升麻 Seungma (승마)

Original, read line by line 東醫寶鑑 · Tangaek — Decoctions vol. 2

1. 性平一云微寒, 味甘苦, 無毒.

   Its nature is neutral, though one account calls it slightly cold; its taste is sweet and bitter, and it is non-toxic.

   HomiclubSeungma is the rhizome of a perennial in the buttercup family. It grows in the shade of deep mountain woods and bears long, spike-like plumes of white flowers in summer; in gardens the genus is known as Cimicifuga.

2. 主解百毒, 殺百精老物, 辟瘟疫瘴氣. 療蠱毒, 治風腫諸毒, 喉痛口瘡. 《本草》

   It chiefly resolves the hundred toxins, kills sprites and long-lived apparitions, and wards off epidemic pestilence and miasmic qi. It treats godok (蠱毒, worm toxin), wind swelling and the various toxins, sore throat, and mouth sores. 《Boncho (本草)》

3. 生山野中, 其葉如麻, 故名爲升麻.

   It grows in mountains and open country, and because its leaves are like those of hemp it is named seungma.

   HomiclubA seungma leaf divides into threes and then into threes again along a single long stalk, and the resulting outline resembles a hemp leaf. The character for hemp in its name comes from this.

4. 二月八月採根, 暴乾, 刮去黑皮幷腐爛者用. 細削如雞骨, 色靑綠者佳.

   Dig the roots in the second and eighth months and dry them in the sun, scraping away the black skin and any rotted parts before use. Those that pare down thin like chicken bone and are green in color are the good ones.

5. 本治手足陽明風邪, 兼治手足太陰肌肉間熱. 《入門》

   It fundamentally treats wind evil in the hand and foot yangmyeong, and also treats heat between the flesh in the hand and foot taeeum. 《Immun (入門)》

6. 陽明本經藥也. 亦走手陽明太陰經. 若元氣不足者用此, 於陰中升陽氣上行, 不可缺也. 《丹心》

   It is a medicine of the yangmyeong home channel. It also travels the hand yangmyeong and hand taeeum channels. If someone with insufficient original qi uses it, it raises the yang qi from within the eum and sends it upward, so it cannot be left out. 《Dansim (丹心)》

7. 陽氣下陷者宜用. 若發散生用, 補中酒炒, 止汗蜜炒. 《入門》

   It suits those whose yang qi has sunk downward. To disperse outward use it raw; to supplement the middle burner stir-fry it with wine; to stop sweating stir-fry it with honey. 《Immun (入門)》