Library

[Background Information]
Book: *Shishi Milu* (Secrets of the Stone Chamber)
Author: Chen Shiduo
Dynasty: Qing
Chapter: Inverted Treatment Methods (Dao Zhi Fa)
Category: Comprehensive

[Original Text to Process]
On Inversion of the Liver Lobe, On Delirious Speech and Seeing Ghosts, On Drowning in Water

The Heavenly Master said: "Inverted treatment" refers to a method where, because standard approaches are ineffective, one treats by reversing the condition. For instance, if a person suffers from injury to their sinews and strength, causing the liver lobe to invert, leading them to perceive all objects as upside down, while they themselves feel no other illness, and various medicines prove useless, it is necessary to hang the person upside down. One person should hold a wooden stick and strike them on the head; there is no need for great force, just a light blow. However, do not speak to them beforehand; you must arouse their anger so that the liver lobe opens up, and then strike them. They will inevitably twist and avoid the blows several times, after which the liver lobe will return to its normal position. ([Commentary] Lei Gong said: If a person perceives straight things as slanted, or slanted things as straight, this same method can cure them.) There is another method: give the patient a pot of yellow wine until they are heavily intoxicated, carry them in a bamboo sedan chair, and deliberately overturn them; this too will surely cure them. Furthermore, if phlegm is knotted in the stomach and cannot be vomited out, causing delirious speech resembling seeing ghosts, with symptoms appearing intermittently and qi blocking the chest, take five jin (approx. 2.5 kg) of beef and two dou (approx. 20 liters) of water, decoct into a soup, and have the patient drink it until they can eat no more. Then use goose feathers to induce vomiting. They will vomit profusely, continuing until only tough, yellowish phlegm clumps are expelled, at which point stop. If they do not vomit, have them drink again, ensuring they vomit completely before stopping; the previous illness will instantly disappear. Afterwards, slowly administer a decoction of Chenpi (Tangerine Peel), Fuling (Poria), Gancao (Licorice Root), and Baizhu (Atractylodes Macrocephala Rhizome). The patient will recover as before. This is the method of inverted treatment.

Master Zhang said: "Good. Nothing more needs to be said about inverted treatment."

Lord Hua said: "Agreed. However, I still have a method that has not been transmitted. If a person drowns and dies, have someone lift the deceased's legs backward over their shoulders and walk for about two li (approx. 1 km). Water will inevitably flow out from the mouth. Then place the body in ashes for half a day, letting it remain motionless. Next, insert a pill of raw Banxia (Pinellia Tuber) into the nostrils. If it is winter, rescue is impossible; but between summer and autumn, there is no case that cannot be revived; the person will inevitably sneeze and regain consciousness. Immediately prepare a decoction of three qian (approx. 9 g) of Renshen (Ginseng Root), one liang (approx. 30 g) of Fuling (Poria), five qian (approx. 15 g) of Baizhu (Atractylodes Macrocephala Rhizome), five qian (approx. 15 g) of Yiren (Coix Seed), five qian (approx. 15 g) of Cheqiancao (Plantago Seed/Herb), and one qian (approx. 3 g) of Rougui (Cinnamon Bark). Decoct to make half a cup, and force-feed it; there is no case that will not survive."