Compendium of Materia Medica - Vernacular Interpretation of the "Human Body" Section

Overall Paraphrase

The "Human Body" section of the Compendium of Materia Medica documents six types of medicinal materials derived from human excrement or tissues, reflecting the ancient medical philosophy of "taken from humans, used for humans." Each is explained below.

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🌿 Human Middle Yellow (Rénzhōng Huáng)

Explanation of Name:甘草末塞入竹筒中，两端用竹木封固，冬季投入人粪缸内浸泡，至立春时取出，悬挂在通风处阴干，然后破开竹筒取出甘草末，晒干即成。

Indications (as recorded by the ancients):

1. Febrile disease with mania: Place Human Middle Yellow in a jar, seal it with mud, calcine for half a day, remove the fire toxin, grind into powder, and take three qian with water; if the illness does not subside, it may be taken again.
2. Vomiting blood, expectorating phlegm, restlessness, and bone-steaming fever (bone-steaming refers to a subjective sensation of heat emanating from within the bones): Grind Human Middle Yellow into powder, take three qian each time, mix with juice of madder root, bamboo sap, and ginger juice, and administer orally.

Note: These are ancient records of using Human Middle Yellow for clearing heat and resolving toxins. The terms "mania" and "vomiting blood" are ancient disease names corresponding to various acute and severe modern conditions. Do not self-administer.

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💧 Human Urine (Boy's Urine / Tóng Biàn)

Explanation of Name: Also known as "Sōu," "Xiǎo Biàn," "Lún Huí Jiǔ," and "Huán Yuān Tāng." Properties: Salty, cold, non-toxic. Ancient prescriptions preferred urine from healthy children.

Indications (as recorded by the ancients):

1. Chronic cough with spittle, lung atrophy, alternating chills and fever, flushed cheeks, and shortness of breath: Take five ge of boy's urine (discarding the initial and final streams), soak one cun of broken licorice root in it, leave exposed overnight in the open air, remove the licorice in the morning and drink in one dose. Alternatively, take with one qian of licorice powder. One dose daily; children should avoid the five pungent and hot foods.
2. Hematemesis and epistaxis: Take one sheng of human urine mixed with a little ginger juice.
3. Intestinal colic pain (approximating modern acute abdominal pain): Drinking boy's urine provides relief.
4. Chronic recurrent dysentery: Peel almonds, stir-fry with flour, and grind into powder; slice pig liver and wash clean, layer alternately with the almond powder in a pot, add two sheng of boy's urine, simmer until dry, cool, and eat freely.
5. Traumatic injuries from falls: Take boy's urine mixed with a small amount of wine.
6. Painful swollen hemorrhoids: Take warm boy's urine with three fen of alum, once to three times daily.

Note: The use of human urine as medicine was widespread in ancient medicine. Modern analysis confirms that boy's urine contains urea, electrolytes, and trace hormones, but its "curative effects" have never been verified by modern evidence-based medicine. The above is for understanding ancient pharmacological concepts only; do not attempt to self-administer.

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🟤 Tangled Hair (Xuè Yú / Hair Ash)

Explanation of Name: Human hair. Pharmaceutically known as "Xuè Yú" or "Rén Tuì." Properties: Bitter, slightly warm, non-toxic. Typically calcined into charcoal, known as "Xuè Yú Tàn" (Hair Charcoal).

Indications (as recorded by the ancients):

1. Unrelenting nosebleed: Burn tangled hair to ash and blow into the nostril. Another formula, "Sān Qí Sǎn," uses one qian of hair ash, five fen of Human Center White, and a pinch of musk, ground together and blown into the nose.
2. Lung abscess with hematemesis: Take Hair Charcoal, two ge of rice vinegar, and one bowl of boiling water, mix and administer.
3. Bleeding from all orifices: Burn hair, worn palm fiber, and aged lotus seedpod separately to ash, mix equal parts, take three qian per dose with costus root decoction.
4. Hematuria: Take two qian of Hair Charcoal with vinegar water.
5. Painful bloody strangury: Calcine tangled hair retaining its nature, take two qian, add a pinch of musk, and administer with rice water.
6. Bloody stools: Calcine half a liang of tangled hair to ash; grind one liang each of cockscomb flower and oriental arborvitae leaves into powder; mix well. Take two qian with wine before bed, and drink one cup of warm wine the next morning.
7. Amenorrhea: Burn three liang each of hair from a pre-pubescent boy and girl to ash; combine with 21 blister beetles (stir-fried yellow with glutinous rice), one qian of musk; grind together. Take one qian per dose before meals with hot ginger wine.
8. Jaundice with dark urine: Take one qian of Hair Charcoal with water, three times daily.
9. Constipation and urinary retention: Take three small pinches of Hair Charcoal with half a sheng of water.
10. Chancre and moist sores: Calcine one qian of Hair Charcoal and seven jujube pits together into powder and apply topically.

