《孫真人備急千金要方》Vol. 56

The section “Lung Atrophy” discusses its symptoms, causes, and treatment. Lung atrophy refers to a group of disorders in which Lung Qi is damaged and lung function is weakened.

Why does a patient cough and bring up turbid saliva and froth while the pulse at the wrist is rapid? The physician replies: this is lung atrophy. Heat in the Upper Burner—the area above the diaphragm associated with breathing and the movement of fluids—can cause coughing and may develop into lung atrophy. It may also arise when sweating, vomiting, or wasting thirst, a disorder involving excessive thirst and urination, leads to frequent urination; or when constipation is treated repeatedly with harsh purgatives. In either case, body fluids are greatly depleted, eventually resulting in lung atrophy.

If the pulse at the wrist cannot be felt, but the patient is nevertheless made to sweat, the Yang pulse quickly weakens. The Yin pulse is not rough or obstructed, yet Qi fails to move smoothly through the Three Burners—the Upper, Middle, and Lower Burners—and body fluids are not distributed normally. Although the Yin pulse is not rough, the body becomes cold while there is internal restlessness and heat. Saliva increases, the lips become dry, and urination becomes difficult. This is lung atrophy caused by damage to body fluids. The stool becomes soft and watery like rotten melon, and passes with the appearance of pig brain. This condition results from focusing only on inducing sweat.

After falling ill, the patient feels the urge to cough but cannot; even when coughing, they bring up only dry froth. As the illness persists, urination becomes difficult, while the pulse is calm and weak. A person with lung atrophy who brings up saliva without coughing is usually not thirsty, but may have involuntary urination or urinate frequently. This is because the upper body is weak and cannot control the lower body’s urinary function. This condition is due to Cold in the Lungs and is often accompanied by dizziness.

The physician also says: a patient with lung atrophy who coughs and brings up phlegm, has a dry throat, and wants to drink may recover on their own. If they continually breathe with their mouth open, this indicates shortness of breath.

Licorice and Dried Ginger Decoction warms the organs and treats lung atrophy, excessive salivation, frequent urination, Cold in the Lungs with dizziness, and conditions in which there is neither thirst nor coughing. If the patient is thirsty, treatment should follow the approach for wasting thirst. When the upper body is weak and cannot control urination, after taking this decoction the patient should be covered lightly and kept gently warm.

Four liang of licorice and two liang of dried ginger. (The Jiyan and Zhouhou texts record the addition of twelve jujubes.) Cut the two ingredients into pieces, add three sheng of water, and decoct until one and a half sheng remain. Strain out the herbs and take the decoction in two portions.

Licorice Decoction treats lung atrophy, profuse salivation, coughing up blood, and a warm, damp, uncomfortable sensation in the chest. In the Qianjin Yifang, this formula is called “Warm Fluid Decoction.”

Cut two liang of licorice into pieces, add three sheng of water, and decoct until one and a half sheng remain. Strain out the herb and take the decoction in three portions.

Fresh Ginger and Licorice Decoction treats lung atrophy with persistent coughing and spitting of frothy saliva, as well as a dry throat and thirst.

Five liang of fresh ginger, four liang of licorice, three liang of ginseng, and twelve jujubes. Chop these four ingredients, simmer them in seven sheng of water, and reduce the liquid to three sheng. Strain out the dregs and take the medicine in three doses.

Cassia Twig and Chinese Honeylocust Fruit Decoction: A formula for treating lung atrophy—weakness and damage of the lungs—with persistent coughing and spitting of frothy saliva. It is made by removing peony from Cassia Twig Decoction and adding Chinese honeylocust fruit.

Three liang each of cassia twig and fresh ginger, two liang of licorice, one liang of Chinese honeylocust fruit, and fifteen jujubes. Chop these five ingredients, simmer them in seven sheng of water, and reduce the liquid to three sheng. Strain out the dregs and take the medicine in three doses.

Ephedra Decoction: A formula for treating lung distension—congestion and fullness of Qi in the lungs—with coughing, Qi surging upward, a dry throat, shortness of breath, a floating pulse, and fluid retention below the heart.

Three liang each of ephedra, peony, fresh ginger (Zhongjing used dried ginger), asarum, and cassia bark; half a sheng each of pinellia and Schisandra fruit; and four liang of gypsum. Chop these eight ingredients, simmer them in one dou of water, and reduce the liquid to three sheng. Divide it into three doses. Zhongjing (Zhang Zhongjing) called this formula “Minor Blue-Green Dragon Decoction with Gypsum.” He used three liang of licorice, bringing the total to nine ingredients.

Seventh: Lung Abscess (Discussion and Formulas)

Discussion: Coughing and spitting pus and blood, with a rapid, forceful pulse, indicates a lung abscess, a suppurative disease of the lungs; a weak pulse indicates lung atrophy. If saliva naturally gathers in the mouth during coughing and the tongue coating is moist and slippery, this is due to an externally contracted, superficial cold, not lung atrophy. If the mouth is dry, there is a faint pain in the chest during coughing, and the pulse is instead slippery and rapid, this is a lung abscess.

