白檀香 Baekdanhyang (백단향)

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

1. 性溫, 味辛, 無毒. 消熱腫, 治腎氣腹痛. 又主心腹痛, 霍亂, 中惡, 鬼氣, 殺蟲. 《本草》

   Its nature is warm, its taste pungent, and it is non-toxic. It disperses heat swelling and addresses abdominal pain from singi (腎氣, kidney qi). It further governs pain of the chest and abdomen, gwallan (霍亂, sudden turmoil), jungak (中惡, malignity strike), and gwigi (鬼氣, ghost qi), and it kills worms. 《Boncho (本草)》

   HomiclubBaekdanhyang is the heartwood of the sandalwood tree. Southern India and Indonesia are its native ground, and it is a hemiparasite that draws nourishment by attaching to the roots of other trees.

2. 樹如檀, 有黃白紫三種.

   The tree resembles the dan (檀) tree, and there are three kinds: yellow, white, and purple.

   HomiclubSandalwood sold as incense is still sorted by colour into white, yellow, and red. Red sandalwood, however, comes from a tree of an entirely different family and does not belong with white sandalwood.

3. 入手太陰經ㆍ足少陰經, 通行陽明經, 引胃氣上升.

   It enters the hand taeeum and foot soeum channels, travels through the yangmyeong channel, and leads wigi (胃氣, stomach qi) upward.

4. 抑論諸香, 動火耗氣, 非冷氣不舒者, 不可輕服. 腦麝芳竄尤甚, 宜戒之. 《入門》

   To weigh up the fragrant medicinals in general: they stir fire and consume qi, so anyone not suffering cold qi that will not unfold should not take them lightly. Borneol and musk are far more piercing and mobile still, and are to be guarded against. 《Immun (入門)》

   HomiclubThis is the passage that warns against the careless use of aromatic medicinals. Borneol and musk, whose scents are especially strong, are singled out by name.

5. 能調氣而淸香, 引芳香之物, 上行至極高之分, 最宜橙橘之屬.

   It regulates qi and its fragrance is clear; it leads aromatic substances upward to the very highest reaches, and it suits the orange and tangerine group best of all.

6. 佐以薑ㆍ棗ㆍ葛根ㆍ豆蔲ㆍ縮砂ㆍ益智, 通行陽明之經. 《湯液》

   Assisted by ginger, jujube, kudzu root, cardamom, amomum, and alpinia, it travels through the yangmyeong channel. 《Tangaek (湯液)》