《孫真人備急千金要方》Vol. 67

“Carbuncle on the Back” (a severe sore and swelling that develops on the back)

Sun Simiao says that a carbuncle on the back is often caused by taking medicines such as the Five Minerals Cold-Food Rebirth Powder, a formula containing mineral drugs. Some people develop the illness after taking stalactite alone. Others have never taken such medicines, yet still fall ill; perhaps their ancestors once took them.

The illness often appears on the back, between the shoulder blades. At first it is as small as a millet grain, red in color, and may itch or hurt. People often pay no attention to it, but the swelling grows day by day and may become life-threatening in about ten days. By the time the patient is near death, the sore may be about three inches wide and one inch high, covered with dozens of openings. Pressing it by hand makes pus flow from every opening, and before long the patient loses their voice. For this reason, anyone who cares for their health should act at once if they feel unusual itching or pain on the back.

The text describes a moxibustion method: take clean soil, mix it with water into mud, and shape it into cakes about two fen thick and one and a half inches wide. Make moxa cones from thick moxa rolls, place them on the mud cakes, then apply the cakes to the sore and perform moxibustion. Replace the mud cake after each cone is burned. When the sore is still the size of a millet grain, burn seven cakes; when it is the size of an elm seed, burn forty-nine. When it has grown to the size of a copper coin, apply moxibustion day and night, without limiting the number of moxa cones. At the same time, take medicines such as Five-Spice Forsythia Decoction and iron solution. The text also describes another method: before the sore forms a large collection of pus, keep applying cold water or stones cooled in water until the illness is cured. During the illness, avoid flour-based foods, alcohol, and spicy foods.

Carbuncles on the back sometimes appear on both shoulders as well. People who take mineral medicines should keep their limbs active and avoid prolonged idleness. They should not seek comfort by keeping themselves constantly warm, but should restrain their desires and expose themselves to some cold. The text says these practices benefit the body and may reduce the risk of illness.

If a swelling rises on the back, with a white sore head the size of a millet or foxtail millet grain, its edges running together, and the swollen area red-black in color, while the person feels distressed and restless, this is a carbuncle on the back. After falling ill, avoid sexual intercourse, and abstain from alcohol, meat, garlic, and flour-based foods. The text says that without moxibustion, the pathogenic influence will enter the body and prove fatal; treatment should apply seven or eight hundred moxa cones to the sore. Some people fail to recognize the illness and treat it as another kind of swollen sore; all of them die.

Methods for treating back abscesses and swelling sores, whether ruptured or unruptured

Take three sheng of fermented black beans and mix them with a little water. Pound them into a fairly firm paste. Shape the paste into a cake that follows the outline of the swelling and is at least three fen thick. If there is an opening in the swollen area, do not cover it. Place the bean cake over the swelling and arrange moxa cones on top to apply heat by burning moxa floss. Apply the moxa until the area feels warm; do not burn through the skin or flesh. If it feels hot and painful, replace the bean cake at once. The affected area should then ease and settle down more quickly. Apply moxa twice a day. If there was already an opening in the sore, fluid will drain from it and the sore will heal.

Methods for treating carbuncles, deep abscesses, and back abscesses, whether ruptured or unruptured, as well as various toxic swellings

Take equal amounts of trichosanthes root, elm inner bark, a swallow’s nest, and soil gathered by rodents. Grind the four ingredients into a fine powder. Mix it into a paste using liquid obtained by washing menstrual cloth, then apply it to the swelling. Replace it when it dries. If the swelling has ruptured, apply the paste around its edges. Continue applying it after the condition begins to improve, for one to five days, until it heals.

Method for treating a back abscess when a swelling is just beginning to form on the back

Take three liang each of rhubarb, cimicifuga, and scutellaria, three liang of licorice, and thirty-seven gardenia fruits. Cut up the five ingredients and boil them in nine sheng of water until three sheng of decoction remain. Divide it into three doses and take them. Stop once the bowels have been cleared. If they have not yet been cleared, continue taking it.

