茵蔯蒿 더위지기 (인진호)

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

1. 性微寒一云涼,

   Its nature is slightly cold — some sources call it cool — and it tends to settle bodily heat.

2. 味苦辛,

   The taste is bitter and pungent — the bitterness draws heat downward, the pungency disperses stagnation.

3. 無毒一云小毒.

   It is non-toxic, though some texts note a mild toxicity, so heavy long-term use is best avoided.

4. 主熱結黃疸,

   It primarily treats jaundice caused by accumulated internal heat, long regarded as a key herb for damp-heat in the liver and gallbladder.

5. 通身發黃,

   It is used when the whole body turns yellow, including the skin and the whites of the eyes.

6. 小便不利.

   It also helps when urination is scant or difficult, draining dampness downward and easing jaundice at the same time.

7. 治天行時疾,

   It treats epidemic seasonal illnesses — the contagious fevers that swept through villages — and was widely used for febrile outbreaks.

8. 熱狂,

   It is applied to heat-induced delirium where high fever clouds the mind, since it cools internal heat quickly.

9. 頭痛及瘴瘧.

   It also relieves heat-driven headaches and miasmic malaria, often prescribed for the endemic fevers of humid regions.

10. 處處有之.

    It grows everywhere, easily found along fields and roadsides without any special foraging.

11. 似蓬蒿而葉緊細,

    It resembles common mugwort but its leaves are tighter and finer — similar from afar, but distinct up close.

12. 無花實,

    It bears no conspicuous flowers or fruit, plain enough that you only notice it once you know it as a medicinal.

13. 秋後葉枯,

    After autumn its leaves wither, looking as if it were closing out its year like any other herb.

14. 莖簳經冬不死,

    Yet the stems endure through winter without dying — while the leaves brown, the woody stalks stand firm.

15. 更因舊苗而生,

    Come spring, new shoots rise from the old stalks — once rooted, it returns year after year.

16. 故名茵蔯蒿.

    Hence the name yinchenhao — old growth carrying the new — its character encoded in the name itself.

17. 五月七月採莖葉,

    Stems and leaves are harvested in the fifth and seventh months, when the medicinal potency is at its peak.

18. 陰乾,

    The harvested herb is dried in the shade, since direct sunlight would scatter both its aroma and its potency.

19. 勿令犯火. 《本草》

    It must not touch fire, as the Bencao warns — heat ruins its medicinal quality. (Bencao)

20. 入足太陽經.

    Its action enters the foot-taiyang bladder meridian, working along the channel that governs damp-heat in the bladder system.

21. 去根土,

    Before use, the roots and clinging soil are removed — only the aerial parts enter the prescription.

22. 細剉用. 《入門》

    It is finely chopped before use, as the Yimen instructs — fine cuts release the active components more fully in decoction. (Yimen)