Formulas · Purge Downward 瀉下 · Uihak Jeongjeon (醫學正傳)

Overcome Damp Cakes

Seungseupbyeong-ja

한글 승습병자 · Pinyin Sheng Shi Bing Zi

勝濕餠子

Ground to an extremely fine powder; one and a half nyang of buckwheat flour is mixed with water and the medicines worked in, pinched into cakes the size of a three-don piece, and steamed on top of rice. One cake on an empty stomach, chewed down with clear tea, dosing to the point of loosening. **Note on modern practice: kansui and morning glory seed are drastic purgatives; kansui is restricted in contemporary practice. Gross leg swelling requires medical evaluation for cardiac, renal, and hepatic causes.**

Composition 構成

Heukchuk Hei Chou
黑丑 흑축 · Black Morning Glory Seed

20 g
Chief 君 from 2 nyang, the first-ground powder
Baekgyeonu Bai Qian Niu
白牽牛 백견우 · White Morning Glory Seed

20 g
Chief 君 from 2 nyang, the first-ground powder
Gamsu Gan Sui
甘遂 감수 · Kansui (toxic)

20 g
Deputy 臣
Gyomaek Qiao Mai
蕎麥 교맥 · Buckwheat

60 g
Envoy 使 buckwheat flour, for the cakes

Total 120 g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts.

Received this formula from your practitioner? Amounts shown here are classical reference values — granule and prepared products differ. Always follow your prescribed dosage and directions.

Actions 效能

Drives out water where the shin has swollen like a gourd
Given as steamed buckwheat cakes rather than as pills

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Leg qi of long years with the foot and shin swollen like a gourd (足脛腫如瓜瓠者)
Gross edema of the lower legs
Refractory water accumulation

Biomedical correlates

Severe lower limb edema — historical management
Refractory swelling
Short-course purgative therapy

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治遠年脚氣, 足脛腫如瓜瓠者. 黑丑(二兩取頭末) 五錢, 白丑(二兩取頭末) 五錢, 甘遂五錢. 右爲極細末, 用蕎麥麪一兩半, 調水和藥, 捏爲餠子, 如折三錢大, 放飯上蒸熟, 每一餠, 空心, 茶淸嚼下, 以利爲度. 《正傳》

Translation

Treats leg qi of long years with the foot and shin swollen like a gourd. Black morning glory seed, the first-ground powder from 2 nyang, 5 don; white morning glory seed, likewise, 5 don; kansui 5 don. Grind to an extremely fine powder; take one and a half nyang of buckwheat flour, mix with water and work in the medicines, pinch into cakes the size of a three-don piece, and steam them on top of rice. Take one cake on an empty stomach, chewed down with clear tea, dosing to the point of loosening. — Jeongjeon 正傳 (Donguibogam · Jok)

Clinical commentary 臨床

The delivery is the interesting part: a violent purgative turned into steamed buckwheat cakes, eaten one at a time with tea until the bowel loosens. Putting the medicine into food both moderates it and makes the dose countable, which for agents this forceful is the whole safety margin. The indication — a shin swollen like a gourd — is the far end of the disease as the chapter defined it at the outset. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.