Internal Supplement Powder: a method for treating ruptured carbuncles, deep abscesses, and back abscesses, to drain pus and promote tissue growth

Take two liang each of angelica and cassia cinnamon bark; and one liang each of ginseng, Ligusticum, magnolia bark, saposhnikovia, licorice, angelica dahurica, and platycodon. Grind the nine ingredients into a fine powder. Take one square-inch spoonful at a time with wine, three times during the day and twice at night. If the condition has not healed, continue taking it without interruption. (The formula recorded in the Wai Tai Mi Yao does not include saposhnikovia, licorice, or angelica dahurica.)

Another formula for treating carbuncles, deep abscesses, and back abscesses

Take two fen each of Sichuan pepper, dried ginger, scutellaria, and ginseng; one fen of cassia cinnamon bark; one and a half he of red beans; one liang each of ampelopsis, licorice, aconite, and saposhnikovia; and two liang of Ligusticum. Grind the eleven ingredients into a fine powder. Take one square-inch spoonful at a time with wine, three times during the day and twice at night.

Plum Root Bark Powder: a method for treating carbuncles, deep abscesses, back abscesses, and small scrofulous swellings (enlarged lymph nodes in the neck)

Take one sheng of plum root bark, five liang each of trichosanthes root and pinellia, and the following: tetrapanax pith, ampelopsis, and platycodon… The original text ends here; the remaining ingredients and directions for taking the formula are missing.

Magnolia bark, Scutellaria root, and aconite (one liang each); licorice and Chinese angelica (two liang each); kudzu root (three liang); cassia bark and peony root (four liang each); and Sichuan lovage rhizome (six liang).

Grind the ingredients into a fine powder and sift. Take one fangcun bi (an ancient measure equal to a medicinal spoonful) with wine, three times a day. If the sores are severe and the patient is extremely debilitated, take another dose at night. There was once a patient whose sores exposed bone and who also had more than thirty abscesses and boils. After taking this powder, the patient recovered.

Major Internal Plugging and Pus-Draining Powder: Treats sores on the back that have persisted for years and recur after healing. The original text explains that this is caused by severe pathogenic Wind or stagnant Qi within the body, which blocks the meridians. In summer, the pathogenic influence erupts outward on the back. If it resists treatment for a long time, pus and blood accumulate, forming sores that may even rupture inward. The formula is as follows:

Cornelian cherry, Schisandra fruit, poria, and dried ginger (six liang each); licorice, dendrobium, ginseng, cassia bark, and peony root (five fen each); Morinda root, dwarf lilyturf root, dried rehmannia root, cistanche, and polygala root (eight fen each); Chinese angelica, pyrrosia leaf, and Sichuan lovage rhizome (four fen each); aconite (two fen); and blister beetles and dodder seed (three fen each).

Grind all twenty ingredients into a fine powder and sift. Take one fangcun bi with wine three times a day, and once at night; gradually increase the dose. According to the original text, taking it over a long period prevents abscesses and boils for the rest of one’s life.

Formula for Treating Sores on the Back

Burn tangled hair to ash. Take one fangcun bi with wine. This can also treat biaojie, a severe kind of sore described in ancient texts.

Another formula: Apply lard to the affected area four or five times a day. This can also treat a breast abscess. The Emergency Formula says: Cut pork fat or mutton fat into slices, soak them in cold water, and place them on the affected area. Replace each slice as it warms. Use fifty or sixty slices in all, and the sore should heal. If a slight chill comes on soon after applying the fat, wait for it to pass; then the patient will be able to sleep soundly. The remedy is highly effective.

Another formula: Gently heat vinegar lees aged for three years until thick, then mix them with beef fat and apply to the affected area.

Another formula: Burn pig’s or dog’s teeth to ash, mix with vinegar, and apply to the affected area. Replace the dressing three or four times a day.

Another formula: Burn an old clam shell to ash, mix with egg white, and apply to the affected area. Replace the dressing three times a day.

Another formula: Drink two sheng of iron solution, enough to bring on a bowel movement.

Another formula: Burn a snake’s head to ash, mix with vinegar, and apply to the affected area. Replace the dressing three times a day.

