Library

(Recorded in the Lower Category of *Bie Lu*)

[Names] Feibo Wu (Tao Hongjing), Xi Que (Que Jing / Classic of Birds), Gan Que (Xin Yu).
Li Shizhen states: The ancient character for "que" is written as "xi," which is an ideogram. Because its cry sounds like "que, que," it is called "que." Its feathers are multicolored and mottled, hence called "bo." It is spiritually capable of reporting joyous news, hence called "xi." Its nature most dislikes dampness, hence called "gan." In Buddhist scriptures, it is called "Chuni"; in novels, it is referred to as the Divine Maiden.

[Collection and Explanation] Li Shizhen states: The magpie belongs to the crow family. It is as large as a crow but with a longer tail, a pointed beak, black claws, a green back, and a white belly; its tail feathers are mottled black and white. They fly up and down crying, conceiving through auditory stimulation, and incubating eggs through visual observation. In the late winter season, they begin to build nests. The nest entrance faces away from the Tai Sui direction towards the Tai Yi direction. If they foresee many winds in the coming year, the nest will be built low. Thus it is said, "The dry magpie knows the future, the orangutan knows the past." Duan Chengshi says: Magpies have hidden nests in trees resembling beams, making them invisible to raptors. If a person sees such a nest, it presages wealth and honor. In autumn, magpies lose their feathers and become bald-headed. *Huainanzi* states: If magpie droppings enter the eye, the eye suffers a pecking sensation, due to Fire overcoming Metal (according to Five Elements theory). The meat of the male magpie...

[Properties and Flavor] Sweet, cold, non-toxic. *Ri Hua Zi Ben Cao* states: Cool.

[Indications] Treats shi lin (lithuria/urinary calculi), resolves accumulated heat. It can be calcined into ash; if a stone thrown into the ash dissolves, it indicates a male magpie (*Bie Lu*. Chen Zangqi states: Calcine into ash, leach with water, and drink the juice to facilitate the expulsion of urinary stones).

Treats xiao ke disease (wasting-thirst syndrome), expels wind, and relieves stagnation in the large and small intestines, as well as vexing heat in the four limbs and phlegm accumulation in the chest and diaphragm. Women should not consume it (Su Song). On the Winter Solstice, burying a magpie in front of a latrine can ward off epidemic warm pathogens (Li Shizhen. From *Zhou Hou Bei Ji Fang*).

[Elucidation] Tao Hongjing states: For birds where sex is difficult to distinguish, those with the left wing covering the right are male, and those with the right wing covering the left are female. Burning the feathers into powder and placing them in water causes the female's powder to sink and the male's to float. The current method of testing by throwing a stone likely applies only to magpies, and may not apply to other birds.

Brain

[Indications] Tao Hongjing states: Collect magpie brain on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month for use by Daoist practitioners.
Li Shizhen states: According to *Huainan Wanbi Shu*: Taking magpie brain on a Bing-Yin day induces lovesickness. Gao You's commentary notes: Take the brains of one male and one female magpie, roast them on the road, and on a Bing-Yin day, mix them into wine and drink to induce lovesickness. It is also used in aphrodisiac formulas. Thus, the "practitioners" mentioned by Tao refer to this category of usage.

Nest

[Indications] Nests that have been there for many years, when calcined and taken with water, treat mania, delirium, demonic possession, and gu poison, while calling out the names of the offending spirits. It can also be applied externally to sores with good effect (*Ri Hua Zi Ben Cao*). On the first day of the New Year, burning the nest into ash and scattering it inside the door wards off thieves. The wood from a heavy nest (a nest rebuilt over consecutive years), when calcined and powdered, taken orally at a dose of one cun fang bi three times a day, treats chronic leukorrhea or uterine bleeding that does not stop, accompanied by severe debility, with effects seen within one month (Li Shizhen. From *Dong Tian Lu* and *Qian Jin Fang*. A "heavy nest" refers to a nest constructed repeatedly over years).

[Attached Formulas] One new formula.
Incontinence of urine: Take one piece of grass from a heavy magpie nest, calcine into ash. Take two qian bi per dose, decoct two qian of rose root bark in water, and take the decoction with the ash, twice daily. (