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Ligustrum lucidum leaves and Ilex chinensis leaves are both dense and long, green in color, with a darker green front and a lighter back. However, those with longer leaves and black fruits are Ligustrum lucidum (Nü Zhen Zi), while those with slightly rounder leaves and red fruits are Ilex chinensis (Dong Qing).

(Ilex chinensis leaf) has a slightly bitter taste and a neutral qi. Its main indications include dispelling wind, dispersing blood stasis, reducing swelling, and relieving pain. It treats dizziness and headache of the head and eyes, various malignant sores and swellings. For chronic ulcerated sores, boil the leaves in water, apply them to the affected area while hot, and change frequently. Boiling with rice vinegar is also effective. For mouth and tongue ulcers, or swollen and painful tongue, crush the leaves to extract juice, hold it in the mouth for immersion, and spit out the saliva; this yields miraculous results.

Note: This leaf inherits extreme yin qi and returns to the Blood Sea (Xue Hai), enabling yin qi to reach the surface, thereby harmonizing yang qi. For red eye caused by wind-heat, take five dou of Ilex chinensis leaves, crush them to extract juice, soak several new bricks in it for five days, dig a pit, place the bricks inside, cover it, and let it sit for a long time until frost forms on the bricks. Scrape off the frost, add a small amount of Borneol (Bing Pian), and apply to the eyes. Another prescription uses two liang of Huanglian from Yazhou and four liang of Ilex chinensis leaves, soak in water for three nights and days, boil into an ointment, store, and apply to the eyes.

Those growing in sandy soil in the north belong to the woody category; those growing in hard soil in the south belong to the herbaceous category; those growing in the Jianghuai region belong to the root category. The best quality is Di Gu Pi (here referring to high-quality Wu Jia Pi), which is light, crisp, and fragrant. The stems have thorns similar to roses, reaching over one zhang in length. The leaves grow in groups of five, with an aroma like olives. They bear fruit in spring, flat like bean seeds, initially green, turning purple-black after frost. Commonly known as "Zhui Feng" (Wind Chaser), people use it soaked in wine to treat wind disorders, unaware that it is true Wu Jia Pi (Acanthopanacis Cortex). Use the root bark together with the stem.

It tastes pungent and bitter, has warm qi, and its aroma and flavor are strong. It is sinking and yin in nature. It enters the Foot Shaoyin Kidney Meridian and Foot Jueyin Liver Meridian. Yuan Zhi (Polygalae Radix) acts as its guiding herb. It is incompatible with Xuan Shen (Scrophulariae Radix) and She Pi (Snake Skin). When used with Ren Shen (Ginseng Radix), its efficacy becomes weak (though some seed prescriptions do combine them). It mainly treats pain and bi-syndrome in the waist and knees, heals flaccidity syndrome (Wei Zheng), the five slacknesses, and emaciation due to deficiency. (When dampness invades and lingers in the interior, tendons and vessels become lax, leading to weakness and lack of qi.) It treats wind-bi causing spasms and tightness in the four limbs, breaks up and expels evil wind-blood, and resolves chronic blood stasis in the skin and muscles. It treats internal insufficiency due to bi-dampness, tonifies the middle and supplements qi, strengthens bones and tendons, and fortifies willpower. It also treats male impotence, dampness under the scrotum, and dribbling urine. Furthermore, it treats carbuncles and erosions of the yin organs.

Wu Jia Pi receives the Shao Yang qi of heaven and is the essence of the Five Chariots star. It also receives the fire and metal qi of earth, hence its pungent and warm nature. All the conditions it treats result from wind-cold-damp pathogens injuring the Liver and Kidney meridians, with dampness being the most severe. The Classics state: "Injury by dampness affects the lower part first." It also states: "Earthly dampness, when contracted, harms the skin, flesh, tendons, and vessels." The Liver and Kidneys reside in the lower part and govern bones and tendons; thus, wind-cold-damp pathogens often enter these two meridians first. This herb's pungency disperses wind, its warmth dispels cold, and its bitterness dries dampness. When the Liver and Kidneys receive this qi, all conditions resolve. (Commentary by Zhong Chun) It lightens the body (by removing wind-damp) and promotes longevity (by tonifying Liver and Kidney). It is required in Daoist elixir texts. (Another note) Drinking alcohol for wind diseases can generate phlegm-fire; only soaking Wu Jia Pi alone in wine and drinking several cups daily is most beneficial. Among all herbs soaked in wine, only Wu Jia Pi combines with wine to produce the best taste. (Commentary by Wang Lun)

