《孫真人備急千金要方》Vol. 6

Essential Formulas Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces by the Perfected Sun, Scroll Six (Formulas for Women)

Supplementation and Nourishment, Part One (Discussion and Formulas)

The discussion says that some women wish to be beautiful, full-bodied, and fair-skinned, and even at the age of seventy to look much as they did when young. The text says that anyone with this wish should not take purple fluorite, which is thought to darken the complexion; instead, they should take the Zhongru Zelan Pill.

The Arborvitae Seed Pill is used to treat women’s “Five Taxations and Seven Injuries” (a general term for many kinds of overexertion and debility), bodily weakness, coldness and emaciation, a dull complexion, reduced appetite, loss of luster in the face, and conditions such as cessation of menstruation after childbirth and infertility. The text says that taking it over a long period can make a person full-bodied and fair, and provide nourishment.

Ingredients: arborvitae seeds, astragalus, dried ginger, and purple fluorite (two liang each); Sichuan pepper (one and a half liang); eucommia bark, Chinese angelica, licorice, and Sichuan lovage rhizome (forty-two zhu each); magnolia bark, cassia bark, platycodon, red halloysite, cistanche, schisandra, atractylodes, asarum, pubescent angelica, ginseng, dendrobium, angelica dahurica, and peony (one liang each); Zelan (two liang and six zhu); Gaoben and Wuyi (eighteen zhu each); dried rehmannia, aconite (another version gives Achyranthes root), and saposhnikovia (thirty zhu each); Zhongru and white quartz (two liang each).

Grind the thirty ingredients into a fine powder and mix with honey. Take twenty pills with wine; each pill should be the size of a parasol tree seed. If the dose seems insufficient, increase it to thirty pills. The version in Essential Formulas Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces, Supplement omits aconite and adds dragon bone, Fangkui, poria, and gentian root, half a liang each, for a total of thirty-three ingredients. It also says that the formula treats emaciation and a haggard appearance affecting one side of the body after childbirth.

The Great Five-Mineral Zelan Pill is used to treat symptoms in women caused by pathogenic wind, weakness, and invasion by cold. These include rumbling in the abdomen, abdominal tension that alternates between tightening and relaxing, headache, chills and fever, irregular menstruation, and a dull ache around the navel. It is also used for fullness and hardness in the chest and abdomen, food and drink rising upward and difficult to swallow, cold hands and feet, frequent dreams, numbness and pain in the body, disordered circulation of Qi and blood, and weakness and exhaustion so severe that the person cannot move. The formula is also suitable for deficiency and debility after childbirth.

The ingredients listed in this passage are Zhongru, Yuyuliang, purple fluorite, licorice, and astragalus (two and a half liang each); gypsum, white quartz, Sichuan pepper, and dried ginger (two liang each). The text breaks off at this point.

Zelan (six liang and six zhu), Chinese angelica, cassia heartwood (the bark of the cassia tree), Sichuan lovage, magnolia bark, arborvitae seeds, dried rehmannia root, asarum, poria, schisandra berries, and dragon bone (one and a half liang each); dendrobium, polygala, ginseng, teasel root, white atractylodes, saposhnikovia, and aconite (thirty zhu each); Asiatic cornelian cherry and aster (one liang each); dahurian angelica, ligusticum root, and elm seeds (eighteen zhu each).

Grind these thirty-two ingredients into a fine powder, mix with honey, and form pills the size of Chinese parasol tree seeds. Take twenty pills with wine, gradually increasing to thirty. The formula recorded in the Qianjin Yifang includes an additional two liang of actinolite.

Small Five Minerals Zelan Pills: Used to treat women experiencing reduced appetite, a dull complexion, cold and painful sensations in the abdomen, irregular menstruation, shortness of breath, and fatigue due to overexertion, exposure to cold, and deficiency. The pills replenish deficiency and warm the middle.

Stalactite, amethyst, and alum (one and a half liang each); white quartz, red halloysite, Chinese angelica, and licorice (forty-two zhu each); gypsum, actinolite, and dried ginger (two liang each); zelan (two liang and six zhu); cistanche, dragon bone, and cassia heartwood (two and a half liang each); white atractylodes, peony, magnolia bark, ginseng, Sichuan pepper, and Asiatic cornelian cherry (thirty zhu each); arborvitae seeds and ligusticum root (one liang each); elm seeds (eighteen zhu).

Grind these twenty-three ingredients into a fine powder, mix with honey, and form pills the size of Chinese parasol tree seeds. Take twenty pills with wine, gradually increasing to thirty, three times a day.

Modified Zelan Pills: Used to treat various postpartum conditions, regulate Blood and Qi, and replenish deficiency and exhaustion.

Zelan, licorice, Chinese angelica, and Sichuan lovage (forty-two zhu each); aconite, dried ginger, white atractylodes, dahurian angelica, cassia heartwood, and asarum (one liang each); saposhnikovia, ginseng, and Chinese ox-knee (thirty zhu each); arborvitae seeds, dried rehmannia root, and dendrobium (thirty-six zhu each); magnolia bark, ligusticum root, and elm seeds (half a liang each); ophiopogon (two liang).

“Liang” and “zhu” here are ancient units of weight. The source does not provide this formula’s pill-making method or dosage.

Grind the twenty ingredients above into a fine powder and mix with honey to make pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Take fifteen to twenty pills on an empty stomach, washed down with wine.

