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Sheng Tie (Raw Iron)

Gang Tie (Steel)

Rou Tie (Soft Iron)

Taste: Acrid. Nature: Slightly Cold. Toxicity: Non-toxic. Origin: Produced in Fujian and Guangdong provinces. Antagonistic to: Cishi (Magnetite). Vessels cast from it are usable, but sheets beaten from it cannot be used (brittle). When entering prescriptions to rescue critical conditions, it is difficult to use directly as pills or powders. It must be calcined, rinsed clean with coarse red juice; then reheated until red-hot, and decocted with wine or water as desired. For prolapse of the rectum and bites from bears or tigers, take the decoction for daily washing; for blood stasis in joints caused by beating, drink wine frequently. Deafness can also be treated with it, but it must be effective only when combined with Cishi (Magnetite) stuffed into the ear. (For any deafness, throw raw iron into wine, drink daily, and allow cotton-wrapped Cishi (Magnetite) to be stuffed into the ear, changing once a day, removing it at night.) Shu Tie (Refined Iron), also known as Jing Tie (Pure Iron), its shavings can be used for various purposes. Decocting and swallowing the juice strengthens muscles and increases pain tolerance. Gang Tie (Steel) is made by smelting raw and refined iron together; knives made from it, when sharpened, form pills easily. It removes stagnation and food retention in the chest and diaphragm, and primarily treats traumatic injuries (Jin Chuang) causing fullness, irritability, and internal heat.

Tie Luo (Iron Scale/Flakes) are the skin flakes beaten off on a red-hot anvil; decocted and taken to treat various sores and toxins lingering in the skin. Tie Jing (Iron Essence) is dust-like material flying out from the stove; purple, light, and void texture is superior. (It can be used to polish copper vessels and also to dye soap black.) In prescriptions, it treats palpitations and insufficiency of the heart spirit, and is also suitable for pediatric wind-epilepsy. Tie Jiang (Iron Lye) is obtained by soaking iron in water until green foam naturally floats after a long time; drinking it resolves various toxins entering the abdomen, such as those from tiger, snake, or dog bites. It primarily treats epilepsy and mania, calms the heart spirit, and reduces fever. Tie Xiu (Iron Rust) forms when wet; rust from raw iron is best. For spider and other insect bites, rub with vinegar and apply to heal. For malignant sores, scabies, and tinea, mix with oil and apply for improvement.

Tie Hua Fen (Iron Flower Powder) has a salty and neutral flavor. It is made by forging steel and iron together into leaves. (The flat surface is rubbed clean with vinegar until shiny.) Sprinkled with salt water and thrown into a vinegar jar, buried in a shady place, it naturally grows a "clothing" (crust). Scraped and ground into frost, it can remove hundred diseases. It calms the heart spirit, strengthens bone marrow, enhances willpower, and expels wind pathogens. It nourishes blood and qi to prolong life, darkens beard and hair, and resists aging. If made into pills or powders, it must be mixed with jujube paste. There is also Zhen Sha (Needle Sand), which is fine powder obtained by needle-makers grinding ore; it can treat yellow edema (Huang Pan), but must be soaked thoroughly in strong vinegar and boiled dry. Keys boiled with ginger, vinegar, and children's urine treat women's blood-jamming aphonia. Knife blades treat venom from snake bites entering the abdomen; grind with Di Jiang Shui (Earth Slurry Water) and swallow. Saws soaked in wine treat bamboo or wood splinters stuck in the throat; axes quenched in wine treat difficult childbirth where the fetus does not descend. Caliper hammers (Cheng Chui La Tie) and iron removal of thief-wind; when used, heat until red-hot, quench in wine, and drink in one gulp.