Library

Shengma (Rhizoma Cimicifugae), Lianqiao (Forsythiae Fructus) (each 6 fen); Shengdihuang (Radix Rehmanniae Preparata), Huangqin (Scutellariae Radix) (each 4 fen); Danggui (Angelicae Sinensis Radix), Sumu (Sappan Lignum), Quanxie (Buthus martensii), Dilong (Pheretima), Huangqi (Astragali Radix), Huanglian (Coptidis Rhizoma) (each 3 fen); Jiegeng (Platycodonis Radix) (5 fen); Gancao (Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma) (1.5 qian); Renshen (Ginseng Radix) (2 fen); Hutonglei (Tear of Hu Tong) (1 fen); Taoren (Persicae Semen) (3 seeds); Shexiang (Moschus) (a small amount); Mengchong (Asellus) (1 piece, remove wings and feet, lightly stir-fried); Shuizhi (Hirudo) (2 pieces, stir-fry until smoke disappears).

This is a formula by Li Dongyuan for treating Lífēng (Leprosy/Mal de Albers).

Tonifying Qi and purging Ying (Nutritive Blood) represents the profound principle in treating Lífēng. When Wei (Defensive) Qi is deficient and pathogens invade, Renshen (Ginseng Radix), Huangqi (Astragali Radix), and Gancao (Glycyrrhizae Radix) are used to tonify Qi. When Ying (Nutritive) blood deteriorates leading to Lífēng, Mengchong (Asellus), Shuizhi (Hirudo), Taoren (Persicae Semen), and Sumu (Sappan Lignum) are employed to resolve blood stasis. Quanxie (Buthus martensii) and Dilong (Pheretima) guide the various herbs to sites where wind-dampness has accumulated. As for Shexiang (Moschus), it benefits the orifices and reaches everywhere. Shengma (Rhizoma Cimicifugae), Lianqiao (Forsythiae Fructus), and Jiegeng (Platycodonis Radix) enter the Qi level to resolve heat. Huanglian (Coptidis Rhizoma) and Huangqin (Scutellariae Radix) enter the Zang organs to clear Qi-level heat. Danggui (Angelicae Sinensis Radix) and Shengdihuang (Radix Rehmanniae Preparata) enter the Blood level to regulate newly generated blood. Regarding Hutonglei (Tear of Hu Tong), it is used to eliminate severe toxic heat and is sufficient to kill parasites causing Lífēng and remove stubborn swelling.

In Quanzhou, a guest named Lu Yuanqin suffered from Dafeng (severe Leprosy), with only his nasal bridge remaining intact. It was the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, and the government was collecting bile from Python molurus (Ranshe) to present as tribute. Someone suggested that snake meat could treat wind diseases, so he took a segment of snake meat and ate it. Within three to five days, he gradually improved, and after one hundred days, he fully recovered. The vigorous running and leaping of snakes are manifestations of Wind; thus, they are considered scales that expel wind. Some disdain them due to their toxicity, not realizing that medicine utilizes precisely this toxicity. The *I Ching* states: "Like energies seek each other." With this snake toxin, one can address the leprous toxin, just as water flows to wet places and fire moves toward dry materials, each following its own kind. The *Neijing* states: "Reduce it with substances belonging to its category." This is exactly the meaning.

For cases of Lífēng where eyebrows and hair have fallen out, take Gaojiaoci (Spina Gleditsiae) subjected to nine steaming and nine sun-drying processes, grind into powder, and take 2 qian with wine per dose. Long-term consumption promotes regrowth of eyebrows and hair, renders skin supple and lustrous, and sharpens vision.

Preface: The throat is the passageway for Qi; patency brings benefit, obstruction brings harm. Regardless of whether the condition is root or branch, urgent treatment is required. The following eight formulas are examined here, all being established protocols tested by ancients. By applying these principles analogously, the means to save lives shall be realized.