Note: Hair's primary component is keratin, which becomes carbide upon calcination. The ancients utilized the astringent and adsorptive properties of the charcoal for hemostasis—a concept continuous with the later tradition of "charred herbs for stopping bleeding." Modern research confirms that the hemostatic mechanism of Hair Charcoal relates to the physical adsorption of the charcoal, but this does not mean all the above uses are effective or safe.

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⚪ Urine Sediment (Nì Bái Yí / Human Center White)

Explanation of Name: The grayish-white sediment naturally deposited in human urine buckets or containers, with those dried for a long time by wind and sun considered superior. Must be calcined on a tile before medicinal use.

Properties: Salty, neutral, non-toxic.

Indications (as recorded by the ancients):

1. Bleeding from all orifices: Take a piece of Human Center White the size of a chicken egg, calcine together with five liang of cotton and grind. Take two qian per dose with warm water.
2. Unrelenting nosebleed: Dry Human Center White on a new tile over fire, add a little musk, and administer with warm wine.
3. Unilateral or bilateral headache: Grind equal parts of Human Center White and stir-fried earthworm to powder, mix with sheep bile to form pills the size of mustard seeds. Take one pill, dissolve in water, and drip into the nostril. This formula is called "Yī Dī Jīn" (One Drop of Gold).
4. Mouth and tongue ulcers: Mix Human Center White with three fen of dried alum, grind evenly, and apply to the affected area. Wipe away any saliva, and heal after several applications.

Note: Human Center White is essentially a precipitate of inorganic salts such as calcium phosphate and calcium urate from urine. The ancients utilized its salty, cold nature for clearing heat, stopping bleeding, and healing sores. In modern medicine, similar components have traditional topical applications in oral care products, but directly using urinary sediment as medicine does not meet modern hygiene and safety standards. It should be regarded only as historical knowledge.

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🧂 Autumn Mineral (Qiū Shí)

Explanation of Name: Produced by soaking gypsum in boy's urine and isolating crystals through a specific process. The purest quality is called "Qiū Bīng."

Properties: Salty, warm, non-toxic.

Indications (as recorded by the ancients): Deficiency-consumption with cold disorders, frequent urination, seminal emission, and turbid white discharge (general terms for kidney-deficiency-related abnormalities of semen and urinary symptoms). Ancient formulas include Qiū Shí Huán Yuān Dān, Yīn Yáng Èr Liàn Dān, Qiū Bīng Rǔ Fěn Wán, Zhí Zhǐ Qiū Shí Wán, Qiū Shí Jiāo Gǎn Dān, Qiū Shí Sì Jīng Wán, and Qiū Shí Jīng Wán.

Note: Autumn Mineral is a crystalline substance extracted from human urine in ancient times. Its composition varied depending on the manufacturing process, potentially containing urates, phosphates, and even trace metabolites of sex hormones. Shen Kuo's Dream Pool Essays also records it. Modern chemical analysis confirms that ancient Autumn Mineral was indeed derived from urine, but its medicinal value has never been rigorously validated. This represents valuable material for the history of ancient science and technology, not an effective medical treatment.

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🟣 Human Placenta (Zǐ Hé Chē)

Explanation of Name: The human placenta. It bears many alternate names: Bāo Yī, Tāi Yī, Zǐ Hé Chē, Hùn Dùn Yī, Hùn Yuán Mǔ, Fó Jiā Shā, Xiān Rén Yī, etc.

Properties: Sweet, salty, warm, non-toxic.

Indications (as recorded by the ancients):

1. Consumption and wasting in women (bone-steaming): Take one placenta (ancients preferred that of a newborn male infant), wash, cook thoroughly, chop finely, dry over heat, and grind into powder. Add two liang of Chinese yam, one liang of ginseng, and half a liang of poria cocos, grind all together into fine powder, mix with wine into a paste, and form pills the size of firmiana seeds. After storing with musk for seven days, take thirty to fifty pills per dose with warm salted water. This formula is named "Hé Chē Wán."

