Library

Promotes urination, resolves food stagnation.
Sweet and neutral in nature. Resolves food stagnation and nourishes the Spleen and Stomach. Harmonizes the Middle Jiao (Middle Burner), transforms accumulation and stagnation. Invigorates Blood and stops sweating. Unblocks the Triple Energizer (San Jiao), promotes water passage and diuresis. (*Aizhu Tansou* records: When Emperor Ningzong of Song was a Prince of a Commandery, he suffered from stranguria (dysuria with frequency), urinating three hundred times day and night. The Imperial Physicians were at a loss. Someone recommended Sun Lin for treatment. Sun Lin used steamed cakes (Zhengbing), garlic, and prepared soybeans (Danshichi). These three substances were pounded into pills, to be taken with warm water, thirty pills per dose. He said, "If you take this three times today, the illness should reduce by one-third; do the same tomorrow. After three days, the illness will be cured." This indeed proved true. When asked about the rationale, Lin said, "How could a child suffer from stranguria? It is merely due to the obstruction of the water passages. All three substances can promote unblocking and diuresis, hence the effect.") Those that have been stored for a long time are superior. (Wheat flour has many processed foods made from it, but steamed cake (Zhengbing) has the longest history. It is leavened with yeast and made solely from flour. It is suitable for medicinal use and can treat diseases. It should be steamed during the twelfth lunar month or on Cold Food Festival until the skin cracks. Remove the skin, hang it up, and air-dry. Before use, soak in water until swollen, grind into a paste, filter, and combine with herbs regulating the Spleen/Stomach and Triple Energizer. It is easily digested, and since the wheat has undergone fermentation, its properties are modified so as not to aid damp-heat. Fillings made from fruits, vegetables, or greasy foods are unsuitable for medicinal use. *Zhouhou Beifang* records treating burns/scalds: charred mantou (steamed buns) or cakes are carbonized, ground into powder, mixed with oil, and applied topically.)

Resolves heat, harmonizes the Middle.
Sweet and cool in nature. Resolves heat and harmonizes the Middle Qi. Persons with deficiency-heat (consumptive fever) are advised to cook and eat it. (Currently, people often stir-fry it with oil, which makes its nature hot. All meat and vegetable dishes are best boiled; if smoked, roasted, pan-fried, or deep-fried, they aid fire and damage Yin, especially if burnt.)

Benefits the Five Zang Organs, regulates the meridians.
Sweet and cool in nature. Harmonizes the Five Zang Organs, regulates the meridians. Boiled with vinegar into a paste. Resolves all types of carbuncles and swellings. Treats burns/scalds. (Li Shizhen said: Wheat starch (Maifen) is obtained by washing bran and flour to extract gluten, then settling the starchy slurry. Nowadays, people mostly use it for sizing clothes; ancient formulas rarely used it. According to *Jishan Tang Fang*: Wulong Gao (Black Dragon Paste) treats all kinds of carbuncles, back abscesses, and unnamed swellings. For those in the initial stage with heat but not yet ulcerated, it takes effect miraculously. Use one-year-old small starch (wheat starch); the older, the better. Stir-fry in a wok: initially sticky like syrup, then dry, turning yellow-black. Grind into powder when cooled. Mix with aged rice vinegar into a paste, boil until thick like black lacquer, store in a porcelain jar. Apply by spreading on paper, cutting a hole, and pasting over the lesion. It feels cold, pain stops immediately, followed by itching. Once dry, it adheres firmly. Over time, the swelling and toxin dissipate naturally, the medicinal power exhausts, and it falls off. Very effective. This formula has been verified repeatedly; the ingredients are accessible yet the efficacy is great. Physicians saving lives should keep it in stock.)