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[Background Information]
Book: Benjing Fengyuan (Supplement to the Materia Medica) | Author: Zhang Lu | Dynasty: Qing | Chapter: Can Yu / ... / Gui Yu (Total 5 sections) | Category: Comprehensive

[Original Text]
Commonly known as Zhi Yu (Paper Fish).
Sweet, neutral, non-toxic.
Invention: Can Yu originates from Suzhou, Songjiang, and Zhejiang. The large ones are no more than three or four inches long, with a round body and no scales, white and bright like silver. The small ones are superior; they are most delicious when eaten fresh, and also good when dried in the sun. Making them into soup benefits the middle jiao and strengthens the stomach, without the risk of greasiness injuring the interior.

Salty, cold, non-toxic.
Invention: Hai Fen (Sea Powder) is greenish-blue and slightly salty. It specifically enters the Liver and Kidney meridians. It is said to be formed by the marine organism *Limnadia* absorbing the Qi of water and soil from the southeast, similar to how bees produce honey. Locals harvest it and sell it for food consumption. It can dissipate goiters and nodules, and clear toxic heat. However, its nature is cold and slippery, so those with deficiency-cold of the Spleen and Stomach should avoid eating it.

Sweet, neutral, non-toxic.
Invention: Birds carry Hai Fen to build nests, obtaining the harmonious Yang Qi of wind and sunlight, transforming its salty-cold nature into sweet-neutral. This promotes the mutual generation of Metal and Water, allowing Kidney Qi to nourish the Lungs upward, thereby stabilizing Stomach Qi. It is one of the most gentle foods, but unfortunately, it is not收录 (recorded) in the *Bencao* (Materia Medica) and rarely used in medical formulas. Nowadays, people use it to regulate and tonify consumptive disease with coughing up red sputum, often boiling it with rock sugar, which frequently yields effective results. However, it is only suitable for early-stage and mild conditions. If Yin fire is flourishing and blood is rushing upward, its use will be of no help, because it lacks firm and vigorous strength.

Sweet, neutral, slightly toxic.
Invention: Lu Yu (Perch) is crisp and tender, resembling Shi Shou Yu (Croaker). It tonifies the Five Zang organs, benefits sinews and bones, harmonizes the intestines and stomach, and treats edema. Eating it in moderation is beneficial, and making it into soup is especially good.

Sweet, neutral, slightly toxic.
Invention: Gui Yu (Mandarin Fish) has a dispersing and promoting nature. It has the functions of tonifying deficiency, benefiting the stomach, removing evil blood from the abdomen, and eliminating small parasites. The *Yi Shuo* (Medical Sayings) records that a girl named Shao, aged eighteen, suffered from consumptive tuberculosis for years. She happened to eat Mandarin Fish soup and was cured, which perfectly aligns with the theory of tonifying labor and the stomach while killing parasites. The gallbladder treats bone splinters and bamboo/wood splinters stuck in the throat. Regardless of whether the patient is an adult or child, or if the splinter has entered the abdomen causing stabbing pain, taking it will cause the splinter to come out. In the twelfth lunar month, collect the gallbladders of large Mandarin Fish, hang them under the northern eaves to dry in the shade. When encountering a case of splinter, grind a size of a soapberry in wine, take it warm. If vomiting occurs, the splinter will come out with the saliva. If it does not come out, take it again until it is expelled. Drink wine according to tolerance; there will be no case where it fails to work. If Mandarin Fish gallbladder is unavailable, the fresh gallbladders of Cao Yu (Grass Carp), Qing Yu (Black Carp), or Ji Yu (Crucian Carp) can be mixed with wine and taken orally, which will also expel the splinter.