2. Calming the spirit, nourishing blood, boosting qi, and supplementing essence: This formula is named "Dà Zào Wán" (Great Creation Pill), composed as follows:

   • One placenta (use a female fetus for male patients, a male fetus for female patients; first-born placentas are preferred). Wash clean with rice-washing water, dry on a new tile over heat, and grind to powder (if steamed with light wine, pounded, and dried before powdering, the medicinal strength is better and free of fire toxin);
   • Two liang of aged tortoise shell, soaked in boy's urine for three days, then fried yellow with butter;
   • One and a half liang of Phellodendron bark, peeled, soaked and stir-fried with salt and wine;
   • One and a half liang of Eucommia bark, peeled, butter-fried;
   • One liang and two qian of Achyranthes root, stems removed, soaked in wine and dried;
   • Two and a half liang of fresh Rehmannia root, placed in a pouch with six qian of amomum and two liang of poria cocos, boiled in wine seven times; discard the amomum and poria, and pound the Rehmannia into a paste;
   • One liang and two qian each of asparagus root and ophiopogon root (hearts removed), and ginseng (rhizome removed); add seven qian of Schisandra fruit in summer.
   • Grind all ingredients except the Rehmannia into powder (avoid iron implements), combine with the Rehmannia paste, wine, and paste binder to form pills the size of small red beans. Take eighty to ninety pills per dose on an empty stomach with salted water, or with wine in winter.
   • For women, omit the tortoise shell and add two liang of angelica, using milk to cook the paste binder for the pills. For seminal emission in men and vaginal discharge in women, add one liang of oyster shell powder.
   • The ancients claimed this formula has "extremely heavy yin-nourishing merit, possessing the power to rival creation," hence the name "Dà Zào Wán."

3. Five overexertions, seven injuries, hematemesis, and deficiency-emaciation: Wash a placenta from a newborn until clear fluid stops flowing, boil thoroughly with wine, pound into a paste, mix with poria with host root powder, and form pills the size of firmiana seeds. Take one hundred pills per dose with rice water. Avoid iron implements.

4. Major wind disorders: Take one fresh placenta from a newborn, wash clean, and soak in water for several days (three days in spring, one in summer, five in autumn, seven in winter). Remove, dry over heat, and grind to powder. Add half a liang each of Notopterygium root, Gastrodia tuber, and saposhnikovia root; one liang each of stir-fried white silkworm and white aconite; two liang of Arisaema; one Aconite root; and twenty-one scorpions. Grind all together and form pills the size of firmiana seeds with a paste binder, coated with cinnabar. Take fifty pills per dose with good wine.

5. Red eyes with nebula (corneal opacity): Dry and calcine the placenta of a newborn infant, grind into fine powder, and apply into the eye daily until cured.

Note: Zǐ Hé Chē is the human placenta. Under the guidance of theories such as "using viscera to supplement viscera" and "flesh-and-blood substances with sentient essence," the ancients used it extensively for deficiency-wasting conditions. Modern medicine recognizes that the placenta contains bioactive substances including human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), placental lactogen, immunoglobulins, and various cytokines. However, direct use of human placenta presents clear biosafety risks (viral transmission, ethical issues), and most countries have strict restrictions on placenta-derived medicine. The Chinese Pharmacopoeia has not included Zǐ Hé Chē since its 2015 edition. The above content is intended solely for understanding the historical evolution of tonic concepts and has no value as modern clinical guidance.

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🧠 In-Depth Understanding

Core Principles 💡

1. The Concept of "Treating Humans with Human Substances" — Seeking Correspondence Through Kinship

The most central academic idea of the human-body medicinals is the unique medicinal logic developed by the ancients based on "corresponding like with like" and "using viscera to supplement viscera." Observing human depletion, the ancients believed that substances from the human body itself were the most direct for replenishment: the placenta supplements essence and blood (as it is the source of life), hair charcoal stops bleeding (as it was once nourished by blood), and urinary sediment clears heat (as it originates from the lower burner's water pathway). This reasoning shares its origin with animal-based "viscera-for-viscera" practices, only transferring the material source to humans themselves.

2. The Processing Wisdom of "Seeking Purity Within Turbidity"

Human Middle Yellow, Autumn Mineral, and Human Center White are all derived from urine or feces, yet the ancients did not use them directly. Rather, each underwent a complex processing procedure: Human Middle Yellow involves soaking licorice in a feces vat followed by shade-drying, essentially using the fermentative environment to transform the medicinal nature of licorice; Autumn Mineral is a crystalline precipitate extracted from urine; Human Center White is the calcined product of urinary scale. This "transforming turbidity into clarity" approach exemplifies the primitive understanding of material transformation—that essence can be generated from putrefaction.

3. The Empirical Use of Charred Substances for Hemostasis

Among the ten indications of Tangled Hair, seven fall into various categories of hemorrhage. This reflects the traditional hemostatic principle in Chinese medicine: "red meets black and stops." After calcination into charcoal, hairlike substances gain enhanced physical adsorptive properties. Although the ancients did not understand the underlying mechanism, their long-term practice established the empirical rule of "calcining to retain character."

4. The Tonic Concept of "Flesh-and-Blood Sentient Substances"

The human placenta was regarded by the ancients as a "flesh-and-blood sentient substance of extremely heavy yin-nourishing merit." Unlike the metallic-mineral qi of botanical drugs, the ancients believed animal or human tissues carry "life qi" more suitable for deeply replenishing the essence and blood of severe depletion. The compositional logic of Dà Zào Wán is: placenta for supplementing prenatal essence, ginseng and poria for boosting qi, Rehmannia and asparagus/ophiopogon for enriching yin, and Eucommia, Achyranthes, and tortoise shell for strengthening bones and tonifying kidneys—constituting a comprehensive restorative system.

