《孫真人備急千金要方》Vol. 26

Cassia Twig Wine is used to treat symptoms attributed to injury from severe wind: deficiency and cold in the Liver Qi, sudden loss of voice and inability to speak, crouching and being unable to rise, a dark bluish complexion, limp and weak limbs, and loss of control over urination and bowel movements.

Cassia twigs, Chuanxiong rhizome, pubescent angelica root, Achyranthes root, Chinese yam, and licorice (three liang each); aconite (two liang); Saposhnikovia root, poria, Tianxiong aconite, Daphne genkwa, Eucommia bark, elderberry root, and atractylodes (four liang each); dried ginger (five liang); leaves, roots, and bark of Rhododendron molle and Zanthoxylum bungeanum (one sheng each); and forty jujubes.

Cut the eighteen ingredients into pieces and soak them in four dou of wine for seven days. Take four ge per dose, twice daily, gradually increasing the dose to five or six ge.

When examining signs of Liver wind, if the patient cannot speak, first apply moxibustion to Renzhong beneath the nose, then to Dazhui, and next to Ganshu, the point below the ninth vertebra, for fifty cones. The number of cones for other points may be set according to the patient’s age. Moxibustion may also be applied if vision is dim; two or three hundred cones are considered more effective. A “cone” is a unit of moxibustion, usually referring to the amount of mugwort burned in one application.

Great Tranquillity Decoction is used to treat symptoms such as deficiency of Heart Qi, palpitations and unease, and mental disorientation. The formula appears in another volume.

Dried Ginger and Aconite Decoction is used to treat symptoms caused by cold wind attacking a deficient Heart: paralysis on one side of the body, a sensation that the joints have come apart, limp and weak limbs, loss of control over urination and bowel movements, and drooping of the mouth and eyes.

Dried ginger and aconite (eight liang each); cassia bark and ephedra (four liang each); Chuanxiong rhizome (three liang).

Cut the five ingredients into pieces and boil them in nine sheng of water. Reduce the liquid to three sheng and divide it into three doses. Take another dose after three days.

Side-Branch Aconite Wine is used to treat symptoms such as cold in the Heart, intermittent laughter or groaning, and drooping of the mouth. The formula appears in another volume.

Chuanxiong Decoction is used to treat numbness and loss of sensation in the limbs, and incessant laughter, after a sudden attack of wind.

Chuanxiong rhizome (one and a half liang); scutellaria root and gypsum (one liang each; one version substitutes coptis for the gypsum); angelica root, gentian root, ephedra, cassia bark, dried ginger, and licorice (one liang each); and twenty-one apricot kernels.

Cut the ten ingredients into pieces and boil them in nine sheng of water. Reduce the liquid to three sheng and divide it into three doses.

Jingli Decoction is used to treat weakness of the heart Qi and cold in the heart. When Yin Qi damages the heart, it may cause fright palpitations and twitching, inner unrest, hurried and uncoordinated speech, deviation of the mouth and eyes, and clouded consciousness. It is also used for frequent involuntary laughter caused by “severe wind” (a category of wind-related disorders in ancient terminology) attacking the heart.

Three sheng of Jingli, one sheng of mother ginger juice, and three liang each of ephedra, atractylodes rhizome, Chuanxiong (Ligusticum), saposhnikovia root, cinnamon bark, cimicifuga rhizome, poria, polygala root, ginseng, Notopterygium root, and angelica root; two liang each of fangji root and licorice.

Cut the fifteen ingredients into pieces. First decoct the ephedra in one dou and five sheng of water. After it boils twice, skim off the froth, then add the remaining ingredients and decoct until two sheng of liquid remain. Strain out the dregs, then add the Jingli and ginger juice and decoct again until four sheng remain. Divide into four doses: take three during the day and one at night.

Atractylodes Wine is used to strengthen the heart and will and settle the breath. It treats cold and deficiency of heart Qi, abnormal Qi activity, and symptoms such as unresponsive hands and feet, muddled speech, and clouded consciousness. The cause is severe wind damaging the heart. The specific symptoms are as described above; the possible presentations are too numerous to list.

