Compendium of Materia Medica, Vol. 49

Guiming and Ying Likely referring to the scholars Lu Guiming and Chen Ying state: This bird senses the yang energy of spring and is the first to sing, which is why it benefits people. Shizhen says: According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, eating this "yellow bird" prevents one from becoming jealous. Yang Kui’s Treatise on Stopping Jealousy records that Empress Xi, the consort of Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty, was naturally very jealous. Someone suggested that preparing the oriole as a meal could cure jealousy. When she followed this advice, her jealousy was indeed reduced by half.

The Woodpecker Source: Song Dynasty "Jiayou Materia Medica"

Explanatory Names The Wood-Cleaver From the Erya The oldest Chinese dictionary, dating to the 3rd century BCE; the Jia Shizhen says: This bird pecks and splits tree trunks to extract and eat wood-boring larvae, which is how it earned its name. The Classic of Birds states: "The Jia the woodpecker sets its will on the wood, while the Pelican sets its will on the water."

Collected Explanations Yuxi The physician Liu Yuxi says: The Records of Strange Things states that woodpeckers come in large and small varieties; some are brown and some are spotted. The spotted ones are the males. They bore through wood to eat grubs. Folklore says they are the transformation of the "Medicine-Gathering Official of the Thunder God" original: 雷公采藥吏, Leigong caiyaoli. In the mountains, there is a variety as large as a magpie, blue-black in color with red feathers on its head, which the locals call the "Mountain Woodpecker." Shizhen says: Small woodpeckers are the size of sparrows, while large ones are the size of crows. Their faces are the color of peach blossoms, and their beaks and feet are both blue-green. They possess strong claws and sharp beaks. The beak is shaped like an awl and is several inches long. Its tongue is even longer than its beak, with needle-like barbs at the tip. Once it pecks into a hole, it uses its tongue to hook the insects out and eat them. The Records of Diverse Matters original: 博物志, Bowuzhi claims this bird can "write" characters with its beak to command insects to come out on their own. Lu Zhigang says that current practitioners in Fujian, Guangdong, and Sichuan collect these "talismanic marks" made by the bird's beak to treat fright-induced wasting diseases and toxic sores. This Mountain Woodpecker has [red feathers] on its head...