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Alum exists in five types. Initially, they are all stones; only after mining and calcination do they become alum. (Su Gong) Among them, the white variety is called "White Lord" by alchemists. The best quality comes from Jin, followed by those from Qingzhou and Wuzhong. Those that are pure white like snow are called Snow Alum; those with a bright and transparent texture are called Clear Alum, also known as Cloud Mother Alum. Those with textures resembling bundled needles and shapes like powder puffs are Persian White Alum, which is excellent for medicinal use. (Li Shizhen) Calcined alum is called Ba Shi; light and white alum is called Willow Catkin Alum. (Note)

It tastes salty, sour, and astringent, and its nature is cold. It primarily treats phlegm-rheum in the chest, dispels wind, clears heat, eliminates wind-phlegm and heat-phlegm, treats throat pain caused by wind-heat, heals throat bi syndrome without aversion to cold, treats wind-stroke with phlegm syncope, epilepsy caused by wind-phlegm, treats ulcerative sores of the yin organs, removes nasal polyps, treats prolapsed caruncle, pterygium, regurgitation and vomiting, clears fixed heat in the bone marrow, warms the Water Organ (Kidney), treats dysentery with red and white discharge, and cures lower bleeding. It also treats female labor jaundice and post-coital relapse syndromes. Its nature is drying and urgent, possessing astringent, consolidating, and detoxifying properties, capable of clearing heat and descending turbidity. (Chen Shigong/Gongchun) Excessive consumption damages the Heart and Lungs because it repels water. (Shuihua Shu records: When alum dissolves in water, even when dry, water cannot moisten it again, indicating its water-repelling nature. Medications for sub-diaphragmatic salivary rheum often use this due to this principle.) Long-term use harms the bones. Originally intended to clear fixed heat in the bone marrow, excessive use反而 damages the bones. Its innate property is to repel water and eliminate phlegm, but excessive use反而 damages the Heart and Lungs. (Student's Note) For any case of carbuncles, back abscesses, or all kinds of swelling and toxicity, regardless of age, it is appropriate to take Yellow Alum Pills. (Now known as Wax Alum Pills). Taking more than one qian (approx. 3-5g) ensures efficacy. It is most effective at stopping pain without disturbing the Zang-Fu organs, saving countless lives. Use one liang (approx. 30g) of raw ground Clear Alum and seven qian of yellow beeswax, melt and mix into pills the size of wutong seeds. Take ten pills initially, gradually increasing to twenty pills, taken with warm boiled water. If the sore is unbroken, it will dissipate; if broken, it will heal. If sores are caused by taking mineral drugs, take one or two spoons of White Alum powder mixed with warm wine; three to five doses yield results. Someone with body-wide sores resembling snake heads also benefited. However, taking nearly a hundred pills daily provides strength; not only does it stop pain and generate flesh, but it also protects against toxic vapors attacking internally (if the membrane remains intact, severe cases will surely recover). Its ability to stop diarrhea, support the interior, and transform pus is significant; taking half a jin (approx. 250g) is especially good. For skin conditions such as scabies, pustules, sitting-sores, and malnutrition-related sores, combine with suitable herbs to assist. Used to process Pinellia Rhizome, it disperses damp-phlegm and food-stagnation phlegm, and resolves the Five Drinks. Combined with Nitre, it can calcimize mercury into powder to treat parasites in sores. For wind-stroke with phlegm syncope, inability to move limbs, qi obstruction, and diaphragmatic blockage, use one liang of White Alum and five qian of Gleditsia Sinensis Fruit as powder; take one qian per dose with warm water until phlegm is vomited. For throat abscesses and tonsillitis, melt three qian of White Alum in a silver crucible (avoid copper or iron); add three split Croton Seeds, boil until dry, remove beans, grind alum into powder, and blow into the throat with a goose feather quill; hot saliva will flow out and cure immediately. Severe cases can be treated by pouring vinegar mixture. This is called Tongguan San. For swollen and stiff tongue, equal parts White Alum and Cinnamon Twig powder placed under the tongue. For nasal polyps, one liang of Clear Alum, seven Castor Seeds, five Salted Plum meats, and musk equivalent to two characters, pounded into pills, wrapped in silk, inserted into the nose; it melts into water and flows down. For mouth and tongue ulcers with deficiency below and excess above, soak feet in White Alum decoction. For podagra attacking the heart, boil three liang of White Alum in fifteen sheng of water and soak/wash. For women with vaginal prolapse and itching, calcine and grind Alum Stone, take one fangcun bi (approx. 