《孫真人備急千金要方》Vol. 24

The first formula is used for beriberi caused by wind deficiency, with symptoms including a bluish-black complexion and numbness and weakness in both legs. According to medical classics, a bluish-black complexion is associated with the kidneys and liver. This formula is therefore used to tonify the kidneys and treat disorders of the liver.

Three liang of chrysanthemum; one and a half liang each of dendrobium and male aconite; one liang and six zhu each of ginseng, aconite, and licorice; one liang each of stalactite, Chinese yam, teasel root, astragalus, alisma, dwarf lilyturf, polygala, asarum, gentian, large-leaved gentian, pyrrosia, dodder seed, achyranthes, calamus, eucommia, poria, dried rehmannia, arborvitae seed, cnidium seed, saposhnikovia, atractylodes, dried ginger, smilax, and cornus; half a liang each of schisandra and aconite; and two liang of cistanche.

Grind these thirty-three ingredients into a fine powder and take it with wine, one square-inch spoonful each time, three times a day. If there is no effect after seven days, increase the dose to two square-inch spoonfuls each time.

Great Eight Winds Powder: Used to treat weakness in the legs and feet caused by various wind pathogens, mild wind, and damp impediment.

Half a liang each of morinda, astragalus, cinnamon bark, asarum, male aconite, smilax, cistanche, chaste tree seed, Chinese yam, chrysanthemum, fragrant Solomon’s seal, cornus, large-leaved gentian, scutellaria, dendrobium, atractylodes, arsenolite (also written as “alum stone”), magnolia bark, gentian, ginseng, and Sichuan pepper; eighteen zhu each of aconite and schisandra; one liang each of calamus, poria, achyranthes (written as “dried ginger” in the Qianjin Yifang), aconite root, and polygala; thirty zhu of platycodon; and six zhu each of ligusticum, ampelopsis, and peony.

Grind these thirty-two ingredients into a fine powder and take it with wine, half a square-inch spoonful each time, three times a day. If there is no effect yet, gradually increase the dose until you feel a slight sensation after taking it. The Hu Qia Fang does not include platycodon.

Internal-Tonifying Dendrobium and Large-Leaved Gentian Powder: Used to treat weakness in the legs and feet caused by wind deficiency; painful cramping and stiffness in the hands and feet; numbness; inability to walk; swelling on the top of the feet extending up to the knees; and a lower abdomen that is taut and hard, as if bound with rope.

Those who are often distressed and irritable, and as a result cannot eat or drink, are usually suffering from insufficient Kidney Qi due to “the five labors and seven injuries” (a general term for excessive strain and bodily damage), compounded by invasion from Wind and Dampness. This prescription can treat all such conditions.

Dendrobium, aconite, Tianxiong, cinnamon bark, Sichuan lovage, and asparagus root (one liang each); Qin Jiao, monkshood, ginseng, dried ginger, Chinese angelica, Saposhnikovia, and Eucommia bark (thirty zhu each); Cornus fruit, Chinese alangium, platycodon, asarum, ephedra, Peucedanum, and Schisandra (eighteen zhu each); Sichuan pepper, dahurian angelica, and atractylodes (half a liang each).

Grind these twenty-three ingredients into a fine powder and take with wine, one square-inch spoonful (an ancient small measure for medicine) at a time, twice daily. If it has no effect, gradually increase the dose to two square-inch spoonfuls each time. Those with weak constitutions should use processed “Three Strong Herbs” (here referring to medicines such as aconite, Tianxiong, and monkshood); those with robust constitutions may also use them unprocessed.

The root of Wind disorders lies in Kidney deficiency. After the illness develops, if toxic pathogenic Qi is congested at the body’s surface, use moxibustion to make it disperse outward; if pathogenic Qi is congested inside the body, use medicine to set it in motion. This is the proper approach in an urgent situation. Once the Wind pathogen has diminished and the limbs are weak, if residual pathogenic factors have not yet been cleared, do not stop the medicine at once. It is appropriate to continue taking this powder to drive out the old pathogens and nourish the body; it works very well. This reasoning accords with ordinary experience and is nothing to doubt.

Qin Jiao Powder: Treats all kinds of Wind disorders, whether long-standing or recent, including sudden collapse and loss of consciousness, numbness in the limbs, pain throughout the body, paralysis on one side of the body, inability to bend or extend the limbs, alternating chills and fever, dizziness and vertigo, unsteadiness when standing, and a crooked mouth or eyes.

Qin Jiao, dried ginger, platycodon, and aconite (one liang each); Tianxiong, Chinese angelica, asparagus root, ginseng, atractylodes, and Sichuan pepper (ten zhu each); monkshood and asarum (eighteen zhu each); licorice, dahurian angelica, Cornus fruit, ephedra, Peucedanum, Saposhnikovia, and Schisandra (half a liang each).

