車前子 Asian plantain

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

1. 性寒一云平, 味甘醎, 無毒.

   Its nature is cold, though one account calls it neutral; its taste is sweet and salty, and it is non-toxic.

   HomiclubChajeonja is the seed of jilgyeongi, the plantain. Jilgyeongi is a perennial that grows pressed flat against trodden paths, and when a leaf is torn its parallel veins pull free like threads.

2. 主氣癃, 通五淋, 利水道, 通小便淋澁. 明目, 能去肝中風熱, 毒風衝眼, 赤痛障瞖.

   It chiefly treats qi-blocked urinary stoppage, opens the five types of strangury, frees the waterways, and relieves dribbling, rough urination. It brightens the eyes and can dispel wind-heat within the gan (肝, liver), toxic wind striking the eyes, and red painful eyes with a screening membrane.

3. 卽芣苢也. 大葉長穗, 好生道傍. 喜在牛跡中生, 故曰車前也.

   This is bui (芣苢). It has large leaves and long spikes and grows readily by the roadside. It likes to grow in the tracks of oxen, and so it is called chajeon (車前, before the cart).

   HomiclubThe observation that it springs up beside cart ruts and ox tracks became its name. Because it recovers from being trodden on, it is still the first plant one notices at the edge of hiking trails and park paths. The "psyllium husk" sold today comes from the seed coat of a different species in the same genus.

4. 五月採苗, 九十月採實, 陰乾. 《本草》

   Gather the shoots in the fifth month and the seeds in the ninth and tenth, and dry them in the shade. 《Boncho (本草)》

5. 略炒, 搗碎用, 用葉勿用子. 《入門》

   Roast it lightly and pound it broken for use; use the leaf and not the seed. 《Immun (入門)》