talismans (符)
Written charms bearing sacred signs or commands to spirits, hung on doors or worn to drive away the spirits believed to cause disease.
Discourse on Epidemic Qi, and a Brother's Letter
Cao Zhi and Cao Pi, quoted in the Taiping yulan (Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era), chapter 742 · 217 or soon after (the essay, on the epidemic of Jian'an 22); 218 (Cao Pi's letter)