Five dou each of sliced atractylodes, Chinese wolfberry root bark, and jing fruit, and three dou of chrysanthemum.

Decoct the four ingredients in three shi of water until one shi and five dou of liquid remain. Strain out the dregs and let the liquid settle. Use the clear liquid to brew two shi of rice, with the usual amount of wine starter. Once the wine is ready, drink according to your capacity, stopping when slightly intoxicated. Do not drink until you vomit.

A treatment for wind-cold affecting the heart:

Apply fifty moxa cones on each side of Xinshu, the back-shu point corresponding to the heart. Moxa the points one and a half cun to either side of the fifth vertebra.

Ephedra Decoction is used to treat cold and deficiency of spleen Qi, and symptoms caused by severe wind: emaciation throughout the body; a low, hoarse voice like the sound of a cracked drum; a stiff tongue that cannot move freely; frequent swallowing; a tightly closed mouth and blackened lips; inability to move the limbs; a body as heavy as a mountain; and irregular urination and defecation. The prescription is given in another volume.

Pinellia Decoction warms the middle burner and directs rebellious Qi downward. It treats cold of the spleen accompanied by fearful, troubled speech, a curled tongue root, alternating joy and anger, a dazed and unsettled mind, and abdominal distension.

One sheng each of pinellia, hemp seed (fried and ground into an oily paste), and fresh ginger; three liang each of peony, poria, schisandra, cinnamon bark, and tangerine peel; four liang of atractylodes; five liang of aconite; two liang of licorice; and thirty jujubes.

Chop the twelve ingredients listed above and boil them in one dou and two sheng of water until three sheng of liquid remain. Strain out the dregs, add hemp-seed oil, then return the liquid to the heat and bring it to a boil once more. Divide into three doses.

Danggui Pill: This formula is used to strengthen the Spleen and Stomach, regulate the movement of Qi, and relieve pain. It treats heaviness of the body, weakness when lifting the limbs, and a low, strained voice caused by Spleen deficiency and Cold, as well as pain and loss of control over urination and bowel movements caused by an invasion of pathogenic Wind.

Eight liang each of danggui, suanzaoren, and dried ginger; six liang each of chuanxiong, dried rehmannia root, and tianxiong; seven liang each of digupi and huangqi; twenty jujubes; five he of wuzhuyu; four liang each of licorice, qinjiao leaf, houpu, and qinjiao; five liang each of cinnamon bark, fangfeng, fuzi, and baizhu.

Grind the eighteen ingredients into a fine powder and mix with honey to form pills the size of wutong seeds. Take thirty pills with wine, gradually increasing to forty pills, twice a day.

Signs of Spleen Wind and moxibustion: During an attack of Spleen Wind, a person may be unable to speak, or may have difficulty moving the hands and feet up and down. Apply moxibustion in sequence to the tips of all ten fingers, Renzhong, and Dazhui. Then apply it to the pulsating points in front of both ear gates, one cun above and below each gate. Finally, apply moxibustion above and below the joints of both thumbs, seven moxa cones at each point. One cone burned counts as one application.

Moxibustion for treating Spleen Wind: Apply fifty moxa cones to each side of Pishu, the back-shu points beside the spine. The source says that Pishu’s location varies with the season and month, and advises applying moxibustion to the corresponding zang back-shu points according to the patient’s condition at the time; it considers this method highly effective. Here, “Spleen Wind” is classed among the Eight Winds, an ancient collective term for various pathogenic Winds and related conditions.

Mahuang Xuming Decoction: According to the source, this formula treats difficulty breathing, bodily trembling, hoarseness, tightness in the chest, shortness of breath and weakness, numbness and weakness in the limbs, a pale blue-white complexion, loss of control over urination and bowel movements, and cold sweats caused by Lung deficiency and Cold with an invasion of severe Wind.

