Library

*Wuli Xiaoshi* records: In my youth, I kept spiders, feeding the larger ones with smaller ones. After a long time, I fed the large spiders with cinnabar (Zhusha). After dozens of days, their entire bodies turned red, and there was yellow substance in their abdomens.

*Wuli Xiaoshi* records: Take the stinger of the hornet (Huangfeng), combine it with processed sulfur (Liuhuang), add borneol (Bingpian) and musk (Shexiang) to make medicine. Place it on the head of the carbuncle or ulcer, and apply moxibustion by igniting the fire on the wound. This method is not recorded in herbal texts. One must first cover the wound with wet paper; the spot where the paper dries first indicates the head of the wound, which should be moxibusted.

*Wuli Xiaoshi* records: The roundworm found in the stomach of a donkey has a square body and square eyes, possesses legs, and can be used in minute quantities. It is used in sexual arts (Fangzhong Shu) and has the same efficacy as Gaoyan, Heidou Chong, Waque Luan, Weizi Jing, Duogejie, and Jidiao Zhi.

*Min Xiaoji* states: The dragon water beetle (Longshi) resembles a small cockroach and also looks like a black scarab beetle. Every year from the 13th to the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, they fly down to Zhangzhou Haikou, and are absolutely absent on other days. Consuming them effectively removes dark and reddish discoloration from the face; it also beautifies the complexion of both men and women and promotes blood circulation.

*Wuli Xiaoshi* records: When I was young, I accompanied my father in Funing and once saw Longshi. Later, in Yao, a servant ate this insect during summer heat, claiming it came from Haojing (Macau); thus, it is produced in other places as well.

A certain insect named Jiulong Chong originates from overseas and began to be introduced to China at the end of the Ming Dynasty; some say it comes from the Atlantic Ocean and appeared in the early Kangxi reign. Its shape resembles a rice weevil larva; newly hatched, it is ant-sized like a small silkworm, and later turns black like a soybean. There are males and females. Nowadays, people keep them in bamboo tubes and feed them with flower dust. They are extremely afraid of cold; in cold weather, they must be kept hidden in sleeves or pockets, and placed between blankets at night, otherwise they will freeze to death. They survive by absorbing human warmth. They reproduce rapidly. If fed with Poria powder (Fuling Xie), Safflower (Honghua), and Cinnamon twig powder (Jiaogui Mo), their color becomes red and lustrous, making them especially good for medicinal use.

It has a warm nature, moves the blood aspect, warms the spleen and stomach, harmonizes the five zang organs, strengthens sinews and bones, dispels wind-dampness, strengthens the yang pathway, and treats deficiency and timidity. Attached are various conditions treated with specific guiding herbs (Yin): For insomnia in the elderly, guide with Poria (Fuling); for nocturnal crying in children, guide with Cinnabar (Zhusha); for nocturnal enuresis in young girls, guide with Goji berry (Gouqi); for yin-cold in young women, guide with Aconite root (Fuzi); for back carbuncles (Yongju Fabei), guide with Agarwood powder (Chenxiang Mo); for dry tongue and thirst, guide with Ophiopogon root (Maidong); for painful closed eyes, guide with Licorice root (Gancao); for tinnitus and deafness, guide with Angelica sinensis (Danggui); for wind-cold common cold, guide with Saposhnikovia root (Fangfeng); for damp-heat plague toxin, guide with Atractylodes rhizome (Cangzhu); for traumatic injuries, guide with Scorpion (Quanxie); for alcohol intoxication injury, guide with Kudzu flower (Ge Hua); for anger-induced injury, guide with Agarwood (Chenxiang); for intestinal colic pain (Jiaochang Sha), guide with Qinghao. For the above fourteen conditions, use fourteen insects, taken with good aged wine.

