《孫真人備急千金要方》Vol. 49

Sun Zhenren said: Since reaching adulthood, I have suffered from hot dysentery three times and cold dysentery once. I had diarrhea more than a hundred times a day and night; when it was severe, I even had my bed moved beside the latrine. Though my condition was so critical, each time I treated it promptly according to its symptoms and recovered soon afterward. From this I learned that dysentery is, in itself, easy to treat. Some people, however, are willful and arrogant and refuse to restrain themselves. They dislike the bitterness of good medicine and will not take it on schedule; after taking it in the morning, they expect to be well by evening. Their illness grows worse day by day, while their stomach Qi—the function and vitality of the spleen and stomach—gradually weakens. Their spirit and strength decline until they can no longer take food or medicine. When the illness lingers without being cured in time, they say dysentery is hard to treat, when in fact they have brought this delay upon themselves.

Those who study medicine must understand this. Dysentery should be treated promptly with medicine suited to the condition. If patients make up their minds, restrain themselves, and persist with their medicine and diet until they recover, there is no case that cannot be cured. After recovery, they must also take special care with their diet: those whose illness was severe should be cautious for a hundred days afterward, and those whose illness was mild should still be cautious for a month. I often feel sorry for people who are indulgent and willful and cannot govern themselves, so I speak these words here with earnestness.

There are too many prescriptions for dysentery, past and present, to count. Here I have selected only seven or eight that are effective. If these prescriptions are widely used, what is there to worry about? Zhili Pills, Mume Pills, and Pine Bark Powder, among others, can be used for acute dysentery; how could they fail to work after being taken? Spleen-Warming Decoction and Spleen-Strengthening Pills (the prescription is given below in “Cold Dysentery”) should also be able to cure prolonged diarrhea.

Dysentery is generally divided into four kinds: cold dysentery, hot dysentery, gan dysentery, and gu dysentery. In cold dysentery, the stool is white; in hot dysentery, it is red; in gan dysentery, red and white are mixed together irregularly; in gu dysentery, the stool consists only of stagnant blood. Hot dysentery is generally treated with Huanglian, omitting Ganjiang; for cold dysentery, warming medicines are added. In gan dysentery, medicine should be blown or administered into the anus; dysentery caused by gu toxins should be treated according to the methods for gu poisoning. When the medicine matches the cause of the illness and the patient takes it diligently, how could it fail to cure the condition?

After taking medicine to stop dysentery, the condition may initially seem worse. Those who do not understand this stop taking the medicine, which is wrong. As long as the medicine truly corresponds to the cause of the illness…

When the illness is severe, no more than two or three doses of medicine should be needed for the condition to gradually improve. But if the medicine does not suit the illness, do not take it.

In all cases of dysentery, avoid raw or cold foods, vinegar, slippery or greasy foods, pork, chicken, fish, oil, dairy products, butter, dried meat, sauces, rice flour, and similar foods. Cook everything until it is very soft and well done, and do not eat too much. These are the basic principles for caring for the sick. If care is inadequate, even a sage cannot save the patient.

When there is diarrhea and the pulse is slippery and rapid, this indicates that retained food has accumulated in the body. The accumulation should be expelled with a purgative.

When there is diarrhea and the pulse is slow and slippery, this indicates an excess pathogenic factor in the body, and that the diarrhea has not yet stopped. A purgative should be given promptly.

When there is diarrhea and the pulse is instead slippery, this indicates that something in the body needs to be expelled. Recovery will come only after purgation.

Diarrhea accompanied by loss of appetite indicates retained food and accumulation. A purgative should be used.

Diarrhea accompanied by abdominal pain and distension is caused by Cold and accumulated stagnation binding together. A purgative should be used.

When the abdomen is hard during diarrhea, a purgative should be used.

Diarrhea accompanied by delirious speech indicates dry stool in the abdomen. It should be purged.

