梔子 치자 (치자)

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

1. 性寒, 味苦, 無毒.

   Its nature is cold, taste bitter, and it is non-toxic — the classic profile of a heat-clearing herb.

2. 主胸心大小腸大熱, 胃中熱氣, 心中煩悶.

   It treats severe heat in the chest, heart, and intestines, heat in the stomach, and the stifling restlessness of the heart — what we might today read as inflammatory heat paired with anxious agitation.

3. 去熱毒風, 利五淋, 通小便, 除五種黃病, 止消渴.

   It dispels heat-toxin wind, eases the five types of strangury, promotes urination, resolves the five kinds of jaundice, and stops wasting-thirst — clearing heat from urinary tract and liver-gallbladder in one stroke.

4. 治口乾, 目赤腫痛, 面赤, 酒皰, 齄鼻, 白癩, 赤癩, 瘡瘍, 殺蟅蟲毒.

   It treats dry mouth, red swollen painful eyes, flushed face, alcohol-induced skin eruptions, rhinophyma, white and red leprosy-like rashes, and sores, and it neutralizes parasite toxins — a broad sweep against heat surfacing on the face and skin.

5. 葉似李而厚硬.

   Its leaves resemble those of the plum tree but are thicker and tougher — leathery to the touch.

6. 二三月開白花, 花皆六出, 甚芬香.

   In the second or third lunar month it opens white flowers, each with six petals, and the fragrance is exceptionally rich — the same heady scent that perfumes summer gardens.

7. 夏秋結實, 生靑熟黃, 中仁深紅.

   It bears fruit in summer and autumn, green when unripe and yellow when mature, with deep crimson kernels inside — the very part used as both natural dye and medicine.

8. 九月採實, 暴乾.

   The fruit is gathered in the ninth lunar month and sun-dried — slow autumn sunlight preserves its medicinal strength.

9. 入藥用山梔子, 方書所謂越桃, 皮薄而圓小, 刻房七稜至九稜者, 爲佳. 《本草》

   For medicinal use, mountain gardenia is preferred — what the formula books call “yuetao.” Those with thin skin, small and round, marked with seven to nine ridges, are best. 《Bencao》

10. 小而七稜者佳. 長大者亦可用, 但無力耳. 《丹心》

    Small fruits with seven ridges are the finest. Larger, elongated ones may also be used, but their potency is weaker. 《Danxin》

11. 入手太陰經, 治心煩懊憹不得眠, 能瀉肺中之火. 《湯液》

    It enters the Hand Taiyin lung meridian, soothing the restless agitation that robs one of sleep, and drains fire from the lungs — a remedy for the smothering nights when the chest will not quiet. 《Tangye》

12. 用仁, 去心胸熱, 用皮, 去肌表熱.

    The kernel clears heat from the chest and heart, while the peel clears heat from the skin and surface — the same fruit reaches different depths depending on which part you use.

13. 尋常生用, 虛火, 童便炒七次至黑色, 止血, 炒如墨, 涼肺胃, 酒泡用. 《入門》

    Normally it is used raw; for deficiency-fire, it is stir-fried seven times in boy’s urine until blackened; to stop bleeding, it is roasted until ink-dark; to cool the lungs and stomach, it is soaked in wine before use — the same fruit, prepared differently for each kind of heat. 《Rumen》