典藏书目

An Shi Liu (Pomegranate)

The flavor is sweet and sour, non-toxic. It mainly treats dry throat and thirst [yan zao ke], but damages the human lung [fei], and should not be eaten in excess. The shell of the sour fruit treats dysentery [li ji] and stops spermatorrhea [lou jing]. The root growing eastward treats roundworms [hui chong] and tapeworms [cun bai].

Tao Hongjing said: Pomegranates are planted by many people because their red flowers are lovely, and they are especially valued by foreigners. Only the roots and shells are used in medicine. Its flavors are sweet and sour; the sour ones are used medicinally. The seeds are taboo for those practicing dietary therapy [fu shi]. Chen Yuxi et al. carefully noted according to *Shu Ben Tu Jing*: The seeds are sweet and sour; the sour ones are particularly effective in astringing the intestines [se chang] and stopping bloody and white dysentery [chi bai xia li]. Another method: taking the juice stops tearing and treats spermatorrhea. Green roots are used in recipes for dyeing beard hair. Chen Cangqi said: Besides the original functions of pomegranate, the east-growing roots and peel treat roundworms when decocted and taken orally. The seeds stop thirst. Flowers and leaves, dried and powdered, taken with Iron Dan [Tie Dan], can turn hair red within one year; this also belongs to the category of iron powder. Meng Shen said: Pomegranate is warm. Eating too much damages teeth and turns them black. The peel, roasted until yellow and pounded into powder, made into pills with date flesh, taken three pills on an empty stomach twice a day, treats abdominal pain from bloody and white dysentery. Take one sour pomegranate with its seeds, pound into juice, and take at once. Duan Chengshi's *Youyang Zazu* said: Sweet pomegranates are called "Heavenly Nectar" [Tian Jiang] and can regulate the toxicity of mineral stones [ru shi du].

*TU JING* said: An Shi Liu was not recorded in old texts regarding its place of origin; some say it originally grew in the native region. Lu Ji wrote to his brother: Zhang Qian served as an envoy to foreign countries for eighteen years before obtaining the Tu Lin An Shi Liu. Now it grows everywhere. It is also known as Dan Ruo. *Guang Ya* calls it Ruo Liu. The tree is not very tall or large; branches grow attached to the trunk. Broken branches placed in soil can take root. Flowers come in yellow and red colors; fruits come in sweet and sour varieties.

Sweet ones can be eaten; sour ones are used in medicine. Eating too much of the fruit damages the lungs. East-growing roots and shells are used in insecticidal and hair/teeth dyeing preparations. The multi-petaled flowers treat hematemesis [tu xue] and epistaxis [nu xue] caused by heart heat. Dried and powdered, blown into the nose, it cures immediately. Cui Yuanliang's *Hai Shang Fang* treats metal wounds and cuts from knives or axes with bleeding. Mix one sheng of smelted stone [duan shi] and half a jin of pomegranate flowers, pound into powder, apply a small amount to the wound, press for a while, and bleeding stops, leading to cure. Also, for treating tapeworms, those from the southeast direction are best. Boil two sheng and three he of water to obtain eight he, remove dregs, add a little rice to make thin porridge, eat on an empty stomach, and worms will pass out. There is another type called Mountain Pomegranate, similar in shape but very small, does not form capsules, grows abundantly in Qing and Qi regions, and is not used in medicine. It is merely honey-preserved as a fruit or sent to the capital, where it is delicious.

Lei Gong said: When using peel, leaves, and roots, do not let them touch iron. If using pomegranate shells, regardless of wet or dry state, first soak in grain wash water [jiang shui] overnight. By morning, filter out; the water will look like ink. If using branches, roots, and leaves, soak all in grain wash water overnight before use. *Zhou Hou Bei Ji Fang*: Treats bloody and white dysentery with passage of undigested food. Roast sour pomegranate peel until red, pound into powder, take one fang cun bi. *Bai Yi Fang*: Treats carbuncles [ding zhong]. Prick around the lesion with a needle, apply moxibustion [jiu], adjusting based on pain. Apply powder, wrap tightly, leave overnight, and the root will naturally emerge. *Jing Yan Fang*: Treats chronic diarrhea due to intestinal slippage [chang hua]. Quickly retrieve, do not let it turn into white ash, cover with a porcelain bowl overnight to remove fire toxicity, then pound into powder. For lung issues. Another method: Treats deafness. Method: In August or September, take one pomegranate, make a hole on top the size of a ball, keep the calyx, fill with rice vinegar, cover with the calyx, retrieve, roast in ash fire until cooked. Add powder of black plums and Xian Zhao Zi, take drops of liquid into the ear, do not move head suddenly. Do not panic if headache occurs. Repeat for three nights, then treat the other ear similarly. Good. Another method: Blood before stool causes sallow complexion. Pound pomegranate peel into powder, take with decoction of eggplant branches. *Dou Men Fang*: Treats amenorrhea [xue mai bu tong] in women. Take a handful of east-growing roots, roast dry, decoct strongly in one da zhen, take to cure. Same treatment for leukorrhea [chi bai dai] in women. *Guang Li Fang*: Treats hematemesis and epistaxis. Pound multi-petaled pomegranate flowers into powder, blow into nose to cure. One handful of east-growing pomegranate roots, clean wash and finely cut, decoct in three sheng of water to obtain less than half a bowl, remove dregs, take one large lump at dawn [wu geng], permanently eliminating the root cause, supplement with porridge for one day. *Gu Jin Lu Yan*: Treats imbalance of cold and heat, or watery discharge, or vomiting fluids. Take five he per dose, up to two sheng total, then it stops. Children take according to discretion.

*YAN YI* said: An Shi Liu has sour and bland varieties. Single-leaf flowers bloom and bear fruit simultaneously; seeds inside are red, with many lateral branches. After autumn rains, fruits split open naturally. Daoists call it "San Shi Wine," claiming San Shi parasites become intoxicated by this fruit. He Yin County produces the most. Another variety has white, crystal-clear seeds. Only sour pomegranate peel combined with purgative drugs is suitable; preferably from old trees and stored for a long time. Lightly roast into powder, make pills with scorched millet rice, size of paulownia seeds. Take 30-50 pills before meals with hot rice drink, adjusting dosage until effect is achieved. If cold and slippery, add equal parts of Fuzi (Aconite Lateral Root Preparatio) and Chishizhi (Halloysitum Rubrum).