莎草根 향부자 (사초근)

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

1. 性微寒, 味甘, 無毒.

   Slightly cool in nature, sweet in taste, and non-toxic—mild enough for long-term use.

2. 大下氣, 除胸中熱.

   It powerfully descends stagnant qi and clears heat trapped in the chest, easing that stifled, flushed feeling.

3. 久服令人益氣, 能快氣開鬱, 止痛調經, 更消宿食.

   Taken over time it tonifies qi, frees stuck emotions, relieves pain, regulates menstruation, and even digests old food retention—a true all-rounder for qi flow.

4. 莎草, 其根上如棗核者, 謂之香附子, 又名雀頭香.

   On the sedge plant, the date-pit-shaped nodules along the root are called xiangfuzi, also nicknamed “sparrow-head fragrance” for their tiny rounded shape.

5. 二月八月採. 《本草》

   It is harvested in the second and eighth lunar months, as recorded in the Bencao—the seasons when its potency is best concentrated.

6. 香附主氣分之病, 香能竄, 苦能降, 推陳致新.

   Xiangfu chiefly treats disorders of the qi level—its aroma pierces blockages, its bitterness descends, sweeping out the stale and ushering in the fresh.

7. 婦人血用事, 氣行則無疾, 老人精枯血閉, 惟氣是資.

   Women’s health hinges on blood, yet they stay well only when qi moves; the elderly, with depleted essence and stagnant blood, rely on qi alone—qi flow is the common thread.

8. 凡有病則氣滯而餒.

   In any illness, qi stagnates and grows feeble—so restoring its flow is the first step toward healing.

9. 故香附入氣分爲君藥, 世所罕知. 《丹心》

   Thus xiangfu serves as the sovereign herb of the qi level—a truth, the Danxin notes, that the world rarely recognizes.

10. 香附, 婦人之仙藥.

    Xiangfu is called the “immortals’ remedy for women”—the foremost herb for tending to the female body.

11. 盖婦人性偏多鬱, 此藥能散鬱逐瘀.

    Women, the text notes, are prone to emotional stagnation; this herb disperses such stagnation and expels static blood at once.

12. 採得後, 以稈火燒去毛, 入石臼搗淨.

    After harvest, the rootlets are singed off with a straw fire and the tubers are pounded clean in a stone mortar—prep before any further processing.

13. 氣病略炒, 血病酒煮, 痰病薑汁煮, 下虛鹽水煮, 血虛有火童便煮過則凉, 積冷醋浸炒則熱, 鹽炒則補腎間元氣, 用檀香佐香附, 流動諸氣甚妙. 《入門》

    Processing varies by illness: lightly stir-fry for qi disorders, simmer in wine for blood disorders, in ginger juice for phlegm, in salt water for lower-burner deficiency, in child’s urine for blood-deficient heat (cooling it), in vinegar then fried for accumulated cold (warming it). Salt-frying tonifies the kidney’s original qi, and pairing it with sandalwood, the Yimen says, sets every kind of qi in marvelous motion.