By Yu Ying

Edited by Andrew Miles

"Medical Gu" refers to a type of Gu magic that can turn misfortune into good fortune and even bring the dead back to life. The Miao people believe that Gu is a form of magic. If a child gets a fishbone stuck in their throat, experiences stomach pain, or is frightened, someone skilled in Gu magic will take a bowl of clean water, make circular motions with their fingers above the bowl, chant a few incantations, and then have the child drink the water. The child will naturally recover. If the healer cannot identify which specific Gu is at play, they will seek another remedy.

There are several primary methods for making Gu medicine:

One involves taking a live toad, sealing it in a plastic bag, and placing it in a latrine pit submerged in water for several months. Afterward, the toad is retrieved, burned to ashes, and the powder becomes the medicine. Editors Note: Yuck

The second method involves preparing a rooster, beating it to death with a stick, and hanging it in a tree to decompose. The liquid from the decomposing chicken drips onto the ground, where mushrooms or other fungi will grow. These are then harvested, dried, and ground into powder.

Editors note: Holy shit?! maybe the incresed stress hormones in the blood change it somehow to make it ideal for different local fungi?

The third method involves preparing a male chicken, burning it until it emits a strong fragrance, and then tying it in an open field (using string to attach it to a rock or tree). Wild animals such as snakes, scorpions, and ants come to feed on it. After several days, the remaining material is collected and ground into powder.

In my opinion, Gu magic is not as terrifying as outsiders might believe, nor is it a form of mind-controlling witchcraft. It is actually an ancient remedy used by the Miao people to treat illnesses. When I was young, if a child had diarrhea or was sick for a long time without getting better, the elders in the family would use eggs boiled with mugwort ai ye and roll them over the child's stomach, wrapping them in silver. Afterward, they would check the silver, and if it had turned black or green, it was said that the toxic gas in the child’s stomach had been released. Some online sources explain this as a chemical reaction between sulfur in the egg whites and silver, producing silver sulfide. However, the mugwort and hot compresses used in this treatment are also effective.

Editor’s note: Eggs on the stomach makes me think these folks are secretly Mexican. Anyone missing an abuela in Guizhou? Possibly during the last ice age when she took a boat to China?

A Miao girl studying away from home once said, "When I was little, my body’s immune system was weak, and I often got rashes or mosquito bites. My family would make a medicinal bath from a wild herb and give me a bath once a week. They called it 'pharmaceutical Gu.'" Editor’s note: This one sounds the most comfortable to me.