Grind these nineteen ingredients into a fine powder and take with wine, one square-inch spoonful each time, three times daily. Older people should take a smaller dose. The prescription recorded by Hu Qia omits asparagus root and Peucedanum, and instead includes Chinese alangium, cinnamon bark, fangji, tokoro, Chinese foxglove, and astragalus, for a total of twenty-three ingredients.

Taking Pine Resin Alone: Used to treat all kinds of Wind disorders, severe Wind disorders, weakness in the feet, and Wind impediment (numbness, pain, or restricted movement in the limbs caused by Wind). The same method is used for frankincense.

Put thirty jin of pine resin into a palm-bark bag and tie the opening tightly. Lay bamboo or wood across the bottom of a pot, place the bag on top, and weigh it down with three to five stones. Then add water beneath it…

Fill the pot with the medicinal ingredients, add water, and boil until all the medicinal paste has risen to the surface. Then boil it twenty more times. Immediately pour the liquid into cold water, replace the medicine bag, wash the pot, and boil the ingredients again. Repeat this process nine times, and the medicine is ready. Pound it, sift it into a powder, and pass it through a coarse sieve. Take one square-inch spoonful each time with wine; this is an ancient measure for medicine, roughly equivalent to a spoonful of powder.

Take the medicine for seven days. When first mixing it, use cold wine. After the medicine enters the stomach, drink hot wine to set its effects in motion, stopping when you feel a response in the body. If you feel overheated, reduce the dose; if you do not, urination and bowel movements may become difficult. For difficult bowel movements, eat scallion soup. If that does not help, take fresh rehmannia juice to bring about a gentle laxative effect. The only dietary restriction is hemp seeds.

If you wish to stop eating rice, add an equal amount of poria to the pine resin and mix it with honey to make pills. Eat only plain, boiled wheat noodles called botuo, twice a day, one small bowl each time, and do not eat too much. To make botuo, knead the dough until firm and work it repeatedly. Boil it fifty times, remove it, and rinse it in cold water. Then return it to hot water and boil it more than ten times before removing it to eat.

After taking pine resin for thirty days, it is said that you will begin to feel its effects: both feet will seem as though water is flowing down from them. If you are concerned about difficult bowel movements, add a piece of butter the size of a jujube or chestnut to each pound of pine resin and poria; this will prevent sluggishness. After taking the medicine for one hundred days, the symptoms of foot disorders should be cured. The Xian Jing says that taking pine resin for one year adds one year to your life, taking it for two years adds two years, and taking it for ten years adds ten years.

Huainan Eight Immortals’ Dendrobium Powder for Ten Thousand Ailments, a prescription for treating pain caused by wind and dampness and difficulty moving the lower back and legs:

Fangfeng, poria, chrysanthemum, asarum, Sichuan pepper, dried ginger, mica, cistanche, ginseng, dried rehmannia, aconite, dendrobium, eucommia, polygala, dodder seed, monkshood, dioscorea hypoglauca, cassia bark, achyranthes, cnidium seed, atractylodes, Chinese yam, morinda, calamus, teasel root, and cornus fruit, one liang each; schisandra, half a liang.

Grind these twenty-seven ingredients into a fine powder and sift. Take one square-inch spoonful with wine twice a day.

Evodia Powder, for lameness caused by cold wind, hemiplegia (paralysis or impaired movement on one side of the body), and inability to move one half of the body—conditions in which the patient groans day and night and the physician cannot effect a cure.

Evodia, dried ginger, ampelopsis, Vitex fruit (called “cassia bark” in the Qianjin Yifang), aconite, monkshood, wood fern, dried lacquer, Chinese yam, gentian, and fangfeng, half a liang each.

Grind the eleven ingredients above into a fine powder. Before meals, take one square-inch spoonful (an ancient measure for powdered medicine, about one spoonful). Take the medicine three times over seven days. When its medicinal power reaches the skin, you will feel a slight movement. It should take effect within three days, and recovery should follow within a month.

Fourth: Medicinal Wines (Wines and Decoctions)

General instructions: To prepare medicinal wine, slice the ingredients thinly, place them in a silk bag, put the bag into the wine, and seal the vessel. Infuse for four or five days in spring and summer, or seven or eight days in autumn and winter, until the flavor of the ingredients has fully infused into the wine. Then strain out the dregs. Once the wine is finished, pound the dregs, mix them with wine, and take one square-inch spoonful each time. In general, medicinal wine is suited to winter; stop taking it when spring begins.

Dendrobium Wine

Treats Wind deficiency, fullness of Qi, pain and numbness in the feet, spasms and weakness of the sinews and channels, and inability to walk.

Five liang each of Dendrobium, Salvia root, and five-leaf ginseng; four liang each of side-caltrop aconite, Chinese gentian, Eucommia bark, Cornus fruit, and Achyranthes root; three liang each of cinnamon bark, dried ginger, notopterygium, Ligusticum, tangerine peel, astragalus root, white-fronted root, Sichuan pepper, skimmia, and Chinese angelica; one sheng of coix seeds; and two liang of Saposhnikovia root. Take eight liang of stalactite, pound it, and place it in a separate silk bag, which is then tied inside the larger bag holding the other ingredients.