Someone asked: A patient has a cough with counterflow of Qi. After taking the pulse, how can a physician tell whether it is a lung abscess? If the patient spits up pus and blood, the patient will die; later, the patient did indeed spit up pus and died. What, then, is the pulse of this illness, and how can it be identified?

Answer: The cun-kou pulse, at the wrist, is faint and rapid. A faint pulse indicates Wind, while a rapid pulse indicates Heat. A faint pulse may bring sweating, while a rapid pulse brings aversion to cold. Wind invades the defensive Qi, which protects the body’s surface, and impedes exhalation; Heat invades the nutritive aspect, the refined Qi circulating in the blood vessels, and impedes inhalation. Wind injures the skin and hair; Heat injures the blood vessels. When Wind lodges in the lungs, the patient coughs, has a dry mouth, shortness of breath and fullness in the chest, and a dry throat without feeling thirsty. The patient often spits up turbid foam and frequently feels cold and shivers. Wherever Heat passes, the blood stagnates and gathers into an abscess filled with pus. If treated at the onset, the patient may still be saved; once pus has formed, the condition is difficult to treat.

The cun-kou pulse is rapid, while the fuyang pulse, on the top of the foot, is tight; cold...

Heat and pathogenic influences bind together, causing chills, shivering, and coughing. The Fuyang pulse (the stomach pulse on the top of the foot) is floating and moderate, showing that the Stomach Qi remains normal.

This is lung abscess, a condition in which an abscess forms in the lungs. The physician says: The patient has chills and fever, and the Cun-kou pulse (at the wrist) is slippery and rapid, yet the patient’s eating and daily activities remain as usual. This is a type of abscess disease. If the physician does not understand its cause and instead treats it as Cold Damage, the illness will not improve.

How can one tell whether there is pus inside the body, and where it is located? The physician says: If the pus is in the chest, the condition is lung abscess. The pulse is rapid, and coughing brings up blood mixed with pus. Before the pus has formed, the pulse is tight and rapid. When the tight quality disappears and only the rapid pulse remains, this indicates that pus has formed.

Platycodon Decoction: Used for coughing, fullness and oppression in the chest, chills and shivering, a rapid pulse, a dry throat without thirst, and frequent expectoration of foul-smelling, turbid phlegm. In a prolonged illness, the patient brings up pus resembling rice porridge; this is lung abscess.

Three liang of Platycodon root (the Jiyan Fang uses two liang; the Gujin Luoyan uses one liang) and two liang of licorice. Coarsely break the two ingredients, simmer them in three sheng of water until one sheng remains, then strain out the dregs and take in two portions. Pus and blood should be brought up after taking it. Another formula adds one and a half liang of coltsfoot flower.

Lung-Draining Decoction: Used for lung abscess causing labored breathing and inability to lie flat.

Three liang of ground white mustard seed and twenty jujubes. First boil the jujubes in three sheng of water until one sheng remains, then remove the jujubes. Add the powdered medicine and boil an amount equal in size to one jujube until seven ge remain; take the whole dose at once. Take one dose every three days, for three or four doses. It is suitable for lung abscess causing distension and fullness in the chest and flanks, swelling of the body and face, nasal congestion with clear discharge, loss of the ability to distinguish pleasant from foul odors, coughing with rebellious Qi, and wheezing with tightness in the chest. If the illness has not yet progressed this far, first take Minor Bluegreen Dragon Decoction, then this formula. The formula for Minor Bluegreen Dragon Decoction appears in Volume Eighteen.

Dusk Decoction: Used for coughing, slight fever, vexation and oppression in the chest and heart region, and rough skin over the chest resembling fish scales (“armor-like scaling”), in cases of lung abscess.

Take one piece of dusk tree bark (Albizia) about the size of the palm of the hand. Coarsely break it and simmer it in three sheng of water until one sheng remains. Take in two portions.

Another formula:

Coix seed, half a sheng of melon-seed kernels, fifty peach kernels, and two sheng of reed stems. First cut the reed stems into small pieces and simmer them in two dou of water until five sheng remain; strain out the dregs. Coarsely break the other three ingredients, add them to the reed-stem decoction, and simmer until two sheng remain. Take one sheng at a time. Pus and blood should be brought up after taking it.

Chapter Eight: Flying Corpse and Ghost Infestation (Discussion, Prescriptions, and Moxibustion)

Discussion: When someone has pain in the heart or abdomen, and various warming medicines produce no response after entering the stomach, while the person’s breathing only grows more labored, the ancients called this “corpse infestation”—an illness believed to result from affliction by ghosts or corpse-related disease. First, one should drink one sheng of licorice juice. After a short pause, drink a full dose of Qumai Decoction. If something is passed, the person should feel somewhat relieved. According to the text, this method works well for sudden-onset abdominal masses, hard accumulations, retained undigested food, and women’s firm blood clots accompanied by pain that comes at irregular intervals.

Five-Infestation Decoction: Used to treat sudden affliction by “thief wind”—an abnormal wind believed by the ancients to invade the body—or by wandering corpse or ghostly forces. Symptoms include stabbing pain in the heart and abdomen, and urgent abdominal distension.