Six liang of mahuang; fifty jujubes; four liang each of xingren, baizhu, and gypsum; three liang each of cinnamon bark, ginseng, dried ginger, and fuling; two liang each of danggui, chuanxiong, and licorice.

Chop the twelve ingredients and boil them in one dou and two sheng of water. First boil the mahuang and skim off the foam. Add the remaining ingredients and boil until three sheng remain. Strain out the dregs and divide into three doses. The earlier formula did not include baizhu or fuling; the current formula omits huangqin. Following the classical sources, the ingredients are adjusted according to the patient’s condition.

Eight-Wind Wind-Expelling Powder: Treats damage to the lungs from deficiency and cold, hoarseness, speech that trails off with the breath, trembling limbs, slow and weak movements, and a wasted body. These symptoms are attributed to “severe wind” (a term for illness caused by pathogenic wind) invading the lungs.

Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia root), Duhuo (Angelica pubescens root), Chuanxiong (Ligusticum chuanxiong rhizome), Qin pepper, dried ginger, Huangqi (astragalus root), and Fuzi (aconite)—forty [or twenty-two] zhu each; Tianxiong (aconite), ephedra, Schisandra fruit, Cornus fruit, and gypsum—thirty [or six] zhu each; Qinjiu (Gentiana macrophylla root), cinnamon bark, Chinese yam, Asarum, Chinese angelica root, Fangji (Stephania root), ginseng, and Eucommia bark—thirty zhu each; licorice, twelve zhu; Guan Zhong (Cyrtomium rhizome), two pieces; chrysanthemum and Aster root, twenty-four zhu each.

Grind the twenty-four ingredients into a coarse powder and sift. Take one square-inch spoonful (an ancient medicinal measure, roughly a spoonful) at a time, mixed with wine. Take it continuously for two periods of seven days (fourteen days), then…

Warming-the-Center Ginger Decoction: Treats lung deficiency and cold, a wasted body, slow and weak movements, trembling limbs, shortness of breath, chest oppression, and pulmonary atrophy (a condition involving weakness and impaired function of the lungs).

Two jin of fresh ginger; four liang each of cinnamon bark and tangerine peel; three liang each of licorice and ephedra.

Cut the five ingredients into pieces. Boil them in one dou of water until two and a half sheng remain, then divide into three doses. First boil the ephedra twice and skim off the froth; then add the other ingredients and boil them together.

A formula for treating lung cold: Apply one hundred moxa cones at Feishu (the back acupoint corresponding to the lungs). In moxibustion, one cone burned down counts as one application.

Kidney-Li Decoction: Treats kidney deficiency and cold, and symptoms attributed to invasion by severe wind: muffled, unclear speech; one-sided paralysis; a leg or foot that is crooked and limping; slow, weak movement and inability to move; a drooping mouth; garbled speech; loss of bowel and bladder control requiring another person’s care; hearing loss or a blocked sensation in one ear; and pain pulling through the lower back and spine. Adjust the ingredients according to the condition and its cause.

One sheep kidney; three liang each of Huangqi (astragalus root), Chuanxiong (Ligusticum chuanxiong rhizome), cinnamon bark, Chinese angelica root, ginseng, Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia root), licorice, and Schisandra fruit; four liang each of Scrophularia root, Poria, and peony root; five liang of magnetite; two sheng of Chinese wolfberry root bark, sliced; and eight liang of fresh ginger.

Cut the fifteen ingredients into pieces. First boil the sheep kidney in one dou and five sheng of water until seven sheng remain. Add the other ingredients and boil until three sheng remain. Strain out the dregs and divide into three doses. Up to three batches may be taken.

Inyu Wine: Treats deafness, a drooping mouth, and related conditions. The formula is given in another volume.

