Library

(Lesser Birds of the Forest, Seventeenth Species)

(Song Dynasty *Jiayou Bencao*)

[Names] Banzhui (pronounced like "Zhui"), Jinjiu (from *Fan Wang Fang*), Bojiu (commentary on *Zuo Zhuan*), Zhujiu.
Li Shizhen stated: "Jiu" and "Bo" describe its call. "Ban" and "Jin" describe its coloration. "Zhui" refers to birds with short tails. In ancient times, cooks presented bird carcasses on sacrificial vessels during rituals, calling them Zhujiu. These are all large species of dove/pigeon with spotted plumage. Those that are small and unspotted are called Zhui, [Name missing in text] (pronounced like "Kui"), Jingjiu, and Chujiu. The young of the jiu are called [Name missing], Yijiú, Kangjiu, Langgao, and Bigao. Yang Xiong's *Fangyan* mixes various doves indiscriminately, which is not reliable evidence.

[Collected Explanations] Su Song stated: Spotted doves are found everywhere. At the Spring Equinox, they transform into yellow-brown Hou birds; at the Autumn Equinox, they transform into spotted [Bird name missing]. Yellow-brown ones are a type of green [Bird name missing].
Su Song also stated: Spotted doves include those with spots, without spots, gray-colored, large, and small. Although there are these variations in color, their medicinal uses are identical. I raised them for several years and never observed any transformation during the Spring or Autumn Equinoxes.
Li Shizhen stated: The idea that the singing dove transforms into an eagle, and the spotted dove transforms into a yellow-brown Hou bird, has no known source. Currently, the small gray doves and the large doves with spots resembling pear blossoms do not sing well. Only those with pearl-like spots under the neck have loud voices and can sing well; they can be used as decoys to attract other doves, and are particularly good for medicinal use. Doves possess honest and filial natures but are clumsy at building nests; they barely arrange a few twigs before eggs often fall out. When rain is imminent, they chase away their females; when the weather clears, they call them back. Thus it is said: The Wren is clever but precarious; the Dove is clumsy but secure. Some say male doves predict clear weather, while females predict rain.

Dove Meat
[Flavor and Toxicity] Sweet, neutral, non-toxic.
[Indications] Improves vision. Consuming it in excess tonifies Qi and assists the balance of Yin and Yang (*Jiayou Bencao*). It tonifies Qi when eaten by patients suffering from chronic deficiency and damage (Su Song). Eating it prevents dysphagia (Li Shizhen).

[Elucidation] Li Shizhen stated: The *Fan Wang Fang* treats corneal opacities with a pill containing Jinjiu; the *Zonglu* treats spotted visual obstructions with a pill containing Jinjiu. Ni Weide claimed that spotted doves tonify the Kidney, thereby improving vision. I suspect that because doves tonify Qi, they improve vision, not merely through Kidney tonification alone. In ancient times, during the second month of spring, Luo officials presented doves to nourish elderly nobles; in the second month of autumn, they bestowed dove-shaped walking sticks upon the elderly, stating that because doves do not suffer from dysphagia, eating them aids Qi tonification.

Blood
[Indications] Taken hot, it resolves Gu poison effectively (Li Shizhen).

Feces
[Indications] Treats otorrhea with pain and cerumen accumulation in the ear. Mix equal parts with Ye Mingsha (Pharotis Illuminans Feces) powder and insufflate into the ear (Li Shizhen).