Library

[Cheese / Lact-fermented Product] (Pronounced 'luò'. From *Tang Bencao*)

**Names** (Pronounced 'dòng').

**Collected Explanations**: Su Gong stated: Milk from cattle, sheep, water buffalo, and horses can all be used to make cheese. Cheese made from water buffalo milk is thick and has a superior taste. Cheese made from cow or horse milk is cold in nature. Donkey milk is particularly cold and is unsuitable for making cheese. Chen Zangqi stated: There are dry and wet cheeses; dry cheese is more potent. Li Shizhen stated: Cheese is commonly produced in the north. Milk from water buffalo, yak, domestic cattle, sheep, horses, and camels can all be used to produce it. For medicinal use, cow cheese is considered superior, largely because cow milk is more abundant.

According to records: The *Shenxian Shen Yin* describes the preparation method: Take half a ladle of milk, stir-fry it in a pot, add the remaining milk, and boil for dozens of cycles. Stir constantly with a ladle in a crisscross motion, then pour into a jar. Once cooled, skim off the floating skin to make ghee (Su). Add a small amount of old cheese, seal with paper, and let it sit until ready. Another method for dry cheese: Sun-dry the cheese until it solidifies, skim off the floating skin, and sun-dry again until all skin is removed. Then stir-fry briefly in a pot and store in a vessel.

**Flavor and Properties**: Sweet and sour, cold, non-toxic. Li Shizhen stated: Cheese from water buffalo, horse, and camel is cold; cheese from cattle and sheep is warm. Individuals suffering from cold syndromes or dysentery should avoid eating sheep milk cheese. Consuming sweet cheese with vinegar can lead to blood masses (*Xue Jia*) and hematuria.

**Indications**: Heat toxins, thirst relief, inducing sweating to release the exterior, promoting urination and bowel movements, clearing deficiency heat in the chest, treating heat sores on the body and face, and skin ulcers (*Tang Bencao*). Relieving irritability, thirst, heat oppression, and heat pain in the heart and diaphragm (*Rihua*). Moistening dryness, promoting bowel movement, reducing swelling, generating essence and blood, tonifying deficiency, and improving complexion (Li Shizhen).

**Elucidation**: Li Shizhen stated: According to Dai Yuanli, milk and cheese belong to the category of blood and fluids, making them suitable for conditions involving blood dryness.

**Prescriptions**: Three existing prescriptions.
To expel foreign objects: Administer cow cheese via enema to expel them. If ingested into the abdomen, drink two sheng of cheese, which will transform into yellow fluid and discharge (*Guangli Fang*). For horses sweating black sweat: Administer dry cheese dissolved in water (Chen Zangqi).

[Ghee / Clarified Butter] (*Ben Cao Jing Jiu Jing*, Upper Grade)

**Names**: Ghee (Northern barbarians call it "Masige Oil").

**Collected Explanations**: Tao Hongjing stated: Ghee comes from foreign lands, also arriving from Yizhou. It was originally made from cow and sheep milk. Su Gong stated: Ghee is made from cheese; its nature differs from that of cheese. However, cow ghee is superior to sheep ghee, and yak ghee is superior to domestic cow ghee.

Meng Shen stated: Water buffalo ghee has the same efficacy as sheep cheese. Sheep ghee is superior to cow ghee.
Those with heat conditions should use it; sheep ghee retains warmth and is suitable for conditions accompanied by cold. Each has its advantages. Although ghee is excellent, it is difficult to obtain. Li Shizhen stated: Ghee is formed from the floating surface of cheese. Nowadays, people often adulterate it with white sheep fat, so one must be careful to distinguish it. According to the *Shenxian Shen Yin*: Preparation method: Boil cow milk in a pot for two or three boils, pour into a basin to cool and set. When a skin forms on the surface, take the skin and re-boil. Separate the oil from the residue, return to the pot, and it becomes ghee. Another method: Fill a bucket with cow milk, place a wooden board on top, and beat for half a day until foam appears. Skim the foam and fry, removing burnt skin, to yield ghee. For medicinal use, melt over low fire, filter cleanly, and use for best results.

[Cow and Sheep Ghee]
**Flavor and Properties**: Sweet, slightly cold, non-toxic.
**Indications**: Tonifies the five zang organs, benefits the large and small intestines, treats mouth ulcers (*Ben Cao Jing Jiu Jing*). Clears guest heat in the chest, benefits the heart and lungs (Sun Simiao). Clears heart heat and lung abscesses/withering, relieves thirst and cough, stops hematemesis, moistens hair and nails (*Rihua*). Tonifies consumptive disorders, moistens internal organs, nourishes skin and muscles, harmonizes blood vessels, stops acute pain. Treats various sores. Best taken melted in warm wine (Li Shizhen).

[Cow Ghee]
**Flavor and Properties**: Sweet, neutral, non-toxic.
**Indications**: Expels wind-damp bi syndrome, clears heat, promotes bowel movements, removes retained food (Sun Simiao). Combined with various plasters, massage wind-induced swelling and traumatic blood stasis (Chen Zangqi).
Dirt, and also helps draw out toxic vapors through the pores.

**Prescriptions**: Two existing, one new.
Bee sting: Apply ghee externally; effective (*Shenghui Fang*). Insect bite: Mix ghee with salt and apply (*Shenghui Fang*). Foreign body in eye: Place a small amount of ghee in the nostril corresponding to the affected eye. Lie down with head lowered for a moment to allow it to flow into the eye; the object will exit with the tears (*Shengji Zonglu*).