獮猴桃 다래 (미후도)

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

1. 性寒, 味酸甘, 無毒.

   Its nature is cold, its taste sour and sweet, and it has no toxicity—a cooling fruit that the body accepts gently.

2. 止暴渴, 解煩熱,

   It quenches sudden, raging thirst and dissolves the stifling heat that flushes the chest—a fruit worth remembering when summer dries the mouth and simmers the heart.

3. 下石淋,

   It drives down stone lin—urinary stones that block the flow—helping to open a passage that has grown clogged.

4. 冷脾胃,

   It does, however, chill the spleen and stomach—so those with a cold constitution or weak digestion should not eat it in excess.

5. 療熱壅反胃.

   It treats fan-wei—the reflux that throws food back up when heat is dammed inside the stomach—soothing the upward surge of trapped warmth.

6. 處處有之.

   It grows everywhere—not a rare mountain treasure but a vine one easily meets along hillsides and valleys.

7. 生山中, 作藤蔓, 延樹木上.

   It lives in the mountains, sending out vines that climb up and along the trees—leaning on others to stretch toward the sun.

8. 其實靑綠色, 形扁而大.

   The fruit is a green-blue color, flat in shape yet sizeable—a cousin of the kiwi we know today.

9. 初甚苦澁, 經霜始甘美, 乃可食之.

   At first it is harshly bitter and astringent, but only after the frost touches it does it turn sweet and edible—a fruit that yields its sweetness only after enduring the cold.

10. 一名藤梨. 《本草》

    It is also called teng-li, the “vine pear.” So records the Bencao.