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Tianhuajun (Ceiba pentandra fruit/spike), with a sweet taste and neutral nature. Non-toxic. White in color and pleasant in flavor. Primarily indicated for tonifying the middle jiao and replenishing qi, strengthening the spleen and broadening the middle jiao. It also treats pediatric "five kinds of malnutrition" (Wugan) caused by parasites; consumption can help resolve these conditions.

When boiling mushrooms, they should be cooked together in gold or silver vessels. If the mushroom does not turn black, it is edible; if it turns black, do not use it.

After sun-drying this mushroom and grinding it into powder, applying it externally to malignant sores can eliminate them. For ulcers that have broken down and are discharging pus, applying the powder around the edges of the sore will lead to natural recovery.

── Volume 12

Zhujun (Bamboo Mushroom), grown in home gardens. With a salty taste and cold nature. Non-toxic. Best consumed with ginger and vinegar.

Primarily indicated for resolving heat accumulation in the five zang organs and six fu organs. It also treats bloody dysentery and white dysentery. Consumed with pork, it benefits the spleen and tonifies the middle jiao.

There is another variety called Kuzhujun (Bitter Bamboo Mushroom), which has high toxicity and must not be used; it tastes bitter and causes numbness.

── Volume 11

Renshen (Ginseng), grows in mountain valleys. The variety produced in Dian Nan (Yunnan) is plump, large, and moist/firm. Sprouts emerge in spring, mostly growing in deep mountain shaded areas.

When first sprouting, small ones are about three or four cun long, with one branch bearing five leaves, and the leaves are fine/small. After ten years, it develops over ten branches with fine leaves on each branch. After thirty years, its root may change shape to resemble a human figure, hence the name "Renshen" (Human Root). Sweet in taste, slightly warm. Non-toxic. It is a Sovereign herb (Jun Yao). Primarily indicated for tonifying the five zang organs, calming the spirit and stabilizing the soul, stopping fright and expelling evil pathogens, brightening the eyes, opening the mind and enhancing intelligence. Long-term consumption lightens the body and prolongs life. It treats abdominal distension and pain, chest and hypochondriac fullness with rebellious qi, cholera-like syndrome (Huoluan), harmonizes the middle jiao. Stops thirst (Xiaoke). Treats five types of fatigue and seven types of internal injury, deficiency and weakness with phlegm, stops vomiting and hiccups, protects the middle and preserves the spirit, eliminates phlegm from the chest, treats lung abscess/atrophy (Feiwei) and epilepsy (Xianzheng), rebellious cold qi, and inability to eat due to Cold Damage (Shanghan). Treats insufficiency of yang qi in the lungs and stomach, and weakness of lung qi.

── Wuben Volume 1 Upper

Turensen (Earth Ginseng), grows in mountain valleys, same as Liaodong region. Its root shape resembles Yuzhu (Polygonatum odoratum) but is moist and firm. Sprouts emerge in spring, produced in deep mountain shaded and humid places. When first sprouting, small ones are about three or four cun long, with one branch bearing five leaves. After four or five years, two branches grow, each with five leaves, without flowers. By ten years, five branches grow. In older plants, there are four branches, each with five leaves, and a single stem grows from the center, commonly known as "Baichichu" (Hundred-Foot Pestle). In March and April, tiny flowers appear like millet seeds, with thread-like stamens, purple-white in color. After autumn, seeds form, usually seven or eight per cluster, bean-sized, green when ripe and falling naturally. Roots resembling human figures are those that have gradually formed over many years. Sweet in taste, slightly warm. Non-toxic. It is a Sovereign herb (Jun Yao).

── Volume 3