Another formula: Burn deer antler to ash, mix with vinegar, and apply to the affected area. Replace the dressing four or five times a day.

Erysipelas, Part Four (one discussion, thirty-eight formulas)

“Eye cinnabar toxin,” also called “Heavenly Fire,” refers to a sudden patch of red on the skin, as if it had been painted with red pigment. The patches may be as large as a palm, and in severe cases can spread over the whole body. They may itch and swell, and their color can vary.

One type is called “White Cinnabar”: the skin swells from within, itching and aching; the swollen area rises slightly, as if inflated, and faint patches of rash may also appear. Another type is called “Cockscomb Cinnabar,” also known as “Evodia Cinnabar”: it is red and raised. Large patches may resemble coins joined together, while small ones look like sesame seeds or beans. The skin’s surface is covered with raised bumps resembling a cockscomb. There is also “Water Cinnabar”: after the whole body becomes feverish, exposure to dampness causes yellow-red patches to form on the skin. They look as if there were water beneath the skin and commonly appear on the thighs and around the genitals. The original text says that although these illnesses may not look serious, they can be fatal if left untreated. The following prescriptions may be used to treat them.

Shengma Ointment Prescription

Shengma, Baiwei (called “Bailian” in the Zhouhou Fang), Loulu, Lianqiao, Mangxiao, and Huangqin, two liang each; Shexian and Zhishi, three liang each; Shudiao, four liang; and Zhizi, forty fruits.

Lightly crush the ten ingredients, soak them in three sheng of water for half a day, then add five sheng of pig fat and boil until the water has evaporated. Strain out the herbs to make an ointment. Apply it externally to all kinds of cinnabar toxin, as well as hot sores and swellings, three times a day. The prescription recorded in the Jingxin Lu omits Zhishi and is used to treat various toxic swellings.

Shengma Decoction Prescription

Shengma, Loulu, and Mangxiao, two liang each; Huangqin, three liang; Shudiao, five liang; and Zhizi, twenty fruits.

Cut the six ingredients into pieces, soak them in one dou of water for a while, then boil until seven sheng remain. Let the liquid cool, soak an old cloth in it, and apply the cloth to the affected area, keeping it moist. After applying it, one should also take a medicinal drink and a Loulu decoction; their prescriptions appear earlier under “Carbuncles and Swellings.” The Xiaopin Fang uses this prescription to treat cinnabar rashes and various toxic swellings.

Simple Prescriptions

Water moss, fresh Shexian, fresh Dihuang, fresh cabbage, Shudiao leaves, Shenhuo grass, five-leaf vine, bean leaves, and duckweed: choose any one, crush it, and apply it externally on its own.

Dahuang, Zhizi, Huangqin, and Mangxiao: choose any one, grind it into powder, mix it with water, and apply it.

The text lists thirteen single-ingredient remedies in all and says that using any one of them will be effective.

Algae are extremely cooling. For conditions such as heat-toxin swellings and erysipelas, take algae from a ditch, chop them finely, pound them to a paste, and apply it to the affected area about three fen thick. Replace the dressing when it dries.

Proven remedies for treating various kinds of erysipelas

Cook rapeseed greens (oilseed rape), then pound them to a paste and apply it thickly to the affected area. It is said to reduce the swelling quickly. If residual heat remains, keep applying it for three days, until the affected area clears and heals. Do not stop even if the dressing dries; the aim is to eliminate the root of the illness.

The author records: On the eighth day of the third month in the seventh year of the Zhenguan era, he drank too much in Neijiang County. During the night, as he slept, his bones and flesh throughout his body began to ache. Before dawn, he also developed a headache and dizziness, and a lump the size of a pellet swelled at his left temple. It hurt too much to touch. By noon the swelling had reached his right temple, and during the night it spread elsewhere. In the end, both eyes were swollen shut, and he nearly died. County magistrate Lord Zhou tried various medicines, but none worked. After seven days of illness, the author tried this remedy himself and found it astonishingly effective, so he recorded it to pass on to later generations.