Combined with Niu Xi (Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix), Mu Gua (Chaenomelis Fructus), Huang Bai (Phellodendri Cortex), Sheng Di Huang (Rehmanniae Radix), Mai Dong (Ophiopogonis Radix), Yi Yi Ren (Coicis Semen), Shi Hu (Dendrobii Caulis), Hu Jing Gu (Pantheris Os), and Shan Yao (Dioscoreae Rhizoma), it treats damp-heat wei-bi where movement below the waist is impossible.
Combined with Cang Zhu (Atractylodis Rhizoma), Bai Zhu (Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma), Qiang Huo (Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix), Du Huo (Angelicae Pubescentis Radix), Fang Feng (Saposhnikoviae Radix), Bi Xie (Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae Rhizoma), Yi Yi Ren, Shi Chang Pu (Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma), Bai Ji Li (Tribuli Fructus), Gao Ju (Chrysanthemi Indici Flos), Bai Xian Pi (Dictamni Cortex), and Shi Hu, it treats bi-syndrome caused by wind-cold-damp.
Soaked alone in wine and drunk, it treats wind-bi causing limb spasms.
Combined with Xu Duan (Dipsaci Radix), Du Zhong (Eucommiae Cortex), Niu Xi, Shan Yu Rou (Corni Fructus), Ba Ji Tian (Morindae Officinalis Radix), and Gu Zhi (Psoraleae Fructus), it treats lumbar pain caused by kidney-deficiency cold-damp invasion.
Combined with Cang Zhu, Huang Bai, Huang Lian (Coptidis Rhizoma), Lian Qiao (Forsythiae Fructus), Shi Chang Pu, Yi Yi Ren, Yin Hua (Lonicerae Japonicae Flos), Bie Shi Hu Ma Mu Gua, and Tu Fu Ling (Smilacis Glabrae Rhizoma), it treats persistent lower-body damp sores and is miraculous for treating pustular sores.
Combined with Huang Bai, Shi Chang Pu, and She Chuang Zi (Cnidii Fructus) ground into powder, applied externally for scrotal dampness with miraculous effect. If made into a wash, add Jing Jie (Schizonepetae Herba), Ku Shen (Sophorae Flavescentis Radix), and Fang Feng.
For deficiency exhaustion, use one dou of Wu Jia Pi and one dou of Gou Qi Gen Bai Pi (Lycii Cortex), boil in fifteen dou of water to obtain seven dou of decoction, reserve four dou, soak one dou of yeast starter, mix three dou with rice. Brew according to normal methods, and drink freely once ready.
For women's blood-wind consumption, characterized by emaciation, fatigue, wheezing, fullness, empty irritability, shortness of breath, fever with sweating, dry mouth and tongue, and loss of appetite, take You Jian San. Formula: Wu Jia Pi, Dan Pi (Moutan Cortex), Chi Shao (Paeoniae Radix Rubra), and Dang Gui (Angelicae Sinensis Radix), each one liang, ground into powder. Take one qian per dose, with one cup of water, dip a copper coin in oil and add to the medicine, boil to七分 (70%), and take warm. Regular use is recommended.
For men and women with Hong Zhang Jiao (foot disease/beriberi), presenting with swelling, dampness, pain in joints and skin, take four liang each of Wu Jia Pi and Yuan Zhi Rou (Polygalae Medullae), soak in wine for three days in spring/autumn, two days in summer, four days in winter. Dry and grind into powder. Use the soaking wine to make pills the size of wutong seeds. Take 40-50 pills per dose, fasting, with warm wine. If the medicinal wine spoils, use fresh wine to make paste. Note: Yuan Zhi is the guiding herb for Wu Jia Pi, further confirming it as a kidney tonic.

[Discussion] Wu Jia Pi treats wind-damp wei-bi. ("Ben Jing" states, "Bie Lu" mentions bi-pain and wind-weakness in both legs, Quan mentions soft feet; all refer to wei syndrome. Bi syndrome refers to what Zhen Shi described as evil wind-blood, blood stasis, and internal insufficiency of bi-dampness.) Dampness injures the Kidney; if the Kidney cannot nourish the Liver, the Liver generates wind, resulting in wind-damp. The root pathology lies in internal insufficiency of bi-dampness and stagnant blood vessels; the branch manifestation is tendon injury, inability to bind bones, leading to wind-weakness and soft feet. Thus, Wu Jia Pi treats wind transformed from dampness, not wind disease itself. The Classics say: "Wind is received from yang meridians, dampness from yin meridians." Their origins are distinct. This herb tastes pungent first, then bitter, with bitterness surpassing pungency. The pungency leads but follows the bitterness descending directly, entering the Liver to disperse wind and the Kidney to dry dampness, harmonized by its warm nature. People suffer from dampness due to Liver-Kidney qi deficiency. Dampness is the excessive qi of yin. When yin is excessive, yang fails to transform into wind. Wind is the excessive qi of yang. When yang is excessive, yin fails to transform, leading to dampness. Further dampness causes yin to congeal yang and yang to erode yin, forming damp-heat, such as carbuncles, yin erosion, and joint spasms. Although described as weak and lax, it is also described as spasmodic because dampness stagnates into heat, injuring blood and failing to nourish tendons, causing spasms. Wu Jia Pi uses its pungent, bitter, and warm properties to disperse excessive yang-reality qi and move stagnant, untransformed yin qi; this is treating wind. In reality, it treats via dampness. Dispelling wind relies on promoting dampness; expelling dampness involves clearing heat. Therefore, it is used in both heat-bi (e.g., Fang Feng Wan) and cold-bi (e.g., Ba Ji Tian Tang). "Bie Lu" states it supplements qi, strengthens bones and tendons, and fortifies willpower, truly because yuan-yang flows smoothly, zhen-yin transforms, and the source of generation is inexhaustible. How can it be discussed equally with other wind-dispersing and damp-drying herbs? Some ask: Since it treats wind transformed from dampness, why call it "wind-damp" instead of "damp-wind"? The Liver governs wind-wood, stores blood, governs tendons, governs collaterals, and penetrates joints. All observed symptoms manifest in wind-wood, hence "wind" precedes "damp." Yet it cannot be separated from dampness. To regard it merely as a wind-dispelling herb would be ignorant.
It is unsuitable for the lower body without wind-cold-damp pathogens but with fire. It is also contraindicated for Liver-Kidney deficiency with fire. (Commentary by Zhong Chun)

[Differentiation and Treatment] Those grown in the north are slightly black and hard. Those grown in southern soil are slightly white and soft, resembling Sang Bai Pi (Mori Cortex). Use Southern Wu Jia Pi. Peel off the woody core, dry in shade, and wash with wine to circulate throughout the body. Alternatively, process with ginger juice.