2-3g) with wine on an empty stomach, three times daily. According to the above two formulas, the purpose is to gather Yin and return it to the source. This formula works because the Kidney is the origin of True Yin, thus using methods to return to the source, not merely relying on astringency to consolidate collapse. For regurgitation and vomiting, use two liang each of White Alum and Sulfur, calcined in a crucible, add one fen of Cinnabar, make powder, bind with wheat paste into pills the size of soybeans, take fifteen pills with ginger soup. This formula gathers Yin to return to the source and guides Yang to return to the source, having profound meaning. For women's jaundice and irregular menstruation caused by sexual activity violation, use half a liang each of White Alum and Yellow Beeswax, three qian of Aged Tangerine Peel, make powder, bind with wax into wutong-sized pills, take fifty pills per dose with Zixue Decoction or Tiaojing Decoction. People generally know this formula protects membranes in carbuncles, but not for this condition; it warrants study. For post-coital relapse with testicular swelling or retraction, and excruciating abdominal pain, use one fen of Alum Stone and three fen of Nitre, taken with barley gruel, one fangcun bi per dose, three times daily. Heat toxins exit through urination and defecation; this treatment is similar to female labor jaundice, differing only in dosage and preparation. This further confirms Alum's efficacy on the Kidney; can it be fully explained by astringency alone? For deficiency exhaustion with turbid urine dripping like frost, use one liang each of Lotus Seed, Dried Lotus Root Node, Dragon Bone, and Polygala Root; two and a half qian each of Calcined White Alum and Ling Sha, make fine powder, bind with rice paste into wutong-sized pills, take fifteen pills before meals with plain water. For malignant boils and sores, use equal parts raw Alum and Red Lead, prick blood with a triangular needle until exhausted, apply externally; no more than three applications guarantee recovery.

[Discussion] White Alum has a cold nature and a taste that is slightly salty but predominantly sour and astringent. Cold is the Qi of Water; combined with the salty taste, it returns to Wood (Sour) and Metal (Astringent). Sour is Yang within Yin, unable to freely reach its Yin; Astringent is Yin within Yang, unable to freely harmonize its Yang. The Yin located below cannot rely on Yang to ascend, causing the Yin seeking to rise from below to fail to harmonize with Yang for transformation. Thus, the nature and flavor of White Alum represent Extreme Yin congealing in Cold Water, serving only its function of moistening and descending (clearly indicated by its use in foot baths for pediatric mouth ulcers and podagra, and for urinary/fecal retention and vaginal prolapse). Yet why is it said to be drying? Precisely because it serves only the function of moistening and descending, the Yin within Yang located above becomes deficient, hence described as drying. Originally belonging to Dry Metal (white color, astringent taste) to form Cold Water, it specializes in returning downward, so it is often used to collect water. Kou Zongshi indeed stated that excessive use damages the Heart and Lungs. (Extreme Yin congealing in Cold Water is called gathering Yin; the Qi of Dry Metal forming Cold Water's descent is called Upper Drying; Drying assists gathering. Ultimately, it gathers Yin; otherwise, it would still be Metal generating Water.) Yin and Yang should not separate; does this property of gathering Yin not seem to separate Yin from Yang? One must understand that True Yin cannot truly separate from True Yang, nor can True Yang separate from True Yin. Its gathering of Yin seems to leave Yang without support, but this is actually the pathogenic Yang, where Yang hyperactivity generates Wind. Wind further stirs Yang to damage the fluids transformed by Cold Water, condensing them into Phlegm, severely eroding True Yin, and causing True Yang to lose its residence. In the human body, Cold Water is the initial Qi of Extreme Yin, from which Extreme Yang emerges. The Yang within Yin ascends to the celestial surface to perform transformation, while the essence-Qi of Extreme Yin relies on Yang to ascend and perform transformation; this is the Yin within Yang. If Six Evils or Seven Emotions damage the Yin within Yang, Yang loses its ability to transform, becoming Wind. The fierce Qi of Wind stirs Yang to damage Yin, turning all fluids of Cold transformation into dry Phlegm. The Phlegm