Cinnabar (mercuric sulphide), believed to remove excess sputum and relieve ching-feng (infant convulsions), was widely used in various kinds of medicine, as well. There are even records that shui-yin (mercury) was taken directly during the Sung, Yuan, Ming and Ching dynasties. Cinnabar, realgar, cow-bezoare and other minerals were subsequently used in large quantities in pa-pao-san.
而硃砂（硫化汞）則是古代的袪痰及驚風藥，廣泛使用於各種方劑，甚至宋、元、明、清各代都有直接使用其前身水銀的紀錄，八寶散也大量採用硃砂、雄黃、牛黃、天竺黃、西黃等礦物藥。