Cut up the twenty-one ingredients above and soak them in four dou of clear wine for three days. Begin by taking three ge each time, twice a day. Gradually increase the amount until you feel the medicine’s effects are sufficient.

Black Sesame Wine

Lightly toast five sheng of black sesame, then pound it and soak it overnight in one dou of wine. Drink according to your usual capacity for wine. After finishing it, prepare another batch. It is highly effective.

Stalactite Wine

Treats Wind deficiency and exhaustion, pain in the feet, cold impediment (numbness and pain in the limbs caused by cold), wasting, spasms and weakness of the sinews and channels, and inability to walk.

Eight liang of stalactite; six liang of Salvia root; five liang each of Dendrobium, Eucommia bark, and asparagus root; four liang each of Achyranthes root, Saposhnikovia root, astragalus root, Ligusticum, and Chinese angelica; three liang each of aconite, cinnamon bark, Chinese gentian, and dried ginger; and one sheng each of Cornus fruit and coix seeds.

Cut up the sixteen ingredients above and soak them in three dou of clear wine for three days. Begin by taking three ge each time, twice a day. Gradually increase the amount until you feel the medicine’s effects are sufficient.

Goji Root and Calamus Wine

Treats alternating spasms and flaccidity caused by Wind, limbs that do not obey, unsteady walking, spasms around the mouth, and inability to bend or extend the limbs.

Five jin of calamus and one hundred jin of goji root. The original text ends here; the preparation method and dosage that follow are not recorded.

Chop the two ingredients, add four shi of water, and boil until one shi and six dou of medicinal liquid remain. Strain out the dregs and use the liquid to ferment two hu of rice wine. Once the wine is ready, drink it in small amounts over several servings.

Tiger-Bone Wine: A prescription for pain in the bones and marrow and for wind pathogens invading the five zang organs.

Take an entire tiger skeleton and roast it over charcoal until it turns yellow. Knock and scrape it into small pieces, then pound and grind it finely. Soak it in six sheng of clear wine for five nights. Afterward, drink an appropriate amount according to your constitution.

The Classic of Changes says, “When the tiger roars, wind arises; when the dragon sings, clouds gather.” This describes the mutual resonance of sentient and insentient things. Thus, using tiger-bone wine to treat wind disorders is not without reason.

Smartweed Wine: Treats cold in the stomach, inability to eat, dullness of hearing and sight, weakness in the limbs, and feet that remain cold when one lies in bed in winter. After taking this wine for ten days, the eyes will become clear and the body strong and well nourished. The prescription is as follows:

Gather smartweed on the third day of the eighth month and dry it in the sun. Take sixty bundles, each about five sheng in size. Add six shi of water and boil until one shi of medicinal liquid remains. Strain out the dregs and use the liquid to make wine in the usual way. Drink an appropriate amount according to your constitution. This prescription has been tried and takes effect quickly.

Small Astragalus Wine: Treats various forms of wind-related deficiency, phlegm-fluid retention, and impediment disorders, including paralysis affecting one side of the limbs, weakness in both legs, inability to raise the hands above the head, cramping pain in the lower abdomen, tension below the ribs, and the accumulation of fluid below the heart or phlegm-fluid below the ribs. It may also be used for frequent nighttime dreams, sorrow and despondency, disordered consciousness, and easy forgetfulness—symptoms caused by wind-related deficiency pathogens entering the five zang organs. It is also suitable for lower-back pain after sitting for a long time, deafness, sudden blurred vision and heaviness in the head, swelling throughout the body, pain and numbness, aversion to food, dislike of cold foods, intermittent chills, phlegm fullness in the chest, and cold bind below the heart. It may also be used for lingering postpartum disorders in women, and for wind-related deficiency or accumulated cold that has persisted despite prolonged treatment. The prescription is as follows:

Astragalus, aconite, Sichuan pepper, Saposhnikovia root, Achyranthes root, asarum, cinnamon bark, Chinese angelica root, white atractylodes, Sichuan lovage rhizome, and licorice (three liang each); Chinese gentian, monkshood (the Collection of Proven Prescriptions substitutes three liang of Chinese yam), rhubarb, kudzu root, dried ginger, and cornus fruit (two liang each); Chinese angelica root (two and a half liang).

Chop the eighteen ingredients. Young people of robust constitution need not stir-fry them; for those who are frail or elderly, lightly stir-fry them. Put the herbs in a silk bag and soak it in two dou of clear wine. Soak for five days in spring and summer, and seven days in autumn and winter. Begin by taking one he before meals. If the effect seems insufficient, increase the dose to four or five he. Take it three times a day. This prescription works very well for impediment disorders and does not cause nausea or chest oppression. If a slight fever occurs while taking it, favor cool foods. For severe deficiency, add two liang of cistanche. The text that follows is missing.