Major Tonic Danggui Pills: Used to treat physical weakness and deficiency of Qi and blood after childbirth, shortness of breath in the chest, cramping pain in the abdomen that sometimes radiates to the lower back; or excessive bleeding after childbirth that continues without stopping, leaving the woman weak and exhausted and unable to sleep day or night. They are also used for Bengzhong (heavy uterine bleeding), loss of color in the face and around the eyes, chapped lips, and dry mouth. This formula may also be used for men weakened by external injury, falls from a height, or internal injuries that cause weakness of the organs and vomiting of blood, as well as wounds to the flesh caused by swords or other sharp weapons.

Danggui, Chuanxiong (also called Sichuan lovage), Xuduan, dried ginger, Ejiao, and licorice (four liang each); Baizhu, Wuzhuyu, Fuzi, and Baizhi (three liang each); cinnamon bark and Shaoyao (two liang each); dried Rehmannia root (ten liang).

Grind the thirteen ingredients above into a fine powder and mix with honey to make pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Take twenty pills with wine three times during the day and once at night. If the effect seems insufficient, gradually increase the dose to fifty pills. Adding one sheng of genuine Puhuang makes the formula highly effective.

Baizhi Pills: Used to treat excessive bleeding after childbirth, Bengzhong (heavy uterine bleeding), and physical weakness, shortness of breath, loss of color in the face and around the eyes, and abdominal pain caused by blood loss or injury.

Baizhi (five liang), dried Rehmannia root (four liang); Xuduan, dried ginger, Danggui, and Ejiao (three liang each); Fuzi (one liang).

Grind the seven ingredients above into a fine powder and mix with honey to make pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Take twenty pills with wine four or five times a day. If Danggui is unavailable, Chuanxiong may be substituted. Adding one liang of Puhuang is effective. If Xuduan is unavailable, the root of Daji may be substituted.

Purple Fluorite and Baiziren Pills: Used to treat women who encounter seasonal warm wind (a warm epidemic pathogen circulating at the time) in winter and fall ill in spring or summer. Symptoms include febrile illness, headache, pathogenic wind-heat, physical weakness, heaviness throughout the body and its channels, red or white vaginal discharge, loss of appetite, dizziness, palpitations, body aches, mental confusion, and inability to get up and move about.

Purple fluorite and Baiziren (three liang each); Wutou, cinnamon bark, Danggui, Shanzhuyu, Zexie, Chuanxiong, Shihu, Yuanzhi, Jisheng, Congrong, dried ginger, and licorice (two liang each); Sichuan pepper. The original text ends here; it does not record the amount of Sichuan pepper or the subsequent preparation instructions.

One liang each of Du Heng (identified as Du Zhong in some versions) and Magnolia flower bud, and one and a half liang of Asarum.

Grind the eighteen ingredients above into a fine powder and mix with honey to make pills about the size of parasol tree seeds. Take twenty pills with wine, gradually increasing to thirty pills, three times a day. Another formula adds one liang of oyster shell.

Bellflower and Lan Pill: For women with long-term weakness and wasting; pain and distress throughout the limbs and body; coldness and accumulations below the navel; inability to eat; a darkened complexion; and various complaints such as worry, anger, and low spirits.

Three liang of stalactite, three liang and six zhu of Chinese motherwort, and forty-two zhu of Saposhnikovia root; one and a half liang each of ginseng, arborvitae seed, dwarf lilyturf root, dried rehmannia root, gypsum, and dendrobium; thirty zhu each of Sichuan lovage rhizome, astragalus root, licorice root, dahurian angelica root, Achyranthes root, Asiatic cornelian cherry fruit, Chinese yam, dong quai, and Ligusticum root; one liang each of Asarum and cinnamon bark; half a liang of elm seed; and eighteen zhu of mugwort leaf.

Grind the twenty-one ingredients above into a fine powder and mix with honey to make pills about the size of parasol tree seeds. Take twenty pills with wine, gradually increasing to forty pills, twice a day.

Great Chinese Motherwort Pill: For women weakened and injured, and for lingering conditions following windstroke; hernia, abdominal lumps, or cold and pain in the genital region; head wind entering the head, cold impediment (limb pain and numbness caused by cold), cramping or slackness of the sinews and vessels, cessation of menstruation, and infertility; wind moving across the face, excessive tears and nasal discharge, abundant saliva, and a dazed, drunken state of mind; cold in the stomach, counterflow of Qi, and persistent vomiting in the chest; diarrhea, dysentery, and dribbling urination; imbalance of cold and heat in the zang-fu organs, urgent distention below the heart, and coughing with counterflow of Qi caused by pathogenic influences; red or white vaginal discharge, swelling and pain in the genital region, and distention in the chest and flanks; rough, grainy sensations on the skin accompanied by itching; phlegm accumulations and Qi stagnation; cramping of the limbs and joint pain caused by wind moving throughout the body; dizziness, vertigo, and blurred vision; Qi rushing upward, and shivering with cold as in malaria; throat impediment (swelling and blockage of the throat), nasal congestion, wind epilepsy or seizures, blocked menstruation, unsettled spirit, and loss of appetite; and internal bleeding after childbirth. The source calls this formula “a cure for everything” and says that taking it can enable a woman to conceive.

Two liang and six zhu of Chinese motherwort; one liang and eighteen zhu each of Ligusticum root, dong quai, and licorice root; two liang of purple fluorite; Sichuan lovage rhizome… The source breaks off here; the remaining ingredients and directions for use are not recorded.

“Liang” and “zhu” are ancient units of weight. “The size of parasol tree seeds” means that the pills are approximately the size of those seeds.