During diarrhea, if the pulses at both wrists are even and calm (another version reads “floating”), but the area below the heart feels hard when pressed, purge promptly.

If diarrhea has resolved but returns at the same time of year, on the same month, day, and hour, this indicates that the pathogenic factor was not completely expelled before. Purgation should be used again, and the illness will resolve. But diarrhea caused by Wind-Cold must not be purged. If the area below the heart becomes hard and painful after purgation, and the pulse is slow (another version reads “floating”), this is a Cold pattern and should be treated only by warming. A deep and tight pulse should likewise be treated as a Cold pattern. If the pulse is large, floating, and wiry, the illness should improve after purgation. If the pulse is floating and large during diarrhea, this indicates deficiency caused by earlier forced purgation. If the pulse is floating and leathery—hard to the touch on the surface but hollow when pressed down—and there is rumbling in the intestines, treat by warming.

When diarrhea is accompanied by a slow, tight pulse and persistent abdominal pain, treat by warming. If the patient has been exposed to Cold, the abdomen will become distended, and the stool will contain intestinal debris.

When diarrhea is accompanied by pain throughout the body, promptly treat the interior pattern—that is, warm the interior first. Warming formulas such as Lizhong Decoction, Sini Decoction, and Fuzi Decoction may be used.

When diarrhea is accompanied by pain at the anus, warm the anus.

When diarrhea is accompanied by abdominal distension and pain throughout the body, first warm the interior pattern, then treat the exterior pattern.

When diarrhea produces undigested food, do not induce sweating to treat the exterior. Otherwise, once sweating occurs, the abdomen will certainly become distended.

When diarrhea is accompanied by difficulty urinating, treat it by promoting urination.

When diarrhea is accompanied by a pulse that is instead floating and rapid, and a choppy pulse at the wrist, the patient will certainly pass pus and blood.

When diarrhea is accompanied by a rapid pulse and thirst, it will usually resolve on its own. If it does not, the patient will certainly pass pus and blood, because there is Heat in the body.

When diarrhea is accompanied by a deep and wiry pulse, there will be tenesmus—the persistent feeling of needing to defecate without being able to do so fully. A large pulse indicates that the diarrhea has not stopped. If the pulse is faint…

When the pulse is faint and slightly rapid, the illness is about to resolve on its own. Even if fever remains, it will not be fatal.

In diarrhea, if the pulse is deep and slow, the patient’s face is slightly flushed, and the body is mildly warm, these signs may occur together.

When undigested food passes during diarrhea, the patient may become dazed and break into a sweat, after which the condition eases. Before it eases, the hands and feet are often mildly cold. This happens because the flush in the face resembles Yang Qi floating at the surface, while the interior of the body is weak.

If diarrhea is accompanied by mild fever and thirst, and the pulse is faint, the patient will recover on their own.

If the pulse is rapid during diarrhea and there is mild fever, the patient will recover on their own after sweating. If the pulse is tight, the illness has not yet resolved.

If the pulse becomes wiry during diarrhea, with fever and sweating, the patient will recover on their own.

If the pulse is large, floating, and wiry during diarrhea, the diarrhea should stop.

If the tongue coating is yellow and dry during diarrhea, but there is no thirst, this indicates excess pathogenic Qi in the chest. If the diarrhea still does not stop, the condition may be fatal.

After diarrhea, if the pulse briefly becomes imperceptible and the hands and feet turn cold, the patient will survive if, within a day and a night, the pulse returns and the hands and feet grow warm. If the pulse does not return and the hands and feet remain cold, the condition may be fatal.

If, during diarrhea, the hands and feet are cold and the pulse cannot be felt, and they do not grow warm even after moxibustion, then a faint pulse that still fails to return, together with slight shortness of breath, signals danger to life. The saying “When the Shaoyin is weaker than the Fuyang, the pattern is favorable” means that, compared with the Fuyang pulse—the pulse on the top of the foot used to assess Stomach Qi—the Shaoyin pulse is weaker and the Fuyang pulse is stronger. This is considered a more favorable pulse pattern.

