野茨菰 물웃 (야자고)

Original, read line by line 東醫寶鑑 · Tangaek — Decoctions vol. 3

1. 性冷, 味苦, 無毒.

   Its nature is cold, its taste bitter, and it is non-toxic. The cold, bitter quality clears heat from the body.

2. 下石淋.

   It expels stone strangury, corresponding to what we now call urinary stones.

3. 除癰腫, 止消渴, 療産後血悶, 及胎衣不下.

   It reduces abscesses and swellings, relieves wasting-thirst, and treats postpartum blood stasis and retained placenta — notably aiding maternal recovery.

4. 生田野, 處處有之.

   It grows in fields and wild places, common everywhere — a familiar plant of damp ground.

5. 飢歲人採其根, 煮食甚美. 《俗方》

   In years of famine people dug the roots and boiled them — quite delicious. The Sokbang notes it served both as medicine and as a relief food for the hungry.

6. 剪刀草根, 卽野茨菰也. 《丹心》

   The root of jiandaocao is none other than yajigu — so named for its scissor-shaped leaves, as the Danxin explains.

7. 治疔瘡用剪刀草, 卽此也. 《正傳》

   The jiandaocao used to treat deep-rooted boils is precisely this plant, as recorded in the Zhengzhuan.