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Modern Understanding 🌟

Potentially Validated Principles

• Hemostatic effect of hair charcoal: Modern research shows that carbonized hair exhibits physical adsorptive properties that may create a procoagulant local environment, providing a limited adjunctive astringent effect on mucosal surface bleeding. This aligns essentially with the ancients' empirical use of calcined ash for hemostasis.
• Bioactive components of the placenta: Modern biochemistry confirms that the placenta contains various hormones, immune factors, and growth factors. This provides a material basis that partially explains the ancients' perception of the placenta as "greatly tonic"—though "containing active ingredients" and "effective when taken orally" are two entirely different matters.
• Reutilization of urinary components: Modern medicine does have precedents for extracting active substances from urine, such as urokinase (a thrombolytic agent) and chorionic gonadotropin (ovulation inducer). As a urinary extractive, Autumn Mineral's "extraction-crystallization-medication" process was remarkably advanced given ancient technological conditions.

Historical Limitations That Must Be Acknowledged

• Hygiene and safety risks: Direct medicinal use of human feces and urine carries serious risks of pathogen transmission. The ancients had no concept of microorganisms and were unaware of the "fecal-oral route" of disease. Under modern conditions, such substances have been eliminated from virtually all pharmacopoeias.
• Ethical concerns: Placental medicine raises a constellation of ethical issues including sourcing and informed consent, along with risks of viral transmission (e.g., hepatitis B, HIV).
• Lack of evidence: All indications above stem from ancient individual experience or theoretical derivation and have never been validated through rigorous clinical trials. Some practices are not merely ineffective but may actively cause harm.
• Claims such as "those from newborn males are superior" or "first-born placentas are better" represent remnants of ancient patriarchal conceptual frameworks and shamanistic thought—carrying no scientific correlation whatsoever with pharmaceutical effect.

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Health Insights ⚡

Setting aside the specific medicinal use of human substances, certain principles reflected by human-body medicinals still offer relevant insights for general health and wellness in daily life:

• "Seeking purity in turbidity," concerning detoxification and metabolism: The principle of extracting "pure substances from turbid materials" parallels the modern concern for metabolic waste elimination. Maintaining regular bowel and bladder function, adequate hydration, and regular excretion in daily life helps sustain a clean internal environment.
• "Flesh-and-blood sentient substances" reflect the hierarchical nature of dietary nutrition: The ancients believed that animal materials and botanical materials differ in tonic potency. Modern nutritional science likewise recognizes differences in the indispensable amino acid composition between animal proteins and plant proteins. A balanced intake of both animal and plant foods better serves complete nutrition than single-source supplementation.
• "Calcinations retaining properties" shows transformability of materials: The same substance can alter its nature under different processing conditions. This reminds us that methods of food and drug preparation affect their properties and effects; learning proper food processing and cooking is itself a discipline.
• Temperance and rationality: Practical yet bold, human-body medicinals remind us: The more a wellness technique markets itself as "extraordinary," "unusual," or "secretive," the higher the burden of proof it carries. These should be scrutinized with heightened rational standards rather than simply attempted out of novelty. The best daily regimen is steady, ordinary wholesomeness.

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📚 Related Knowledge

Related Concepts

Further Reading

• Complete "Human Section" of the Compendium of Materia Medica: Li Shizhen documented over thirty types of human-based medicinals; beyond the six covered in this chapter, others include "human milk," "human teeth," "human gallbladder," and "skull cap," making it an essential text for understanding the ancient practice of using human body parts as medicine.
• Compendium of Materia Medica: Newly Organized: Written by Wu Yiluo of the Qing dynasty, this work provides more detailed analyses of the properties, tastes, and meridian tropisms of substances such as human placenta and qiushi.
• Master Lei's Discourse on Drug Processing: A source for understanding the specific technical procedures used in ancient times to process hair ash and human middle-white sediment.
• Dream Pool Essays: Pharmaceutical Discussions: Shen Kuo's documentation of the manufacturing method of qiushi constitutes an important historical text for the history of chemistry in ancient China.
• Chinese Pharmacopoeia (current edition): Compare to see which traditional medicinal materials have been eliminated or restricted in use, offering insight into the logic of selection in the modernization of Chinese medicine.

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This content is based on the classical Chinese medical text Compendium of Materia Medica and is provided solely for the study and appreciation of traditional culture. It does not constitute any form of medical diagnosis, prescription, or treatment advice. If you feel unwell, please seek medical attention promptly.