For knife or axe wounds, crush the insects and apply externally for immediate healing. For paralysis and madness, take nine insects sent down with Aucklandia decoction (Muxiang Tang). For bruises, take nine insects sent down with Black Date and Mint decoction. For jaundice and sha syndrome, take twelve insects sent down with Mint and Rush pith decoction. For asthma, take nine insects sent down with Mint decoction. For eye distension, take seven insects sent down with Mint decoction. For food stagnation, take nine insects sent down with Ginger decoction. For water toxicity, take nine insects sent down with Mint and Rush pith decoction. For qi pain, take nine insects sent down with Areca nut decoction (Binglang Tang). For stroke with inability to speak, take twenty-four insects sent down with Mint and Rush pith decoction. For lower abdominal pain, take nine insects sent down with Ginger decoction. For acute and chronic convulsions, take nine insects sent down with Mint and Apricot kernel decoction. For sore throat, take twenty-four insects sent down with Mint and Honeysuckle decoction. For spleen wind, take twenty-four insects sent down with wine. For stomachache and heart pain, take seven insects mixed with Aucklandia powder and wine. For unnamed swelling and toxic sores, take sixteen insects sent down with aged wine, taken at the third watch (wugeng). For chickenpox/rash, take seven insects taken with rice water. For abdominal distension, take twenty-four insects sent down with Mint and Tangerine peel decoction. For vomiting phlegm-water, take seven insects sent down with light Ginger decoction. For alternating chills and fever, dry mouth and tongue, take seven insects taken with Chenpi and Pinellia decocted in wine. For five exhaustions and seven injuries, take three qian of White Poria (Baifuling), crush seven insects, and take with wine on an empty stomach daily until recovery. For post-malaria chills and fever imbalance, take seven insects taken with wine before the onset of symptoms; stop after three doses. For nocturnal emission, white turbidity, bloody strangury, and leukorrhea, take three qian of lightly fried and powdered Euryale seed (Qianshi), five peeled and cored Ginkgo nuts (Baiguo), crush the medicine first, then add two qian of Epimedium (Yinyanghuo) without edges, two qian of Tangerine peel (Guangpi), and three qian of Leek seeds (Jiu Zi), decoct together, and take seven insects with wine. For red and white leukorrhea and postpartum conditions, take eight fen of Cyperus (Xiangfu), roasted Astragalus (Zhi Huangqi), and Black-bone Hen (Wugu), decoct in wine, and take seven insects with the decoction for immediate cure. For urgent coughing and wheezing, take two qian of Fritillaria bulb (Chuanbeimu), and eight fen each of Arctium seed (Niubangzi), Angelica sinensis (Danggui), Tangerine peel (Chenpi), and Achyranthes root (Huainiuxi), decoct in water; for women, remove Niubangzi, add three qian each of Motherwort (Yimucao) and stir-fried Cyperus (Chao Xiangfu), decoct in water, take with decoction three times for miraculous effect. For lower back pain, take two qian of Psoralea fruit (Pogu Zhi) and one male pig kidney. Slice the kidney with a bamboo knife, remove the membrane, insert Poguzhi inside, steam thoroughly in wine, add two qian of Platycodon root (Jiegeng) powder, take seven crushed insects with wine for miraculous effect. For dysentery, use brown sugar for white dysentery and white sugar for red dysentery, take seven insects with aged wine. For incessant watery diarrhea, take one qian each of Polyporus (Zuling) and Atractylodes macrocephala (Baizhu), decoct in aged wine, take seven insects; avoid greasy and fishy foods. For lateral or frontal headache (Tian Feng), take one qian each of Ligusticum chuanxiong (Chuanxiong), Saposhnikovia (Fangfeng), Schizonepeta (Jingjie), and Cicada slough (Chantui), and eight fen of Asarum (Xixin), decoct in aged wine, take seven insects; avoid raw/cold foods, scallions, and leeks. For joint soreness and stomach cold, take eight fen each of Chuanxiong and Baizhu, decoct in wine, take seven insects; heal after three doses. For incessant hematemesis, panting, and dry heat, grind ancient ink thickly, mix with three fen of Fritillaria powder, take seven insects with aged wine; heal after seven doses. For urinary retention, take seven roots each of Rush pith (Dengxin) and Plantago seed (Cheqian), take seven insects with aged wine. For fullness leading to glomus and abdominal swelling, take seven insects with wine, three doses. For regurgitation and esophageal obstruction, take seven slices of fresh ginger, put in a cloth bag, soak in a cesspool for seven days, take out, wash clean with clear water, bury in soil layer by layer (ginger and soil) for seven days, take out, dry on yin-yang tiles, grind to powder, take one fen each time with seven insects and wine; heal after three doses. For hematemesis, wash lotus node (Oujie) and Imperata rhizome (Maogen Cao), decoct in wine, mix with half human milk and half wine, take seven insects; heal after three doses. For bone and sinew pain, take three qian of Walnut meat, take seven insects with aged wine. For consumptive cough, take three qian of Ox marrow and three qian of Walnut meat, grind to powder, add seven insects, pound into pills, each pill three qian; dissolve one pill in the mouth at the third watch daily, effective after nine days. For flaccidity syndrome (Wei Zheng), decoct three qian of Cnidium fruit (Shechuangzi) in soup, take nine insects; heal after three doses; long-term use prolongs life and aids conception. For irregular menstruation, take eight fen each of Cyperus (Xiangfu), Tangerine peel (Chenpi), Motherwort (Yimucao), Angelica sinensis (Danggui), and Corydalis rhizome (Yanhusuo), decoct in water, mix with wine, take seven insects; heal immediately; for chronic cases, take several times consecutively for miraculous effect. For postpartum flooding (Beng Zheng), take eight fen each of Cyperus (Xiangfu), White Peony root (Baishao), Motherwort (Yimucao), Angelica sinensis (Danggui), Tangerine peel (Chenpi), Poria (Fuling), Ginkgo nut (Baiguo), and Sappan wood (Sumu), take seven insects with wine; heal after three doses.

*Xiaoxing Kao* records: Yangchong is black in color and shaped like a tick. Swallowing several alive stops bleeding and treats consumption and timidity.

Its feces resemble silkworm sand. Jin Yucheng said: Grinding it into powder and applying it to blade wounds causes immediate scabbing and hemostasis, which is most effective.