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[Image: Salt Diagram 1]
[Image: Salt Diagram 2]

Taste: Salty. Nature: Warm. Toxicity: Non-toxic. Main indications include killing Gui Gu (ghostly parasites) and evil Zhu (infectious diseases) toxic vapors, treating sores in the lower body, chills and fever caused by Shang Han (Cold Damage), vomiting phlegm and fluid retention in the chest, stopping sudden severe pain in the heart and abdomen, and strengthening muscles and bones. However, excessive consumption damages the Lung, leading to a tendency for coughing.

Tao Hongjing states: Among the five flavors, only salt is indispensable. There are salts from the East Sea, North Sea, and the salt pools of Hedong; salt wells in Liang and Yi provinces; South Sea salt in Jiao and Guang regions; mountain salt in the Western Qiang areas; and tree salt among the Hu people. Their colors and types vary, with the salt from Hedong being considered superior. The salt from the East Sea and official salt are white with fine granules. Salt from prefectures tastes bitter. It is unknown whether they differ in therapeutic efficacy. People in the Western and Northern regions, whose diets are not overly salty, tend to live long, have few illnesses, and possess good complexions. People in the Eastern and Southern regions, whose diets are extremely salty, tend to have shorter lifespans and more illnesses, which is clearly detrimental to health, confirming the notion that excessive salt damages the Lungs. Nevertheless, salting fish and meat preserves them indefinitely without spoilage; dipping cloth and silk in salt causes them to rot easily. Different applications have their own suitability. Current annotation: In *Xin Xiu Ben Cao* (Newly Revised Materia Medica), it was originally listed in the Rice section and has now been moved here. Ministers Yu Xi et al. note according to the Shu edition: Excessive consumption causes darkening of the complexion and skin, and weakens sinews and strength. *Yao Xing Lun* (Discussion on Medicinal Properties) records: Salt has slight toxicity. It can kill various toxic vapors and Gui Zhu qi (evil qi). It treats sudden heart pain or pain radiating to the waist and umbilicus. Take salt the size of a chicken egg, wrap it in green cloth, heat until red-hot, place it in wine, and drink at once; this should induce vomiting of noxious substances, treating sudden urinary retention in infants; moxa application with salt placed in the umbilicus. For five-colored sores on the face, soak cotton in salt water and apply to the sore, changing 5-6 times daily until healed. Also, steam with cut bark of Sophora albida (Huai Bai Pi) to treat jiaqi (foot Qi/edema). Brush teeth on an empty stomach, then spit out and rinse eyes; effective for poor night vision. For pain in women's private parts, wrap salt in green cloth and apply hot compress. Treats Gui Zhu, Shi Zhu (corpse transmission), and erosive sores in the lower body; sit on a cloth-wrapped bag of fried salt for hot compression, also treating burns. Chen Cangqi states: Besides its original functions, salt expels wind pathogens, induces vomiting or purging of noxious substances, kills parasites, brightens the eyes, removes wind toxins from the skin, harmonizes the Zang-Fu organs, digests retained food, and promotes robust health. For sudden urinary obstruction, insert fried salt into the umbilicus to restore urination. Tao Gong's claim that salt harms people is inappropriate. After all, salt is primary among the five flavors and is found everywhere within the four seas. Only the southwestern barbarian tribes have less access, burning bamboo and wood to make substitute salt. Ri Hua Zi states: Warms the Water Zang (Kidneys) and treats Huo Luan (Cholera-like syndrome), heart pain, metal wounds, brightens eyes, stops wind-tearing, dispels evil qi, treats all insect-bite sores and swellings, aids digestion, nourishes the five flavors, promotes flesh growth, supplements the skin, and unblocks bowel and bladder movements. For infant hernia and internal kidney Qi pain, hang a pouch made of kudzu fiber at the door; parents shake it thoroughly, and the disease will heal.

