Homiclub

Tangaek — Decoctions · Herbs

生地黃 Rehmannia

Related Crop · Rehmannia →

Saengjihwang is the freshly dug, undried root of Chinese foxglove. Dried as it is, it becomes geonjihwang; steamed and dried, sukjihwang. All three are still sold apart. Donguibogam said to pick the fat roots that sink in water and to keep copper and iron vessels off them at digging time.

Original, read line by line 東醫寶鑑 · Tangaek — Decoctions vol. 2

  1. 性寒, 味甘一云苦, 無毒. 解諸熱, 破血, 消瘀血, 通利月水.

    Its nature is cold; its taste is sweet, though one account calls it bitter; and it is non-toxic. It resolves the various heats, breaks blood, dissolves eohyeol (瘀血, static blood), and frees the monthly flow.

    HomiclubSaengjihwang is the freshly dug root of jihwang (Rehmannia). Dried as it is it becomes geonjihwang; steamed and dried, sukjihwang — three grades still sold apart today.

  2. 主婦人崩中血不止, 及胎動下血, 幷衄血吐血.

    It governs a woman's bungjung (崩中, flooding) in which the blood will not stop, bleeding from taedong (胎動, stirring of the foetus), and likewise nosebleed and the vomiting of blood.

  3. 處處種之. 二月八月採根, 陰乾. 沈水肥大者佳. 一名地髓, 一名芐, 生黃土地者佳.

    It is planted everywhere. The root is dug in the second and eighth months and dried in the shade. Those that sink in water and are plump and large are good. One name for it is jisu (地髓), another ha (芐), and those grown in yellow loam are good.

    HomiclubChoosing the roots that sink is an old way of judging by density whether a root has filled out to the core. Jihwang is grown in Korean fields; its leaves are thick and deeply wrinkled.

  4. 本經不言生乾及蒸乾, 蒸乾則溫, 生乾則平宣.

    The Bongyeong (本經) does not distinguish sun-dried from steam-dried, but steamed and dried it turns warm, while dried raw it is neutral and freely diffusing.

  5. 初採, 浸水中浮者名天黃, 半浮半沈者名人黃, 沈者名地黃. 沈者力佳, 入藥. 半沈者次之, 浮者名天黃, 不堪用.

    When newly dug and put in water, those that float are called cheonhwang (天黃), those half floating and half sinking inhwang (人黃), and those that sink jihwang (地黃). The sinking ones are strongest and go into medicine. The half-sinking come next, and the floating, called cheonhwang, will not do.

  6. 採時, 不可犯銅鐵器. 《本草》

    When digging it, copper or iron vessels must not be brought against it. 《Boncho (本草)》

  7. 能生血涼血, 入手太陽ㆍ少陰經之劑. 酒浸則上行外行. 《湯液》

    It can engender blood and cool blood, and is a medicine that enters the hand taeyang and soeum channels. Steeped in liquor it travels upward and outward. 《Tangaek (湯液)》

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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