Did the palace guard sand in martial arts novels really exist in ancient times?

Generations of virgins.

My master gave me some palace sand.

last night ...

You did this to me last night.

Why do I still have palace sand on my arm?

-Little Dragon Girl

Anyone who has seen The Condor Heroes will worry about one thing, that is, the little dragon girl lost her virginity in Yin Zhiping.

Although Yin Zhiping finally committed suicide, a flawless jade was defiled.

In this case, there is a magical medicine-palace sand. What is palace sand?

According to the Jin dynasty's natural history records:

Keeping geckos with cinnabar will turn red all over. Feed seven pounds of cinnabar, and the gecko will be mashed into a paste, and the virgin's limbs will be stained with it, and the color will be bright red. It will never fade unless you have sex.

In ancient times, the gecko was also called "guarding the palace".

According to Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica,

Because it is often hung on the wall of the house, it is named Shougong, also known as the wall palace.

So generally speaking, "palace sand" is a chemical substance with gecko and cinnabar as its main components.

Is it really related to chastity?

Let's look at the composition of cinnabar first.

Cinnabar, also known as Cinnabar, cinnabar, red lead and mercury sand, is mainly composed of mercury sulfide, but it is often mixed with realgar, apatite and asphaltene, which has the functions of sedation, hypnosis, detoxification and antisepsis.

After the Eastern Han Dynasty, cinnabar played an extremely important role in alchemy because of the rise of elixir.

This is the case with Bao Puzi of Jin;

"All the plants and trees burn, and cinnabar burns into mercury and accumulates into cinnabar."

Tang Chen Shao Wei:

"Cinnabar, the essence of the sun, the body of golden fire. After Bashi, it should be twenty-four. "

The First Fold of Yuan Prince's Easy Mistaking into Taoyuan;

"Far luxury, near Ting Anne. Fire alchemy sand, boil yellow buds. "

Please note that although alchemists in past dynasties described the mystery of cinnabar very mysteriously, they mentioned qi, yin and yang, five elements, longevity and so on, but never mentioned chastity.

Let's see what the doctor says.

Su, who revised Tang Materia Medica, recognized it as:

"It's ridiculous to feed Zhu women."

Li Shizhen also said:

The theory of "point arm", such as Wan Bishu in Huainan, Zhang Hua's natural history and Mo Ke's rhinoceros waving in Cheng Peng, all have their own methods, which are generally untrue. I'm afraid there is no other way to pass it on. "

Li Shizhen is a pragmatist. He collected the White House and traveled all over his life. Although the theory of "guarding the palace sand" has not been killed with a stick, it indirectly shows that the method of testing chastity with cinnabar and gecko is sheer nonsense.

In fact, it is also well confirmed now. Grab a gecko, lock it up and feed it to cinnabar to see if it can be eaten. Generally speaking, geckos are only interested in biology and don't touch dead bugs, so they have no appetite for cinnabar.

The earliest source of the theory of "guarding the palace sand" is Liu Che, Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and Dong Fangshuo, Prime Minister.

In the eyes of the Eastern Jin people, this pair of combinations is equivalent to Liu He, He He and He in the eyes of modern people. They are professionals. They have heard of unofficial history and cannot be trusted.

In addition, there is another explanation for "guarding the palace sand", that is, there are occasionally red particles on the paws of guarding the palace, as fine as sand.

This does exist. But these red particles are pulled down and put under a microscope. You will find that they have feet and heads, but they are actually mites parasitic on geckos.

Jin Yong in the new edition of "Eternal Dragon Slayer", specifically explained "guarding the palace sand", he said:

"According to the ancient legend of China, guarding the palace (lizard-shaped animal) and medicine are mashed into paste, and the crimson color lasts for a long time, which is called' guarding the palace sand' ... This book describes it as a belief in ancient life. At that time, the ancients believed it and told the story. Whether it is true or not, there is no reason to judge with modern scientific knowledge. "

Therefore, the rumor that martial arts novels are the hardest hit areas can also be dismissed.

As for why the ancients believed, it was probably because the palace was salty and cool, which could dispel the wind and activate the collaterals and disperse the knot to fight cancer. And cinnabar is sweet and cool, which can soothe the nerves, improve eyesight and detoxify.

Both of them are used to cultivate self-cultivation and desire women's hearts.

Secondly, it is also a kind of psychological suggestion, which makes women subconsciously awe and dare not cross the bottom line.

Moreover, in ancient times, the government often summoned stable women (experienced midwives) to identify whether a woman was a virgin, not based on guarding the palace sand.

Finally, attach a true story of an unjust case caused by "guarding the palace sand".

The Song Dynasty was just established, in order to appease Houshu, reduce taxes and promote talents at the same time.

A rich man took this opportunity to spend a lot of money to buy a Beijing official.

Everything was arranged at home when I left, except for a princess as beautiful as flowers and pure as jade. I found a local Taoist temple and asked the Lord to help me think of an idea.

The Lord took out a bottle of powder and said, "This is palace sand. As long as you put it on a woman's arm and don't have sex, it will never fall off. "

The rich man was very happy, took it back to his wife and took office.

Besides, his concubine, named He Fangzi, was originally the daughter of a scholarly family. Because of years of war, the family was in decline and sold to the rich man's family. She is young and beautiful, and she is usually excluded by other wives.

After the rich man left, those women were afraid to touch the "palace sand" on their arms. He Fangzi is very annoying and thinks it is a shame. He washes and wipes every day. Before long, "Palace Sand" became weaker and weaker, and finally disappeared.

This can realize the wishes of those women and add fuel to the rich man's letter.

Hearing this, the rich man was amazed! At present, I have ordered several wives and concubines to take over the capital overnight. See He Fangzi, high-handed, hang up and fight. While beating, she forced her to ask who the adulterer was.

He Fangzi couldn't say it, of course, and was finally killed.

If you kill a concubine in your hometown in Sichuan, you may end up spending some money. Now at the foot of the son of heaven, life is a matter of concern, and in a few days, there has been a lot of noise.

Kaifeng heard the news and immediately checked it. First, the coffin was opened for autopsy, and the body was raw and covered with whip marks, and then the rich man was detained. The rich man couldn't hide it and told the story in detail.

So the judge used the "palace sand" left by the rich man to spot three women and brought a dog for the dog to lick. The dog licked the "palace sand" clean three or two times.

Kaifeng immediately released He Fangzi, and the rich man abused lynching, removed his official position and imposed heavy penalties.

Because of Sichuan's comfort policy, even the Central Dali Temple was dispatched. But just as Dali Temple was preparing for a heavy sentence, the rich man died mysteriously, and the Taoist who gave him "palace sand" also committed suicide by throwing himself into the lake.

He Fangzi traveled thousands of miles from Sichuan to Bianjing, but he was wronged to wander in a foreign land.

People sympathized with her experience and opened a "Notre Dame Temple". Since the Song Dynasty, this temple has been rebuilt by every generation for thousands of years and still stands in the south of Kaifeng, Henan Province.

It also has another name, called "Shougong Temple".