Ingredients: Three liang each of rhubarb and licorice; two liang each of Chinese angelica and peony; ten aconite tubers; one jin each of fresh ginger and honey; and four liang of cassia bark.

Cut the eight ingredients into pieces. Soak the rhubarb separately. Boil in nine sheng of water and reduce to three sheng of liquid. Cook the aconite separately in the honey until the mixture has reduced to one sheng, then combine it with the liquid and strain out the dregs. Take in divided doses of three he each. After about the time it takes to walk thirty li, take another dose. Take three times daily. If the condition does not improve, increase each dose to four he.

Centipede Decoction: Used to treat severe infestation illness, believed by the ancients to be caused by invading pernicious Qi. Symptoms include pernicious Qi that comes and goes unpredictably; heart pain radiating to the back; pain that wanders through the skin and shifts from place to place; fever; distressing pain in the limbs; weakness and fatigue; and shortness of breath.

Ingredients: One centipede; one fen of bezoar; two liang of rhubarb; three fen each of cinnabar and ginseng; one liang each of asarum, ghost’s drumstick, Chinese angelica, cassia bark, and dried ginger; half a liang each of scutellaria and musk; and four aconite tubers.

Cut the thirteen ingredients into pieces. Boil them in one dou of water and reduce to three sheng. Strain out the dregs, then add powdered bezoar and musk. Divide into three doses.

Prescription for sudden attack by malign influences, invasion by thief wind, or cold entering the abdomen and causing cramping pain: Also used for sudden attacks of flying corpse or wandering corpse, with pain surging into the chest and heart, distension in the chest and flanks, knife-like stabbing pain, or clenched jaws.

Ingredients: One liang each of licorice, dried ginger, poria, dried rehmannia root, sheep fat, Chinese angelica, and asarum; two liang each of peony, evodia, and cassia bark; and fifteen gardenia seeds. The source ends here and does not record how to take the prescription.

Roughly chop the eleven ingredients listed above. Boil them in eight sheng of water until three sheng of liquid remain, then strain out the dregs. Add lard to the liquid and, once it has melted completely, take the medicine in three doses. For constipation, three liang of rhubarb may be added.

A prescription for sudden attack by an evil influence, Wind-evil invasion causing the body to arch backward, or severe cramping pain in the heart and abdomen caused by Feishi or Dunshi

Dried rehmannia root, poria, qiongqiong (Chuanxiong), Chinese angelica, and licorice (one liang each); Wu Zhuyu and cinnamon heart (the medicinal part of the cinnamon tree), dried ginger, and peony root (two liang each); fourteen gardenia seeds.

Roughly chop the ten ingredients. Boil them in eight sheng of water until three sheng of liquid remain, then strain. Take the medicine in three doses.

For very severe pain, add three liang of sheep fat, and one liang each of Chinese angelica, ginseng, and peony root. If the heart and abdomen are hard and constricted, add three liang of rhubarb.

Peach Bark Decoction: A prescription for heart and abdominal pain, distension and fullness in the chest and flanks, and shortness of breath caused by an evil influence

White bark from the east-facing side of a peach tree (one handful), pearl, and aconite (one liang each); fourteen gardenia seeds; three liang of Chinese angelica; Wu Zhuyu and fermented beans (a medicinal preparation similar to douchi, five ge each); two liang of cinnamon heart.

Roughly chop the eight ingredients. Boil them in five sheng of water until two sheng of liquid remain, then strain out the dregs. Add powdered pearl and take the medicine in two doses. Another version omits Chinese angelica and the four ingredients that follow it.

Peach Stone Decoction: A prescription for sudden cramping pain in the heart and abdomen caused by an evil influence, various forms of corpse-infestation, or gu-infestation

Tao Nu (unripe, dried-up peaches on the tree), Chinese angelica, ginseng, and dried ginger (two liang each); qiongqiong and licorice (three liang each); cinnabar, musk, poria, rhinoceros horn, ghost arrow bamboo, and cinnamon heart (one liang each).

Roughly chop the twelve ingredients. Boil them in nine sheng of water until two and a half sheng of liquid remain, then strain. Take the medicine in two doses before meals. For constipation and abdominal distension, add three liang of rhubarb and two liang of mirabilite. The Hu Qia version uses one liang of realgar and omits cinnabar and qiongqiong.

A prescription for sudden exposure to wind and cold, or cold-dampness entering the abdomen and causing deficient distension and tight fullness, surging pain in the chest and abdomen, pain pulling at the chest and flanks, difficulty breathing, a taut and tight pulse, and absence of sweating; also for Cold Damage

Wu Zhuyu, Chinese angelica, ephedra, pubescent angelica root, licorice, platycodon root, and poria (two liang each); cinnamon heart, green woody aromatics …

The original text ends here; the remaining ingredients and the method for preparing and taking the prescription are missing.

This passage begins by continuing the list of ingredients from the previous prescription: gypsum, rhubarb, and rhinoceros horn, three liang each. The prescription contains twelve ingredients in all. Pound them, boil them in nine sheng of water until three sheng remain, and divide the decoction into three doses, taken three times in one day.

