Tangaek — Decoctions · Trees
白楊樹皮 Baegyangsupi (백양수피)
Baegyangsupi is the trunk bark of the Korean aspen. Its leaf stalks are so slender that the least breeze sets the whole crown shaking, which is where the Korean phrase for trembling like an aspen comes from. Donguibogam says the pale trunk gave it the name baegyang, and that people once planted it around graves.
Original, read line by line 東醫寶鑑 · Tangaek — Decoctions vol. 3
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性冷, 味苦一云酸, 無毒. 主毒風, 脚氣腫.
Its nature is cold and its taste bitter, though one account calls it sour; it is non-toxic. It chiefly governs dokpung (毒風, toxic wind) and the swelling of gakgi (脚氣, leg qi).
HomiclubBaegyangsupi is the bark of the sasi poplar. It is a tall tree of the willow family with a pale trunk, and it grows in stands on sunny hillsides and around burial mounds.
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去風痺, 消撲損瘀血作痛, 療折傷血瀝痛.
It removes pungbi (風痺, wind impediment), disperses the static blood and pain that follow a blow, and treats the seeping blood and pain of a fracture.
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煎膏, 可續筋骨.
Boiled down into a paste, it can knit sinew and bone.
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處處有之. 木身微白, 故曰白楊. 葉面靑背白, 體圓蔕弱, 微風大搖. 古人多種於墟墓間. 《本草》
It is found everywhere. The body of the tree is faintly white, hence the name baegyang, white poplar. The leaf is green on the face and white on the back, round in body and weak at the stalk, so that a slight breeze sets it swaying greatly. People of old planted it much among the graves. 《Boncho (本草)》
HomiclubThe Korean saying about shaking like a sasi poplar comes from this swaying. The leaf stalk is flattened sideways, so the blade twists left and right at the slightest push of air.
Trees — more entries
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