Dried Rehmannia root, arborvitae seed, and Schisandra fruit, one and a half liang each; cinnamon bark and heartwood, dendrobium, and white atractylodes, one liang and six zhu each; dahurian angelica, cistanche, magnolia bark, saposhnikovia root, Chinese yam, poria, dried ginger, limonite, asarum, and selaginella, one liang each; Sichuan pepper, ginseng, eucommia bark, achyranthes root, cnidium seed, teasel root, mugwort leaf, and Chinese elm seed, eighteen zhu each; red halloysite and gypsum, two liang each. One version of the formula also adds eighteen zhu of immature bitter orange and one and a half liang of dwarf lilyturf root.

Grind the thirty-two ingredients into a fine powder, mix with honey, and form pills about the size of parasol tree seeds. Take twenty to forty pills with wine. For long-standing red-and-white dysentery, remove dried Rehmannia root, gypsum, dwarf lilyturf root, and arborvitae seed; add one and a half liang each of barley malt, aged fermented grain, dragon bone, donkey-hide gelatin, and coptis root. Adding three liang of stalactite is said to work better.

Small Fortune Herbal Pill: Treats postpartum weakness and emaciation, exhaustion, aversion to cold, and general wasting.

Fortune herb, two liang and six zhu; Chinese angelica and licorice, one liang and eighteen zhu each; Sichuan lovage (that is, Chuanxiong), arborvitae seed, saposhnikovia root, and poria, one liang each; dahurian angelica, Sichuan pepper, ligusticum root, asarum, white atractylodes, cinnamon bark and heartwood, Chinese elm seed, ginseng, edible Sichuan pepper, and magnolia bark, eighteen zhu each; gypsum, two liang.

Grind the eighteen ingredients into a fine powder, mix with honey, and form pills about the size of parasol tree seeds. Take twenty pills with wine three times a day, gradually increasing to forty pills. People without illness may also take one course regularly in spring and autumn, as this is quite beneficial. Those suffering from weakness and emaciation, with a yellow, gaunt complexion, should take it as described above.

Another version omits poria and gypsum and adds peony root and dried ginger. Hu Qia’s formula has fifteen ingredients and omits arborvitae seed, ginseng, and edible Sichuan pepper. Use the asarum and cinnamon bark and heartwood raw; stir-fry the remaining ingredients until discolored, then grind them and mix with honey to make pills the size of slingshot pellets. Take them in warm wine. The version in Supplement to the Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces omits poria and edible Sichuan pepper and adds one liang of dried ginger.

Purple Fluorite and Asparagus Root Pill: Treats wind-cold pathogenic influences lodged in the uterus, causing repeated miscarriage during pregnancy.

…Perhaps she developed pain in the heart soon after becoming a wife. It later progressed into heart disease, and her menstruation was never regular. Taking this prescription can make the body strong and well-nourished, and may also help with fertility.

The ingredients are purple fluorite, asparagus root, and Limonite (three liang each); elm seeds, aconite, cistanche, cassia bark, licorice, schisandra, arborvitae seeds, dendrobium, ginseng, and water plantain (another version reads “Chinese motherwort”) (two liang each); Sichuan pepper, spikemoss, mistletoe, Chinese photinia, mica, Chinese angelica (another version reads “magnolia flower”), and cuttlebone (one liang each), twenty-two ingredients in all.

Grind the ingredients into powder, mix with honey, and form pills the size of Chinese parasol tree seeds. Take with wine, twenty pills per dose, twice a day, gradually increasing to forty pills per dose.

Three-Mineral Motherwort Pills

This prescription is used to treat wind pathogens, debility and deficiency, impaired circulation of the blood vessels, and damage from cold and deficiency. It is also called “Dendrobium and Motherwort Pills.”

The ingredients are stalactite and white fluorite (four liang each); purple fluorite, fangfeng, ligusticum root, and poria with spirit (one liang and six zhu each); Chinese motherwort (two liang and six zhu); astragalus, dendrobium, and gypsum (two liang each); licorice, Chinese angelica, and Sichuan lovage (one liang and eighteen zhu each); white atractylodes, cassia bark, ginseng, dried ginger, pubescent angelica, and dried rehmannia (one and a half liang each); angelica dahurica, platycodon, asarum, arborvitae seeds, schisandra, Sichuan pepper, scutellaria, cistanche, peony, gentian, and Japanese sophora root (one liang each); magnolia bark and elm seeds (eighteen zhu each), thirty-two ingredients in all.

Grind the ingredients into powder, mix with honey, and form pills the size of Chinese parasol tree seeds. Take with wine, twenty pills per dose, gradually increasing to thirty pills, two or three times a day.

Great Peace Stomach-Regulating Motherwort Pills

This prescription is used to treat the Five Taxations and Seven Injuries in men and women (a general term for various forms of strain and debility), all kinds of deficiency, an unsettled mind, agitation in the chest, cold and weak hands and feet, emaciation, irregular menstruation, and inability to move the body.

The ingredients listed are Chinese motherwort, asarum, astragalus, and stalactite (three liang each); arborvitae seeds and dried rehmannia (two and a half liang each); rhubarb, peucedanum, polygala… The original text ends here.

For this formula, take two liang each of amethyst, Sichuan lovage rhizome, and white atractylodes; one and a half liang each of Sichuan pepper, angelica dahurica, and red sage root; one liang each of gardenia (one edition reads “immature bitter orange”), peony, platycodon root, gentian, adenophora, cassia bark, dendrobium, sophora root, ginseng, ophiopogon, and dried ginger; six liang of aconite; five ge each of Wu Zhu Yu and malt; one sheng of aged fermented grain; and fifty jujubes, simmered into a paste.

