Tangaek — Decoctions · Trees
桂皮 Cinnamon
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Cinnamon is the bark of a tree of the southern provinces. The spice sold today as cinnamon belongs to the same group, the very bark that goes into sujeonggwa and cinnamon tea. The text marks it 【唐】, its tag for goods brought in from China; the rough outer layer is scraped off.
Original, read line by line 東醫寶鑑 · Tangaek — Decoctions vol. 3
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性大熱, 味甘辛, 有小毒.
Its nature is greatly hot, its taste sweet and pungent, and it carries slight toxicity.
HomiclubGyepi is the bark of a tree in the laurel family. The spice known today as cinnamon comes from the same group, and this is the bark that goes into Korean sujeonggwa punch and cinnamon tea.
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主溫中, 通血脉, 利肝肺氣.
It governs warming the centre, freeing the blood vessels, and disinhibiting the qi of the liver and lung.
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治霍亂轉筋, 宣導百藥, 無所畏, 能墮胎.
It treats cramping sinews from gwallan (霍亂), guides and spreads the hundred medicines, has nothing it shuns, and can bring down a foetus.
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桂得葱而軟, 葱液可熬桂作水.
Gye (桂, cinnamon) softens when it meets scallion, and scallion juice simmered with it can render the bark to liquid.
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生南方. 三月四月生花, 全類茱萸, 九月結實.
It grows in the southern lands. It flowers in the third and fourth months, closely resembling suyu (茱萸, evodia), and sets fruit in the ninth month.
HomiclubThe southern lands of the text mean southern China and Southeast Asia. Cinnamon bark on the market today comes chiefly from Vietnam, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka.
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二月八月十月採皮, 陰乾. 凡使刮去麄皮. 《本草》
The bark is stripped in the second, eighth, and tenth months and dried in the shade. Whenever it is used, the coarse outer bark is scraped away. 《Boncho (本草)》
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This is a cultural and historical record from a classical text, not a claim about any food’s effects. Nothing here is a health supplement or intended to prevent or treat disease. Consult a medical professional about health concerns. · Text: Korean Medicine Classics DB · Reading: Homiclub