Remedy for five-colored oil erysipelas

Five-colored oil erysipelas is commonly called “oil swelling.” The text warns that this illness may be fatal if not treated with care. Tie up a sow and have the patient lie down with their head resting against it. This is said to be very effective.

Another remedy: Apply cow dung to the affected area and replace it when it dries.

Remedies for red spreading swellings and erysipelas

Grind the white inner bark of an elm root into powder, mix it with egg white, and apply it to the affected area. The Qianjin Yifang also records a remedy using egg white mixed with scraps of grass from a straw mat.

Another remedy: Pound hemp seeds, mix them with water, and apply the mixture.

Another remedy: Rub the affected area with melted mutton fat. Blue sheep fat is said to be best. The Jiyan Fang says this method treats red or black spots that suddenly appear on a person’s face, around the eyes, or elsewhere on the body, resembling scabies. Without treatment, the illness grows worse day by day and spreads over the whole body; it may be fatal.

Remedies for erysipelas in children

Pound a handful of purslane and give the juice to the child to drink. Apply the remaining pulp to the affected area.

Another remedy: Pound five ge of red beans, mix them with water, and give the child one ge of the juice to drink. Rub the remaining pulp onto the body’s “five centers”: the palms of both hands, the soles of both feet, and the chest.

Another remedy: Boil soybeans down to a thick liquid and apply it to the affected area. It is said to work well and leave no scar after healing.

Another remedy: Mix lard from the twelfth lunar month with soil from the bottom of a cooking pot, apply it to the affected area, and replace it when it dries.

Remedy for five-colored erysipelas in children

Apply the sludge from beneath a pig trough to the affected area and replace it when it dries. The Jiyan Fang also records this method for red and black spots that appear suddenly.

Another formula: Crush the leaves of Sambucus javanica and apply them to the affected area.

Another formula: Take two he of Yellow Dragon Decoction and apply it to the affected area at the same time. It works very well.

Treating White Infantile Dan

Mix the ash of burned pig dung with egg white and apply it to the affected area. It works very well.

Treating Red Infantile Dan

Crush rapeseed leaves, take three he of the juice by mouth, and apply the remaining pulp to the affected area. It works very well. The Qianjin Yifang records that rapeseed is used here. Alternatively, mix the powdered medicine with egg white and apply it.

Treating Mottled Red Infantile Dan

Mix lead powder with saliva and apply it from the outer edge of the affected area inward.

Another formula: Mix iron filings left over from forging with pork fat and apply it to the affected area.

Another formula: Mix dust from the roof with pork fat cured in the twelfth lunar month and apply it to the affected area.

Treating Fire Dan in Children, with bright red patches like cinnabar appearing on the skin

Mix fermented soybeans with vinegar, grind them finely, and apply them to the affected area.

Another formula: Apply carp blood to the affected area. It works very well.

Another formula: Crush perilla seeds and apply them to the affected area. It works very well.

Another formula: Mix pig dung with water, squeeze out the liquid, and take a small amount by mouth. It works very well.

Treating Toxic Heavenly Fire in Children

Red dan patches appear in the flesh, each as large as a palm. In severe cases they spread over the whole body and may be painful, itchy, or swollen.

Grind two sheng of red adzuki beans into powder and mix with egg white to make a thin paste. Apply it to the affected area, replacing it with fresh paste as soon as it dries. Recovery will be quick. The text says this formula is effective for all forms of dan toxin.

Another formula: Apply raw sesame oil.

Treating Bone Fire Dan in Children

The sores extend deep enough for the bone to be visible.

Crush garlic and small garlic bulbs and apply a thick layer to the affected area. This condition is called Bone Fire Dan when it occurs at the ankle.

Treating Calamity Fire Dan Toxin in Children

The dan toxin appears on both sides of the torso and beneath the arms.

Grind dragon’s-liver earth into powder, mix it with oil, and apply it; replace it when dry. If the illness spreads into the abdomen or genital area, take the juice of Sedum aizoon by mouth.

