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The flavor is bitter and cold, and it is toxic. It primarily treats severe edema (massive water retention), swelling of the body, face, and limbs; promotes urination to drain dampness; kills gu poison (parasitic or toxic diseases); treats cough with rebellious qi; and when various fruits are ingested causing pathogenic factors to remain in the chest and abdomen, both emetic and purgative methods can be employed.

(Now written as "Di", Fan Di is also known as Ku Ding Xiang, which refers to the melon stalk. *Bie Lu* states: Melon stalks grow in marshy areas of Hao Gao, harvested on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, and dried in the shade. Currently, it refers to the sweet melon variety, cultivated everywhere in northern lands and central regions. Seeds are sown in March, vines extend and grow leaves, several inches in size. Yellow flowers bloom in May and June; melons ripen in June and July. The varieties are numerous: round or long, pointed or flat, large ones up to a foot in diameter, small ones fitting in a pinch; some have ridges, some do not; colors include green, dark green, yellow with spots, white with spots, white veins, or yellow veins. The flesh may be white or red; seeds may be yellow, red, white, or black. *Wang Zhen's Agricultural Book* notes: Melon varieties are too many to list. Those named by shape include Dragon Liver, Tiger Palm, Rabbit Head, Civet Cat Head, Sheep Marrow, and Honey Tube. Those named by color include Black Melon, White Round, Yellow, White, Small Green, and Large Spotted. However, their flavors are limited to sweet and fragrant. Lei Xiao stated: When using, do not use white melon stalks; select those that are greenish-blue, harvested when the melon's qi is full and the stalk naturally falls onto the vine. Collect them and hang them in a breezy place under the east eaves to dry.)

(The aromatic melon in Zhejiang is the sweet melon. Among all melons, this one is the sweetest, hence the name Sweet Melon. Only this melon has fragrance, hence called Aromatic Melon; others are not so. Currently, people treat early-stage jaundice by burning the melon stalk to ash while retaining its medicinal properties, taking a small amount, inhaling it into the nose, and draining yellow fluid until cured. This is highly effective.)

Sweet melons grow in high mountains and flat marshes. The flavor is sweet, the odor is fragrant, and the color is yellow. It likely inherits the upright qi of the center of heaven and earth. Its fruit is extremely sweet, and its stalk is extremely bitter, combining the transformative qi of Fire generating Earth. Therefore, it treats massive water retention and swelling of the body, face, and limbs. This is because it inherits the qi of Fire and Earth, reaching the four peripheries, thereby controlling and transforming water-dampness. Hence it is said to promote urination to drain dampness. The operational qi of Earth kills gu poison. Bitterness directs downward drainage, thus treating cough with rebellious qi. Bitterness can also induce upward vomiting and direct downward drainage; therefore, for conditions caused by eating various fruits where pathogens reside in the chest and abdomen, both emetic and purgative treatments are applicable.

Commentary: Bitterness is Yin, sweetness is Yang. This is a climbing herbaceous plant, with a nature that extends upward. From the extremely bitter stalk grows the extremely sweet fruit, moving directly from below to above. *Jin Gui Yao Lue* utilizes it as an emetic agent.