烏藥 Oyak (오약)

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

1. 性溫, 味辛, 無毒. 治一切氣, 除一切冷. 主中惡心腹痛, 疰忤鬼氣.

   Its nature is warm and its taste pungent, and it is non-toxic. It treats every kind of qi and clears every kind of cold. It chiefly treats pain in the chest and abdomen from jung-ak (中惡, sudden malignant attack), and juo (疰忤) and gwigi (鬼氣, ghostly qi).

   HomiclubOyak is the root of the Lindera aggregata, an evergreen shrub of the laurel family native to southern China. Its root swells at intervals so that it looks like a string of beads.

2. 療膀胱腎間冷氣攻衝背膂, 治霍亂及反胃吐食, 瀉痢, 癰癤疥癩.

   It treats cold qi between the bladder and the kidney that strikes up at the back and spine, and treats gwallan (霍亂), the vomiting of food from banwi (反胃, stomach reflux), diarrhea and dysentery, and ongjeol (癰癤, boils) and gaera (疥癩, scabby sores).

3. 止小便滑數, 婦人血氣痛, 小兒腹中諸蟲.

   It stops slippery frequent urination, a woman's pain from blood and qi, and the various worms in a child's abdomen.

4. 生天台者爲勝, 白而虛軟, 以作車轂, 形如連珠狀者, 爲佳. 《本草》

   Those grown at Cheontae (天台) are better; the white, loose, and soft ones shaped like a wheel hub, with a form like strung beads, are fine. 《Boncho (本草)》

   HomiclubCheontae is the Tiantai Mountain area in Zhejiang, China. Root from there was reckoned the best, and the drug name itself settled as cheontae-oyak.

5. 入足陽明ㆍ少陰經. 生嶺南者, 色褐而堅硬, 土産亦好. 去皮心略炒用, 或磨刺入湯服. 《入門》

   It enters the foot yangmyeong and foot soeum channels. Those grown in Yeongnam are brown in color and hard, and the local product is good as well. Remove the skin and core, roast it lightly for use, or grind it and put it into a decoction to take. 《Immun (入門)》