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In the fifth year of Gandao (1169), a robber in Xiangyang was sentenced to death but received a special imperial pardon commutating his sentence to facial tattooing and exile. The prefect, fearing he might harm others again, had him tattooed and then anointed with raw lacquer over both eyes.

The prisoner was marched along and, upon reaching Jingmen, was already blind and unable to see anything. He was detained in the prison of Changlin County, awaiting transfer. Coincidentally, an old villager was also imprisoned there for some matter. Pitying the prisoner, he said to him, "When you depart tomorrow, ask your escorts to go to Mengquan Rock to find a stone crab. Crush it, filter the juice, and drip it into your eyes. The lacquer poison will flow out with the juice and dissipate, and the sores will heal." The prisoner followed this advice, found a small crab, and used it. After staying for three days, he set off, and his eyes recovered completely without any damage. My brother-in-law, Zhu Yan, who was serving as the Acting Magistrate of Dangyang at the time, witnessed this personally. (From *Bing Zhi*)

A famous physician once stated: When a tiger is struck by an arrow, it eats clear mud; when a wild boar is struck by an arrow, it eats *Shepherd's Purse* (*Capsella bursa-pastoris*); when a pheasant is injured by a hawk, it applies leaves of *Rehmannia Root* (*Rehmanniae Radix*) to the wound; and alum can be used to kill rats. Zhang Zeng tested this: when a rat was poisoned, it acted as if drunk and did not recognize people, but knowing to drink muddy water, it recovered shortly after. Even birds, beasts, insects, and creatures know how to detoxify themselves; how much more so do humans? If a person is shot by an arrow, powder from beetles can be applied externally.

Scholar Liu Yi, living in seclusion on Mount Wangwu, once saw a large bee trapped in a spider's web in his study. The spider attacked it but was stung by the bee and fell to the ground. Soon, the spider's abdomen swelled and burst. It slowly crawled into the grass, chewed on a taro stem, broke it slightly, and rubbed its wound against the chewed part. After a long while, its abdomen gradually subsided, and its restless state returned to normal. Since then, whenever someone was stung by a bee, applying a taro stem to the wound cured them.

In earlier times, the custom in Sichuan favored the use of poisons. In Chengdu, there was an old tradition: during the Tianshong Festival and the Double Ninth Festival, a grand market was held at Daci Temple, gathering many people and selling various goods. Among these were medicines known as "famous remedies." One would hear a cry of selling medicine through a window crack. Those who understood the signal would quickly throw a thousand coins inside, and the seller would pass a single pill through the crack, called the "Detoxification Pill," said that one pill could save a life. Because their movements were unpredictable, many suspected they were immortals. During the Zhenghe era, a certain prince, benevolent and sagely, spread virtue throughout the realm. He newly built two pavilions in front of the Shangqing Bao Palace: the left one named "Renji" (Benevolence and Relief) for distributing medicine to treat illnesses; the right one named "Fuzheng" (Assisting Righteousness) for using talismanic water to dispel evil spirits. An edict was issued nationwide to collect all books and prescriptions of medicines that had proven effective in treating diseases. Consequently, the local governor and supervisors of Chengdu, following orders, investigated thoroughly and discovered that the family selling the Detoxification Pill hid their identity because generations had feared retaliation from those who used poisons, not because they were actually immortals. Once the prescription was obtained and the medicine prepared correctly, it was submitted to the Emperor. The Emperor said, "I myself administer the medicines worn and used by the Son of Heaven to aid the people; this pill originally required no official intervention." Therefore, the physicians of the Dianzhong Province verified the prescription and found it to be the "Baoling Dan" (Spirit-Protecting Pill) from Wang Shi's *Boji Fang*. At that time, my cousin Wang Xingshi, who held a position similar to that of the Director of the Dianzhong Monitorate, alone knew the details. When I was exiled to the south, I used this medicine and saved two people who had died from poisoning by *Stramonium Seed* (*Daturae Semen*, referred to here as Hu Man Cao). This must be recorded. (From *Tiewei Shan Congtan* by Baina Jushi)