Li (the name of the medicine; the preceding text is not fully preserved): For forgetfulness, add three liang of nüwei. For more severe forgetfulness, add two liang each of dendrobium, calamus, and purple stone. If there is considerable fluid accumulation below the heart, in the stomach area, add two liang each of poria and ginseng, and three liang of Chinese yam. After the wine has been used up, the dregs may be soaked again in two dou of wine and taken afterward. Alternatively, dry the dregs in the sun, pound them into powder, and take one square-inch spoonful at a time with wine. If there is no noticeable response, the dose may be increased gradually. After one batch has been taken, if it proves effective, it is said to strengthen resistance to cold, replenish deficiency, and treat various wind-cold disorders with very good results.

Astragalus Wine: Used to treat foot pain and weakness caused by wind deficiency, oppression in the chest, and inability to control the body’s movements. It also has a restorative effect.

Three liang each of astragalus, aconite, prepared aconite, dried ginger, Chinese gentian, Sichuan pepper, chuanxiong, angelica pubescens, atractylodes, achyranthes, cistanche, asarum, and licorice; two and a half liang each of kudzu root, Chinese angelica, and calamus; two liang each of Cornus fruit, cinnamon bark, stalactite, arborvitae seed, monkshood, dendrobium, and saposhnikovia; one liang each of rhubarb and Chinese photinia.

Cut up the twenty-five ingredients without stir-frying or processing them, and soak them in three dou of clear wine. Take one ge before meals. If the medicinal effect seems insufficient, gradually increase the dose to five ge, taken three times daily. This prescription is effective for treating impediment disorders. For extreme bodily weakness, add cistanche; for diarrhea, add nüwei; for forgetfulness, add calamus, three liang of each.

A prescription recorded by Hu Qia contains an additional three liang of alisma and two liang of poria, along with one liang each of ginseng, skimmia, pinellia, snakegourd, and peony. It omits Chinese gentian, chuanxiong, achyranthes, cistanche, licorice, kudzu root, Chinese angelica, calamus, stalactite, and rhubarb. Its twenty-two ingredients give it the name “Large Astragalus Decoction.”

Skimmia Wine: Used to treat severe wind disorders. Symptoms include dizziness and heaviness in the head, blurred vision, and even collapsing unconscious, with awakening only after half a day; a crooked mouth and clenched jaw, with inability to move one side of the body; stiffness and pain in the joints, aching in the bones, inability to raise the hands to the head, bend or extend the feet, or walk normally, and a sensation of nearly falling while walking; numb, twitching, or insect-bite-like sensations beneath the skin, with unbearable itching and sores forming after scratching. In severe cases, the person may run about wildly. This prescription can be used to treat all these conditions.

One liang each of skimmia, aconite, Chinese photinia, saposhnikovia, Sichuan pepper, nüwei, prepared aconite, asarum, angelica pubescens, clubmoss, cinnamon bark, monkshood, Chinese gentian, and fangji; two liang of azalea.

The preceding formula contains fifteen ingredients. Pound them and soak them in a small amount of clear wine. Young people with strong constitutions need not roast the ingredients; those who are elderly or physically weak should roast them lightly. Soak for seven days in winter, three days in summer, and five days in spring and autumn. Take one he each time at first. If the medicine seems too weak, increase the dose to two he. It is best to begin with a small amount and take it twice a day, stopping at the point when a slight numbness appears. (The Hu Qia Fang omits Sichuan pepper, angelica pubescens, and selaginella, leaving twelve ingredients.)

Great Golden Tooth Wine: Used for illnesses caused by miasmatic toxins, as well as wind-cold-damp impediment, distortion of the mouth and eyes, paralysis on one side of the body, spasms of the hands and feet, and swollen, painful joints. In severe cases, numbness and loss of sensation in the lower abdomen may also occur; this is called “leg Qi.” The formula says that this wine “treats everything.”

The ingredients are: one jin of golden tooth stone; three liang each of lateral aconite, aconite, Chinese aconite, ginseng, cistanche, poria, Chinese angelica, saposhnikovia, astragalus, Chinese yam, asarum, cinnamon heartwood, tokoro, fragrant Solomon’s seal, angelica dahurica, balloon flower, baical skullcap, polygala, Vitex fruit, Sichuan lovage, Chinese wolfberry root bark, five-leaf ginseng bark, Eucommia bark, magnolia bark, bitter orange, atractylodes, Achyranthes, and red sage; half a jin of pubescent angelica; two liang each of Japanese yenhsiang, Chinese photinia, and dogwood; ten liang of magnetite; one sheng each of coix seed and Ophiopogon; eight liang of fresh dendrobium; four liang of elder; and two sheng of sliced fresh rehmannia.

