Wúshǔ de gānzào fènbiàn míng wǔlíngzhī, zhōngyào yòngyú huóxuè huàyū.
The dried droppings of the flying squirrel, called wulingzhi, are used in traditional medicine to dispel stasis.
Tips
usage
wú appears chiefly in 鼯鼠 (flying squirrel — family Pteromyini), nocturnal squirrels with a patagium (skin flap) between fore and hind limbs that lets them glide between trees. The classical chengyu 鼯鼠之技 ('flying-squirrel's skills', from 《荀子》) describes someone with five mediocre skills and no real mastery: the flying squirrel can climb, swim, dig, run, and glide — but does none of them well. A polite put-down still used in formal writing.
culture
五灵脂 — the dried droppings of the flying squirrel — is a famous ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, valued for treating blood stasis. It is paired with 蒲黄 in the classical formula 失笑散 (Sudden-Smile Powder, Song dynasty), so named because the medicine was said to relieve pain so suddenly that patients laughed in surprise.
