劉寄奴草 기름새 (유기노초)

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

1. 性溫, 味苦, 無毒.

   Warm in nature, bitter in taste, and non-toxic. It warms the body without burdening it.

2. 主破血下脹, 通婦人經脉癥結.

   It mainly breaks up stagnant blood, relieves abdominal distension, and unblocks knotted lumps in a woman's meridians. It has long been prized for blood-stasis disorders in women.

3. 苗莖似艾蒿, 葉靑似柳.

   Its sprouts and stems resemble mugwort, while its leaves are green and willow-like. In the field it looks like a blend of mugwort and willow.

4. 莖有四稜, 開小黃白花, 結實似黍而細.

   The stem is four-edged, it bears small yellowish-white flowers, and its seeds look like millet but finer. The square stem is the key mark that sets it apart.

5. 蒿之類也.

   It belongs to the mugwort family. Broadly speaking, it can be grouped together with the artemisias.

6. 七月八月採, 日乾. 《本草》

   It is gathered in the seventh and eighth lunar months and sun-dried. Late summer was seen as the moment its medicinal power peaked, according to the Bencao.

7. 宋高祖劉裕, 少名寄奴, 用此治金瘡出血如神, 故爲名. 《入門》

   Liu Yu, Emperor Gaozu of the Song dynasty, was called Jinu in his youth, and because this herb miraculously stopped bleeding from sword wounds, it was named after him. A whole emperor's boyhood is folded into a single herb name, as recorded in the Ru-men.