Pound the thirty-nine ingredients and soak them in eight dou of wine for seven days. Take one he warm, four or five times a day, including once at night. Grind the mineral ingredients finely, place them in a separate silk bag, and soak the bag with the other ingredients. The text says that this wine is balanced in its medicinal nature and treats a wide range of conditions; anyone who is physically weak and has even mild wind-related symptoms in the limbs may take it. It also cautions readers to prepare the formula as given and not to change the ingredients at will or be swayed by other people’s exaggerated claims.

Bellflower Breast Wine: Used for deficiency and debility, to help blood vessels flow freely, and said to strongly replenish Qi in the lower body.

Take five liang each of stalactite, dendrobium, and cistanche, and two liang each of aconite and wild chrysanthemum. Pound the five ingredients and soak them in three dou of clear wine. Take two he each time, twice a day, gradually increasing the dose to one sheng.

Gentian Wine: Used for wind affecting the limbs, inability to raise the arms, pain and weakness in the thighs and feet, or stiffness and contraction of the limbs, cramping, bent fingers, paralysis on one side of the body, weakness and inability to walk, numbness, and persistent impediment pain. The text goes on to list the ingredients for this formula.

Qinjiao, tianmendong, wujia pi, niuxi, fuzi, and guixin (the medicinal part of cinnamon bark), three liang each; bajitian, duzhong, shinan, and xixin, two liang each; duhuo and yiyi ren, one liang each.

Coarsely chop these twelve ingredients and steep them in two dou of wine. Once their flavors have infused, the wine is ready to take. Begin with three he per dose and gradually increase to five or six he. Take it three times during the day and once at night.

Shugao Wine is used to treat weak legs, Wind-related deficiency, and various other ailments, including the Five Taxations and Seven Injuries.

Ingredients:

Fifteen dou of baizhu. Wash it, pound it to extract three dou of juice, and boil the juice down to half its volume. Take twenty-five bundles of fresh jing, each bundle three chi in circumference and two chi five cun long, with roots two cun in diameter. Burn them and collect three dou of juice, then boil it down to half its volume. Take thirty bundles of green bamboo, each bundle three chi in circumference and two chi five cun long, and one cun in diameter. Burn them and collect three dou of juice, then boil it down to half its volume. Take five large dou of fresh rehmannia roots, choosing the thicker ones. Pound them to extract three dou of juice and boil it down to half its volume. Take thirty-six jin of fresh wujia roots. Wash and chop them, put them in a large pot with four dan of water, and boil. Strain out the herbs and let the liquid settle; collect seven dou of juice. Transfer it to a copper vessel and place that in a large pot of water to heat indirectly. Boil it down to three dou and five sheng. Prepare the other ingredients in the same way as the wujia roots.

The five ingredients—baizhu and the four kinds of juice—yield a total of nine dou and five sheng of medicinal liquid.

Take one shi and five dou of top-quality glutinous rice and eight jin of top-quality wheat ferment, dried in the sun and ground to a powder. First, soak the wheat ferment in six dou of the medicinal liquid for five days, until it has risen. For the first addition of rice, wash seven dou of rice thirty times. Spread it on a clean mat and wipe it with plain cloth to make sure it is clean, then steam it. Soak the steamed rice, called fen, in the remaining medicinal liquid. Adjust its consistency, then steam it again. Once a skin has formed on the surface, spread it on a mat and adjust its consistency and temperature. Process it according to the usual method of brewing wine, place it in a wine jar, and seal it. After three days, make the second addition of rice: wash four more dou of rice, steam it as before, and add it. Three days later, add the following ingredients:

Guixin, gancao, baizhi, xixin, fangfeng, danggui, mahuang, and chuanxiong, six liang each; fuzi, five liang.

Nine liang of Achyranthes root, five liang of dried ginger, and five liang of five-leaved ginseng bark.

Coarsely chop the herbs. Once the twelve ingredients mentioned earlier have been prepared, add four dou of rice (an ancient unit of capacity) for the third fermentation. Rinse the rice clean and steam it as before. Pour the remaining herbal liquid over the steamed rice, then steam it once more. When a thin crust forms on the surface, remove the rice and spread it on a mat. Let it cool to a suitable temperature, then mix in the herbs prepared earlier, following the usual method of brewing wine. After three days, taste the wine. When its sour, sweet, and bitter flavors are in balance, seal the container tightly. After fourteen days, press the wine and collect the clear liquid.

Drink four ge (an ancient unit of capacity) each time, twice a day. Gradually increase the amount according to how your body feels. Warm the wine before drinking, but do not let it become too hot. Avoid raw or cold foods, sour or greasy foods, pork, carp, garlic, and beef.

Pine-Needle Wine: Used for weak, powerless legs and various forms of wind impediment—numbness and pain caused by wind and damp invading the channels—when the condition has progressed to the point that the person cannot walk. If several doses of Gengsheng Powder and various other treatments have failed, one dose of this wine is said to enable the person to walk a long distance. At most, two doses are needed.