When the Qi of the six bowels is exhausted at the body’s surface, the hands and feet become cold, Qi surges upward, and the legs draw up. When the Qi of the five viscera is exhausted internally, the patient loses control of urination and bowel movements. In severe diarrhea, the hands and feet may also lose sensation. These signs must be carefully distinguished during examination to avoid misjudgment. The examples above give only a general outline of diarrheal illness.

The Suwen says, “When wind invades in spring, bloody and purulent stools may occur in summer.” Summer diarrhea often involves dysenteric discharge. It also says, “When wind invades in summer, unrestrained diarrhea will certainly occur in autumn.” Autumn diarrhea commonly produces watery stools. These illnesses are often associated with Cold.

For diarrhea caused by accumulated Cold, Heat, or food and drink, purging with Dahuang Decoction may be used. A robust patient should take no more than two doses. Observe the condition after administering the medicine, and consider another dose five or six days later. If decoctions that tonify and bind fail to work, another dose may be given after two or three days.

Zhili Pill may be used for various conditions, including dysentery, fever in Cold Damage, headache, red eyes, persistent distressing pain in the limbs, and dysentery accompanied by Heat. It is also used when a physician has already induced vomiting or purging and the patient then develops restless discomfort in the abdomen, wants to drink cold beverages but cannot, experiences cramping abdominal pain, vomits after eating warm foods, alternates between chills and fever like a warm-type malaria, has difficulty urinating and abdominal distension, retches, or has persistent diarrhea. The ingredients are:

• Five liang of water-grown zhili
• Three liang of purple fluorite
• One liang of magnolia bark
• Six liang of Hanzhong Aristolochia root
• Four liang of Longxi Chinese angelica root

Two liang of Huanglian, five sheng of bitter wine aged for many years (vinegar), and two sheng of premium fermented soybeans.

All eight medicinal ingredients should be fresh. First, soak Fangji in two sheng of bitter wine until thoroughly moistened. Remove the Fangji and set the wine aside. With a sharp knife, cut the Fangji into evenly thick slices, each one fen thick. Place a flat roof tile over charcoal embers, lay thick paper on the tile, and arrange the slices on the paper. Turn them one by one, starting from the first, and roast them repeatedly until they become dark, withered in color, and dry. Then immerse them in the remaining bitter wine, remove them, and return them to the tile to roast. Repeat this process until the bitter wine is used up. Keep the fire low and roast slowly until the Fangji slices are completely dry.

Pound the ingredients separately and sift them, then combine them and pound them one thousand times. Soak the remaining three sheng of bitter wine with the fermented soybeans overnight. The next morning, put the soybeans in an earthenware basin and cover it with another basin. Steam them over five sheng of earth until the steam can pass through and the soybeans are cooked. Remove them and grind them in a basin. Strain out the concentrated juice through fresh cloth, reducing it to a thick paste like jujube paste, and use it to mix with the medicine. Pound the medicine another three thousand times, then immediately roll it into pills, each about the size of a water caltrop seed. Divide the pills among several cloth bags and hang them in a cool place to dry. Once completely dry, pack them away and seal the bag openings at once with wax, keeping the pills from exposure to wind and dust.

Three pills make one dose. Take one dose at dawn with the first-drawn well water, another during the day, and a third in the evening, each with water. At the beginning of the course, eat a little less. At the usual mealtimes, take the medicine with water and food. If food digests smoothly and the abdomen feels settled, take one dose each day. Once the illness improves, take one dose every two or three days, adjusting the amount to your condition. If the illness is severe and the medicine has not yet taken effect, the dose may be increased to four or five times a day. If diarrhea continues without stopping, increase the amount further so that the medicine’s effect remains in the abdomen. The ability to digest food indicates that the medicine is working.

