

Grind the four ingredients into a fine powder and make honey pills. A child who has reached one year of age should take two pills per dose, each about the size of a small bean. A child aged two hundred days should take two pills per dose, each about the size of a sesame seed; then gradually increase the dose to what the child can tolerate. The text says that after taking the pills, the accumulated matter should be expelled; it may appear red, yellow, white, or black. Give the pills with sunflower-leaf juice, and do not interrupt the course. Stop taking them once the accumulated matter has been fully expelled. The original text claims that long-term use will make children grow plump and strong, with a clear, fair complexion, and says this has been verified.

Biejia Yuan: Used to treat hard abdominal masses in young children, lumps beneath the ribs, and restless heat in the hands and feet.

Biejia (soft-shelled turtle shell), Shaoyao (peony root), and Dahuang (rhubarb), thirty zhu each; Fuling (poria), Chaihu (bupleurum root), and Ganjiang (dried ginger), twenty-four zhu each. The original text ends here and does not list the remaining ingredients or preparation method.

These passages record ancient formulas and their methods of use. They include potent substances such as Badou (croton seeds), Gansui (kansui root), and Yuanhua (lilac daphne flower buds); the doses given in the original should not be used as a guide for modern treatment.

Take six zhu of cinnamon bark, and twenty each of ground beetles and scarab larvae. Grind these nine ingredients into a fine powder and mix with honey to form pills. Take seven pills at a time, each about the size of a parasol tree seed. Gradually increase the amount until the condition improves.

Soft-swellings Pill: Treats children’s abdominal masses—that is, accumulations beneath the ribs or in the abdomen that are hard and painful.

One soft-shelled turtle head, half a liang of ganpi, and eighteen zhu each of gadflies, ground beetles, and peach kernels. Grind these five ingredients into a fine powder and make pills with honey, each the size of a red bean. Take two pills at a time, three times a day. If the bowels do not move freely, add eighteen zhu of rhubarb. Adjust the dose until the condition improves.

Formula for treating children who are thin, weak, and listless: Suitable for regular use and does not interfere with nursing.

Grind five liang of licorice into a fine powder and make pills with honey. For a one-year-old child, take ten pills at a time, each the size of a red bean, three times a day. Prepare more when these are used up.

Cinnamon and Tangerine Peel Decoction: Treats children who have gone five or six days without eating and whose Qi rises in counterflow.

Half a liang each of cinnamon bark and ginseng, three liang of tangerine peel, five ge of millet, and five liang of chengtuo shallot. Cut up the five ingredients, add seven sheng of water, and first decoct the herbs until two sheng of liquid remain. Then add the shallot and millet, and cook until the millet is done. Give the liquid in small amounts over several doses.

Rehmannia Pill: Treats young children with disharmony of stomach Qi and poor appetite, and helps restore muscle.

One liang and six zhu each of dried rehmannia and rhubarb; eighteen zhu of poria; and half a liang each of Chinese angelica, bupleurum, and apricot kernels. Grind these six ingredients into a fine powder and use honey to make pills the size of hemp seeds. Take five pills at a time, three times a day.

Horse Manure and Millet Pill: Treats young children with Qi beneath the ribs, internal pain, counterflowing Qi with labored breathing, difficulty breathing, alternating chills and fever, emaciation, and poor appetite.

Eighteen zhu of millet recovered from horse dung; half a liang each of apricot kernels, aster, and asarum; and six zhu each of schisandra berries, gypsum, large-leaved gentian, pinellia, and poria. Grind these nine ingredients into a fine powder and make pills with honey, each the size of a red bean. Take ten pills at a time, three times a day. If the condition does not improve, increase the dose to twenty pills.

Formula for treating children’s diarrhea with a swollen, hard abdomen: Take one sheng of an old belt with a great deal of grime, cut it into pieces, and boil it in three sheng of water until one sheng of liquid remains. Divide the liquid into three doses.

Another formula: Rub the abdomen with clothes moth larvae found among garments. This can also be used for swelling of the genital area.

For abdominal distension in children: Burn a parent’s fingernails to ash, smear the ash on the nipple, and let the child suckle.

Another remedy: Take the juice of leek roots, mix it with pork fat (lard), and cook the mixture. Give the child small amounts at a time, repeatedly.

Another remedy: Take grease from the hub of a cart and mix it with soil from beneath a wheel. Shape the mixture into a pellet and have the child swallow it. It is said to work quickly.

