Library

(Recorded in the Lower Grade of *Shennong Bencao Jing*)

**[Names]** Bai Zu (Hundred Legs, from *Shennong Bencao Jing*), Bai Jie (Hundred Joints, from *Yanyi*), Qian Zu (Thousand Legs, from *Paozhi Lun*), Ma Xuan (Sound: "Xian"), Ma Quan (Sound: "Quan"), Qiong.

Tao Hongjing stated: This insect has many legs; if cut inch by inch, each segment can still crawl inch by inch. Therefore, Lu Lianzi said: "An insect with a hundred legs does not stiffen when dead," and Zhuangzi...

**[Collection and Description]** *Bielu* states: Malu grows in the valleys of Xuantu Commandery.

Tao Hongjing stated: Li Dangzhi said: This insect is five or six cun long, resembling a large Qiong, climbs trees to cry in summer, and enters hibernation in winter; people now call it Fei Chong (Flying Insect). There is currently a kind of small yellow insect, resembling a centipede but longer, commonly known as Tu... City dwellers do not collect it either; it is unclear which one is authentic?

Su Gong stated: This insect is as thick as a fine brush tube, three or four cun long, spotted, exactly like a house centipede (Youyan). People in Xiangyang call it Ma... It is also called Dao Huan Chong (Knife Ring Insect) because when dead, it lies on its side, shaped like a knife ring. If someone ingests this poisonous insect, consuming one piece will cause death.

Chen Cangqi stated: The thousand-legged insect has white flesh on its head, and its face and mouth are sharp. Holding it, the fishy and foul odor enters the person's head, capable of causing death.

Kou Zongsuo stated: Bai Jie, the body resembles a raft beam, with fine wrinkled textures rising at every joint, purple-black in color, glossy, with a hundred legs. When dead, it lies on its side like a ring, two or three cun long, the larger ones as thick as a little finger. They are abundant in ancient walls but rarely used in medicine.

Li Shizhen stated: Malu is found everywhere. Its shape is large like an earthworm, purple-black, with legs numbering up to a hundred. Its skin is extremely hard, with transverse lines like gold threads at every joint, and the head and tail are of equal size. Upon touch, it curls into a ring on its side, without needing to be dead. It can poison chickens and dogs. The "Tu Chong" mentioned by Tao refers to the house centipede (Youyan), which also curls into a ring when dead, and chickens like to eat it. One should take Li Dangzhi's description as the standard.

**[Correction of Errors]**

Chen Cangqi stated: According to: Tu Chong has no legs, resembling a strip of clothing belt, four or five cun long, flat body like a leek leaf, with yellow and black pleats on the back, and a head like a shovel...

Su Song claimed Malu resembles a house centipede, which is also incorrect. According to: House centipedes are yellow without spots, and their legs are countless.

Li Shizhen stated: According to: Duan Chengshi's *Youyang Zazu* says: Ancient customs called it Tu Gu (Earth Gu), body shape like a clothing belt, color similar to an earthworm, over one chi long, head like a shovel, with yellow and black pleats on the back, breaking easily upon slight touch. It often chases earthworms and covers them, turning the earthworms into water. It is toxic; chickens die after eating it. Based on this, the "Tu Chong" mentioned by Chen Cangqi was likely Tu Gu. Tao Hongjing mistakenly identified the house centipede as Malu, and Chen Cangqi mistakenly identified Tu Gu as Tu Chong.

**[Processing]**

Lei Xiao stated: Whenever Malu is collected, stir-fry it with rice bran heads until the bran turns scorched black, then remove and discard the bran. Scrape off the head and legs with a bamboo knife, and grind into powder for use.

**[Flavor and Toxicity]** Acrid, Warm, Toxic.

**[Indications]** Abdominal large firm masses, breaking up accumulations and polyps, malignant sores and white tinea capitis (*Shennong Bencao Jing*).

Treating cold-heat pi-jie (glomus accumulation), fullness under the hypochondrium (*Bielu*). Expelling evil qi malaria (Li Shizhen).

**[Elucidation]**

Li Shizhen stated: Malu is a herb from the era of Shennong. Lei Xiao fully recorded the processing methods, but it is rarely seen in ancient prescriptions, except for the *Zhu Xie Wan* (Evil-Expelling Pill) in *Taiping Shenghui Fang*.

The prescription: Treats chronic malaria with irregular onset. Use 49 Bai Jie insects, 49 wet-born insects, 3 qian of Realgar (Arsenic Trioxide), and 7粽子 corners (sticky rice dumpling wrappers). On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month before sunrise, find these two kinds of insects in the southeast direction. By noon, grind them evenly facing south, and form pills the size of small beans. On the morning of each attack, males hold one pill in the left hand and females in the right hand, inhale its scent seven times, and effect will be immediate. During preparation, avoid letting filial sons, women, teachers, nuns, chickens, and dogs see it. This also aligns with *Bielu*'s treatment of cold-heat...