*Tujing Bencao* (Illustrated Classic of Materia Medica) states: Salt's origin in specific provinces was not recorded in older texts. Tao Hongjing mentions salts from the East Sea, North Sea, Hedong salt pools, Liang/Yi salt wells, Jiao/Guang South Sea salt, Western Qiang mountain salt, and Hu tree salt. Colors and types differ, with Hedong salt being best. Hedong salt produced in the two pools of Jiezhou and Anyi is the finest. There is also "powdered salt" from two supervision offices in Bingzhou, made by scraping alkaline soil and refining; it is inferior, likely corresponding to the "halo alkali" mentioned in the Lower Grade, produced in Hedong salt pools. The Lower Grade also lists "large salt," produced in Handan and Hedong marshes. Su Gong states: Large salt is the Hedong seal salt, commonly eaten by people, coarser than powdered salt, resembling modern Jie salt. People in Jiezhou cultivate salt by plowing fields near the pool, irrigating with pool water; when strong south winds blow, salt crystallizes overnight covering the ridges, locally called "cultivated salt." Salt from the East, North, and South Seas is currently produced by boiling seawater in government workshops in Cang, Mi, Chu, Xiu, Wen, Tai, Ming, Quan, Fu, Guang, Qiong, and Hua prefectures for public consumption, also known as Ze salt, or sea salt in medical formulas. The vessels for boiling salt were called "Lao Pen" in the Han Dynasty; now they are made of iron or woven bamboo, coated with clam ash inside and out, one zhang wide and one chi deep, flat-bottomed, placed on stoves, collectively called "salt pans." *Nanyue Zhi* describes weaving reeds into cauldrons mixed with oyster shells. Pits are dug by the sea, lined with bamboo and wood, covered with thatch, and piled with sand. Tides wash brine into the pits; after the water recedes, torches are used to illuminate the brine vapor, extinguishing the flame. The brine is then poured into pans and boiled, completing quickly. Guan Zhong stated: Qi had salt from Quzhan; cutting rushes to boil seawater accumulated salt, starting in October and forming 30,000 units by January. Rushes refer to using rush grass as fuel. Salt wells in Liang and Yi exist today in Guizhou and western Sichuan commanderies; brine is drawn and refined like sea salt, but only for local consumption. Western Qiang mountain salt and Hu water salt correspond to the "Bright Salt" mentioned below, produced in Yanzhou. The Lower Grade lists Rong salt, produced in Huyan Mountain and Beidi of Western Qiang, southeast corner of Luocheng, Jiuquan. Blue salt from the North Sea and red salt from the South Sea are examples. However, Qiang and Hu salts have many varieties. Tao's annotation adds: There are nine types of salt among the nomads: White salt, edible salt, common salt, black salt, soft salt, red salt, mottled salt, smelly salt, horse-tooth salt, etc., which modern people cannot fully identify. Medical practitioners often use blue salt for eye treatments and tonic prescriptions, suspecting it is Rong salt. *Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing* states: Blue from the North Sea, red from the South Sea. Modern blue salt from Western Qiang forms square blocks, bright and translucent with a blue-black color, considered unique. Salt from northern Hu comes in large, dull blocks with honeycomb-like pores, lighter in color than western salt, called "salt pillows" locally, and is inferior for medicinal use. Northern Hu also has a salt in flake form like broken white stone, also called blue salt, sealed in boxes and given as gifts with salt pillows; its color type is unknown. Jiexhou produces a kind of rock salt formed naturally in mountain rocks without refining, very bright and valued locally as Bright Salt. It is not used in medical formulas, making detailed distinction difficult. Tong, Tai, and Haizhou have households scraping alkaline earth to refine salt for the government, similar to Bingzhou powdered salt, supplied to Jianghu regions abundantly, with a taste superior to Bingzhou powdered salt. Binzhou has households refining grass-earth salt, which is coarse and black, unsuitable for medicine, only fit for feeding horses. The entry for Green Salt states: Made by fermenting Bright Salt, cinnabar, and copper filings into blocks; true ones come from Yanqi Kingdom, found under stones in water, resembling Bian Qing or Kong Qing. Currently, no one recognizes this, and it is not used