Formulas · Text · Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

The Gallbladder

Dambu

한글 담부 · Pinyin Dan Fu

The upright official — a gourd hung between the liver's lobes, the clean bowel that stores clear juice and lets nothing in or out, the seat of decision and of courage

膽腑

The first of the six bowel chapters, and the shortest of the organ chapters. The gallbladder is a gourd hung between the short lobes of the liver, dark in colour, holding three hop of clear juice, with no opening for anything to enter or leave — and so it is the one bowel that stores rather than passes, which is why the Ojangyukbu chapter counted it twice. It is the upright official: born of metal, it governs decision, and a person who is firm, upright and without doubt has a gallbladder whose qi is straight. Its injury is fright — 膽者敢也, the gallbladder is daring, and a shock injures it — and its disease is sighing, a bitter mouth, and fear as though someone were about to seize one. Its vacuity cannot sleep alone; its repletion sleeps too much and is angry. The chapter's two formulas are one for each, and Sosiho-tang is named as the medicine that reaches it. The signs of its end are deafness, every joint slack, and the eyes staring; and the tradition read its size and temper from the nails, which belong to the liver it pairs with.

7.1 The Form of the Gallbladder 膽形象

7.1.1

Source원문

其色玄, 其形如懸瓠, 附肝之短葉間, 重二兩一作三兩三銖, 盛精汁三合, 無出入竅. 《入門》

Translation영역

Its colour is dark and its shape like a hanging gourd, attached between the liver's short lobes; it weighs two nyang one version says three nyang and three su, holds three hop of essential juice, and has no opening for anything to go in or out.

Clinical note임상 주석

A gourd with no mouth — the gallbladder as the tradition saw it, a sealed sac under the liver. 無出入竅 is why the Ojangyukbu chapter's 1.9 put it among the extraordinary bowels: it stores like a viscus. The bile duct was not known, and the juice was thought to stay.

Immun 入門

7.1.2

Source원문

肝之餘氣, 溢入於膽, 聚而成精. 由是內藏精而不泄, 外視物而得明, 爲淸淨之府, 能通於眼目. 《脉訣》

Translation영역

The liver's surplus qi overflows into the gallbladder, gathers and becomes essence. Thus within it stores essence and does not discharge, and without it looks on things and sees clearly; it is the clean bowel, and communicates with the eyes.

Clinical note임상 주석

淸淨之府, the clean bowel — the only bowel not soiled by what passes through it, because nothing passes. The link to sight is the liver's, at the Liver chapter's 2.4, and 7.4 reads the gallbladder from beneath the eye.

Maekgyeol 脉訣

7.2 The Position of the Gallbladder 膽部位

7.2.1

Source원문

膽主腋, 兩腋缺盆, 皆膽之路. 《入門》

Translation영역

The gallbladder governs the armpits; the two armpits and the supraclavicular fossae are all the gallbladder's road.

Immun 入門

7.2.2

Source원문

日月二穴, 膽之募, 在乳下三肋端, 期門下五分. 在背則膽兪, 在脊第十顀下兩傍, 此膽之部位也. 《銅人》

Translation영역

The two points Irwol (日月, GB24) are the gallbladder's alarm points, below the nipple at the end of the third rib, five pun below Gimun; on the back, Damsu (膽兪, BL19) is on either side below the tenth vertebra. These are the gallbladder's territory.

Clinical note임상 주석

Irwol five pun below Gimun, and Damsu one vertebra below Gansu — the gallbladder's points sit just under the liver's on both front and back, as the organ sits under the liver.

Dongin 銅人

7.3 The Gallbladder Governs Decision 膽主決斷

7.3.1

Source원문

膽生於金, 金主武, 故爲中正之官, 決斷出焉. 人稟剛正果斷, 直而無疑無私者, 膽之氣正也. 《入門》

Translation영역

The gallbladder is born of metal, and metal governs the martial; so it is the official of the upright and central, and decision issues from it. A person endowed with firmness, uprightness and resolution, straight and without doubt or partiality, has a gallbladder whose qi is straight.

Clinical note임상 주석

The Body chapter's 1.8.2 gave the gallbladder its title — 中正之官, upright and central — and the Immun explains it: the organ of decision is the organ of a straight character. 膽 is still the Korean and Chinese word for nerve, and 大膽, a big gallbladder, is boldness.

Immun 入門

7.4 The Outer Signs of the Gallbladder 膽外候

7.4.1

Source원문

目下裹大, 其膽乃橫.

Translation영역

Where the flesh below the eye is large, the gallbladder lies crosswise.

Clinical note임상 주석

目下果 — the pouch under the eye. The Lingshu reads a swollen lower lid as a gallbladder set across rather than hanging, which is the gallbladder's version of the liver's tilted ribs at 2.5.

