香薷 노야기 (향유)

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

1. 性微溫, 味辛, 無毒.

   Its nature is slightly warm, its taste pungent, and it has no toxicity. A gentle warming herb that suits summer use without overstimulating the body.

2. 主霍亂腹痛吐下.

   It treats cholera-like attacks with abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. In summer, when chilled food or heat upsets the stomach, it settles the belly.

3. 散水腫, 消暑濕, 煖胃氣, 除煩熱.

   It disperses edema, resolves summer dampness, warms the stomach qi, and clears stifling heat. One herb that quietly handles heat, damp, and a chilled belly at once.

4. 家家皆種, 暑月亦作蔬菜食之, 九十月作穗後採, 乾之. 《本草》

   Every household grew it, eating the leaves as a summer vegetable and harvesting it after it spikes in the ninth or tenth lunar month to dry for storage. The Bencao notes it served as both food and medicine.

5. 一名香茹, 言可作菜茹也. 《入門》

   It is also called xiangru (香茹), the name meaning that it can be prepared as an edible green. The Yimen explains that the name itself carries its identity as a vegetable.