Homiclub

Tangaek — Decoctions · Trees

生漆 Saengot (생옻)

Saengchil is raw lacquer, the sap tapped from the lacquer tree and left unrefined. It is the same coating brushed onto mother-of-pearl ware and wooden bowls today, and contact raises a rash on many people. The text says it was gathered after the summer solstice and thinned with perilla oil.

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

  1. 去長蟲, 久服輕身耐老. 仙方有服法

    It expels jangchung (長蟲, long worms), and taken long it lightens the body and withstands ageing. The seonbang (仙方, immortals' formulas) contain a method for taking it

    HomiclubSaengchil is the sap collected from cuts scored into a lacquer tree's trunk, raw and unrefined. It is the base liquid of the lacquer brushed onto mother-of-pearl ware and wooden vessels.

  2. 夏至後採取.

    It is gathered after the summer solstice.

    HomiclubLacquer sap runs most freely in summer. Tapping is still carried out between June and September.

  3. 漆性幷急, 凡取時, 須荏油解破.

    Lacquer's nature is uniformly harsh, so whenever it is gathered it must be loosened and tempered with perilla oil.

  4. 凡驗漆, 以物蘸起, 細而不斷, 斷而急收. 又塗於乾竹上, 蔭之速乾者, 幷佳. 《本草》

    To test lacquer, dip something in and lift it: the thread should draw out thin without breaking, and snap back quickly when it does break. Also, when spread on dry bamboo, the kind that sets fast in the shade is fine in every case. 《Boncho (本草)》

  5. 蟹黃能化漆爲水, 故解漆毒. 《入門》

    The yellow inside a crab can turn lacquer into water, and so it resolves lacquer toxin. 《Immun (入門)》

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This is a cultural and historical record from a classical text, not a claim about any food’s effects. Nothing here is a health supplement or intended to prevent or treat disease. Consult a medical professional about health concerns. · Text: Korean Medicine Classics DB · Reading: Homiclub