Second prescription. This treats a sudden, cramping, constricting pain caused by wind-cold Qi entering the abdomen. The abdomen feels as though it has been inflated; urination and bowel movements are blocked; Qi gathers in the lower abdomen, which becomes distended and bulges to the size of a dou. The patient’s pulse is wiry; in an elderly person, it is deep and slow. The ingredients are: dianthus, Chinese angelica, poria, winged euonymus (also called spindle tree; it can break up blood stasis and free the channels), platycodon, stephania, seaweed, evodia, and Sichuan lovage, two liang each; cassia heartwood and rhubarb, three liang each. Another version adds two liang of rhinoceros horn. Pound the eleven ingredients, boil them in nine sheng of water until three sheng remain, and divide the decoction into three doses.

Prescription for treating various forms of chronic, contagious disease that spread from person to person and cause successive deaths; it can also treat chronic zhu disease lasting thirty years. Zhu refers to a lingering chronic illness believed to be contagious. Take one jin of the white inner bark of peach root, pound it, and boil it in two dou of water until one dou remains. Strain out the dregs and divide the liquid into eight or nine doses, finishing them within two days. Cui’s method uses white peach-root bark for zhu disease affecting the heart and abdomen and causing unbearable pain.

Another prescription: pound fourteen peach kernels, grind them finely, and swallow them with wine.

Another prescription: grind small mustard seeds into powder, mix with egg white, and apply to the affected area.

On corpse zhu and ghost zhu. These refer to corpse zhu among the Five Corpse Diseases—five kinds of illness described in Daoist medicine—complicated by various harmful ghost influences. The condition can take thirty-six, or even ninety-nine, different forms. In general, it causes alternating chills and fever, dribbling and obstructed urination, and a dazed, withdrawn state. The person cannot say exactly what is wrong, yet feels unwell everywhere. Over months or years, the illness gradually worsens and the person grows debilitated, eventually dying. After death, it can spread to those nearby and may even wipe out an entire household. Anyone showing these signs should be treated promptly. The prescription is as follows:

Take one otter liver, dry it in the shade, then pound and sift it. Swallow one fangcun-chi of the powder with water three times a day. A fangcun-chi is an ancient small medicine spoon, about one square inch in size. If one liver does not cure the illness, prepare another and continue taking it.

Small Attaching Powder. This treats sudden, acute pain caused by flying corpse and robber wind. The pain shifts from place to place: after a needle prick, it moves elsewhere. An attack lasts half a day or a full day, then subsides, only to return soon afterward. The ingredients are: asarum, licorice (one version uses poison sumac instead), and monkshood, one fen each; cassia heartwood, three fen; aconite, kusnezoff monkshood, and dried ginger, one liang each; realgar and pearl, half a liang each. Combine these ingredients to make a prescription for the conditions described above.

Grind the following nine ingredients into a fine powder. Take one square-inch spoonful (an ancient measure taken with a small medicine scoop) with wine. If the condition does not improve, gradually increase the dose until it takes effect. The Hu Qia Fang adds four parts of Sichuan pepper and omits cinnamon bark and aconite.

Great Aconite Powder: Treats the five kinds of corpse-possession afflictions—conditions that the ancients described as resembling interference by ghosts or spirits, or infection by corpse vapors—with the same symptoms as those mentioned above.

Scutellaria root, youba, pepper seed, asarum, realgar, dried ginger, and goldthread (one liang each); gold ore, rhinoceros horn, musk, and bezoar (amounts given in the original are damaged and illegible); large aconite and cinnamon bark (half a liang each); pearl (three fen); one centipede.

Grind the fifteen ingredients into a fine powder. Take one coin-sized spoonful with wine three times a day, until it takes effect.

Great Gold Ore Powder: A prescription for treating various zhu afflictions; see another volume.

Gold Ore Powder: Treats various zhu afflictions, invasion by wind pathogens, and symptoms such as the patient speaking incoherently. The symptoms may shift among the lower back, chest, and flanks, without remaining in one place. The patient may avoid seeing others, feel unsettled, have an altered complexion, red eyes, flared nostrils, dry lips, and yellow nails. The prescription is as follows:

Gold ore, realgar, iron essence, wild kudzu, hornet’s nest, chuanxiong, rhubarb, licorice, azurite, snake slough, pearl, cinnabar, and dried lacquer (one fen each); shichangsheng, leopard bone (also said to be crane bone), platycodon, ghost-drum, ghost-arrow feather, ghost courier, pepper seed, aconite, langdu, elm seed, veratrum, thunder ball, soft-shelled turtle shell, and talc (two fen each; another version reads “saltpeter” here); dugong, swallow droppings, and bezoar (three fen each); ginseng, wolf’s fang, hard water stone, and cinnamon bark (four fen each); gypsum (five fen); centipede, lizard, and aconite (one of each); dung beetles and tingzhang insects (seven of each); yuanqing, xuchangqing, and blister beetles (fourteen of each); two fritillaria bulbs.

Grind the forty-five ingredients into a fine powder. Before meals, take one knife-point measure (an ancient tiny medicine spoon) with wine twice a day. If the condition does not improve, gradually increase the dose. The original says that worms will be expelled with the urine and stool after taking the medicine. Cui’s version calls this prescription “Shu Gold Ore Powder.”