transformed from Cold Water then nourishes Heat and erodes Yin, damaging all Initial Qi of Extreme Yin endowed in the Five Viscera. This is what the Neijing calls loss of guardianship leading to Yin deficiency. At this time, attempting to suppress Yang and benefit Yin is like pouring water on stone. If Phlegm is not eliminated, Wind stagnation will not calm; if Wind is not calmed, Yang mania will not resolve. Only by administering this agent that gathers Yin and returns it to the source while separating from Yang, giving Yin a master, can the Phlegm condensed from Cold Water dissolve naturally, and Hyperactive Yang lose its reliance. This leads to Wind calming via Phlegm elimination, and Yang resolving via Wind calming. (Gathering Yin preserves the initial Qi of Cold Water, preventing Yin from being eroded by Yang pathogens, as seen in treating external ulcerative sores.) When Yang resolves, pathogens scatter, and True Yang can rely on True Yin to return to its source. True Yang descends with Yin, allowing the Yin within Yang to perform its transformation and return to the Extreme Yin of Cold Water, as recorded in the Bie Lu as removing fixed heat in the bone marrow. Within the Extreme Yin of Cold Water, Extreme Yang finds residence and畅达s its Qi transformation, as noted by Ri Hua Zi as warming the Water Organ. Therefore, this herb gathers Yin amidst Hyperactive Yang to disperse Yang pathogens and save True Yin—this is its primary merit. And by returning Yin to its original place to enrich Yin transformation and畅达 Yuan Yang—this is its complete merit. Since Extreme Yang originates from Yin, this herb instead preserves Extreme Yin within Yang. Human Yin and Yang unite to mystify their divided functions; this herb seemingly achieves union through separation. Medical texts generally treat wind-heat, phlegm, epilepsy, and disorders of the throat, tongue, ears, nose, and eyes by gathering True Yin amidst Hyperactive Yang and treating extreme upward flaming fire, all stemming from Yin's inability to guide Yang downward. If merely diseased by Heat, it belongs to Yin deficiency failing to control Yang; if Wind and Phlegm fan each other severely, Yang's erosion of Yin is urgent. (The Ben Jing therefore primarily treats ulcerative sores of the yin organs.) Using this herb to gather Yin and eliminate Phlegm ultimately relies on Cold Water being gathered to achieve miraculous effects; even the use of Xi Xian San for wind-stroke follows this principle. Furthermore, treating mouth ulcers, podagra (foot bath), lower bleeding (Duan Hong Wan Carp Formula), dysentery (Da Duan Xia Zi Wu Wan), hemorrhoids, and turbidity all involve gathering Yin to return Yang, allowing Yang to transform Yin and become the root of Yang generation. Female labor jaundice is treated with Nitre and White Alum: one extracts the initial Yang from the earth to ascend and disperse depressed Yin in the Kidney; the other returns the primal Yin of the earth to specifically tonify deficient Yang in the Kidney. Neither can be generalized by upper-body treatments. In summary, White Alum treats wind-heat phlegm, not cold-damp phlegm; it treats internal invading wind, not externally contracted wind; it clears heat only from injury to Original Yin, not from heat constrained by external pathogens. This is treatment for the upper half of the body. Regarding lower bleeding, it treats blood from Yang deficiency and Yin weakness, not from cold coagulation or damp stagnation; it tonifies Yang by directly supplementing Yang where Yin deficiency causes Yuan Yuan to not return, not Yang where Yin depression prevents Yuan Qi from reaching; it transforms Yin by processing Yin where Qi abundance allows Blood to refine Essence, not Yin where Qi deficiency prevents Blood from supporting Qi. This is treatment for the lower half of the body. Some ask: Alum is drying and urgent; why doesn't it treat damp-phlegm? Unknown is that its drying nature only serves to gather Yin and descend, unable to dry dampness. Physicians attribute dysentery, jaundice, red-white turbidity, and ulcerative sores to damp-heat, thus categorizing treatment under damp-heat. How can they know that White Alum's mechanism is entirely different? One can find the standard by following these principles.

Its nature is drying, urgent, and capable of seizing water; its use requires appropriateness. Throat pain patients must examine carefully. Eye pain due to Yin deficiency and blood heat, not due to pterygium.

[Processing] Choose those that are white and bright. Grind finely, place in a jar, calcine over fire for half a day. Those turning color like light powder are called Calcined Alum. Use raw for eliminating phlegm; for toothache and throat bi, wrap raw pieces in cotton and suck/swallow.