Grind the above thirty-two ingredients into a fine powder, mix with honey, and form pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Take twenty pills with wine, gradually increasing to thirty. This can strengthen the body. Another edition omits dried ginger and uses three liang of angelica instead.

Zelan Powder, a formula for wind deficiency after childbirth:

Nine fen of Chinese motherwort; ten fen each of limonite and siler root; eight fen each of gypsum, angelica dahurica, dried rehmannia, red halloysite, cistanche, deer antler, and Sichuan lovage rhizome; five fen each of ligusticum root, Sichuan pepper, white atractylodes, and arborvitae seed; seven fen each of cassia bark, licorice, angelica, and dried ginger; four fen each of elm seed, asarum, and magnolia bark; and three fen of ginseng.

Grind the above twenty-two ingredients into a coarse powder. Take one square-inch spoonful with wine three times daily. (The square-inch spoon was an ancient measure for medicinal powder.)

For women’s menstrual obstruction, second formula:

Peach Kernel Decoction, for women’s menstrual obstruction:

Three liang each of peach kernel, mirabilite, moutan bark, blackberry lily, Chinese trichosanthes root, and scutellaria; four liang each of peony, rhubarb, and bupleurum; two liang each of achyranthes and cassia bark; and seventy leeches and seventy gadflies.

Cut the above thirteen ingredients into pieces, add nine sheng of water, and decoct until two and a half sheng of liquid remain. Strain out the dregs and divide into three doses.

Dried Ginger Pills: For women with alternating chills and fever, a thin and weakened body, sore and weak muscles, fatigue and lassitude, fullness in the chest, heaviness and pain in the shoulders, back, and spine, and a hard, distended abdomen with accumulations. The pain may at times become unbearable, extending to the lower back and lower abdomen. The limbs may ache with discomfort, and the hands and feet may become cold, with the chill reaching the elbows and knees. There may also be vexation and distention, heat in the hands and feet despite weakness, a desire to leap into water, and pain throughout the joints; the heart…

The lower abdomen often has a pulling pain. At times it feels cold and at other times hot; there may also be nausea and frequent saliva in the mouth. There is a particular craving for salty, sour, sweet, and bitter foods. The body sometimes breaks out in goosebumps, menstruation is irregular, urination and bowel movements are both difficult, and eating does not lead to weight gain. The treatment is as follows:

Take one liang each of dried ginger, chuanxiong (also called Sichuan lovage), poria, xiaoshi (saltpeter), apricot kernels, leeches, gadflies, peach kernels, grubs, and ground beetles; take two liang each of bupleurum, peony, ginseng, rhubarb, Sichuan pepper, and Chinese angelica. Grind all sixteen ingredients into powder and mix with honey to form pills the size of Chinese parasol tree seeds. On an empty stomach, swallow three pills with water. If they have no effect, gradually increase the dose to ten pills. The Qianjin Yifang says this prescription is also used to treat masses and accumulations in women, as well as ailments below the ribs.

Dry Lacquer Decoction: Used to treat absent menstruation and a hard, painful lower abdomen so sensitive that no one can come near.

Take one liang each of dry lacquer, yu zhu (Solomon’s seal), peony, asarum, licorice, and aconite; two liang each of Chinese angelica, cinnamon heartwood, mirabilite, and baical skullcap; three liang of rhubarb; and one sheng of Wu pepper. Coarsely chop the twelve ingredients and soak them overnight in one dou of clear rice wine. Boil until reduced to three sheng, strain out the herbs, then add mirabilite and let it dissolve. Divide the decoction into three doses, taking them about as long apart as it takes to eat a meal.

Mirabilite Decoction: Used to treat absent menstruation.

Take two liang each of mirabilite, cinnabar (ground to a fine powder), Chinese angelica, peony, trichosanthes root, and leeches; three liang of rhubarb; and one sheng of peach kernels. Coarsely chop the eight ingredients, add nine sheng of water, and boil until reduced to three sheng. Strain out the herbs, add the cinnabar and mirabilite, and divide into three doses.

Prescription to treat absent menstruation and severe cramping pain in the heart and abdomen, and to restore blood flow and relieve pain:

Take three liang each of Chinese angelica, rhubarb, and peony; two liang each of Wu pepper, dried rehmannia root, dried ginger, chuanxiong, gadflies, and leeches; one liang each of asarum, licorice, and cinnamon heartwood; fourteen gardenia fruits; and one sheng of peach kernels. Coarsely chop the fourteen ingredients, add one dou and five sheng of water, and boil until reduced to five sheng. Divide into five doses. Another version also includes three liang each of achyranthes root and hemp seed kernels.

Peach Kernel Decoction is used to treat absent menstruation.

One sheng of peach kernels; two liang each of Chinese angelica, snake gourd root, rhubarb, leeches, gadflies, and mirabilite; and three liang each of achyranthes root, hemp seed, and cinnamon bark: ten ingredients in all. Chop the herbs, boil them in nine sheng of water until three and a half sheng remain, then strain out the herbs and add the mirabilite. Take in three portions.

The formula recorded in the Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies omits Chinese angelica and hemp seed, and instead uses tree peony, blackberry lily, baical skullcap, peony, and bupleurum, three liang each, for a total of thirteen ingredients. The formula recorded in the Supplement to the Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces omits the gadfly.

