Witnessed by: TCM

Cicada slough (Cryptotympana pustulata), of the Cicadidae (Insecta) family. The cicada — its nymph living years underground, then climbing a trunk at night to split its skin and emerge winged, leaving the empty case gripping the bark; native range: gathered across China, chiefly Shandong, Hebei, Henan and the Yangtze provinces, from the trunks of trees in summer. Globally recognized as chan tui (蟬蛻), chan yi (蟬衣) in Chinese, cicada slough, cicada moulting in English, and Periostracum Cicadae in Latin. The part used is the cast nymphal skin (the slough). A hollow amber to yellow-brown shell, perfect and complete down to the legs and the split along the back, translucent, papery-crisp and all but weightless — it crushes to nothing between the fingers. Faintly salty, no smell.

In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.

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