蒲黃 Pohwang (포황)

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

1. 性平, 味甘, 無毒. 止九竅出血, 消瘀血.

   Its nature is neutral, its taste sweet, and it is non-toxic. It stops bleeding from the nine orifices and disperses static blood.

   HomiclubPohwang is cattail pollen, the yellow dust shaken from the club-shaped flower spike of the bulrush that grows in ponds and ditches. Cattails are still common along the edges of reservoirs and wetlands in Korea.

2. 主血痢及婦人崩漏帶下, 及兒枕急痛, 下血墮胎.

   It chiefly addresses bloody dysentery, a woman's flooding, spotting, and discharge, and acute afterbirth pain; it brings down blood and drops the fetus.

3. 生水澤中, 處處有之. 卽蒲槌中黃粉也. 伺其有, 便拂取之.

   It grows in water and marshes and is found everywhere. It is the yellow powder inside the cattail club. Watch for the time it forms and brush it off at once.

   HomiclubA cattail spike carries male flowers above and female flowers below, and the yellow dust comes from the upper, male portion. The pollen sheds over only a few days in early summer, which is why the text says to watch for the moment.

4. 要破血消腫, 卽生使. 要補血止血, 卽炒用.

   To break up blood and disperse swelling, use it raw; to supplement blood and stop bleeding, use it roasted.

5. 其下篩後有赤滓, 名爲萼, 炒用, 甚澁腸, 止瀉血及血痢. 《本草》

   The red residue left after sifting is called ak (萼, calyx); roasted and used, it strongly astringes the intestines and stops bleeding stool and bloody dysentery. 《Boncho (本草)》