龍腦香 Yongnoehyang (용뇌향)

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

1. 性微寒一云溫平, 味辛苦, 無毒. 主內外障眼.

   Its nature is slightly cold, though one account calls it warm and neutral; its taste is pungent and bitter, and it is non-toxic. It chiefly treats eyes veiled by jang (障, obstructing screens) inside and out.

   HomiclubYongnoehyang is the fragrant resin that hardens inside the trunk of the Southeast Asian dryobalanops tree. The compound obtained from it is known today as borneol and is used in perfumery and air fresheners.

2. 明目鎭心, 去目赤膚瞖, 心腹邪氣, 風濕積聚, 去三蟲, 治五痔.

   It brightens the eyes and calms the heart, removes redness of the eye and bu-ye (膚瞖, a film over the eye), evil qi in the chest and abdomen, and masses gathered from wind-damp; it expels the samchung (三蟲, three kinds of worm) and treats the ochi (五痔, five kinds of piles).

3. 出嶺南, 狀若梅花瓣者, 甚佳. 其淸香爲百藥之先, 然非常服之藥.

   It comes from Yeongnam, and the kind shaped like plum-blossom petals is very fine. Its clear fragrance stands first among the hundred medicines, yet it is not a medicine to be taken constantly.

4. 獨行則勢弱, 佐使則有功. 於茶亦相宜, 合糯米炭相思子, 貯之則不耗. 《本草》

   Used alone its force is weak; used as jwasa (佐使, assistant and envoy in a formula) it has merit. It suits tea as well, and if stored together with glutinous-rice charcoal and sangsaja seeds it does not waste away. 《Boncho (本草)》

5. 卽婆律國杉木脂也. 腦乃流出香液也. 形似松脂, 作杉木氣, 明淨狀若梅花瓣者佳.

   It is the resin of the fir of the country of Paryul. The word noe (腦) means the fragrant liquid that flows out. Its form resembles pine resin and it carries the scent of fir; the clear, clean kind shaped like plum-blossom petals is good.

   HomiclubParyul was an old name for the region around the island of Borneo. The tree is not a fir but a tall member of the dipterocarp family; the text likens it to fir because of the similar scent.

6. 入藥, 另硏用. 《入門》

   When put into a formula it is ground separately. 《Immun (入門)》

7. 龍腦屬火, 世人誤以爲寒, 而不知其性散甚, 似乎寒耳. 人欲死者呑之, 氣卽散盡.

   Yongnoe belongs to fire, but people of the world mistakenly take it for cold, not knowing that its nature disperses so strongly that it merely seems cold. If a dying person swallows it, the qi at once scatters away entirely.

8. 盖芳之甚, 而散之速也. 《丹心》

   This is because its fragrance is extreme and so its dispersing is swift. 《Dansim (丹心)》

9. 龍腦, 入腎治骨. 《綱目》

   Yongnoe enters the sin (腎, kidney) and treats the bones. 《Gangmok (綱目)》

10. 相思子, 出嶺南, 樹高丈餘, 子赤黑間者佳. 《本草》

    Sangsaja comes from Yeongnam; the tree stands somewhat over a jang (丈, about three meters) tall, and the seeds mottled red and black are good. 《Boncho (本草)》

    HomiclubSangsaja is the seed of a leguminous vine, called rosary pea in the West for its red body flecked with black. The seed itself is strongly toxic, so it was not eaten but placed alongside yongnoe in storage.

11. 今以黑大豆ㆍ燈心草同貯, 亦不耗. 《俗方》

    Today it is stored together with black soybeans and deungsimcho (燈心草, rush pith), and this too keeps it from wasting away. 《Sokbang (俗方)》