典藏书目

Mou Shu (Rattus norvegicus)
The nature is slightly warm. It is non-toxic. There are many varieties; it hides during the day and emerges at night. Its nature is fond of stealing, hence called "Dian Chong" (Point Insect). When used in medical prescriptions, only male rats are selected.
Freshly crushed Mou Shu can knit broken bones and sinews; boiled into a paste and applied to burns or scalds with ulceration, it effectively eliminates scars. It treats infantile malnutrition leading to Gan syndrome (wasting-thirst syndrome), which can be administered by decocting in wine and drinking immediately; it tonifies adults suffering from bone-steaming consumption and emaciation, often added when making soups. (Method: wrap in yellow clay, roast until cooked, remove bones, mix with five-flavor juice to make soup.) Its fat and grease are particularly excellent for treating sores and ulcers caused by spreading burns or scalds; teeth growing on the spinal vertebrae are especially effective if they have not grown for many years. Gallbladder bile drops brighten the eyes and can be dripped for deafness. (It is difficult to obtain because the gallbladder ruptures shortly after death.) The feet and tail induce abortion and facilitate delivery, useful for difficult labor. Liver pounded and applied to needles embedded in flesh, or arrowheads/blades stuck in hidden areas causing pain; feces decocted treat infantile epilepsy, as well as critical conditions such as relapse after typhoid fever due to overexertion, and Yin-Yang exchange syndromes.

Zha Chan (Cicada)
Taste is salty and sweet; nature is cold. Non-toxic. Throughout summer and autumn, chirping is heard everywhere in forests. Collect and steam dry, preventing insect damage. It treats retained placenta in postpartum women, promotes lactation, and induces abortion; it primarily treats infantile convulsions and night crying, expelling evil and driving out heat. Cicada slough (Chan Tui) is the shed thin shell; wings and legs must be removed. It is truly miraculous in ophthalmology for nebula invading the eye and fleshy growths obstructing vision. Cicada flower (Chan Hua), resembling a floral crown growing on top of the shell, stops convulsions (Tian Diao Yuan) and palpitations/panic, proving effective in pediatrics.

Feng Mi (Honey) & Shi Mi (Rock Honey)
Shi Mi
Taste is sweet; nature is neutral and slightly warm. Non-toxic. Bees live in groups, with varying habitats. In the humid Jiangnan region, they attach to trees and stones; in the dry Jiangbei region, they enter underground burrows. People keep them in barrels, building hives inside. They fly daily, collecting nectar to brew honey. After long fermentation and ripening, (Note: Bee honey requires human urine to ferment various flowers to achieve a syrup-like consistency. Another theory: pouring water from pigsties into wax rooms facilitates honey formation, thus wax is considered related to honey.) this is called honey sugar. Honey harvested every three years has a strong flavor; that harvested annually is mild. Thus, *Ben Jing* considers Rock Honey superior to domestic honey. For medicinal use, refine until熟 (cooked); a drop forms a bead in water. (Refining methods are detailed in the General Discussion section.) It benefits Qi and tonifies the middle, moistens dryness and detoxifies. It nourishes the Spleen and Stomach, prevents epilepsy, stops intestinal dysentery, and clears mouth ulcers. It dispels sudden heart and abdominal pain and tonifies deficiencies of the Five Zang organs. Used in Bu Yin Wan (Tonify Yin Pill), its sweet, slow-digesting nature reaches the Lower Jiao; mixed into eye ointments, derived from hundred flowers, it generates spiritual energy. Honey suppositories relieve chronic constipation; honey liquid resolves sudden onset of deficiency heat. Excessive consumption may generate wind syndromes; raw honey should be avoided in the seventh lunar month.
Mi La (Beeswax)
Taste is bland. (Among all flavors, none is sweeter than honey, none is blander than wax. What is concentrated here is necessarily dilute there; this is natural law.) It is obtained from refining honey. Old wax is yellow; new wax is white. *Ben Jing* mentions only white wax, not yellow wax, likely because honey is best aged while wax is best fresh. (Another view: Wax melted and washed in water repeatedly becomes white, representing the essence of wax, thus superior for medicine. *Ben Jing* may refer to this.) It benefits Qi, stops diarrhea and dysentery, tonifies the middle, and heals severe injuries. Dissolved to wrap Da Huang pills, it protects the Spleen and Stomach from the cold nature of rhubarb; chewed as a grain-abstaining medicine, it sustains life during famines without hunger.