While traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatments like acupuncture and herbal remedies have gone mainstream, there is another side to TCM that will likely make your stomach turn.
Coffin bacteria, or guan cai jun, is used to treat bone cancer and associated pain. This type of bacteria grows on the inside of coffins above the mouths of the deceased. According to the TCM guide “Reflection on Traditional Chinese Medicine,” the coffin must be made of high-quality wood, and the “resident” must be a male.
The origins of the bacteria make it decidedly hard to harvest, especially considering that most people these days are cremated in China. Coffin bacteria is said to be akin to Ganoderma lucidum, which is considered to be a potential anti-cancer agent.
Rulvis glycyrrhizae extractionis sedilis, known as ren zhong huang in China, is produced by placing licorice root stored in a loose bamboo container in human feces and leaving it there for an extended period of time.
This “medical treat” can supposedly remove internal body heat and detoxify blood. It can also be used, in theory, to cure polydipsia (abnormal thirst), erysipelas (a bacterial skin infection), high fevers and ulcers.
Depositum urinae hominis, also known as ren zhong bai, or “sediment of human urine,” is exactly what it sounds like, and it’s used to clear “pathogenic internal heat” and “resolve blood stagnation.” This type of medicine can supposedly be used to cure fatigue, atrophic lung disease, nosebleeds, hematemesis (vomiting blood), sore throat, malnutrition-based gingivitis, and aphthae ulcers.
Bat dung, known as ye ming sha, or Faeces vespertilonis, also has alleged medical uses. The original name for this powdery medicine was tian shu shi, or “flying rat poop.”
Supposedly, this medication can reduce internal body heat, improve one’s eyesight, aid blood dissipation, and fix blood stagnation. Bat dung can be used to treat glandular swelling, malaria, night blindness, malnutrition, and glaucoma. This type of medicine is still apparently used frequently in China.
Dried human placenta, called zi he che, theoretically nourishes the blood and replenishes essence, as well as cures night sweats, impotence, spermatorrhea (excessive, involuntary ejaculation), hemoptysis (coughing blood), asthma, infertility, and blood and energy deficiency in women.
Ambergris, known as long xian xiang, is a substance secreted in the intestines of sperm whales that can be found floating in the ocean. This can treat asthma, abdominal pains and energy problems.
There are also treatments which involve drinking urine, eating ants, and being stung by bees.
The strangest of China’s treatments is actually a snack and a part of China’s “intangible cultural heritage.” In Dongyang, Zhejiang, locals collect buckets of urine from primary school students and use the urine to boil eggs. These urine-soaked eggs, known as tong zi niao zhu ji dan, are said to cure headaches, coughing, thirst, certain heart and lung ailments, several key gynecological problems, injuries and a variety of ocular disorders.
Jilin-based TCM specialist Wang Jian explained to The Daily Caller News Foundation that while some of these treatments are now less common, all of the above can still be found in certain parts of China. He added, “[These medicines] will probably do the trick, but they are a bit gross.”
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