Yeongchu 靈樞

7.4.2

Source원문

肝應爪. 爪厚色黃者膽厚, 爪薄色紅者膽薄. 爪堅色靑者膽急, 爪濡色赤者膽緩. 爪直色白無約者膽直, 爪惡色黑多紋者膽結也. 《靈樞》

Translation영역

The liver answers to the nails. Thick yellow nails mean a thick gallbladder; thin red nails, a thin one. Hard green nails mean a tense gallbladder; soft red nails, a slack one. Straight white nails without ridges mean a straight gallbladder; bad black nails with many lines, a knotted one.

Clinical note임상 주석

The gallbladder read from the nails — the liver's bloom at 2.4, lent to its bowel. Six nail types for six gallbladder temperaments, and the last, 膽結, the knotted gallbladder, is the one the tradition treated.

Yeongchu 靈樞

7.5 The Patterns of Gallbladder Injury 膽傷證

7.5.1

Source원문

膽者, 敢也. 驚怕則膽傷矣.

Translation영역

Gallbladder means daring. Fright and terror injure it.

Clinical note임상 주석

膽者敢也 — the graph glossed by its homophone, as the Spleen chapter's 4.1.4 glossed 脾 by 俾. The gallbladder is courage, and what breaks courage is a fright.

Immun 入門

7.5.2

Source원문

面靑脫色, 膽受怖也. 《子和》

Translation영역

Where the face is green and drained of colour, the gallbladder has taken a fright.

Jahwa 子和

7.6 The Patterns of Gallbladder Disease 膽病證

7.6.1

Source원문

膽病者, 善太息, 口苦, 嘔有苦汁, 心中澹澹恐, 如人將捕之, 嗌中吤吤然, 數唾. 《靈樞》

Translation영역

In gallbladder disease there is much sighing, a bitter mouth, retching of bitter fluid, a heart that flutters with fear as though someone were about to seize one, a throat that feels obstructed, and frequent spitting.

Clinical note임상 주석

The bitter mouth — bile, in the one place it can be tasted — and the same fear the Liver chapter's 2.8.2 gave the empty liver: 如人將捕之. The Lingshu's list is the standing description of the gallbladder pattern, and Sosiho-tang at 7.8.2 treats every item on it.

Yeongchu 靈樞

7.6.2

Source원문

痛悶左邊五肋之中, 血瘀生癭, 馬刀. 又膽候咽門, 故熱壅則生瘡腫痛. 《入門》

Translation영역

Pain and oppression within the left fifth rib, with static blood forming sores, and saber lumps. Also, the gallbladder watches over the throat's gate, so where heat congests there are sores, swelling and pain.

Clinical note임상 주석

馬刀, saber lumps — the chain of scrofulous nodes along the side of the neck, which follows the gallbladder channel. The Neck chapter treats them, and the Immun's reasoning is the channel's course.

Immun 入門

7.6.3

Source원문

膽病多寒熱. 《入門》

Translation영역

Gallbladder disease has much cold and heat.

Clinical note임상 주석

寒熱, alternating cold and heat — the lesser yang's sign in the Cold Damage chapter, and the reason Sosiho-tang is the gallbladder's medicine. The organ that sits between inside and outside gets the fever that comes and goes.

Immun 入門

7.7 Vacuity and Repletion in Gallbladder Disease 膽病虛實

7.7.1

Source원문

膽虛則恐畏, 不能獨臥. 膽實則怒.

Translation영역

Where the gallbladder is vacuous there is fear and dread and one cannot lie down alone; where it is replete, anger.

Clinical note임상 주석

不能獨臥 — cannot sleep alone. The gallbladder's vacuity is the fear of the dark, and Insuk-san at 7.8 is written for exactly this line.

Yeongchu 靈樞

7.7.2

Source원문

膽實則怒而勇敢, 膽虛則善恐而不敢也.

Translation영역

Where the gallbladder is replete one is angry and bold; where it is vacuous one is fearful and does not dare.

Donguibogam · Dambu

7.7.3

Source원문

膽虛則不眠, 膽實則多睡. 《入門》

Translation영역

Where the gallbladder is vacuous one does not sleep; where it is replete one sleeps much.

Clinical note임상 주석

Sleep as the gallbladder's gauge: too little is empty, too much is full. The Dreams chapter's whole account of insomnia runs through this organ, and the two formulas of 7.8 are one for each side.

Immun 入門

7.8 The Treatment of Gallbladder Disease 膽病治法

7.8.1

Source원문

膽虛, 宜仁熟散. 膽實, 宜半夏湯.

Translation영역

For gallbladder vacuity, Kernel and Rehmannia Powder is appropriate; for gallbladder repletion, Pinellia Decoction.

Donguibogam · Dambu

7.8.2

Source원문

小柴胡湯, 治寒熱往來, 乃少陽經主藥也方見寒門. 水煎澄淸, 溫服, 則能入膽. 《入門》

Translation영역

Minor Bupleurum Decoction treats cold and heat coming and going, and is the governing medicine of the lesser yang channel formula in the Cold Damage chapter. Decocted in water, let settle until clear, and taken warm, it can enter the gallbladder.