Take sixty jin of pine needles, roughly chop them, and boil them in four shi of water. Collect four dou and nine sheng of the liquid, and use it to brew five dou of rice. Separately boil pine needles in the usual way to make more liquid, and use this to soak the rice. After steaming the rice, mix it with pine-needle liquid as well, then seal it to ferment. Open the container after seven days. Once the wine has cleared, it is ready to drink; drink until drunk. It is said that many people regained their strength after drinking it, with miraculous results.

Prescription for treating beriberi:

Take three dou of high-quality fermented soybeans, steam them, mix them with one shi of rice, and dry the mixture. Repeat this process three times. Then soak it in five dou of wine for seven days. Strain out the solids and drink the liquid, drinking until drunk. Once the wine is finished, soak the mixture in another two and a half dou of wine and drink it in the same way.

Side-Seed Wine: Used for wind-damp impediment—numbness and pain caused by wind and damp obstructing the channels—as well as weak, powerless legs and inability to walk.

Four liang each of side seed, Achyranthes root, salvia root, Japanese cornel, Sambucus root, eucommia bark, and dendrobium; three liang each of saposhnikovia root, dried ginger, Sichuan pepper, asarum, angelica pubescens, large-leaved gentian, cassia bark, ligusticum, Chinese angelica, atractylodes, and skimmia; five liang of five-leaved ginseng bark; and one sheng of coix seed.

Coarsely chop all twenty ingredients and place them in a silk bag. Soak the bag in four dou of clear wine for six nights. Take three ge for the first dose, then gradually increase the amount according to how your body feels. If the patient has blurred vision or dizziness, taking the wine is said to make them more alert.

Fifth: Plaster Formulas (example formula)

The example formula says: Plasters are generally made on a “Break Day,” a designated day in traditional date selection. During preparation, do not let mourners, people observing mourning, those who have been defiled, women who have recently given birth, people of low social status, or chickens, dogs, or other animals see the process. For illnesses on the outside of the body, apply moxibustion or rub on the plaster. For illnesses within the body, take it with warm wine, in a dose about the size of a date pit.

“Divine Brightening Paste” is an external ointment said to be useful for many illnesses. It is prescribed for stroke and malignant pathogenic influences, as well as various ailments of the head and face, including blue blindness (inability to see), eye disorders caused by Wind pathogen, ulceration at the corners of the eyes, films growing over the eyes, deafness, nasal congestion, tooth decay, and swollen, painful tooth roots. It is also used for abscesses and swellings, hemorrhoids, ringworm, scabies, and related conditions.

The ingredients are one sheng each of Wu Zhu Yu, Sichuan pepper, Qiong Qiong (that is, Sichuan lovage), Bai Zhu, Qian Hu (the Cui edition reads “Bai Qian”), and Bai Zhi; thirty Aconite tubers; and two liang each of cinnamon bark, Chinese angelica, and Asarum.

Chop the ten ingredients and place them in a bronze vessel. Soak them overnight in strong vinegar. Separately, take ten jin of pork fat and simmer the ingredients over charcoal. Bring the mixture to a boil three times, remove it from the heat, and repeat this process three times. Continue simmering until the Bai Zhi turns yellow. For illness inside the abdomen, take a pill of ointment the size of a pellet with warm wine, three times a day. For eye pain, place an amount the size of a millet grain at the corner of each eye and let the eyes face the wind; if there is no wind, fan them. For abscesses, hemorrhoids, tooth decay, and ailments of the ears and nose, apply the ointment to the affected area. For skin conditions, first warm the hands, then spread the ointment over the affected area and massage it in, three times a day. A note in the original says that in one transmitted version of the pork fat prescription, the last nine ingredients do not include cinnamon bark.

“Marquis Wei’s Green Paste” is said to treat many conditions: dizziness, nasal congestion, clear nasal discharge, and tearing caused by prolonged exposure to Wind pathogen; cholera and vomiting; cold damage and sore throat; stiffness of the back, spine, head, and neck; paralysis on one side, with limbs that are cramped and contracted, limp and weak, or tightly drawn; longstanding cold in the heart and abdomen, accumulations and pain, counterflow coughing, and upward surging Qi; alternating chills and fever; rat fistula (a condition resembling scrofula or a fistula), scrofula; swollen, painful joints; the Seven Harms in men, distension of the chest and abdomen, and wasting with inability to eat; lingering ailments after childbirth in women; and scabies, ringworm, malignant sores, abscesses and swellings, ulceration of the genital area, jaundice, sores on the back, and sores and swellings around the saddle and cattle’s neck.