Dried Rehmannia Pill: Treats kidney deficiency, groaning, a tendency to anger and an abnormal temperament, and an excess of Yang in the heart-mind…

A formula for replenishing Qi deficiency and treating tight, stiff lower back and spine, and coldness in the bones and marrow:

Take dried Rehmannia root, Cornus fruit, and Chinese asparagus root; one and a half liang each of cinnamon bark and teasel root; arborvitae seed; forty-two zhu each of eucommia bark, achyranthes root, and cistanche; two liang each of poria, processed Aconitum, and stalactite; thirty zhu each of pine resin, polygala root, and dried ginger; and one liang each of sweet flag rhizome, Chinese yam, and licorice. Grind these eighteen ingredients into a fine powder and form pills with honey, each the size of a parasol tree seed. Take with wine, thirty pills at a time, twice daily, gradually increasing to forty pills per dose.

For kidney cold: apply one hundred moxa cones to the Kidney Shu point, the back acupuncture point corresponding to the kidneys. Moxibustion is a traditional therapy that warms an acupuncture point with burning mugwort; one “cone” means a single moxa cone burned.

Great Rock-Honey Decoction treats gripping abdominal pain caused by “thief wind”—the wind pathogen said in ancient times to invade the body—and is also used for flying corpse and hidden infestation, ancient terms for sudden, wandering acute disorders. Attacks have no fixed timing. During an attack, the pain seems to shoot straight toward the heart; the chest and abdomen feel distended and full, and the area beneath the ribs hurts as if pierced by an awl or knife. This formula is also used for lesser Yin cold damage, a pattern in the ancient classification of cold-damage disorders.

Take fifteen gardenia fruits; one liang each of licorice, dried Rehmannia root, asarum, mutton fat (or, alternatively, green ram’s horn), poria, evodia fruit, peony root (the Xiaopin Fang uses Sichuan lovage root), dried ginger, Chinese angelica, and cinnamon bark. Cut the eleven ingredients into pieces and decoct them in eight sheng of water until three sheng remain. Strain out the herbs, add the mutton fat, and, once it has melted, drink the decoction warm in three portions. Leave roughly the time it would take a person to walk ten li between doses.

If the pain is severe, add three liang of mutton fat and one liang each of Chinese angelica, peony root, and ginseng. If the chest and abdomen are distended, full, hard, and constricted, add three liang of rhubarb. The formula recorded in the Hu Qia Fang omits gardenia, mutton fat, poria, and cinnamon bark, and is called “Rock-Honey Decoction.”

Little Rock-Honey Decoction treats aversion to wind, opisthotonos (rigidity of the body with the head and neck arched backward like a bow), gripping pain and near-collapse caused by flying corpse entering the abdomen, as well as intermittent tendon and vessel constriction, lesser Yin cold damage, lockjaw, and difficulty opening the mouth.

Take two liang of rhubarb; one liang each of realgar and green ram’s fat; four liang each of Chinese angelica, dried ginger, cinnamon bark, dried Rehmannia root, peony root, licorice, and asarum; and three liang of evodia fruit. Cut the eleven ingredients into pieces and decoct them in two dou of water until six sheng remain, then divide into six doses. For severe illness, the quantities may be increased: decoct them in three dou of water until nine sheng remain, then divide into ten doses.

Wind-Dispelling Decoction treats lockjaw, near-collapse, confusion, generalized pain and agitation, and sudden swelling of the face, eyes, hands, and feet caused by various toxic wind pathogens.

Rhinoceros horn, shell (beizi), cimicifuga root, and antelope horn, one liang each.

Grind these four ingredients into a coarse powder. Take four square-spoonfuls of the powder and boil them in two and a half sheng of water until the liquid is reduced to one sheng. Strain out the dregs and take five he. If the medicine is not strong enough, increase the dose as appropriate. If there is swelling, mix the powder with egg and apply it to the affected area three times a day. Adjust the dosage as appropriate for older people and children. This prescription is highly effective, and a larger quantity may be prepared for future use.