When first taking the medicine, before the body has adapted, use water and food to support its effect. Once the mind feels clear and refreshed, soups and meat may be eaten, but they should be cool. If you sometimes lose the desire for cool foods, this shows that the medicine’s effect has weakened, and you can increase the dose; after about a night, you will again want to eat cool foods. If you intend to stop taking the medicine, gradually switch to warm foods, and its effect will fade on its own. There is no need to force yourself to drink more water while taking it; adjust according to your condition. If prolonged diarrhea leaves you weak, take the medicine as described above and avoid hot-natured foods.

Eating raw fish or pork, eating garlic or raw vegetables, and drinking wine or fermented grain liquor all strengthen the medicine’s effects and can make the patient restless and feverish. Foods that are spicy, greasy, or difficult to digest should therefore also be avoided. For wind-related illness, add one liang of Fangfeng. If the body is weak and thin, add one liang of Shihu. For long-standing diarrhea that has weakened the intestines and stomach, add two and a half liang of Taiyi Yuliang, choosing the yellow variety found in stone that is soft in texture and fragrant. For illness after childbirth, add two liang of stone sulfur. For dark yellow or reddish urine, or difficulty urinating, add one liang of Puhuang. Adjust the ingredients according to the condition, and the treatment will take effect.

Hu Qia said: An older formula also included five mineral medicines: Chishizhi, Baishiying, Zhongru, Fanshi, and Yuyuliang, four liang of each. It was usually prepared in the second month of the year.

Formula for treating hot diarrhea that does not resolve after prolonged treatment

One sheng of black plums and one jin of Huanglian, selecting the golden-yellow variety. Grind the two ingredients into powder, mix with honey, and form pills the size of Chinese parasol-tree seeds. Take twenty pills three times a day, then take another dose at night. This works very well.

Formula for treating diarrhea that has persisted for twenty or thirty years

Take one dou of bark from a red pine tree. Remove the old outer bark, chop the rest, and grind it into powder. Mix with thin wheat porridge and take one sheng per dose, three times a day. After taking one dou of the powder, the condition will generally be cured. Even diarrhea lasting thirty years can be cured by taking it for one hundred days.

Kushen and Tangerine Peel Pills: Formula for treating dysentery caused by heat-toxin

Grind equal amounts of Kushen, tangerine peel, Duhuo, Ejiao, Lanqing, Huanglian, Guijiu (some versions give “Guijianyu”), Huangbo, and licorice into a fine powder. Dissolve the Ejiao in honey, mix it with the powdered medicines, and shape the mixture into pills the size of Chinese parasol-tree seeds. Let them dry, then swallow with water. Take ten pills three times a day, gradually increasing the dose afterward. This formula is quite helpful for sudden, urgent diarrhea.

Formula for treating various forms of heat-toxin diarrhea

For diarrhea with yellow fluid, or red, thick discharge resembling rotten blood and having a fish-brain-like texture, accompanied by abdominal pain and high fever, use this formula: six fen each of Huangbo, Huangqin, Shengma, and pomegranate peel; three fen of mugwort leaf; one liang each of Baitouweng, Jisheng, Danggui, oyster shell, rhinoceros horn, and licorice; and two liang of Huanglian. Chop the twelve ingredients, add six sheng of water, and decoct until three sheng of liquid remain. Divide into three doses.

Dragon Bone Pills for treating bloody diarrhea and abdominal pain

Dragon bone, Longdan, and antelope horn.

Angelica root, aconite, dried ginger, and coptis (30 zhu each); red halloysite and alum (1.5 liang each); rhinoceros horn, licorice root, and processed mugwort (18 zhu each).

Grind these twelve ingredients into a fine powder, mix evenly with honey, and form pills the size of small beans. Take fifteen pills before meals, three times a day, gradually increasing to twenty pills.