Bupleurum and Tree Peony Decoction is used to treat women with a robust constitution and internal heat in the abdomen, causing menstrual blood to stagnate and obstruct its flow. It is also used for feverish exhaustion, after a febrile illness, or when fever occurs with menstruation and menstrual blood does not flow.

Two liang each of bupleurum, tree peony, scrophularia, peach kernels, baical skullcap, blackberry lily, inula flower, snake gourd root, and licorice; three liang each of peony, poria, rhubarb, and immature bitter orange: thirteen ingredients in all. Chop the herbs, boil them in one dou of water until three sheng remain, and take in three portions.

Dried Rehmannia and Chinese Angelica Pill is used to treat absent menstruation, menstruation twice in one month, a missed period every other month, or menstrual flow that varies greatly in amount or continues as spotting. It is also used for unbearable stabbing pain in the lower back and abdomen during menstruation; fatigue in the limbs, shortness of breath, loss of appetite, and hardness and pain in the chest and abdomen; discharge of watery fluid that is green, yellow, or black, or resembles clear water; and symptoms including reluctance to move, heaviness throughout the body, wanting only to lie down and sleep, craving sour foods, weakness, fatigue, a sallow complexion, and emaciation.

Three liang of dried rehmannia; one and a half liang each of Chinese angelica and licorice; one liang and six zhu each of achyranthes root, peony, dried ginger, lychnis, ginseng, and tree peony; one liang each of red sage, Sichuan pepper, angelica dahurica, baical skullcap, wood ear fungus, and cinnamon bark; forty gadflies; one liang and eighteen zhu of lovage; two liang of peach kernels; seventy leeches and seventy gadflies; and two he of cattail pollen: twenty-one ingredients in all. Grind into a fine powder, mix with honey, and form pills the size of parasol tree seeds.

Sheng, dou, liang, and zhu are ancient units of volume and weight. “Chop” means to cut the herbs into pieces before decocting them.

When fasting, take fifteen pills with wine, gradually increasing to thirty as the body’s response allows. (This sentence is absent from another version.)

Peony Pill: Treats cases in which a woman’s menstruation has stopped after an illness, has never begun since childhood, or in which stagnant blood remains after childbirth. This prescription is also suitable when symptoms persist after taking a decoction to promote the flow of blood through the vessels, and may help restore health.

Three liang of peony; two liang each of peony root, Xuanshen, peach kernel, Chinese angelica, and cinnamon bark (the medicinal part of cinnamon); fifty each of gadflies and leeches; two grubs (larvae of the rice stem borer); and one liang each of Chinese pink, Chuanxiong, and seaweed.

Grind the twelve ingredients into a fine powder and mix with honey to form pills the size of firmiana seeds. Take fifteen pills with wine, gradually increasing to twenty. For severe blood stasis, the powder may be made into a loose preparation; take one square-inch spoonful each time (an ancient small measuring spoon for medicine). The abdomen will feel as though something is churning, like boiling water. The stagnant blood will transform on its own into liquid and be expelled in the urine. If the urine is reddish, reduce the cinnamon bark and add one liang of Kochia fruit.

Scutellaria and Peony Decoction: Treats cases in which a woman has never menstruated, from childhood onward, and has a sallow complexion, weak vitality, and little appetite.

Two liang each of Scutellaria, peony, peach kernel, Chinese pink, and Chuanxiong; three liang each of peony root, immature bitter orange, blackberry lily, seaweed, and rhubarb; seventy gadflies, fifty leeches, and ten grubs.

Coarsely cut the thirteen ingredients. Boil them in one dou of water and reduce the liquid to three sheng. Divide into three doses. After taking two batches, apply moxibustion one cun below the breasts, at the edge of the dark circular area. Apply fifty cones at each site (one cone is the amount of mugwort burned to ash).

Prescription for Treating Menstrual Blockage

Take one sheng of pepperweed seed and grind it into a fine powder. Mix with honey and form pills the size of a catapult pellet. Wrap each pill in cotton cloth and insert it three cun into the vagina. Leave one pill in place overnight and replace it the next day. Stop once fluid begins to flow.

Dry Lacquer Pill: Treats menstrual blockage that has not responded to any other treatment.

One and a half liang each of dry lacquer, Trichosanthes root, blackberry lily, and peony root; one liang and six zhu each of peony, Achyranthes, Scutellaria, cinnamon bark, Evodia, rhubarb, and bupleurum; two liang each of peach kernel and softshell turtle shell; and forty each of ground beetles and grubs.

The source text ends here and does not record how to prepare or take this prescription.

Hemp seed kernels (the seeds of the hemp plant), two clumps of tangled hair about the size of an egg, and the seeds of anlü, among a total of twenty ingredients, are ground into a fine powder and mixed with honey to make pills. Take fifteen pills each day with wine; each pill should be about the size of a parasol tree seed. Gradually increase the dose to thirty pills, taken three times a day. While taking these pills, also use the medicinal wine described below.

Wine infusion: Three sheng of hemp seeds, two sheng of anlü seeds, one sheng of peach kernels, four liang of soot from the kitchen stove, six liang each of earth-gourd root and blackberry lily, eight liang of achyranthes root, and four liang of cassia bark. Chop these eight ingredients and steep them in three dou of clear wine, with the herbs placed in a silk bag, for five nights. Take one cup of this medicinal wine with the pills above; this is very effective. The wine may also be taken on its own.

Danggui Pills: These are used to treat women’s masses below the navel accompanied by stabbing pain, as if bitten by insects or pierced by needles and blades. They are also used for twelve conditions including red or white vaginal discharge, pain in the lower back and back, and menstruation that comes sometimes early and sometimes late.

