Homiclub

Tangaek — Decoctions · Trees

白𣗥 Metdaechunamu Huin Gasi (멧대추나무 흰 가시)

Baekgeuk is the thorn of a wild jujube. Donguibogam describes geuk as a small, clumping jujube tree whose flowers, leaves, stems and fruit all resemble the jujube, and singles out the kind with white stems, as if dusted with powder, as baekgeuk. Straight thorns and hooked thorns are listed apart.

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

  1. 性寒, 味辛, 無毒. 療丈夫虛損, 陰痿, 精自出, 補腎氣, 益精髓.

    Its nature is cold and its taste pungent, and it is non-toxic. It treats depletion in a man, eumwi (陰痿, impotence), and involuntary loss of essence; it supplements the sin-gi (腎氣, kidney qi) and augments the essence and marrow.

    HomiclubBaekgeuk is the thorn borne by the wild jujube. The plant belongs to the buckthorn family along with the cultivated jujube, grows as a thicket shrub on hillsides, and carries stiff paired thorns along its branches.

  2. 又主心腹痛, 癰腫潰膿, 止痛, 決刺結.

    It also chiefly treats pain in the chest and abdomen and abscesses that have burst into pus, stops pain, and opens up knots formed around embedded thorns.

  3. 一名棘鍼, 一名棘刺. 棘, 小棗也. 叢生, 花葉莖實都似棗, 而有赤白二種, 白者莖白如粉.

    Other names for it are geukchim and geukja. Geuk (棘) is the small jujube. It grows in thickets, and its flowers, leaves, stems, and fruit all resemble the jujube; there are two kinds, red and white, and in the white kind the stem is white as if powdered.

  4. 有鉤直二種, 直者宜入補藥, 鉤者宜入癰腫藥.

    There are two kinds, hooked and straight; the straight ones suit tonic formulas and the hooked ones suit formulas for abscesses.

    HomiclubOn the wild jujube a long straight thorn and a short curved one do in fact grow paired at the same node. The two kinds the text distinguishes appear to refer to these two shapes.

  5. 棘鍼, 採無時. 《本草》

    Geukchim may be gathered at any time. 《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