Library

Sweet in taste, slightly cold in nature. Primarily eliminates abdominal distension due to water accumulation, promotes urination, and relieves thirst.
Harvest after the frost, store for years, break open to extract seeds, wash with water, dry, then grind to obtain the kernels for use. Winter melon is cold and purgative in nature, detoxifies, treats diabetes (Xiao Ke), and relieves irritability; crush directly, juice it, and take orally.

Bitter in taste, cold in nature, toxic. Primarily treats severe edema, swelling of the body, face, and limbs, promotes water drainage, kills gu poison, treats cough with rebellious Qi, and indigestion from eating various fruits where pathogens remain in the chest and abdomen; treat by inducing vomiting or purging. Also removes nasal polyps and treats jaundice. Its flowers treat heart pain and cough with rebellious Qi. Grows in highlands of Song Mountain and flat marshes, harvested on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, dried in shade.
Melon stalks are mostly used when green and immature; here, harvesting on the seventh day of the seventh month refers to the stalk of sweet melons. People also use ripe melon stalks; the emetic effect is no different. This text only discusses the therapeutic indications of the stalk. Current melons are generally cold and purgative, especially the early green ones. Ripe melons have several varieties; removing the pulp allows safe consumption. If one feels they have eaten too much, or if the melon is very large, it is now customary to harvest immediately, store for years, and eat later. There are also second-ripening melons and Yue melons, which people pickle; these are also cold in nature when eaten but are not medicinal parts. *Baowu Zhi* records: "When water reaches the neck, eat countless melons." It also states that spotted melon flowers are toxic; collect them separately; the melon skin kills insects.

Sweet in taste, cold in nature, non-toxic. Primarily treats cold and heat disorders of the five zang and six fu organs, emaciation, five types of strangury (Ling Zheng), promotes urination, treats female milk obstruction and internal blockage; long-term use strengthens bones and fills the uterus. Harvested in the twelfth lunar month.
Scutellariae Radix (Huangqin) serves as its guiding herb.

Sweet in taste, cold in nature, non-toxic. Primarily treats malignant sores, treats strangury, promotes urination, resolves toxicity of Shu pepper. Leaves are the chief among hundred vegetables, but their hearts harm the human body.
Plant mallow in autumn, cover and nurture through winter, producing seeds in spring, called Dong Kui (Winter Mallow); mostly used medicinally, its nature is slippery and purgative, capable of expelling stone strangury. Spring mallow seeds are also slippery but unsuitable for other medicinal uses. The root is ordinary mallow. Leaves are particularly cold and purgative, should not be eaten in excess. Daoist practitioners take these mallow seeds, stir-fry lightly until popping, scatter on wet ground, and trample evenly. Planted in the morning, sprouts by evening, fastest within one night. Another saying is to burn sheep horns and horse hooves into ash, scatter on wet ground, and basil will grow, commonly called Xi Wangmu Cai, beneficial to eat. Among raw vegetables, there are coriander, turnip rape, white lettuce, and xie hao, all should not be eaten in excess; generally, taking medicine requires avoiding raw vegetables. Buddhist fasting prohibits eating Xunqu, unknown what vegetable it is? Many say it is now turnip rape, despising its odor.
[Note] Luo Lan Xiang was renamed to avoid the taboo of Shi Le. Also, Xunqu, according to Brahmanical terms, refers to Asafoetida, described as having roots resembling Angelicae Dahuricae Radix (Baizhi); extracting root juice and sun-drying yields a gum-like substance, or drying cut roots, both extremely odorous. Western sorcerers prohibit eating it. Used in daily diet to remove bad odors. Barbarians value this, just as commoners value black pepper or Ba people value Fu Deng; it is not turnip rape.