Another prescription

The medicinal inner layer of ox horn, angelica root, dragon bone, dried ginger, and processed mugwort (3 liang each); aconite, Amur cork tree bark, red halloysite, Sichuan lovage root, donkey-hide gelatin, magnolia bark, licorice root, tangerine peel, pomegranate peel, and peony root (2 liang each); twenty jujubes; coptis (five ge); cimicifuga root (1.5 liang); and Sichuan pepper (1 liang).

Coarsely cut these nineteen ingredients (“fuju” means cutting medicinal materials into coarse pieces suitable for decoction). Add one dou and three sheng of water, and boil down to four sheng. Strain out the dregs, then add powdered ox horn and donkey-hide gelatin. Once the gelatin has dissolved, strain the liquid through cotton cloth. Divide into seven doses: take four during the day and three at night. The Qianjin Yifang omits tangerine peel.

Prescription for treating bloody dysentery

Pollen of cattail (three ge); dried rehmannia root, wood ear fungus, licorice root, mirabilite, poria, ginseng, arborvitae leaves, donkey-hide gelatin, mugwort leaves, and fresh ginger (2 liang each); limonite and coptis (1 liang each); red halloysite (five fen).

Coarsely cut these fourteen ingredients. Add one dou of water and boil down to four sheng. Divide into five doses and take warm. The original text calls this prescription “remarkably effective.”

Prescription for treating stool mixed with blood

Dried indigo plant, rhinoceros horn, and garden burnet root (2 liang each); honey (two ge).

Coarsely cut these four ingredients. Add five sheng of water and boil down to one and a half sheng. Strain out the dregs, add the honey, then boil down to five ge. Divide into three doses and take. The original text says this prescription is effective for treating heat toxins and gu disease.

Prescription for heat toxins causing black blood in the stool, colicky abdominal pain, bowel movements as often as a hundred times day and night, and breathing nearly failing

Coptis (one sheng); dragon bone and white atractylodes (2 liang each); donkey-hide gelatin, dried ginger, angelica root, and red halloysite (3 liang each); aconite (1 liang).

Coarsely cut these eight ingredients. Add one dou of water and boil down to five sheng. Divide into five doses and take.

On the twelfth day of the seventh month in the third year of the Zhenguan era, I suddenly came down with this heat-toxin dysentery. By the fifteenth, my life was nearly beyond saving. After taking the medicine in this prescription, the illness immediately subsided.

A prescription for passing blood seventy or eighty times by day and night

Huanglian and Huangbo, half a liang each.

Coarsely chop the two ingredients and decoct them in three sheng of pure vinegar until one and a half sheng remain. Divide into two doses and take.

Baitouweng Decoction: a prescription for red dysentery and passing blood that persist for months without relief

Baitouweng, Houpo, Ejiao, Huanglian, Qinpi, Fuzi, Huangbo, Fuling, and Shaoyao, two liang each; Ganjiang, Danggui, Chishizhi, Gancao, and Longgu, three liang each; thirty jujubes; and one sheng of polished rice.

Coarsely chop the sixteen ingredients. First boil the polished rice in one dou and two sheng of water. When it is cooked, remove the rice, then add the medicinal ingredients and decoct until three sheng remain. Divide into four doses and take.

A prescription for red dysentery lasting many years

Diyu and Shuweicao, one sheng each.

Coarsely chop the two ingredients and decoct them in two sheng of water until one sheng remains. Divide into two doses and take.

If the bleeding still does not stop, take dust from a rooftop, soak it in water, and strain out the sediment. Take one sheng of the liquid in two doses. The Gu jin lu yan fang says: “Take one small cup of rooftop-dust liquid.”

Another prescription

Qinpi (if Qinpi is unavailable, use oak bark instead), Shuweicao, and rose root, in equal amounts.

Coarsely chop the three ingredients, add enough water to cover them, and decoct. Strain out the herbs. Then simmer the liquid in a copper vessel set in a water bath until it forms pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Take five or six pills three times a day, gradually increasing the dose; stop when the illness is cured. Alternatively, decoct the herbs into a thick liquid and take half a sheng each time.