Atractylodes Powder: Treats wind pathogens entering the organs and bowels, causing chest oppression, fainting, frequent agitation and pain, or wind zhu afflictions.

When cold invades the body, it can cause disorders described as “cold zhu,” “ghost zhu,” “flying corpse,” and “malignant qi.” Swellings may appear suddenly and shift unpredictably from left to right, front to back, or between the inside and outside of the body, making it difficult to identify a fixed site for acupuncture or moxibustion. The patient may experience palpitations, abdominal distension, fullness of Qi, heart pain, mental confusion, sadness and fear, and inability to eat. The illness may worsen and ease in turn. Other symptoms may include dampness and itching in the genital area, blood in the stool, reddish-yellow urine, and exhaustion from excessive sexual activity. The following prescriptions are given for these conditions:

Formula for Exhaustion from Sexual Activity

Fourteen pieces of bai zhu; three fen each of fu zi, qin jiao, ren shen, mu li, Sichuan pepper, xi xin, huang qin, chuan xiong, and niu xi; five fen each of dried ginger, cinnamon bark, and fang feng; four fen each of fu ling, jie geng, dang gui, du huo, and chai hu; and two fen each of “wei tou,” gan cao, ma huang, shi nan, mang cao, gua lou root, tian xiong, and du zhong.

Grind and sift all twenty-six ingredients. Take five fen with wine in the morning. After taking it, wait for a while—about as long as it takes someone to walk seven li. If the illness seems about to ease, it is better to drink another five he of wine.

Taiyi Emergency Powder

This is used to treat sudden attacks attributed to evil influences, acute illnesses caused by sudden fright or the invasion of an external malign influence, the entry of the Five Corpses into the abdomen, ghost stings, ghost numbness, poisoning by Gu, zhu disorders, vomiting blood, blood in the stool, sudden pain in the heart and abdomen, abdominal distension, and toxic heat from cold damage that has persisted for six or seven days.

Two liang each of realgar, cinnamon bark, and yuan hua; one liang each of cinnabar and Sichuan pepper; and one fen of each of li lu and ba dou; three fen of wild kudzu; and five fen of fu zi.

Of the nine ingredients, grind the ba dou separately into a paste. Grind and sift the remaining ingredients together, then combine them with the ba dou and pound until evenly mixed. Store the powder in a sealed copper vessel, making sure no air can escape. For an acute illness, take five to seven qian with water; if necessary, the dose may be increased to half a qian. Give half the dose to older people and children. The text states that if the illness is in the head, the patient will bleed from the nose; if it is above the diaphragm, the patient will vomit; if below the diaphragm, the patient will have diarrhea; and if it is in the limbs, the patient will sweat. It also claims that the formula works quickly. The text concludes that the prescription should be kept secret and passed on only to a worthy person.

Dragon Tooth Powder

This is used to treat the hundred zhu disorders, evil spirits, flying corpses, and various illnesses. The ingredients listed are two and a half liang each of dragon tooth and fu ling; five fen each of realgar, jujube paste, and shao yao; and dried rehmannia root. The original text breaks off here, and the remaining ingredients and instructions are not recorded.

Here, fen, qian, and he are traditional units of medicinal measure. The original also contains “wei tou,” a medicinal name or textual variant whose meaning is unclear, so it has been retained as written.

Dendrobium and sparrow droppings, three fen each; ghost-arrow feather, aconite, notopterygium, dried hornet’s nest, azurite, pearl, cassia bark, apricot kernel, saposhnikovia, peach pit, ghost-rue, and crane bone, one liang each; ginseng and rhubarb, one and a half liang each; atractylodes, two liang; perilla seed, four ge; the nose of a bronze mirror, licorice, tangerine peel, ligusticum, ghost courier, polygala, and turtle shell, half a liang each; two male civet genitals; and one centipede.

Grind these thirty-three ingredients together into a fine powder. Take one dao gui (an ancient measure for a very small amount) with wine, and continue until the remedy takes effect. After taking it, worms should pass in the stool.

A prescription for treating sudden, unpredictable changes in the Qi of parasitic infestation and toxic infestation

Rhinoceros horn, musk, cinnabar, realgar, centipede, sharkskin, clove, deer antler, dragon bone, Chinese ginger root, Sichuan pepper, and dried ginger, one fen each; ten cowrie shells.

Grind these thirteen ingredients together into a fine powder. Take one fangcun bi (a spoonful measured with an ancient medicine spoon) with wine. The dose may be increased from one spoonful to two. Take three times a day.

Emergency Powder: For sudden severe exposure to pathogenic wind or an attack by malign Qi, causing unconsciousness and unresponsiveness. (The prescription is in another volume; the three-ingredient emergency pill mentioned there is also found in that volume.)

A prescription for sudden heart pain, a pale complexion, and critical illness

Wrap a pellet-sized quantity of salt in cloth and heat it until red hot. Put it into wine, and drink the wine once the salt has dissolved. If it brings on free bowel movements, recovery will follow.

A prescription for parasitic infestation

Burn the feces of a male cat to ash, and take it with water.