in medicine. Liu Zongyuan of Tang compiled the *Salt Soup Formula for Saving Three Deaths and Treating Cholera*: In the 10th year of Yuanhe, October, he suffered dry cholera, unable to vomit or purge, sweating three dou of cold sweat, nearly dying. Fang Wei from Henan transmitted this soup; upon ingestion, vomiting occurred, and breath returned. Method: Use one large spoonful of salt, fried until yellow, mixed with one sheng of urine from a young boy, taken warm; vomiting and purging ensue, leading to recovery. Liu Yuxi's *Chuan Xin Fang* records Cui Zhongcheng's formula for Smoked Salt Black Pills: One sheng of salt ground to powder, packed tightly in a rough porcelain jar, sealed with mud. Initially heated over fire, gradually adding charcoal, avoiding breaking the jar, until red-hot throughout and salt melts like liquid. Remove fire; salt solidifies upon cooling. Break jar to retrieve. One sheng of fermented soybeans (Chi) fried until scorched, one liang of peach kernels fried with bran until cooked, two large liang of croton seeds (Ba Dou) with hearts and membranes removed, fried in paper until oil emerges. Must be properly roasted; too raw lacks potency, too raw hurts the body. Grind all four ingredients separately into mature powders, mix with measured honey to form pills the size of wutong seeds. Take three pills each time, preferably in the morning. For epidemic fevers, take with fermented soybean juice or tea. Drink plenty of tea afterward to enhance efficacy. For heart pain, take with wine; stops immediately. For bloody dysentery, take with water; initially turns watery, then stops. For ghost malaria, take with tea. For bone heat, take with white honey water. Avoid cold grain water. Pills may be slightly enlarged if stored long. Do not be alarmed by vomiting or purging after taking. Fast for two days after one day of medication. If vomiting/purging is excessive, take decocted Coptis chinensis (Huang Lian) juice to stop it. If no vomiting/purging occurs by the time of minor meal after morning dosing, and if overdose symptoms occur, take one or two more pills. Best prepared in winter, especially December. Store in porcelain jars sealed with wax paper to prevent leakage. Cui Neng of Qinghe claims one dose can save a hundred people. For epidemics, if other medicines are unavailable or time is critical, even in travel or villages, one dao gui of this salt pill equals several liang of Da Huang or Po Xiao. Tested and effective. Suitable for commoners and envoys. Children and women should not take large doses to avoid nausea. Another Tang method, medicinal salt, originated from Zhang Wenzhong, widely practiced by Tang literati.

Dietary Therapy: For wet eczema (Qu Sou), use three sheng of salt and one dou of water, boil down to six sheng, soak cotton in the broth, and apply to the sore. For all Qi disorders and foot Qi, steam three sheng of salt, wrap while hot, stand against a wall, and step on the wraps to heat the soles of the feet. Steam with Sophora albida bark for Hong Kong foot (tinea pedis); nightly use is beneficial. Burn two stalks of Gleditsia sinensis (Zao Jia) with half a liang of salt until red-hot, grind finely; brush teeth nightly. After one month, loose or bleeding teeth heal and become firm. *Shenghui Fang*: For infant umbilical dampness-wind, mix two liang of salt with two he of fermented soybeans, pound well, shape into coin-sized cakes, heat on a new tile, and apply hot compress to the umbilicus. Also apply Phellodendron amurense (Huang Bo) powder. Another formula for Liver wind deficiency with spasms pulling into the abdomen: Boil half a jin of salt in water briefly, apply hot compress. *Waitai Miyao*: For phlegm-fluid in chest/heart, Shanghan febrile disease, or malarial fever requiring emesis: Take one large spoonful of salt powder, swallow with water or warm soup; vomiting occurs shortly after. If ineffective, repeat next morning. Another formula for hypochondriac fullness and difficult urination post-epidemic: Apply hot compressed fried salt below the umbilicus. Another for wind sensation like insects crawling on body: Boil one dou of salt in one shi of water until reduced by half, clarify, and wash warmly 3-5 times to treat all wind conditions. *Qianjin Fang*: For receding gums, rub salt into mouth every morning, gargle with hot water 100 times; teeth become firm within five days. Another for breech birth: Rub salt on infant's soles and scratch