A prescription for intense heat-toxin with pure bleeding that persists despite prolonged treatment

Coarsely chop six liang of Huanglian and decoct it in seven sheng of water until two and a half sheng remain. Leave it outdoors overnight, exposed to the stars and moon. The next morning, take the entire dose on an empty stomach, then lie down and rest. If the illness is not cured, add two liang of Huangqin and decoct and take it in the same way. If it still does not work, treat it according to the method for “gan dysentery.”

A prescription for heat dysentery with watery and undigested grain-like stools

Huanglian and Ejiao, two liang each; Huangbo, one liang; forty Wumei; and thirty Zhizi.

The source text ends here; the preparation and dosage instructions are not present in the passage provided.

The five ingredients listed above should be roughly chopped and boiled in five sheng of water until reduced to two and a half sheng. Divide the liquid into three doses. This prescription also treats yi (an intestinal disease) very effectively.

Prescription for dysentery with cramping pain and persistent intestinal leakage

Six liang of Coptis; three liang each of donkey-hide gelatin, clary sage, Chinese angelica, and dried ginger.

Roughly chop the five ingredients. If the patient has pronounced chills and a large amount of white mucus in the stool, boil the ingredients in one dou of clear rice wine until reduced to three sheng, then divide into three doses. If the patient has more severe internal heat or little abdominal pain, omit the dried ginger and Chinese angelica and boil the remaining ingredients in water.

Poria Decoction

This treats chronic diarrhea in cases of extreme weakness, when the patient is near death and the stool contains pus and blood, with dozens of bowel movements a day. It may be taken by the elderly or children whenever their condition matches these symptoms.

Half a liang each of poria, phellodendron bark, Coptis, dragon bone, ginseng, dried ginger, Scutellaria, cinnamon bark, peony, Chinese angelica, gardenia seed, and licorice; one liang of red halloysite; twelve jujubes.

Roughly chop the fourteen ingredients. Boil them in five sheng of water until reduced to two sheng, then divide into two doses. If the patient has not improved, continue taking the decoction for three full doses. This prescription is chiefly for dysentery caused by wind and deficiency or by cold, and is highly effective.

Prescription for disharmony between cold and heat, with diarrhea that is watery, contains pus, or resembles blood of five colors

Take five sour pomegranates with their rinds. Pound them and squeeze out two sheng of juice. Take five ge at a time, and stop once the illness has resolved.

Spleen-Warming Decoction

This treats chronic diarrhea, red-and-white dysentery that has persisted for years, and cholera accompanied by cold, severe accumulation in the spleen and stomach, with food left undigested.

Four liang of rhubarb; two liang each of ginseng, licorice, and dried ginger; one large aconite tuber.

Roughly chop the five ingredients. Boil them in eight sheng of water until reduced to two and a half sheng, then divide into three doses. Add the rhubarb shortly before the decoction is ready. This prescription differs slightly from the Spleen-Warming Decoction described later. When strong purgation is needed, use this version; the text says it is markedly effective.

Coptis Decoction

This treats red-and-white dysentery.

Three liang each of Coptis, phellodendron bark, dried ginger, pomegranate rind, and donkey-hide gelatin; two liang of Chinese angelica; one liang of licorice.

Roughly chop the seven ingredients. Boil them in seven sheng of water until reduced to three sheng, then divide into three doses.

Lady’s Mantle Pills

These treat red-and-white dysentery that develops after a febrile illness or epidemic disease and then becomes yi (an intestinal disease). This prescription is also commonly called Yunshi Pills.

Three fen each of lady’s mantle and Veratrum; aconite…

Cinnamon heart (the inner bark of cinnamon), four parts; coptis rhizome and Chinese honey locust, two parts each; and hematite, one part.

