Library

Jicheng Jinsu Wan: This pill is specifically capable of dispersing wind and resolving phlegm, clearing fire and descending qi. It treats cough with rebellious lung qi (cough and asthma due to upward reversal of lung qi), irregular急促 panting, unsmooth cough sounds, eyes rolling upward, and convulsions of the hands and feet. All formulas from various schools for cutting off wind and stopping convulsions are inferior to this formula in efficacy. If previous physicians used inappropriate medications, mistakenly causing convulsions, coma, and unconsciousness, one should immediately use whole-body lamp-moxibustion to awaken the patient, and administer one dose of this pill for a complete recovery.

Ingredients and dosages: Jiuzhi Niudan Nanting (Prepared Arisaema with Bovis Gallus, 2 liang), Ming Tianma (Gastrodiae Rhizoma, 1 liang, stir-fried with ginger juice), Jie Baifu (Typhonii Rhizoma Praeparatum, 1 liang, stir-fried with ginger juice), Jing Quanxie (Scorpio, 1 liang, tails and legs removed, rinsed clean with boiling water, salt and mud removed, dried and stir-fried), Ming Ruxiang (Boswelliae Resina, 1 liang, defatted), Daizheshi (Haematitum, 1 liang, heated until red-hot, quenched in good vinegar seven times, ground into fine powder, processed by water flotation, dried), Zhi Jiangcan (Bombyx Batryticatus, 1 liang, stir-fried, silk removed), Chijinbo (Lamina Auricae, 50 sheets), Zhen Shexiang (Moschus, 3 fen), Meihuapian (Borneolum Syntheticum, 3 fen).

Grind all ingredients into a fine powder, mix with refined honey to form pills, sized like Gleditsia sinensis seeds, coated with gold foil. Take one pill per dose, dissolve and take with ginger decoction. The efficacy of this formula is ten to a hundred times greater than that of Baolong Wan, Jinli Dan, Baoming Dan, Zhibao Dan, and Dingming Dan. However, it must not be used for phlegm of deficiency-cold nature, qi without root, or syndromes of collapse, because its descending action is too heavy.

Nanchang Preparation Method: Take Ban Xia Nanxing (Raw Arisaematis Rhizoma) half a jin, grind into an extremely fine powder, and place in a bowl. Take one bovine gallbladder, pour out the bile into the bowl, mix the Arisaema powder evenly with the bile, and refill the mixture into the gallbladder membrane. Hang it in a ventilated place away from direct sunlight until it dries naturally. When new gallbladders are available, cut open the previous one, remove the Arisaema, grind it again, mix with fresh bile, and hang it in a new gallbladder. If this process can be repeated through nine gallbladders, it is truly a precious treasure. Even genuine Niuhuang (Calculus Bovis) cannot compare, and moreover, genuine Niuhuang is rarely found in the market today. Commercially available Dansing prepared with only one gallbladder is unusable.

The *Qianjin Fang* states: Danshu (Erysipelas) is also known as Tianhuo (Heavenly Fire), caused by toxic wind-heat. If the toxin enters the abdomen, it is fatal. The syndrome arises from blazing heart-fire, where heat combats blood. It may originate on the limbs or erupt on the head, face, chest, and back, moving up and down. The heat feels like fire, the color is red like cinnabar, the pattern resembles brocade, and the pain is severe. Cases where the eruption spreads from the chest/abdomen to the limbs are easy to treat; cases where it invades from the limbs into the abdomen are difficult to treat.

Commentary: Although Danshu is attributed to wind-heat, eighty to ninety percent of cases involve the eruption of fetal toxins, most commonly in infants, and such cases do not occur in adult pulse-diagnosis contexts. There are instances of death from Danshu where the cause is unknown, likely because this toxin often erupts in hidden areas. If parents fail to notice it, it harms the infant. Generally, if an infant suddenly presents with a small red halo on the head, face, limbs, chest, back, ribs, or axillae, which gradually spreads, resembling brocade patterns with a yellowish tint externally, this is Huodan (Fire Erysipelas). One should promptly use bian-shi (stone lancet) therapy to expel bad blood and internally administer Hangxie Dan, so as to prevent internal attack leading to convulsions. If physicians ignore needle-lancet therapy and recklessly apply external plasters, forcing the toxin inward, it will inevitably lead to convulsions and death. Instances of infants harmed by Danshu are commonplace.