urgently. *Qianjin Yifang*: For early-stage sores and tinea itching: If single herbs fail, chew salt and apply externally. *Ji Hou Fang*: For stroke with severe abdominal pain: Fry half a jin of salt until dry, place in mouth, drink two sheng of hot water to induce vomiting and cure. Another for toothache and bleeding gums: Apply thick paste of salt powder to gums nightly; drain juice before sleeping; clench teeth during drainage. Pain and bleeding stop within ten nights; longer is better. Avoid pork and rapeseed greens. Another for sudden wind with ear buzzing: Steam five sheng of salt in a steamer, use as pillow for ears, replace when cool. Another for sudden ear pain: Steam and compress with salt. Another for sudden warts on hands/feet: Apply salt to warts and let a cow lick; three applications suffice. Another for traumatic wounds exposed to wind: Heat salt, drip onto wound with spoon; keep warm for a day until healed. Another for chronic bloody/non-bloody dysentery with unbearable anal pain: Drink warm soup and apply hot compressed fried salt; also apply hot compressed Zhi Shi (processed Fructus Aurantii). *Jingyan Fang*: For leech bites: Soak body in concentrated salt water several times until healed. General Zhang Shao of Zhejiang was bitten, resembling severe windstroke with loss of eyebrows/beard; leeches sounded on his body nightly. A monk taught this formula, curing him. *Mei Shi Fang*: For abdominal distension, hardness, and pain: Boil five he of salt in one sheng of water until dissolved, take at once. Spontaneous vomiting/purging occurs; if food exits, calm settles; if not, repeat. Another for trauma severing meridians/skin with heavy bleeding causing cold heart blood death: Take three pinches of fried salt mixed with wine. Another for centipede bites: Chew salt and apply, or soak wound in salt water. Red-legged centipedes sting painfully; yellow-legged cause severe pain. Another for febrile disease with parasitic sores in lower body: Compress with wrapped fried salt; three applications cure. Sun Simiao's dietary taboos: For foreign bodies in eyes, view through water containing little salt and fermented soybeans; object appears immediately. Another for sudden throat polyps: Wrap chopstick tip in cotton, dip in salt, wipe; change 6-7 times daily. Another for sudden corpse-possession (Shi Dun) with abdominal distension, shortness of breath, heart pressure, or lumps radiating to waist/spine: Induce vomiting with salt water. *Shiyi Xinjing*: Salt kills Gui Gu qi, treats lower body sores, Shanghan chills/fever, vomits chest phlegm, stops sudden heart/abdominal pain, strengthens muscles/bones. Yellow Emperor says: Eating melon followed by salt causes cholera. Also treats intestinal blockage: Mix salt with vinegar, apply to umbilicus, change when dry. *Guangli Fang*: For Qi strangury with sharp umbilical pain: Mix salt with vinegar and take. *Jiyan Fang*: For poisoned arrows: Apply salt to wound, moxa salt for 30 cones until healed. *Fan Wang Fang*: For muscle spasms: Wash/soak with soup made of one sheng salt and one and a half sheng water. Another for tearing eyes preventing opening/stinging pain: Place soybean-sized salt in eye; tingling sensation follows; remove salt and wash eyes with cold water several times until healed. *Chanbao Fang*: For unbearable pregnancy heart/abdominal pain: Burn one jin of salt until red, take a pinch with wine using three fingers until healed. *Zimu Milu*: For infant locking-jaw: Moxa salt and fermented soybeans on umbilicus. Li Xiaobo of Later Wei transmitted nine types of salt, each suitable for different uses. White salt for imperial personal consumption; black salt treats abdominal distension/fullness, powdered and taken with wine, six zhu. *Suwen*: Salty flavor damages Blood, causing thirst. *Danfang Jingyuan*: Salt melting into juice repels fire power.

*Yanyi* states: *Suwen* says: Salty flavor travels to Blood. Thus, people in the East eating fish and salt often have dark skin, verifying the concept of traveling to Blood. Patients with cough and edema should strictly avoid it. Northern Di people use it to embalm corpses to prevent decay, a practice continuing today. For leech poisoning, wash/rinse with salt, or dissolve in soup and drink. For smelting gold/silver to make medicine, Jiezhou pool salt is best. For frequent bleeding from gum lines, rinse with salt water regularly; this verifies the benefit to teeth via traveling to Blood.