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[Lu Feng Fang (Honeycomb of the Dew-exposed Bee)]
This honeycomb hangs on the top of trees, exposed to wind and dew. The bees are yellowish-black, about one cun in length. Their sting can cause severe pain or even death in horses, cattle, and humans. This is not the honeycomb found under human dwellings. The solid part at the top of the comb is called "Zi Jin Sha" (Purple Gold Sand).

Flavor and Nature: Bitter, sweet, salty; neutral in nature. Toxic. *Shennong Bencao Jing* (Divine Farmer's Materia Medica) states it treats epilepsy with convulsions (Jing Xian Chou Yin), cold-heat pathogenic factors, manic-depressive disorders (Dian Ji), "ghost essence" (spiritual disturbances), gu poison, intestinal hemorrhoids. Later materia medica texts indicate it treats malignant carbuncles; when roasted and ground, mixed with lard for topical application; or soaked in hot distilled liquor for a moment and used for frequent gargling to treat wind-induced tooth swelling and pain. The *Wu Xian De Xiao Fang* (Five Epilepsies Effective Formula) records using roasted Lu Feng Fang, combined with Shi Bai Tang (Stone White Decoction - likely a specific preparation or typo in original), ground into powder and made into pills.

[Discussion] The use of Lu Feng Fang, as first stated in *Shennong Bencao Jing*, primarily targets epilepsy with convulsions, cold-heat pathogenic factors, and manic disorders, going beyond the later theory of "using toxicity to attack toxicity." The origin of epilepsy involves complex pathological mechanisms such as yin-yang imbalance and qi-blood separation. Miao Xiyong pointed out: For patients with deficient qi and blood without external pathogens, or those with exhausted vital energy after the ulceration of carbuncles and sores, Lu Feng Fang should not be taken.

[Processing] It must be collected in the twelfth lunar month, washed to remove bee feces and soil, steamed for half a day, dried, roasted until scorched yellow, and finely ground. It should be used according to the original formula for each specific syndrome.

[Chong Bai La (Insect White Wax)]
Unlike the white of Beeswax (Mifeng La), this is formed by small insects feeding on the sap of wax trees, excreting saliva that adheres to tender stems, transforming into white fat which condenses. During the Tang and Song dynasties, only Beeswax was used in medicine. This Insect White Wax began to be known since the Yuan Dynasty.

Flavor and Nature: Sweet; warm in nature. Treats generating flesh, stopping bleeding, relieving pain, tonifying deficiency, reconnecting tendons, and knitting bones. (Zhu Danxi) believed it tonifies middle jiao deficiency, kills consumption worms, stops cough and diarrhea, and moistens the lungs. [Text fragment regarding Mulberry wood qi]. [Text fragment regarding meat paste].

[Processing] For external use, grind separately. Can also be incorporated into pills and powders for oral administration.

[Wu Bei Zi (Galla Chinensis)]
Found in various places, but the variety produced in Sichuan, growing on Rhus chinensis (Salt-skin tree), is considered superior. On the Rhus chinensis tree, between the fifth and sixth lunar months, small ant-like insects feed and form ball-like structures. (Similar to how wax insects produce wax). Initially small, they gradually harden, varying in size and shape, containing tiny insects inside. Mountain people harvest them before the Frost Descent solar term, kill them, and sell them. Those that have undergone fermentation are called "Bai Yao Jian" (Hundred Medicines Decoction).

Taste: Astringent, bitter, sour. Qi: Neutral. Qi is thin, flavor is strong. It has an astringent property and belongs to Yin. Enters the Foot-Shaoyin Kidney Meridian, Foot-Jueyin Liver Meridian, Hand-Taiyin Lung Meridian, and Foot-Yangming Stomach Meridian. Functions include astringing the lungs, descending fire, and resolving all kinds of sticky phlegm.

Generally, when yin qi is deficient and yang qi overacts on the earth element, wind pathogen may proliferate. This substance, originating from Metal and utilizing Water qi, acts to astringe. Recorded formula below: Shen Xiao Qu Feng San (Miraculous Wind-Expelling Powder), treating wind-related gan disease.

Furthermore, when yin qi is deficient and yang qi scatters downward, causing qi collapse, this substance utilizes Water qi and borrows Metal qi to astringe. Recorded formula below: Xu Lao Yi Zhuo (Consumption with Turbid Discharge), Yu Suo Dan (Jade Lock Pill), treating kidney deficiency, fatigue, and poor appetite. Taken with salt water, fumigated with Clove (Dingxiang), sweating indicates cessation.

[Discussion] Wu Bei Zi is created by insects on the Rhus chinensis tree. Rhus chinensis is the tree where the fruit (Yan Fu Zi) grows. It is called "Salt-skin" because the seed contains a kernel resembling a kidney shape, condensed with a salty taste. This is primarily due to the properties of Metal. How... cannot fully... bitter flavor reaching... upwards, then... externally.) Like... to astringe. (Like... returning to Water, then... this. Thus Lou Quanshan argued... extremely low? Or... drying and astringent nature originally does not conflict with returning to extreme Yin. Therefore, Metal obtains its function through Water, and Water finds its home through Metal. Yin essence nourishes and ascends, while astringent qi descends solemnly. Its nature is drying, urgent, and specifically astringent. Coughs caused by wind-cold, or severe excess lung heat, are contraindicated. Diarrhea and dysentery not caused by large intestine deficiency and collapse are also contraindicated.

[Processing] Those from Sichuan are better. Remove insects. Use raw for decoctions, slightly stir-fried for pills. For dyeing beard/hair, stir-fry until smoking, then sprinkle with strong tea. [Regarding] Bai Yao Jian brewing method: Take Wu Bei Zi as coarse powder, use one liang of true tea per jin, decoct into strong liquid, add four liang of ferment, pound and mix thoroughly, place in a vessel/crock and seal. Wait until it ferments and rises like dough, then it is ready. Another method: One jin of Wu Bei Zi ground to powder, half a jin of yeast, one handful of fine tea ground, mixed evenly with Polygonum hydropiper juice, pressed tightly into a mortar, sealed with long rice straw on top. Place the mortar in a basket filled with straw, cover with straw, keep in a clean place. After seven days, if long frost appears on the medicine, it is complete. Both methods are shaped into pills or cakes, dried, and stored.

Flavor: Sour, salty. ... Facial and nasal gan erosion. ... With lingering sweetness, treating upper jiao... Gathering in one place and benefiting the lower... Large, frequently swallowing several pills. Gargle one pill each time, tooth... effective. Hematochezia, Bai Yao... Bai Yao Jian with Plantago seeds. Dyeing beard/hair, Bai Yao... Night, wash off and it turns black.

[Discussion] Wu Bei Zi is characterized by sour, astringent, and bitter flavors, possessing a nature that descends and returns to Water. Astringency belongs to Metal. Returning to Water originates from the mother qi of Metal. However, after fermentation, it becomes light and floating, becoming a counter-agent for upper jiao heat diseases. Observing formulas treating summerheat, where Bai Yao Jian is the sovereign drug, is it not because the heat of the Pericardium affects the primordial qi of the Lung? Yet, why is it rarely used in prescriptions for coughs caused by the mutual restriction of Heart and Lung? Perhaps due to its astringent nature, physicians dare not administer it lightly? When treating diaphragmatic heat and wasting-thirst, it is also used as the sovereign drug, making it indeed an accurate remedy for upper jiao heat and thirst, which cannot be easily replaced.