Ink Slave Powder: For sudden infection by severe parasitic infestation accompanied by abdominal distension.

Take one ge of soot from the bottom of a pot and two ge of salt, and grind them together until evenly mixed. Add one and a half sheng of water and boil until eight ge remain. Drink the whole amount at once. If vomiting or diarrhea occurs shortly afterward, the illness is considered to have improved.

A prescription for treating crying infestation

Scrape the grime from between the teeth of a comb, and take it with water.

Another prescription: one liang of tangled hair and one ge of cured pork fat. Fry the hair in the pork fat until it melts, then take it. It is said to kill the worms.

Another prescription: heat soybeans in a pan, wrap them in cloth, and apply the bundle warm to the affected area.

A prescription for treating the various forms of food infestation

Any illness contracted while eating is called “food infestation.”

Take some soil from beneath the cooking pot and grind it into a fine powder, about the size of an egg. Mix it with one sheng of clear rice-washing water and drink it. After walking fifty paces, vomit, and the illness will be cured.

Another prescription: Take again the kinds of food previously eaten, in roughly the same quantities as before. Take a little of each kind, mix them together, wrap them in cloth, and burn them to ash. Take a portion about the size of an apricot kernel and swallow it with water.

Stork-Bone Pills: Treat “wandering corpse” and “flying corpse”—terms in ancient medical texts for conditions with sudden onset or pain that shifts from place to place—as well as accumulations, chest pain extending to the back, and pain that moves unpredictably. The illness may seem to affect the internal organs at times; the abdomen may swell, or the pain may be slight but persistent. The ingredients are:

Three cun of stork bone; four fen each of cinnabar (also said to be red sage root) and oyster shell (also said to be tree peony); two fen each of realgar, Chinese alangium, and cinnamon bark; fourteen pieces each of veratrum, yuanqing, and cantharides; forty croton seeds; and one centipede.

Grind the twelve ingredients into a fine powder and mix with honey to make pills the size of small beans. Take two pills three times a day, adjusting the dose until the body reacts.

Lizard Pills: Treat abdominal masses that are hard to the touch, edema, and “flying corpse,” “wandering corpse,” “cold corpse,” “funeral corpse,” and “corpse-infestation”—illnesses attributed in ancient texts to invading malign influences. They are also used for conditions said to spread between bone and blood, noxious influences, ghost shock (sudden illness caused by fright or an uncanny encounter), “mole poison,” alternating attacks of malign influences, waking in fright from dreams, and accumulated fluid and hardened masses. Other uses include bites from tigers or wolves, bites from rabid dogs, and poisoning by zhen toxin that has entered the five organs. The medicine is taken to dispel the poison; once its effects have subsided, this prescription may also be used to drive away illnesses in women attributed to malign influences or ghost shock. This prescription is the same as the one recorded in the “Treatise on Accumulations.” The ingredients are:

Two lizards and two centipedes; thirty gadflies and thirty almonds; fifty ground beetles; forty ground beetles of another kind; seven fen each of mirabilite and croton; two fen each of spurge, ghost courier, red mulberry gall, peach fruitlets, and rhinoceros horn; four fen of dried ginger; six fen of tiger bone; one liang of licorice; five fen each of peony and kansui; three fen of coltsfoot flowers; and fourteen dung beetles.

Process each of the twenty ingredients separately. Pound the croton and almonds into a paste, then add the powders of the remaining ingredients and grind them evenly together. Add honey and pound twenty thousand times, then form pills the size of hemp seeds. Take three pills once a day before meals; increase the dose if the effect is insufficient. If purging and vomiting are not desired, take one pill at dawn…

Some people fell ill from wind-cold stagnation and accumulated masses that had persisted for twenty years, but later recovered after taking medicine.

Platycodon Pill: Used to treat what were called toxic zhu, ghost zhu, food zhu, and cold zhu, as well as phlegm and fluid retention, undigested food lodged in the stomach, and alcohol-related disorders. “Zhu” was an ancient term for certain lingering, difficult-to-cure illnesses thought to spread between people or to result from an invasion by malign influences.

The ingredients are two liang each of Platycodon root, Veratrum, Chinese honeylocust, croton, and aconite. Grind the five ingredients into a fine powder, mix with honey, and pound repeatedly for ten thousand strokes. Form pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Fast the night before taking the medicine. At dawn, swallow two pills with water, then lie on your back and do not sleep. At mealtime, if the illness is above the diaphragm, vomiting will occur; if below it, foul matter will be discharged. This may look like tadpoles, tadpole eggs, or frog eggs, or may be one or two chi long. Afterward, the body will feel very weak and the mouth dry. Make chicken soup and drink five he of it, then, after a while, eat one sheng of rice porridge. If after three or four days it seems the illness has not been fully eliminated, the medicine may be taken again. During treatment, observe the usual prohibitions for medicines.

