兎絲子 Tosaja (토사자)

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

1. 性平, 味辛甘, 無毒.

   Its nature is neutral, its taste pungent and sweet, and it is non-toxic.

   HomiclubTosaja is the seed of saesam, an annual parasitic vine in the morning-glory family. Saesam has neither leaves nor roots of its own and climbs other plants with thread-like yellow stems; it still shows up on bean fields and embankments as a tangled knot of yellow threads.

2. 主莖中寒, 精自出, 尿有餘瀝, 口苦燥渴. 添精益髓, 去腰痛膝冷.

   It chiefly treats cold within the penis, spontaneous emission of jeong (精, essence), dribbling after urination, and a bitter, dry mouth with thirst. It augments jeong, boosts the marrow, and removes lumbar pain and cold knees.

3. 處處有之, 多生豆田中. 無根假氣而生, 細蔓黃色.

   It is found everywhere and grows abundantly in bean fields. It lives without a root, borrowing qi, and its slender vine is yellow.

   HomiclubThe line about living without a root, borrowing qi, is how earlier observers recorded the way saesam sinks haustoria into a host stem. It does have a root when it germinates, but it separates from the ground once it has taken hold of a host.

4. 六七月結實, 極細如蚕子. 九月採實, 暴乾, 得酒良, 仙經俗方, 幷以爲補藥.

   It sets fruit in the sixth and seventh months, extremely fine, like silkworm eggs. Gather the seeds in the ninth month and dry them in the sun; they benefit from wine. Both the immortals' scriptures and folk formularies took it as a supplementing medicine.

5. 稟中和, 凝正陽氣受結, 偏補人衛氣, 助人筋脉. 《本草》

   It is endowed with balanced qi and is formed by the congealing of upright yang qi; it particularly supplements a person's wi (衛, defensive) qi and aids the sinews and vessels. 《Boncho (本草)》

6. 水淘洗, 去沙土, 曬乾, 酒浸, 春五夏三秋七冬十日, 取出蒸熟, 搗爛作片, 曬乾, 再搗爲末入藥.

   Rinse it in water to remove sand and soil, dry it in the sun, then steep it in wine — five days in spring, three in summer, seven in autumn, ten in winter. Take it out, steam it through, pound it into a paste and press it into cakes, dry it in the sun, then pound it again into powder for use in medicine.

7. 若急用, 則酒煮爛, 曬乾, 搗末用, 亦可. 《入門》

   If it is needed in haste, it may also be boiled soft in wine, sun-dried, and pounded into powder for use. 《Immun (入門)》