Treating Urine-Stove Dan in Children

At the onset, the illness begins between the thighs and at the navel, then spreads toward the genital area; all affected areas are red.

Chop two sheng of mulberry root bark, add two sheng of water, and boil to extract the liquid. Use it to bathe the affected area. It works very well.

Another formula: Burn a plum tree root to ash, mix it with water from a flowing field stream, and apply it. It works very well.

Treating Vermilion Field Fire Dan in Children

Within a day and a night, the illness develops into sores. It begins on the back and gradually spreads over the whole body. The sores are about the size of dates and bright red.

Wash the affected area with a strong decoction of thorn root. If sores have already formed, apply red adzuki bean powder; if they have not yet formed, mix the powder with egg white and apply it.

Whenever a recipe calls for an egg, use one that has already been cracked. A whole, uncracked egg has no effect.

A prescription for treating children’s Heavenly Kitchen Fire Elixir disease

This disease begins between the thighs. If a child under one hundred days old offends the Kitchen Lord who travels along the roads, the heat of the illness spreads downward, causing the glans to become red and swollen and sometimes to bleed.

Pound Fulonggan (the earth from the heart of a stove) into a fine powder, mix it with egg white, and apply it to the affected area three times a day. It works very well.

Another prescription:

Take five ge of crucian carp flesh and three ge of red bean powder. Mix and pound them together, add a little water, and apply the paste to the affected area. It works very well.

A prescription for treating children’s Wildfire Elixir disease

The whole body becomes red. Apply oil to the affected area.

A prescription for treating children’s Evodia Elixir disease

The disease first appears on the back. Fine, dense markings appear all over the body, and within a single night they develop into sores. Grind red beans into a fine powder and sprinkle it over the affected area. If sores have not yet formed, mix the powder with egg white and apply it.

A prescription for treating children’s Abandoned-Stove Fire Elixir disease

The disease first appears on the top of the foot and is bright red. Bathe the child in a decoction made from jujube tree roots. Five or six baths are enough.

Hidden Rashes, Chapter Five

(One discussion, twenty-nine prescriptions, and one moxibustion method)

Discussion: The Suwen says that when pathogenic Wind enters the skin, it weakens the skin and disperses the true Qi. When Cold then invades, the interstices at the skin’s surface open and the pores leak. The pathogenic influence then moves chaotically through the body, causing itching. This is the usual cause of Wind rashes and itchy skin.

There is also a red rash that appears suddenly, like the raised marks left by mosquito bites. It itches intensely, and the eruptions rise in layers; when scratched, the skin swells along the scratch marks. White rashes are similar. Red rashes occur in hot weather and stop in cold weather, while white rashes occur in cold, overcast weather. To treat white rashes, boil alum in water and wipe the skin with it; alternatively, boil sambucus, add a little wine, and bathe the patient in it. These methods work very well. (Yao’s family used this method to treat red rashes.) One may also boil stone-oak juice and wipe the skin with it, or boil chicken droppings or bitter orange in water and use the resulting liquid to wipe the skin; all are effective. Other cases may be treated according to the methods for Elixir diseases. Among the people, this illness is called “Wind Dung,” and is also called “Wind Corpse.”

Stone-Oak Decoction

Used to treat sixty-four kinds of Wind disease. Pathogenic Wind courses through the body, making a person feel as if insects are crawling beneath the skin. The lower back and back become stiff; the hands and feet may feel weak and limp or become tense and cramped, with spasms and contractions. Hidden rashes may also appear, and scratching may break the skin. Other symptoms include Wind Corpse and itching all over the body. When the illness suddenly flares up, the face and eyes swell, and the hands cannot be raised to the head. The mouth…

Prescription for “Lockjaw and Inability to Speak” (This refers here to the jaws being clenched shut and speech becoming impossible because of Wind pathogen or similar causes. For hidden eruptions, take this prescription; the appropriate treatment is given earlier in the “Wind Stroke” section.)

Treating itching and hidden eruptions caused by Wind pathogen, as well as distress in the heart and disordered consciousness

Tianxiong, Achyranthes, cassia bark, and Anemarrhena (four fen each); Trichosanthes root and Atractylodes (five fen each); Saposhnikovia (six fen); ginseng (two fen); dried ginger and Asarum (three fen each).