Aconite Decoction: Treats cold-induced abdominal colic, severe abdominal pain caused by cold. During an attack, the abdomen is gripped by cramping pain. If “thief wind”—a pathogenic wind that takes advantage of bodily weakness—enters the abdomen and disrupts the Five Zang organs, the body may become rigid, making it impossible to turn or lie on one’s side. The person cries out repeatedly from the pain. The attacks come and go, and may also cause contraction of the genitals and cold hands and feet. The prescription is as follows:

Fifteen aconite tubers (the abbreviated instructions say to use five), ten jujubes, two liang of licorice, four liang of peony root, six liang of cassia heartwood, and one jin of fresh ginger.

First chop five of the six ingredients and boil them in seven sheng of water until reduced to three sheng. Strain out the dregs. Separately, peel the aconite, cut each tuber into four pieces, and simmer it over low heat with two sheng of honey until the liquid has decreased by five or six he. Pour this liquid into the previously prepared decoction, bring it to a boil twice, and strain out the dregs. Take one he per dose, three times a day, at intervals before and after meals. In severe cases, take three he per dose. A feeling like drunkenness after taking it indicates that the medicine has begun to work; if there is no such effect, increase the dose.

A prescription for treating invasion by thief wind and cramping inside the abdomen:

Four liang of ephedra, one chi of licorice, and pieces of gypsum and winged euonymus each the size of an egg.

Chop the four ingredients and boil them in two sheng of east-flowing water until reduced to one sheng. Take the whole dose at once.

The discussion says: If wind-induced joint disease (a disorder caused by wind invading the joints) remains untreated for a long time after it attacks the body, the joints may become dislocated or come apart, and the condition may even develop into madness. This is a disease one must understand. Throughout history, people of every rank have often suffered from it. It causes severe damage through pathogenic wind. Although decoctions can treat the disease, none is as effective as pine resin ointment or pine-node wine. If someone is traveling or poor and unable to obtain these remedies in time, they may take another decoction; that is better than going untreated. Moxibustion may also be applied to the painful area for twenty-one moxa cones, with good results.

Fangfeng Decoction: Treats symptoms in which the joints throughout the body and limbs seem as if they are coming apart and are swollen; pressing the skin leaves a depression. Other symptoms include dizziness, shortness of breath, oppression and agitation in the chest, and nausea with the urge to vomit. The prescription is as follows:

Four liang each of saposhnikovia root, atractylodes, anemarrhena, and cassia heartwood; three liang each of cnidium rhizome, peony root, apricot kernel, and licorice; pinellia.

The source text breaks off here; it gives neither the amount of pinellia nor the method for preparing and taking the decoction.

Rhinoceros Horn Decoction is used to treat heat toxins that flow into the limbs and cause swollen, painful joints.

Notopterygium Decoction: Treats bodily pain, limpness and weakness in the limbs, or inability to move after windstroke. It may also be used for windstroke after childbirth.

Notopterygium, cinnamon bark, peony, kudzu root, ephedra, and dried Rehmannia root, three liang each; licorice, two liang; fresh ginger, five liang. Cut the eight ingredients into pieces and decoct them in three sheng of clear rice wine and five sheng of water. Strain off three sheng of liquid. Take it warm, five ge each dose, three times daily.

Stephania Decoction: Treats wind-induced joint disease, a condition marked by joint pain. The pain in the limbs is like being struck or hammered, and is difficult to bear.

Stephania root, poria, white atractylodes, cinnamon bark, and fresh ginger, four liang each; licorice, three liang; ginseng, two liang; aconite, seven pieces. Cut the eight ingredients into pieces and decoct them in one sheng of bitter wine (vinegar) and one dou of water. Strain off three sheng. Take eight ge per dose, three times during the day and once at night. After taking it, you should feel a burning sensation and numbness. If these sensations occur, do not be alarmed. If you feel nothing, decoct and take more until they occur.

Whenever aconite is used, first peel it, then fry it until black before use; otherwise it is highly toxic, so use it with caution. The Qianjin Yifang records this formula without bitter wine.

Formula for bodily pain caused by damp wind: The pain is severe, as if the muscles were being torn apart, or as if pierced by awls and knives.

