何首烏 하수오 (하수오)

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

1. 性平溫, 味苦澁一云甘, 無毒.

   Its nature is neutral to warm, the taste bitter and astringent (some say sweet), and it carries no toxicity.

2. 主瘰癧.

   It treats scrofula, the lumpy swellings that form around the neck.

3. 消癰腫五痔.

   It disperses abscesses and swellings, and clears the five kinds of hemorrhoids.

4. 治積年勞瘦, 痰癖, 風虛敗劣.

   It treats long-standing exhaustion and emaciation, phlegm congestion, and the collapse of vitality from wind-deficiency.

5. 療婦人産後諸疾, 帶下赤白.

   It heals the various ailments women suffer after childbirth, including red and white vaginal discharge.

6. 益血氣, 壯筋骨, 塡精髓, 黑毛髮, 悅顔色, 駐顔延年.

   It nourishes blood and qi, strengthens sinews and bones, replenishes essence and marrow, blackens the hair, brightens the complexion, and prolongs youthful vigor and life.

7. 本名夜交藤, 因何首烏服而得名.

   Its original name was yagyodeung (night-mating vine), but it took on the name He Shou Wu after a man by that name took it as medicine.

8. 此人生而閹弱, 年老無妻子.

   This man had been frail and impotent from birth, and grew old without wife or children.

9. 一日醉臥田中, 見一藤兩本異生, 苗蔓相交, 釋合三四心異之,

   One day, lying drunk in a field, he saw two vines growing from different roots whose stems and leaves entwined and parted three or four times over, which struck him as strange.

10. 遂採根暴乾, 搗末酒服.

    He dug up the roots, dried them in the sun, ground them into powder, and took them mixed with wine.

11. 七日而思人道, 百日久疾皆愈, 十年生數男, 壽至一百三十歲.

    In seven days his desire for intimacy returned, in a hundred days his chronic ailments were cured, within ten years he fathered several sons, and he lived to the age of one hundred and thirty.

12. 蔓紫, 花黃白, 葉如薯蕷而不光, 生必相對, 根大如拳.

    The vine is purple, the flowers yellowish-white, the leaves resemble yam leaves but lack their gloss, the plants always grow in facing pairs, and the roots are the size of a fist.

13. 有赤白二種, 赤者雄, 白者雌.

    There are two kinds, red and white: the red is male and the white is female.

14. 根形如鳥獸山岳之狀者, 珍也.

    Roots shaped like birds, beasts, or mountain peaks are prized as treasures.

15. 春末夏中初秋, 候淸明日, 兼雌雄採之,

    It is gathered in late spring, midsummer, or early autumn on a clear day, taking both the male and female roots together.

16. 以竹刀或銅刀去皮, 薄切, 蒸暴.

    The skin is removed with a bamboo or copper knife, then the root is sliced thin, steamed, and dried in the sun.

17. 一名交藤, 一名夜合, 一名九眞藤.

    It is also called gyodeung (entwining vine), yahap (night-joining), and gujindeung (nine-truths vine).

18. 終始勿犯鐵, 忌食葱ㆍ蒜ㆍ蘿葍ㆍ猪羊血ㆍ無鱗魚.

    From start to finish it must never touch iron, and one should avoid eating it with scallions, garlic, radish, pig or sheep blood, or scaleless fish.

19. 凡修合藥, 須雌雄相合喫有驗. 《本草》

    Whenever it is prepared as medicine, the male and female roots must be combined and taken together for the remedy to be effective. (Bencao)

20. 米泔浸一宿, 切片, 曬乾搗碎.

    Soak it overnight in rice-washing water, slice it thin, sun-dry it, and crush it into pieces.

21. 如作丸則黑豆汁拌蒸, 曬乾用. 《入門》

    When making it into pills, mix it with black-bean broth, steam it, then sun-dry it before use. (Ipmun)