Library

[Liri]
Toxic. Treats Hongxiangjiao (gouty swelling and numbness of the feet) with wind-induced swelling and insensitivity. (Method: Steam until half-cooked, pound into a paste, and apply as a compress to the affected area. Change two to three times daily; it will subside.) Stops epistaxis. (Apply with oil, heat by roasting, and place on the nose; highly effective.)

The "Shencao Fang" (Miracle Herb Formula) from *Qianjin Fang* specializes in treating wind-damp paralysis, numbness of hands and feet, hemiplegia, generalized numbness or soreness, and bodily deviation, all of which respond miraculously. Take *Ricini Fructus* (Castor Bean) plants: use leaves in summer and autumn, and roots/stems in winter and spring. Collect about ten to twenty jin. Place in a wooden steamer set over a large pot and steam until half-cooked. Remove. Fold several chi of cotton cloth double, immerse it in the broth left from steaming the leaves, remove, and apply while hot to the affected area. Then, spread a layer of hot leaves on the cloth. When warm, replace with another layer of hot leaves. Repeat this steaming and changing process until the patient sweats. For severe cases, steam five times; for mild cases, three times. The disease will then heal. Internally administer wind-dispelling and blood-invigorating herbs to assist.

[Lili]
Dark black in color. Its rhizome is wrapped in black skin, hence the name. The base of the root resembles scallions (similar to how scallions have fibrous roots). Commonly known as Congguan Lili. People in the north call it "Xu".

Pungent and bitter in taste, cold in nature, toxic. Enters the Hand-Taiyin Lung Meridian and Foot-Yangming Stomach Meridian. Huanglian (Coptis Rhizome) acts as its guide drug. It is incompatible with Xixin (Asarum Root), Shaoyao (Peony Root), Renshen (Ginseng Root), Shashen (Adenophora Root), Zizan (Bupleurum Root), Danshen (Salvia Miltiorrhiza Root), and Kushen (Phellodendron Bark).

Grows in mountainous areas. Harvest after one to two years of growth. Approximately collect one to two dou. After ingestion, profuse sweating occurs like being washed, leading to severe drowsiness and fatigue, recovering after three days.

Li Dongyuan stated: "Hancongmiao (Foolish Scallion Sprout) is the Lili described in the Materia Medica." (Quoted from Zhang Zihe).

Treatment for poisoning: If ingested accidentally, chew and crush one tooth, decoct Lili thickly, and administer the liquid. Within a short while, belching and passing gas will occur.

If phlegm sounds like sawing wood and saliva flows from the mouth, take two liang of Congguan Lili, quench in water several times, filter cleanly. Extract juice from ten male pig gallbladders. Add to the medicinal liquid. Decoct until yellow, grind into powder, and make pills the size of small beans. Take one pill on an empty stomach. Administer before symptoms manifest.

If the jaw is tightly closed, pry open the mouth to allow phlegm to exit, letting it be expelled freely.

For conditions where clumps form resembling shock/fear, if Baidu does not resolve the accumulation, take half a liang of Baidu, remove skin and heart, stir-fry, and grind into powder. Swallow one or two pills at a time. According to the efficacy of Lili, it specializes in inducing vomiting, whereas Baidu fears Lili. The latter two formulas represent violent emesis and drastic purgation methods, entering the stomach to drive out phlegm and scatter accumulations, thereby unblocking the stagnation of Qi in the upper and lower regions.

[Discussion] Lili is cold in nature, pungent and bitter in taste, possessing dispersing and upward-venting properties, specializing in treating wind-phlegm. Since Wind-Wood considers Water as its mother and Fire as its child, coldness tends to sink while wind tends to rise. Lili can vigorously promote the Qi of the child element (Fire), allowing wind-pathogens stagnant below and unable to descend to be treated according to their nature and vented upwards. Without its extreme bitterness, it could not achieve the effect of inevitable vomiting in a short time. Observing that it grows in summer and withers in winter, and those grown in water are not used in medicine, one can contemplate its flaming-upward nature.

Taking one bi (a small measure), causes chest stuffiness and incessant vomiting. For those with phlegm-fluid retention or poisoned by gu-toxin and evil qi, borrowing its power of empty vomiting and upward surging, therapeutic effects are achieved.

[Processing] Remove the rhizome head, only retaining the roots. Soak in rice-washing water overnight, lightly stir-fry, and use. Not suitable for decoctions (soups).