Another remedy: Fry rice flour and salt in equal proportions until they change color, then rub the mixture over the child’s abdomen.

For childhood abdominal accumulations (stagnation or lumps in the abdomen): Apply moxibustion one inch below each breast, giving three cones at each site. One cone, or zhuang, is the amount of moxa that burns down in a single application.

The Angelica Pill, also called the Black Pill, is used to treat fetal cold in children, a condition believed to result from exposure to cold in the womb. Symptoms include incessant crying, abdominal pain, a blackish-blue tongue, and drooling. The prescription calls for nine zhu each of angelica and langdu; half an ounce each of evodia (another version gives apricot kernels) and Sichuan pepper; eighteen zhu each of asarum, dried ginger, and aconite; ten croton seeds; and seven ge of fermented soybeans. Of these nine ingredients, first pound and sift seven, taking enough of the resulting powder. Separately grind the croton seeds into a paste, gradually add the powder, and pound until blended. Mix in honey and place the mixture in a mulberry-wood cup. Steam it beneath five sheng of cooked rice until done, then remove it and pound it one thousand times. For a child one month old, give one pill, about the size of a millet grain, once a day, and give another dose at night. If it has not yet taken effect, gradually increase the dose until it does. This prescription also treats water accumulation in the abdomen.

The Alunite Pill is used to treat fetal cold in children, incessant crying, convulsions, abdominal distension, poor appetite, and greenish-yellow stools. It is also used for adults with deficiency cold or internal cold, and for cases of excess where inducing vomiting or purging is unsuitable. Take one jin of alunite and roast it for half a day, then mix it with date paste. Adults take two pills, each the size of a parasol-tree seed, three times a day. Adjust the dose for children, giving enough to warm the abdomen. When there is indeed an excess condition, it is said to dispel the excess pathogen with striking effect.

For sudden abdominal pain in children accompanied by writhing and sweating, a condition called “fetal cold”: Simmer pear-leaf juice until concentrated. Take seven ge and divide it into three or four doses to drink.

The Pinellia Pill is used for sudden abdominal distension in children when the condition is critical. Use any amount of pinellia, lightly roast it over a low flame, and pound it into powder. Take it mixed with wine, five pills per dose, each about the size of a millet grain, three times a day. It is said to work quickly.

For cholera in children, with vomiting and diarrhea: Take one liang of ginseng, half an ounce each of magnolia bark and licorice, and eighteen zhu of white atractylodes. Cut the four ingredients into pieces and decoct them in one sheng and two ge of water until half a sheng remains.

For an infant ten days old, give one he of the medicine; for an infant a hundred days old, divide it into three doses; for a child one year old, divide it into two doses. Give the medicine between feedings. The nursing mother should avoid cold, raw, and greasy foods.

Another prescription adds one fen of dried ginger, or three fen of fresh ginger.

Agastache Decoction

For vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal distension in children caused by toxic influences, especially when these symptoms interfere with feeding.

One liang of agastache, three liang of fresh ginger, and half a liang each of green bamboo shavings and licorice.

Chop the four ingredients, boil them in two sheng of water, and strain off eight he of liquid. Give one he per dose, three times a day. If there is a fever, add half a liang of cimicifuga.

Proven Prescription for Cholera in Children

Half a liang each of ginseng and reed leaves, two liang of hyacinth bean vine, and a pinch of aged rice.

Chop the four ingredients, boil them in two sheng of water, and strain off eight he of liquid. Divide it into doses and give warm.

Another prescription:

One liang of ginseng, one quince, and a pinch of aged rice.

Chop the three ingredients and boil them in water. Divide into doses and adjust the amount as appropriate. The text says it takes effect quickly.

Treatment for Cholera in Young Children

Grind the sediment from urine into a fine powder, mix it with breast milk, and give it to the child.

Another prescription:

Take one he of cow saliva and pour it into the child’s mouth.

Treatment for Vomiting and Diarrhea in Young Children

Half a liang of tangled hair, burned to ash; six zhu of deer antler.

Grind the two ingredients into powder and wash it down with rice water. Give one daogui per dose, three times a day.

Another prescription:

Hold a mouthful of warm cow dung in the mouth; another version says to use Achyranthes root.

Another prescription:

Burn boar dung, mix it with water, and give the liquid in small amounts over several doses.

This passage records methods of pediatric treatment from ancient times. The original uses traditional units of measurement such as liang, he, sheng, zhu, and daogui.