The ingredients and amounts are as follows: six liang each of Chinese angelica, Trichosanthes root, dried Rehmannia root, licorice, and Sichuan pepper; seven he of Pinellia; four liang each of cinnamon bark, Qiong Qiong, Asarum, and Aconite; one and a half liang each of Scutellaria, Platycodon, Aconitum, Veratrum, and honey locust; three liang each of Magnolia bark, monkshood, Langdu, dried ginger, ginseng, Coptis, mistletoe, teasel root, and Rong salt; two fen of yellow wild kudzu; six sheng of fresh bamboo shavings; twenty Croton seeds; one liang each of stone oak and apricot kernels; three dou of pork fat; and one dou and six sheng of bitter wine.

Chop the thirty-one ingredients listed above. Soak them overnight in kujiu (vinegar), then add pork fat and simmer over low heat. Let the liquid come to a boil three times, removing it from the heat after each boil; the medicinal plaster is then ready. For an illness inside the body, take a piece of plaster about half the size of a date pit, swallowing it with wine. For an illness on the body’s surface, rub the plaster onto the affected area three times a day.

Formula for the Divine Clarity Green Plaster treats dryness in the nasal passages. The plaster may be introduced into the nose, or applied externally and taken by mouth.

Five ge of Sichuan pepper; three zhu each of gleditsia pod, baical skullcap, Chinese photinia, Chinese goldthread, realgar, cinnamon bark, and false hellebore; seven zhu each of white atractylodes, Chuanxiong rhizome, rhubarb, and Asian water plantain; five and a half zhu each of aconite, Chinese lizard’s tail, teasel root, and ginseng; twelve zhu each of pinellia tuber and Chinese angelica; eleven zhu of dried rehmannia root; ten zhu each of fragrant Solomon’s seal and Chinese wild ginger; two zhu each of aconite daughter root and platycodon root; six zhu of dried ginger; and one piece of Rong salt, about the size of an apricot kernel.

Chop the twenty-five ingredients and soak them in one dou of kujiu, then add one jin of sheep marrow. Place the ingredients in a stove at the southeast corner and use reeds as fuel. Once the liquid boils, set the ingredients on three piles of fresh earth; bring it to a boil three more times, removing it from the heat after each boil. When the medicine is cooked, strain out the residue through new cloth. For an illness on the body’s surface, warm the plaster slightly over a fire and rub it on. For an illness inside the body, swallow a piece about the size of a date pit with warm wine, three times a day. The dose may then be increased gradually, according to the improvement in the condition.

Formula for the Grand Tutor’s White Plaster is used for many ailments: cold damage; discomfort in the throat; stiffness and pain in the head and neck; pain in the lower back, back, and legs; wind impediment; joint stiffness and difficulty walking caused by damp swelling; dizziness, nasal congestion, nasal polyps, or sores in the nose caused by pathogenic wind; hidden rashes and itching; fistulas, scrofula (a tuberculous disease of the lymph nodes), various carbuncles and malignant sores, saddle sores, and sores on the neck; and chronic cold that has congealed, pain in the heart and abdomen, chest impediment, restlessness in the chest, insomnia, inability to eat or drink, coughing with counterflow of Qi, and alternating chills and fever. It is also said to treat ailments that persist after childbirth, as well as diseases of the ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. This formula is also called the “Great Unity Spirit-Efficacious Plaster.”

One sheng each of Sichuan pepper and sliced cimicifuga rhizome; three liang of aconite; thirty zhu each of croton and Chuanxiong rhizome; five ge of apricot kernels; one and a half liang each of raccoon-dog bone and Chinese wild ginger; and half a liang of angelica dahurica.

Glycyrrhiza, two liang, and atractylodes, six liang; another version of the prescription uses three liang of angelica.

Cut the twelve ingredients into small pieces and soak them overnight in bitter wine (vinegar). Add four jin of lard and simmer over a low flame. First, peel one aconite tuber and tie a cord around it, then place it in the ointment to check its color. When the aconite turns yellow, the ointment is ready. Strain out the dregs.

For cold damage, accumulations in the chest and abdomen, various wind disorders, swelling, stiffness of the neck, lower back, or back, hemiplegia, or numbness, massage the affected area with the ointment once a day. For abscesses, malignant sores, fistulas, or scrofula—lumps of the kind that form in the neck’s lymph nodes—first warm the hands over a fire, then massage with the ointment. For deafness, insert a soybean-sized amount of ointment into the ear.

For eye pain, tearing, or a pale white membrane that covers the pupil like a bead and obscures vision, apply a millet-sized amount of ointment to the white opacity and have the patient cover the eye with a hand. It will improve shortly. Then wash the eye with water, and vision will return to normal. Afterward, avoid exposure to wind; do not go outdoors for thirty days. For pain inside the nose, place a soybean-sized amount of ointment in the nose and massage the area. For toothache caused by decay, wrap a soybean-sized amount of ointment in cotton, place it on the painful tooth, and bite down.

For facial, eye, nose, or mouth deviation caused by windstroke, massage with the ointment. If traveling at dawn or dusk and frost or mist causes the eyebrows and eyelashes to fall out, wash them often with iron solution—a liquid containing iron—then massage with the ointment.