Grind the ten ingredients into a fine powder. Take half a qian-spoonful with wine, gradually increasing the dose up to one qian-spoonful.

Another prescription: Two liang of croton seeds. Add seven sheng of water and boil down to three sheng. Dip an old cloth in the liquid and wipe the affected area. Adjust the amount as appropriate for adults and children.

Another prescription: Grind two liang of alum into powder and soak it in three sheng of wine. Once dissolved, dip a cloth in the wine and wipe the affected area.

Another prescription: Add five sheng of wine to one sheng of Wu Zhu Yu and boil down to one and a half sheng. Dip a cloth in the liquid and wipe the affected area.

Treating skin itching and weakness of the flesh caused by Wind pathogen

Three sheng of bitter orange; one sheng of chopped pine needles; four liang each of Chinese angelica, cistanche, astragalus, and gentian; five liang each of red-rooted salvia and elder.

Chop the eight ingredients and soak them in two dou of wine for six nights. Take two he each time, twice a day, gradually increasing the dose.

Treating itching and hidden eruptions caused by Wind pathogen

Three liang of Atractylodes; half a liang each of Rong salt and alum; one liang each of Coptis, Scutellaria, Asarum, Ligusticum, and Yinyu.

Chop the eight ingredients, add one dou of water, and boil down to three sheng. Bathe the affected area with the liquid three times a day; this is quite effective.

Another prescription: Two liang each of iris seeds, elder, alum, motherwort seeds, Tribulus seeds, Yinyu, Chinese bittersweet, and knotgrass.

Chop the eight ingredients, add two dou of rice-washing water, and boil down to one dou and two sheng. Then add alum and bathe the affected area with the liquid three times a day.

Another prescription: One liang each of elder, Saposhnikovia, Chinese bittersweet, Chinese photinia, Yinyu, Daphne, Tribulus, and alum.

Chop the eight ingredients, add one dou of rice-washing water, and boil down to five sheng. Strain out the herbs, add alum, and bring the liquid to a gentle boil. Let it cool to lukewarm, then use it for bathing.

Another formula: two sheng of cnidium seed, two liang of saposhnikovia root, and two liang of wild tribulus fruit.

Coarsely chop these three ingredients. Boil them in one dou of water until five sheng of liquid remain. Wash the affected area with it three to five times a day.

Another formula: Mix fermented milk with salt, then cook it and apply it to the affected area, rubbing it in. The swelling and pain will subside as soon as the medicine is applied. It works very well.

Another formula: Pour water over lime and collect the liquid that drains through. Wash the affected area with it. It works very well.

Another formula: Boil the root and leaves of bai zhi, then wash the affected area with the liquid.

Another formula: Boil three sheng of soybeans with six sheng of wine until the mixture has come to a boil four or five times. Take one cup each time, three times a day.

Another formula: Grind ox knee root into powder and swallow one square-inch spoonful with wine, three times a day. This formula also treats bone abscesses, leprosy (an ancient term for leprosy and other skin diseases), and skin lumps or nodules.

Another formula: Grind mustard seeds into powder and swallow one square-inch spoonful with rice-washing water, three times a day.

Another formula: Grind bai zhu into powder and swallow one square-inch spoonful with wine, three times a day.

Formula for treating itchy, painful concealed eruptions, similar to wheals or hives:

Two liang each of rhubarb, cimicifuga, phellodendron bark, Chinese angelica, saposhnikovia root, peony, scutellaria, qing mu xiang, and licorice; five liang of fengxiang resin; one liang of mirabilite; and one sheng of rehmannia juice.

Coarsely chop the twelve ingredients and boil them in one dou of water until three and a half sheng remain. Strain out the dregs, then add the mirabilite and stir until it dissolves. Soak a cloth in the liquid and apply it to the affected area. Remove it after about the time it takes to eat a meal. Apply four or five times a day.