Ten Zhu Pill: Used to treat ten kinds of “zhu Qi,” including Qi zhu, exhaustion zhu, ghost zhu, cold zhu, living-person zhu, dead-person zhu, corpse zhu, food zhu, water zhu, and earth zhu. The ingredients are two liang each of realgar and croton, and one liang each of ginseng, licorice, dwarf lilyturf, asarum (another version gives Japanese angelica root), Platycodon root, aconite, Chinese honeylocust, and Sichuan pepper. Grind into a fine powder and make pills the size of parasol tree seeds with honey. Take five pills on an empty stomach twice a day, gradually increasing the dose until the illness seems to ease.

Great Unity Divine Clarity Ice-Trapping Pill: Used for many conditions, including accumulated masses, distention and fullness below the heart, alternating chills and fever, ghost zhu, chronic illness, coughing with rebellious Qi, excess saliva, and belching. It was also said to drive away all kinds of evil ghosts and malign influences, and to treat acute conditions such as ghost attack, sudden fright, and malign attack. Its stated indications also include knotted Qi in the chest, blockage of the throat, symptoms that come and go, cramping pain around the navel, dull pain that shifts up and down, a sensation under the hand of something jumping when pressed, distress in the heart, and a feeling as though insects are moving. Toxic zhu, believed to spread between people and in severe cases to cause the death of an entire household, was also listed among the conditions it treated.

The formula lists two liang each of realgar, cassia bark, cinnabar, alum (another version gives arsenolite), Veratrum, and rhubarb; five pieces of yuanqing; one and a half liang each of pearl and aconite; one liang each of musk, ginseng, rhinoceros horn, ghost’s head, arrow poison, and bezoar; one centipede; one lizard; eight pieces of monkshood; thirty apricot kernels; blister beetles; and lac insects.

Blister beetle (an ancient poisonous insect used as medicine; seven of each kind), Chinese angelica root (three liang), and croton seed (one fen).

Grind the twenty-four ingredients into a fine powder, mix with honey, and pound repeatedly for thirty thousand strokes. Form the mixture into pills the size of small beans. Take two pills twice daily before meals. If there is no effect, gradually increase the dose. The text also says that placing two pills on a door can keep all manner of baleful influences from approaching. It claims that taking this medicine for cold damage will cure every case. When visiting a sick person’s home, or when traveling or sleeping alone at night, take two pills; the text says that no baleful influences will then be able to approach.

The Hu Qia edition omits Yuanqing, cinnamon heartwood, pearl, musk, ginseng, rhinoceros horn, aconite, Shewang, lizard, chinaberry cicada, bezoar, and Chinese angelica root. It lists only twelve ingredients, the same as those in the “Accumulations” chapter.

Jiangnan Dushi Pill: Used to treat various illnesses, including abdominal masses and accumulations, “hidden corpse” (a type of pathogenic influence said in antiquity to lie dormant in the body), chronic illness, alternating chills and fever, zhù qi (a pathogenic influence that the ancients believed could infect or attack the body), and baleful influences that move through the skin. It is also used for prolonged illness that keeps the patient bedridden, wasting muscles, heat and discomfort in the limbs, vomiting, inability to eat, cold damage, seasonal epidemics, harmful zhù influences, sweating, locked jaw, heart pain, and other conditions.

Sichuan pepper (three liang); ginseng, asarum, and licorice (two liang each); poria, pearl, rhubarb, dried ginger, cinnabar, wild kudzu, cinnamon heartwood, realgar, musk, and ghost’s knee (one liang each); aconite and bezoar (two fen each); aconite and aster root (six fen each); croton seed (sixty seeds); centipede (one).

Grind the twenty ingredients into a fine powder and use honey to form pills the size of small beans. Take two pills with water, gradually increasing to four pills, twice daily. Adding one otter liver is said to improve the effect.

Great Dushi Pill: Used to treat various illnesses, with the same indications as the preceding formula.

Bezoar, rhubarb, realgar, asarum, aconite, pearl, licorice, ginseng, Shewang, cinnabar, ghost’s knee, and Chinese star anise (one liang each); Sichuan pepper, musk, ghost arrowhead, poria, cinnamon heartwood, and aster root (two liang each); dried ginger (three liang); wild kudzu (one chi); lizard and centipede (one each); blister beetle (fifty); and blister beetles (twenty).

Blister beetles (30 pieces), croton kernels (80 pieces).

Grind the above twenty-six ingredients into a fine powder. Mix with honey and form pills the size of small beans. Take two pills twice a day, before meals.

This remedy is used for zhu disease—illness that, as the ancients understood it, spread from person to person and repeatedly returned—as well as cholera, sudden illness attributed to an attack by malign influences, children’s sudden fright or unusual symptoms, and persistent illnesses that do not resolve.

A formula for contagious zhu disease, cholera, sudden illness attributed to malign influences, children’s sudden fright, and chronic illness

Otter liver (one organ), centipede (one), musk (one fen), realgar, langcao, cinnabar, ghost-mace, rhinoceros horn, croton, rhubarb, and bezoar (one liang each for the last nine ingredients).

Grind the above eleven ingredients into a fine powder. Mix with honey and form pills the size of hemp seeds. Take two or three pills on an empty stomach, using the body’s reaction as an indication that the medicine has taken effect.

Lei Family’s Thousand-Gold Pill: Used to regulate Qi, disperse food that has stagnated and failed to digest, and treat illness attributed to malign influences in food, stabbing pain in the chest and abdomen, and malaria.