Quyu Ointment: Used to treat rheumatic pain, weakness and wasting of the limbs, hemiplegia, numbness, abscesses, and malignant sores.

Rhubarb, baical skullcap, manshao, croton, wild kudzu, moutan, azalea, genkwa, Sichuan pepper, Chinese honeylocust, veratrum, and aconite, one liang each.

Cut the twelve ingredients into small pieces and soak them overnight in bitter wine. Add three jin of rendered lard and simmer over a low flame until it boils three times, then remove it from the heat. Add one slice of angelica dahurica and cook again. Repeat this process three times, until the angelica turns yellow; the ointment is then ready. Strain out the dregs. Warm the ointment over a low flame, warm both hands, and massage the affected area three times a day.

Wild Kudzu Ointment: Used to treat aversion to wind, toxic swellings, painful numbness, scrofula, malignant sores, abscesses, swollen and weak legs and feet, hemiplegia, and various other conditions.

Wild kudzu, rhinoceros horn, snake-tongue grass, manshao (identified as yinyu in the Waitai Miyao), aconite, platycodon, cimicifuga, saposhnikovia, Sichuan pepper, dried ginger, turtle shell, realgar, and croton, one liang each; salvia, three liang; and one sheng of azalea flowers.

Cut the fifteen ingredients into small pieces and soak them overnight in four sheng of bitter wine, then…

Render five jin of pork fat (lard) over low heat. When the medicinal ingredients turn pale yellow, strain out the residue, then apply the ointment to the affected area. This prescription must not be given to people casually and should be used with caution. (The version recorded by Hu Qia contains no Salvia miltiorrhiza or zhúyáng, but includes Asarum. Su Gong instead used dahurian angelica root, Stephania root, evodia fruit, aconite, and Chinese angelica in place of croton, realgar, snake-tongue herb, saposhnikovia root, and soft-shelled turtle shell.)

The Cangwu Daoist Chen Yuan Ointment is used to treat bone and muscle pain and numbness caused by various forms of wind-dampness.

Chinese angelica, Asarum, chuanxiong (one liang each); cassia heartwood (five cun); tianxiong aconite (thirty pieces); fresh rehmannia root (three jin); dahurian angelica root (one and a half liang); cinnabar (two liang); dried ginger (ten lei); aconite (three liang); pine resin (eight liang); pork fat (ten jin).

Cut up the twelve ingredients and soak them overnight in the juice of fresh rehmannia root. Melt the pork fat and strain it, then add the medicinal ingredients and bring the mixture to a boil fifteen times. Strain out the herbs, add powdered cinnabar, and stir thoroughly. Warm the ointment gently over a fire. As you warm your hands, rub it onto the affected area a thousand times each day, continuing until the illness is cured. (The version recorded by Hu Qia contains other ingredients; the ingredients and doses recorded in the Zhouhou Fang, the Qianjin Yifang, and Cui’s text also differ.)

Pei Gong’s Eight-Poison Ointment is used to treat sudden windstroke and poisoning, cramping abdominal pain, and conditions known as “flying corpse entering the viscera,” nightmare-like unconsciousness, and corpse collapse (sudden fainting and loss of awareness). Take a lump of ointment the size of a date pit with warm wine, and stop taking it once foul matter has been expelled. If the poisoning is severe and the throat is blocked so that swallowing is impossible, break off one tooth, put a scallion leaf in the mouth, and pour the ointment into the leaf so that it flows down. If there is swelling on the body, warm the ointment slightly by a fire and rub it onto the swollen area. During an epidemic of seasonal febrile illness, it may also be taken with wine to prevent infection, or placed in the nostrils when traveling through fog and dew.

Sichuan pepper, Chinese angelica, realgar, and cinnabar (two liang each); aconite and croton (one sheng each); Chinese chives (one jin); Chinese poison oak (four liang).

Cut up the eight ingredients and soak them overnight in three sheng of bitter wine (that is, vinegar). Then render five jin of pork fat over a fire of reed stalks, using a stove that faces east. Bring it to a boil five times, pausing five times; when the Chinese chives…

Once the medicinal liquid turns yellow, strain it to remove the dregs. Grind the realgar and cinnabar into a fine powder, add them to the liquid, and stir until it sets into a paste. Store the finished ointment in a watertight container.

For someone stung by a venomous creature such as a centipede, snake, or bee, apply the ointment to the wound. If the symptoms appear on the body’s surface, spread the ointment over the affected area and massage it in. Before using the ointment, break the skin at the affected site. The ointment should be prepared on a Chuxuri, a day in the traditional calendar for clearing away the old and renewing the new.

Another formula uses one liang of arsenolite and two centipedes and is called “Eight Poisons Ointment.” The formula recorded in the Zhouhou Fang omits croton seeds and Mangcao, so it is called “Five Poisons Ointment.”