Formula for treating itching and pain all over the body, as if from insect bites, where scratching makes the skin peel and sores form:

Three sheng of tribulus fruit; two sheng each of cnidium seed and motherwort seed; five liang of saposhnikovia root; one jin of kansui; two liang of rhubarb; and three liang of alum.

Coarsely chop the seven ingredients and boil them in four sheng of wine and seven sheng of water until four sheng remain. Strain out the dregs, then add the alum. Soak a cloth in the liquid and wipe the affected area.

Another formula: Apply acupuncture and moxibustion at the two Quchi points, located at the elbows. For children, determine the number of moxa cones according to age. Apply moxibustion as soon as an attack begins. It works very well.

Wash and compress for treating swelling, sores, eruptions, and itching of the head and face caused by pathogenic wind:

Four fen each of rhubarb and mirabilite; two fen of mangcao (another version gives three liang of licorice); six fen of coptis; eight fen of scutellaria; and five he of tribulus fruit.

Coarsely chop the six ingredients and boil them in seven sheng of water until three sheng remain. Strain out the dregs, then add …

Soak a piece of cloth in a solution of mirabilite and water, then dip it in the solution and wash the affected area once a day. Keep it away from the eyes.

A formula for redness over the body accompanied by concealed eruptions—subtly raised patches on the skin that itch when scratched, with the scratched areas swelling immediately afterward:

Two fen of mangcao; four fen each of Chinese angelica, chuanxiong (also called Sichuan lovage), kansui, asarum, peony, yuanhua, Sichuan pepper, aconite, and zhuizhu; and two and a half sheng of lard.

Chop the ten ingredients, soak them in wine overnight, then add the lard and simmer. When the aconite turns yellow, the ointment is ready. Strain out the herbs and apply the ointment to the affected areas three times a day.

Green Goat Fat Ointment: A formula for red concealed eruptions caused by wind-heat, where scratching breaks the skin and produces sores:

Four liang of green goat fat; three liang each of licorice and peony; four fen each of cold-water stone, angelica dahurica, bletilla, baical skullcap, saposhnikovia, astragalus, and cimicifuga; and one sheng each of chopped bamboo leaves and gypsum.

Chop the twelve ingredients. First, boil the gypsum and bamboo leaves in eight sheng of water until the liquid is reduced to four sheng, then strain it. Soak the remaining ingredients in this decoction, add two sheng of lard, and simmer everything together to make an ointment. Apply it to the affected areas; it is effective.

A formula for concealed eruptions that have resisted treatment for a long time:

Take one jin of stonecrop, also called “fire-protecting herb.” Crush it and apply the juice to the affected area, then massage it with a warm hand. Repeating this two or three times is said to cure the condition.

Another formula: Boil eight liang of mirabilite in one dou of water until the liquid is reduced to four sheng. When it has cooled to a suitable temperature, dip cotton cloth in the liquid and wash the affected area.

Another formula: Five liang each of sliced coptis and mirabilite. Boil the two ingredients in six sheng of water until the liquid is reduced by half, then strain it. Wash the affected area with the liquid four or five times a day.

A formula for evil Qi that suddenly lodges at the body’s surface, invades the skin, and causes eruptions and sores:

Boil the branches and leaves of a locust tree, and wash the affected area with the decoction.

A formula for children with concealed eruptions that have sunk inward, accompanied by a swollen, rigid body and a dry tongue:

Grind turnip seeds to a powder and take it with wine, one level square-inch spoonful at a time, three times a day.

Another formula: Boil two sheng of silkworm droppings in two sheng of water. Strain out the solids and wash the affected area with the liquid; it is effective.

Another formula: Grind plantain seeds to a powder and dust it over the affected area; it is effective.

Another formula: First wash the affected area with salt water, then rub knotweed seeds and apply them.

These formulas are from volume 67 of Sun Simiao’s Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold for Emergencies. The original uses ancient units of measure, including fen, liang, sheng, and dou. Aconite, kansui, yuanhua, mangcao, and some other ingredients are poisonous. This is a plain-language explanation of material in a historical text and should not be used to prepare or take these remedies.