The ingredients are two liang each of angelica root, tingli seed, aconite, evodia, and rhubarb; one and a half liang each of skullcap, cassia bark, dried ginger, tree peony root, and qiongqiong; one liang and six zhu each of asarum, Sichuan pepper, bupleurum, and magnolia bark; mengmeng (an ingredient absent from some versions of the recipe); one liang of licorice; and fifty gadflies and fifty leeches. Grind the eighteen ingredients into a fine powder and mix with honey to form pills about the size of parasol tree seeds. Take fifteen pills with wine on an empty stomach, twice a day. Do not take during pregnancy.

Turtle-Shell Pills: These are used to treat accumulations in a woman’s lower abdomen, with a mass as large as a plate seven or eight cun across. The pain moves up and down and is difficult to endure. Other symptoms may include cold hands and feet; coughing or belching with a foul, fishy smell; a burning heat in both flanks; a cold sensation at the vaginal opening as if exposed to a draft; and menstruation that stops or comes early or late. Taking the pills for thirty days is said to bring a cure. The prescription is said to have been handed down by Lady Wei, the governor of Henei.

The ingredients listed in the prescription are one and a half liang each of turtle shell and cassia bark, half a liang of wasp nest, and black ginseng, Sichuan pepper, asarum, ginseng, bitter ginseng, and red-rooted salvia.

Eighteen zhu each of Sha Shen and Wu Zhu Yu; one liang each of Zhe Chong (a medicinal material in the leech family), Shui Zhi (leech), dried ginger, peony root, Fu Zi, Chinese honey locust, Dang Gui, Shao Yao, licorice, and Fang Kui; and one liang six zhu each of twenty grub larvae (the young of the scarab beetle), Meng Chong (horsefly), and rhubarb.

Grind the twenty-four ingredients into a fine powder and mix with honey to make pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Swallow with wine, seven pills per dose, three times a day. Gradually increase the dose afterward, stopping when the body responds and the medicine takes effect.

Another formula treats women who are weak and cold after childbirth, with hard masses in the abdomen, irregular menstruation, abdominal distension and fullness, pain below the navel that extends to the lower back, heat or cold in the hands and feet, restlessness, and loss of appetite.

One and a half liang of turtle shell; one liang six zhu each of dried ginger, red stone resin, Salvia root, Yu Yu Liang, Dang Gui, Bai Zhi (Bai Zhu is used in one version of the formula), and dried Rehmannia root; eighteen zhu each of Dai Zhe, licorice, deer antler, cuttlebone, and stiff silkworm; and one liang each of Gui Xin, Xi Xin, Sichuan pepper, and Fu Zi.

Mix the seventeen ingredients with honey to make pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Take five pills with wine on an empty stomach, gradually increasing to ten.

Yu Yu Liang Pill: A formula for treating cold pathogens that accumulate after childbirth in women and form hard masses.

Two and a half liang each of Yu Yu Liang, cuttlebone, Wu Zhu Yu, Gui Xin, and Sichuan pepper; one liang six zhu each of Dang Gui, Bai Zhu, Xi Xin, dried Rehmannia root, ginseng, Shao Yao, Chuan Xiong, and Qian Hu; three liang of dried ginger; six zhu of alum; eighteen zhu each of Bai Wei, Zi Wan, and Huang Qin; and one liang of Zhe Chong.

Grind the nineteen ingredients into a fine powder and mix with honey to make pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Take twenty pills with wine or another drink on an empty stomach, twice a day. If there is no response after taking them, increase the dose.

Mu Meng Pill: A formula for treating twelve kinds of abdominal mass disorders in women after childbirth, vaginal discharge, and infertility. The original text states that these conditions are all caused by cold wind and cold Qi. It also suggests that they may occur when, before one hundred days have passed since childbirth, the evil blood in the Bao Luo—the network of vessels connected to the womb—has not yet been fully expelled, and the woman then defecates on a suspended latrine or sits for a long time in a damp, cold place, allowing dampness and cold to enter the womb and congeal there… The original text ends here.

The lower abdomen becomes hard and painful, with masses forming—an illness involving lumps in the abdomen. The smaller lumps are like eggs, the larger like fists. They pulsate when pressed, and there is a dull pain within: at times it feels like insect bites, at others like needle pricks. Qi rises upward and sometimes surges straight to the heart. The flanks feel distended and full; the person cannot eat, food is difficult to digest, and the flow of Qi up and down the abdomen is obstructed. Sometimes the pain remains in the pit of the stomach and extends to the yumen, an ancient term for the female genital opening, and the back. Other symptoms include vomiting, shortness of breath, sweating, coldness in the lower abdomen, pain in the womb, pain that pulls at the genital area when coughing, involuntary urination, displacement of the cervical opening, difficulty conceiving, pain in the lower back and hips, and heaviness in the limbs. The whole body swells, with the swelling coming and going; bowel movements are difficult, and urination is dribbling. Sometimes menstruation stops, or material resembling decayed flesh is discharged in varying shades of blue-green, yellow, red, white, or black, with a curd-like appearance. There may also be inauspicious dreams. The following formula is used for treatment; it is also called “Purple Canopy Pill.”

Mu meng, hou po, xiao shi, qian hu, gan jiang, zhe chong, mu dan, shu jiao, huang qin, jie geng, fu ling, xi xin, ting li, ren shen, qiong qiong, wu zhu yu, and gui xin, eighteen zhu each; da huang, two and a half liang; fu zi, one liang and six zhu; dang gui, half a liang.