Grind the seven ingredients into a fine powder and use honey to form pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Take two pills at a time. The medicine will cause profuse purging. For dysentery, do not eat at night. Take the pills at dawn with cold water, then do not eat or drink until noon. Eat after midday. If the medicine takes effect, take another dose at dawn the next day in the same way. It may also be taken over a long period. Even people who are weak and emaciated, pass stool a hundred times day and night, and have pus and blood in their stools can recover after taking it.

Sacred Decoction Formula: Treats red-and-white dysentery (dysentery accompanied by red or white mucus), as well as conditions such as worms in the anus. These conditions will be cured after taking it.

Two liang of Chinese sage, one sheng of fermented soybeans, six liang each of gardenia seed and ginger, and one handful of peach bark.

Cut the five ingredients into small pieces and boil them in seven sheng of water. Reduce the liquid to two and a half sheng, then divide it into three doses. Another account says to use only peach bark, decoct it in wine, and drink it.

Formula for treating red-and-white dysenteric flux:

Five he of clear wine and three he of rendered pork fat.

Gently simmer the two ingredients together, bringing them to a boil about ten times. Let the mixture cool until warm, then drink it all at once. Continue until cured.

Another formula: Boil forty copper coins in four sheng of wine until only two sheng remain, then divide into three doses.

Another formula: Take a hank of tangled hair about the size of an egg, burn it to ash, and swallow it with water. Take no more than three doses.

Moxibustion (a treatment that stimulates acupuncture points with burning mugwort):

• For diarrhea or dysentery, undigested food, and failure to develop flesh, apply moxibustion to the Pishu point, using a number of moxa cones corresponding to the patient’s age. A “cone” is one unit of moxibustion, usually the amount burned in a single application.
• For unremitting diarrhea, the five kinds of dysentery, pus and blood in the stool, or severe abdominal pain, apply one hundred moxa cones to the Xiaochangshu point.
• For chronic diarrhea or dysentery, abnormal passage of gas, or illness brought on by exhaustion or exposure to cold, apply one hundred moxa cones to the lower lumbar region in three sessions. The point lies at the center of the “Eight Kui,” on the spine; more moxibustion is better. This place is called the “Three Zong Bones,” and needling it is contraindicated.
• For uncontrollable diarrhea or dysentery accompanied by cramping pain in the lower abdomen, apply one hundred moxa cones to the Dantian (energy center), in three sessions. The point is two cun below the navel. When needling, insert the needle five fen.
• For diarrhea or dysentery accompanied by loss of appetite, or inability to digest food after eating, apply fifty moxa cones to the Changgu point in three sessions. The points lie on either side of the navel, five cun apart, and are also called “Xunji.”
• For diarrhea or dysentery with red and white matter mixed in the stool, apply fifty moxa cones in three sessions to a point on the Foot Taiyin channel.
• For chronic diarrhea or dysentery that has not responded to any treatment, apply moxibustion to the hollow one cun below the Foot Yangming channel, above the prominent bone. This point is three cun from the cleft between the big toes; use a number of moxa cones corresponding to the patient’s age.
• Another method for locating the points: Bend a bamboo ruler and measure the space between the hips, marking the position on the spine. Then measure one cun downward and mark it; mark one point one cun to either side. Next, measure another cun downward and mark a point on the spine, for a total of three points…

Apply thirty moxa cones. More than one hundred applications can stop both upper and lower diarrhea and also treat Dampness. “Thirty applications” means applying a moxa cone thirty times; “one hundred applications” means applying it more than one hundred times.

For dysentery caused by Dampness and cold, apply moxibustion to points on the back opposite the hips. If the area is painful, however, do not apply moxibustion there.

You may also gradually apply moxibustion two or three hundred times at the center of the navel; alternatively, apply it three hundred times at Guanyuan, three cun below the navel, over ten consecutive days. This method can also treat cold dysentery and abdominal pain.

For red-and-white dysentery, in which the discharge is red or white, apply moxibustion to the tip of the coccyx. The more applications, the better.

Sun Simiao’s Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold for Emergencies, juan 49.