Niter (five fen), rhubarb (five fen), cassia bark, dried ginger (two liang), croton kernels (60 pieces).

Grind the above five ingredients into a fine powder and pound them three thousand times. Mix with honey and form pills the size of soybeans. Take two pills at a time; the medicine is said to be extremely effective. If the patient has stopped breathing, pry open the teeth and pour the medicine into the mouth.

A formula for sudden corpse-possession toxicity causing pain that comes and goes

Apricot kernels and ash from burnt hair (equal parts).

Grind the above two ingredients until smooth and oily, then form pills the size of Chinese parasol-tree seeds. Take three pills with wine, three times a day. Yao’s method is to mix them with lard before forming the pills.

A formula for unbearable stabbing pain in the chest and abdomen caused by lurking corpse-possession or corpse-possession

Cassia bark, dried ginger (one liang each), croton kernels (two liang).

Grind the above three ingredients into a fine powder and sift it. Mix with vinegar to form a paste and apply it to the affected area. Replace it when the medicine dries.

A formula for chest and abdominal pain caused by lurking corpse-possession or corpse-possession, or for pain so severe in any part of the body that it cannot be touched

Take mugwort, crush it lightly, and spread it thickly over the painful area, to a depth of just over one inch. Mix the ash with hot water until very hot, then place it on the mugwort. Replace it when it cools. Repeat this two or three times, and the condition will be cured.

A formula for lurking corpse-possession, flying corpse-possession, and sudden wind-toxin swelling and pain that spreads to the limbs and face

Take one sheng of white mustard seeds, steam and crush them, then add two liang of yellow lead and mix well. Divide the mixture into two portions and place each in a loosely woven cloth bag. Steam the bags until hot, then apply them alternately to the painful area. Keep switching bags so that they remain hot. Continue this for three…

The condition can be determined after five examinations.

A prescription for treating pain in the skin, called “zhuzhu”

Mix bird’s nest earth with vinegar and apply it to the affected area.

A prescription for treating “traveling zhu”

Heat the iron band from a wheel hub, quickly plunge it into water, then wrap it in a wet cloth and apply it to the affected area.

A prescription for treating “qi zhu” that has lasted thirty years

Heart of fermented soybeans (half a sheng), fresh Sichuan pepper (one he).

Add two sheng of water to these two ingredients and boil until half a sheng remains. Use the decoction when it has cooled to a suitable temperature. Draw it up through a bamboo tube. Have the patient lie on their side, open the anus, and inject the liquid. After a while, foul matter should be expelled. The book says this method can even cure someone who is near death; so many people have recovered that they cannot all be recorded.

Moxibustion methods

“Five corpses” refers to flying corpse, hidden corpse, wind corpse, sinking corpse, and corpse zhu. The following set of methods is now used to treat all of them. Symptoms include abdominal pain and tight, urgent distension; difficulty breathing; and pain that surges upward into the chest or spreads to either side of the ribs. Sometimes a lump rises in the abdomen, or pain pulls into the lower back, causing stiffness and discomfort. The treatment is as follows:

Apply moxibustion three cun behind the nipple: on the left side for men and the right side for women, for fourteen cones. If the illness persists, increase the number until it is cured. Here, a “cone” is a unit of moxibustion: one application using a burning cone of mugwort wool.

You may also apply seven cones to the tip of each thumb; or ten cones three cun below the pit of the stomach; or moxibustion one cun below the nipple on whichever side is painful, increasing the number of cones as needed.

Another method is to measure the distance between the patient’s nipples with a fine cord, cut the cord to that length, and fold it in half. Starting from the nipple, measure outward so that the end of the cord aligns with the space between the ribs. Apply three or seven cones at the cord’s end, on the left for men and the right for women. If “zhu reversal” occurs suddenly—the zhu affliction surging upward in a violent attack and disturbing the chest—apply moxibustion at the seventh vertebra, using as many cones as the patient’s age in years.

You may also apply three cones one cun below the pit of the stomach, and apply as many cones as the patient’s age in years at the crease of the elbow. For any zhu illness caused by food, apply moxibustion to the tip of the little finger, using as many cones as the patient’s age in years: on the left hand for men and the right hand for women. If “five poisons zhu” prevents the patient from eating, apply ten cones three cun below the pit of the stomach, over the upper abdomen.

Water zhu (fluid welling up in the mouth): Medical writings say this is caused by Lung Qi encroaching upon Kidney Qi, and that the patient often vomits water after eating. Moxibustion may be applied at the Feishu, Sanyinjiao, and Qimen points. Qimen is below the nipple, between the ribs. This method aims to drain the Lungs and supplement the Kidneys; at each point, use as many cones as the patient’s age in years.

For any zhu illness, whether newly begun or long-standing, first have the patient lie on their back. Apply moxibustion three cun diagonally below the sides of both nipples, in the third intercostal space, using as many cones as the patient’s age in years, up to a maximum of three hundred. This method also treats various Qi disorders and is highly effective. It is also known as “Zhu Market.”

Sun Zhenren, Essential Formulas Worth a Thousand in Emergencies, volume 56.