Grind the twenty ingredients into a fine powder, mix with honey, and pound repeatedly ten thousand times. Form into pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Take three pills with wine on an empty stomach, three times daily. If there is no effect, gradually increase the dose to five or six pills. If blue-green, white, yellow, or red material resembling fish roe is discharged, the root of the illness is considered to have been expelled.

A formula for stopped menstruation and abdominal masses known as zhengjia, with lumps hard as stone, a distended abdomen, and a wasted body. It is used to break up blood stasis and purge the zhengjia masses.

Da huang and xiao shi, six liang each; ba dou and shu jiao, one liang each; dai zhe, chai hu (roasted until its color changes), shui zhi (roasted), dan shen (roasted until purple), and tu gua gen, three liang each; gan qi, qiong qiong, gan jiang, meng chong, and fu ling, two liang each.

Grind the fourteen ingredients into a fine powder, grinding the ba dou separately. Mix with honey and form into pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Take two pills with wine on an empty stomach. If there is no reaction, increase the dose to five pills, taken twice daily. (The formula recorded in the Qianjin Yifang does not include chai hu, shui zhi, dan shen, or tu gua gen.)

For abdominal distension and painful abdominal masses, this formula is recommended and has often produced marked results.

Horseflies (400), grub larvae (one sheng), dried Rehmannia root, moutan bark, dried lacquer, peony root, Achyranthes root, Trichosanthes root, and cinnamon bark (four liang each); Evodia fruit, peach kernels, Scutellaria root, and a plant called mumeng (three liang each); poria and seaweed (five liang each); leeches (300), mirabilite (one liang), ginseng (one and a half liang), and semiaquilegia seeds (five ge).

Grind these nineteen ingredients into a fine powder, mix with honey, and form pills the size of firmiana seeds. Take seven pills on an empty stomach each day, washed down with wine. If they have no effect, gradually increase the dose and take them three times a day. (The formula recorded in the Qianjin Yifang omits mirabilite and ginseng.)

Cinnamon Wine: A formula for absent menstruation and the formation of abdominal masses

Cinnamon bark, moutan bark, peony root, Achyranthes root, dried lacquer, Trichosanthes root, and mumeng (four liang each); Evodia fruit (one sheng); rhubarb (three liang); Scutellaria root and dried ginger (two liang each); horseflies (200); ground beetles, grub larvae, and leeches (70 each); ashes of unbound hair and Asarum (one liang each); stiff silkworms (50); hemp seeds and soot from a stove flue (three sheng); dried Rehmannia root (six liang); Japanese knotweed root and turtle shell (five liang each); and seeds of Artemisia japonica (two sheng).

Cut these twenty-four ingredients into small pieces and steep them in four dou of wine, divided between two porcelain vessels, for seven days. Then combine them in one vessel and stir well, before dividing the mixture between the two vessels again. Take two ge for the first dose, twice a day; then gradually increase the dose to three or four ge.

Japanese Knotweed Decoction: A formula for abdominal accumulations, distension and fullness due to deficiency, thunderous rumbling in the intestines, heaviness in the limbs, and absent menstruation; also for men’s disorders

Take the root of Japanese knotweed growing in high places and cut it finely. Boil it in two shi and five dou of water until one and a half dou of liquid remain. Strain out the dregs and let the liquid settle. Take the clear liquid, add five sheng of fine, well-aged wine, and continue boiling until it thickens to the consistency of maltose syrup. Take one ge per dose, adjusting the amount according to the body’s response. If it has no effect, increase the dose.

Another formula: For menstruation that has stopped, the formation of abdominal masses, and a belly swollen like a porcelain vessel, with shortness of breath and a desire to…

The source text ends here, so the sentence’s full meaning cannot be determined.

“Death Formula”

One hundred jin of giant knotweed root (remove the root crowns and soil, dry in the sun, then slice), plus the juice of two dou each of Chinese bellflower root and ox knee.

Take the three ingredients. Chop the giant knotweed root and soak it overnight in one hu of water. The next morning, boil it down and collect two dou of juice. Add the juices of the Chinese bellflower root and ox knee, stir well, and continue boiling until thick like malt syrup. Take one he with wine twice a day. After one night, the stagnant blood should be expelled. Stop taking it once the illness has been cured.

Peach Kernel Decoction: A Formula for Treating Vaginal Discharge and Menstrual Blockage

Peach kernels and gadflies, one sheng of each; five liang of mirabilite; six liang of rhubarb.

First prepare the peach kernels separately. Pour four sheng of strong bitter wine (concentrated vinegar) into a copper pot and boil over charcoal until reduced to two sheng. Add the rhubarb, peach kernels, and gadflies, stirring continuously. When the liquid is nearly ready to be formed into pills, add the mirabilite and keep stirring. After a while, remove it from the heat and continue until it can be rolled into pills.

Take one pill, about the size of an egg yolk, and soak it in wine overnight. Do not eat the evening before taking the medicine. By evening, the patient will pass material resembling bean broth, clotted chicken-liver blood, frogspawn, or a paste. This is the expulsion of the pathogenic matter described in the formula.

A Formula for Treating Menstrual Blockage, a Hard Lump Below the Navel About the Size of a Cup, Intermittent Fever, Diarrhea, and Emaciation

This is called an “qi mass” (a lump formed by gathered Qi); some versions call it a “blood mass.” If it has already developed into a solid growth, it cannot be treated.

Thirty jin of fresh rehmannia, juiced; one jin of dry lacquer, ground into powder.

