White Phoenix Ointment
【Source】Quoted from "Ten Medicinal Secrets" in "Xiu Yue Luban Jing Hou Lu" (recorded in "Yifang Leijue" Volume 150).
【Composition】One black-beaked white duck, 1 kilogram large jujube, 500 grams Ginseng-Poria Stomach Harmonizing Powder, one large bottle of aged rice wine.
【Usage】First tie the duck's legs tightly. Measure how much wine the patient usually drinks, pour that amount into a container, heat it, then cut open the duck’s neck with a knife, let the blood drip into the wine, mix well, and drink in one go. Then pluck the duck clean, make a hole under the ribcage, remove internal organs, wipe dry with paper, remove pits from jujubes, fill each with Ginseng-Poria Stomach Harmonizing Powder, tie with hemp cloth, place inside the duck’s belly. Put the duck in a sugar jar, surround with charcoal fire, slowly stew, adding the entire bottle of wine in three portions until the wine is fully evaporated. Remove and consume gradually, finishing the whole duck.
【Function】Nourish marrow and generate body fluids, harmonize blood and regulate qi.
【Indications】All types of chronic exhaustion, physical weakness, cough with phlegm, hemoptysis, afternoon fever, muscle wasting, weak voice.
【Discussion】This formula treats chronic debility caused by deficiency of lung and kidney yin, depletion of essence and blood, extreme deficiency of vital energy, and disharmony of spleen and stomach. The black-beaked white duck is the principal herb: first drinking its blood benefits the lungs, moistening and nourishing them; then eating its meat supplements the lungs and kidneys, enriches essence and marrow, reduces bone-steaming fever, dissolves deficient phlegm, and stops cough. When debility leads to weak voice and low breath, immediate tonification of vital energy and strengthening of the spleen and stomach are needed, so ginseng, jujube, and poria serve as secondary herbs. The addition of Stomach Harmonizing Powder acts as auxiliary, promoting digestion and harmonizing the middle burner, ensuring that the nourishing effects of duck meat, ginseng, and jujube are not greasy, embodying the principle of tonifying while also eliminating stagnation. |
