皂莢 주엽나무 (조협)

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

1. 性溫, 味辛醎, 有小毒.

   Its nature is warm, the taste pungent and salty, and it carries a mild toxicity.

2. 通關節, 除頭風, 利九竅, 消痰涎, 止咳嗽, 療脹滿, 破堅癥, 能墮胎.

   It opens the joints, dispels head-wind, frees the nine orifices, dissolves phlegm, stops coughing, relieves bloating, breaks hardened masses, and is strong enough to bring on miscarriage.

3. 治中風口噤, 殺勞蟲.

   It treats lockjaw from wind-stroke and is said to kill the consumption worm believed to cause wasting diseases.

4. 在處有之, 樹高枝間生大刺.

   It grows commonly everywhere; the tree stands tall, with large thorns sprouting between its branches.

5. 九月十月採莢, 陰乾.

   Gather the ripe pods in the ninth or tenth lunar month and dry them slowly in the shade.

6. 有長皂莢ㆍ猪牙皂莢二種.

   It comes in two kinds: the long soap-pod and the pig-tooth soap-pod, named after its short curved shape.

7. 今醫家作疏風氣丸散, 多用長皂莢.

   Physicians today, when making pills and powders that disperse wind and circulate qi, mostly use the long type.

8. 治齒及取積藥, 多用猪牙皂莢.

   For toothache and for breaking up abdominal accumulations, the pig-tooth type is the favored choice.

9. 大抵性味不相遠.

   Even so, the nature and taste of the two are not far apart.

10. 不蛀而肥者佳, 可爲沐湯, 去垢甚妙. 《本草》

    Plump pods free of worm-holes are best; boiled into a hair wash, they strip away grime with uncanny ease. From the Bencao.

11. 引入厥陰經藥也.

    It acts as a guide that leads other medicines into the jueyin channel of the liver.

12. 去皮及子, 酥灸或蜜灸用. 《入門》

    Strip off the skin and seeds, then roast it with butter or honey before use. From the Yimen.

13. 鐵碪以鍜金銀, 雖千百年不壞, 以槌皂莢則卽碎.

    An iron anvil may pound gold and silver for centuries without cracking, yet strike a soap-pod with that mallet and it shatters at once, a figure for how fiercely it breaks through what is hard.

14. 一名皂角. 《丹心》

    It also goes by the name jogak. From the Danxin.

15. 皂莢子

    What follows is a separate entry on the soap-pod seed, called jajeop-ja.

16. 疏導五藏風熱壅滯.

    It opens and disperses wind-heat that has stagnated in the five viscera.

17. 又入治肺藥, 療大腸風秘.

    It also enters lung formulas and relieves wind-bound constipation in the large intestine.

18. 炮核, 取中心嚼餌, 治膈痰呑酸. 《本草》

    Roast the kernel, take out the inner pith and chew it slowly; it treats phlegm lodged in the diaphragm and the sour reflux that comes with it. From the Bencao.

19. 皂角刺

    Next is the entry on the soap-pod thorn, called jogak-ja.

20. 一名天丁.

    Another name for it is tianding, meaning the heavenly nail.

21. 凡癰疽未破者, 能開竅, 已破者, 能引藥達瘡處, 乃諸惡瘡及癘風要藥也. 《入門》

    When an abscess has not yet broken, it opens a passage for the pus; once it has burst, it guides medicine to the sore itself, making it an essential herb for malignant ulcers and leprosy. From the Yimen.

22. 鬼皂莢

    Lastly comes the entry on the smaller marsh-side cousin, the ghost soap-pod.

23. 生澤畔, 如皂莢, 高一二尺, 可作浴湯, 去風瘡疥癬, 衣垢, 又沐頭長髮. 《本草》

    It grows by marshes and ponds, resembling the soap-pod but only one or two cheok tall. Boiled into a bath it washes away wind-sores, scabies, ringworm and old grime in clothes; used as a hair rinse it is said to make the hair grow long. From the Bencao.