Put the dry lacquer powder into the fresh rehmannia juice and simmer over low heat until it can be formed into pills. Take three pills with wine each time; each pill should be the size of a parasol tree seed. If there is no response, gradually increase the dose. It is generally taken after meals.

A Formula for Treating Long-Term Menstrual Blockage and Severe Amenorrhea

One jin of ox knee, three sheng of hemp seeds (steamed), three liang of Chinese bellflower root, and two sheng of peach kernels.

Chop the four ingredients and soak them in one dou and five sheng of fine wine for five nights. Take five he each time, gradually increasing to one sheng, three times a day. According to the original text, taking a larger amount produces better results.

A Formula for Treating Wind-Cold After Childbirth, with Stagnant Blood That Will Not Clear and Menstrual Blockage

Two sheng each of peach kernels and hemp seed kernels; one sheng of Chinese motherwort seeds.

The original text breaks off here and gives no further instructions for preparation or use.

Coarsely chop the three ingredients above and soak them in three dou of fine wine for five nights. Take five ge each time, three times a day, gradually increasing the dose to one sheng.

Five-Jing Pill

The Five-Jing Pill is used to treat women’s abdominal masses and accumulations with recurring pain, as well as a cold sensation in the lower back, cold energy pulling at the lower abdomen, poor appetite, and diarrhea after eating cold foods.

Ingredients: three liang each of dried ginger and Sichuan pepper; one liang of aconite; one sheng of Wu-Zhu-Yu; and two liang each of Chinese angelica, langdu, Scutellaria, and oyster shell.

Grind the eight ingredients into a fine powder and mix with honey to make pills the size of parasol-tree seeds. Begin with three pills twice a day, gradually increasing to ten. The formula comes from the Five Gentlemen’s Prescriptions by the Jing family, which is why it is called the Five-Jing Pill. People who have suffered from cold for a long time and feel physically exhausted should take this formula.

Cockcrow Purple Pill

The Cockcrow Purple Pill is used to treat women’s masses and accumulations—conditions involving lumps in the abdomen.

Ingredients: one fen of Chinese honeylocust; two fen each of Veratrum, licorice, alum, black aconite, apricot kernel, dried ginger, cassia bark, and croton; four fen each of Peucedanum and ginseng; five fen of ochre; six fen of donkey-hide gelatin; and eight fen of rhubarb.

Grind the fourteen ingredients into a fine powder and mix with honey to make pills the size of parasol-tree seeds. Take one pill at cockcrow, then increase by one pill each day, up to a maximum of five. If white matter is passed after taking the pills, the ancients considered it “wind”; red matter was considered to indicate masses and accumulations; and blue or pale yellow matter, disease of the heart and abdomen.

Pill Presented by the Commandant of Liaodong

This formula treats hard masses below the navel. The original text says it “treats everything.”

Ingredients: one fen each of Dichroa, rhubarb, and croton; two pieces of tall aconite; three fen each of Sophora, Baiwei, dried ginger, ginseng, Asarum, wolf’s-fang plant, gentian, Adenophora, Scrophularia, and red sage; five fen each of peony, aconite, achyranthes, and poria; four fen of peony root; and six fen of Wulu (another edition gives two liang and three fen).

Grind the twenty ingredients into a fine powder and mix with honey to make pills. Do not eat the night before taking the medicine. Take five pills at a time, three times a day. The original text says that even patients who are extremely emaciated and have irregular menstruation should take the medicine for twenty-five days. They may pass long worms or various diseased substances. After taking it as directed for twenty-five days, the condition is said to be cured and the body’s flesh to become fuller. After fifty days, it is said that “all illnesses are eliminated”; the formula can also treat infertility of long standing and enable a woman to bear children.

Oyster Pill: Used to treat the cessation of menstruation and poor appetite. Take four liang of oyster shell, one jin of rhubarb, five liang of bupleurum, three liang of dried ginger, two and a half liang each of chuanxiong and poria, ten liang of Sichuan pepper, five ge each of garden cress seeds, mirabilite, and apricot kernels, half a liang each of leeches and gadflies, and seventy peach kernels: thirteen ingredients in all. Grind them into a fine powder and mix with honey to make pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Take seven pills three times a day.

Angelica Pill: Used to treat pain in the lower back and abdomen, and obstructed menstruation. Take four liang each of angelica and chuanxiong; one liang each of gadflies, aconite, salvia, and dried lacquer; two liang each of ginseng, oyster shell, Chinese cucumber root, and leeches; and fifty peach kernels: eleven ingredients in all. Grind them into a fine powder and mix with white honey to make pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Take three pills with wine three times a day.

Mirabilite Decoction: Used to treat blood concretions—masses in the abdomen formed by accumulated stagnant blood—blood retained and obstructed in the channels, and severe menstrual blockage. It also disperses congealed stagnant blood. Take three liang each of mirabilite, aconite, and gadflies; one liang each of rhubarb, asarum, dried ginger, and scutellaria; two liang each of peony, Chinese cucumber root, salvia, hematite, and grub; ten jujubes, two sheng of peach kernels, one jin of achyranthes, and four liang of natron: sixteen ingredients in all. Coarsely chop the ingredients and soak them overnight in five sheng of wine and nine sheng of water. The next morning, boil them down to four sheng of liquid and strain out the dregs. Add the natron and mirabilite, and wait until they have fully dissolved. Divide the decoction into four doses, taking each about as long as it takes to cook a meal apart. After recovering, eat yellow duck soup and avoid exposure to wind.