Aconite, dried ginger, peony, poria, ginseng, licorice, and cinnamon bark, two liang each; white atractylodes, four liang. Cut the eight ingredients into pieces and decoct them in eight sheng of water. Strain off two sheng and take three doses daily. Another version omits cinnamon bark and uses two liang of dried Rehmannia root instead.

Jujube Decoction: Treats joint pain.

Fifteen jujubes, one aconite, one chi of licorice, four liang of astragalus, two liang of fresh ginger, and five liang of ephedra. Cut the six ingredients into pieces and decoct them in seven sheng of water. Strain off three sheng; take one sheng per dose, three times daily.

The opening surviving ingredient, “fresh ginger (five liang),” and the instructions for decoction and administration cannot be linked to a complete formula because the preceding text is missing. A variant note in parentheses states that the version recorded in the Gu Jinyanlu Fang omits pinellia, apricot kernels, and Sichuan lovage root, and uses two pieces of aconite instead, making eight ingredients in total.

Take two liang of rhinoceros horn and one liang of antelope horn, together with three liang each of Peucedanum root, Scutellaria root, gardenia seeds, and blackberry lily rhizome; four liang each of rhubarb and cimicifuga rhizome; and one sheng of fermented soybean. These nine ingredients should be cut into pieces. Add nine sheng of water and boil until three sheng of liquid remain. Strain out the dregs and divide the liquid into three doses.

A prescription for all kinds of wind disorders affecting the joints, with unbearable aching pain throughout the body:

Take thirty jin of pine resin and refine it repeatedly, fifty times, then boil it in wine ten times. If fifty refinements are not possible, twenty will do. Separately, take three sheng of clarified butter, warm it, and mix it with three sheng of pine resin. Stir thoroughly. Each morning, on an empty stomach, take about one square-inch-spoonful of the mixture with wine. While taking it, one may eat plenty of wheat porridge. Avoid bloody foods, cold foods, sour foods, and fruit. After one hundred days, the illness will be cured.

Pine-branch wine: a prescription for joint wind disorders and pain in the limbs so severe they seem about to fall apart:

Take thirty jin of pine branches and thirty jin of prickly ash leaves, cutting each into pieces separately. Add four shi of water to each and boil, then collect one shi of liquid. Let the liquids settle, clarify them, and combine them. Soak five jin of dried yeast in the mixture. Once it has fermented, brew the wine with four shi and five dou of glutinous rice, adding the ingredients in four stages according to the usual method of brewing at home. Keep the temperature suitable during fermentation; do not let it become too cold or too hot. With the first addition, include the following medicines:

Five liang each of arborvitae seeds, processed monkshood, and Dioscorea hypoglauca, along with cnidium rhizome; six liang of gentian; four liang each of ginseng and Japanese yew; ten liang of saposhnikovia root; eleven liang of powdered magnetite; and twelve liang of pubescent angelica root.

Cut these ten ingredients into pieces, add them to the rice, and steam them as one would for a usual addition in brewing wine. After all four additions have been made, seal the vessel and leave it for four seven-day periods—that is, twenty-eight days. Press out the clear wine and drink an amount suited to your tolerance. Do not drink until drunk or sick.

Gypsum decoction: a prescription for dispelling wind toxins:

Take three pieces of gypsum, each about the size of an egg; two eggs; one chi of licorice; three liang of ephedra; and forty apricot kernels. Cut the five ingredients into pieces. Add three sheng of water, crack the eggs into it, and stir. Add the medicines and boil, then drink one sheng of the liquid. Cover yourself with bedding to induce sweating. If you do not sweat, heat stones and use them to warm the body and help bring on perspiration.

A prescription for joint wind disorders:

Soak one sheng of pine resin in three sheng of wine for seven days. Take one he each time, twice a day. After taking several doses, the illness will be cured.

There is another recipe: Take thirty jin of pine needles and soak them in two shi and five dou of wine for twenty-one days. Take one ge (about a small cup) each time, five or six times a day.

Essential Formulas Worth a Thousand in Gold for Emergencies by Master Sun, juan 26.