Clinical note임상 주석

澄淸 — let it settle and take the clear part. The gallbladder is the clean bowel, and the Immun's instruction is that its medicine be clean too: the same word 7.1.2 used for the organ. Both formulas registered here carry the instruction.

Immun 入門

7.9 The Signs of the Gallbladder Expiring 膽絶候

7.9.1

Source원문

膽爲足少陽, 其終者, 耳聾, 百節皆縱, 目睘音瓊, 直視如驚貌絶系. 絶系者, 一日半死矣. 其死也, 色先靑白, 乃死矣. 《靈樞》

Translation영역

The gallbladder is the foot lesser yang. Where it ends, the ears are deaf, every joint is slack, the eyes stare read gyeong; a fixed stare like a look of fright and the cords are cut. When the cords are cut, death in a day and a half; at death the colour first turns green-white, and then one dies.

Clinical note임상 주석

Deafness, slack joints, staring eyes — the lesser yang's end from the Lingshu's 終始, and the Kidney chapter's 6.13 gave the lesser yin's. 絶系, the cords cut, is the eye's connection to the brain giving way, and a day and a half is the shortest reckoning in the organ chapters.

Yeongchu 靈樞

7.9.2

Source원문

膽絶七日死, 何以知之. 眉爲之傾. 《脉經》

Translation영역

The gallbladder expiring, death in seven days — how is it known? The eyebrows tilt.

Clinical note임상 주석

The eyebrows drooping — one sign, and the shortest expiry passage in the book. The gallbladder channel runs through the brow, and the Maekgyeong reads the organ's end there.

Maekgyeong 脉經

7.10 The Guided Stretch for the Gallbladder 膽腑導引法

7.10.1

Source원문

可平坐, 合兩脚掌, 仰頭, 以兩手挽脚腕起, 搖動爲之三五度. 亦可大坐, 以兩手拓地, 擧身努腰脊三五度. 能去膽家風毒邪氣. 《臞仙》

Translation영역

Sit level with the soles of both feet together, tip the head back, take hold of the ankles with both hands and lift, rocking, three to five times. Or sit with the legs out, brace both hands on the ground, and lift the body, straining the lumbus and spine, three to five times. This can remove the wind toxin and evil qi of the gallbladder.

Clinical note임상 주석

Soles together and the head back — a hip opener, for the organ whose channel runs down the side of the leg. The gallbladder has no cultivation practice of its own; the liver's at 2.12 serves both, and this is its stretch.

Guseon 臞仙

7.11 Simple Medicinals 單方

7.11.1

Source원문

凡五種.

Translation영역

Five kinds in all.

Donguibogam · Dambu

7.11.2

Source원문

柴胡治膽病寒熱. 足少陽經主藥也. 又曰, 膽痺非此不能除. 剉水煎, 澄淸飮. 《湯液》

Translation영역

Bupleurum (柴胡): Treats gallbladder disease with alternating cold and heat. It is the chief medicinal of the foot lesser yang channel. It is also said: gallbladder impediment cannot be removed without it. Cut it up, decoct it in water, let it settle clear and drink it.

Clinical note임상 주석

寒熱, alternating cold and heat, is the defining sign of the lesser yang and the whole reason bupleurum heads this section: a fever that comes and goes rather than one that stays. 小柴胡湯 is built on it, and it remains the reference formula for the pattern. 膽痺非此不能除 — gallbladder impediment cannot be removed without it — is the strongest form of claim the corpus makes for a single drug.

Tangaek 湯液

7.11.3

Source원문

乾地黃 助心膽氣. 或煎服, 或丸服之. 《本草》

Translation영역

Dried rehmannia (乾地黃): Assists the qi of the heart and gallbladder. Decocted or taken as pills.

Boncho 本草

7.11.4

Source원문

黃連益膽. 或煎服, 或丸服, 或末服. 《本草》

Translation영역

Coptis (黃連): Benefits the gallbladder. Decocted, pilled or powdered.

Boncho 本草

7.11.5

Source원문

細辛添膽氣. 水煎服之. 《本草》

Translation영역

Asarum (細辛): Adds to the gallbladder qi. Decoct it in water and take.

Boncho 本草

7.11.6

Source원문

白百合 定膽. 水煎服之. 《本草》

Translation영역

White lily bulb (白百合): Settles the gallbladder. Decoct it in water and take.

Clinical note임상 주석

定膽, settling the gallbladder — and in this system the gallbladder governs decision and courage, so what is being settled is not an organ but a temperament. The chapter's own sections on 膽虛不得眠 and the timid, startled patient are what these last four entries serve, and lily bulb is the corpus's standing drug for an unsettled spirit after illness. Of the five simples here only bupleurum treats the organ as an organ.

Boncho 本草

About this translation 凡例

Base text: Donguibogam (東醫寶鑑, 1613 first edition), Inner Landscape, Volume 3, The Gallbladder chapter. The Chinese text is collated against the public-domain Wikisource transcription and a printed edition; original character forms (脉, 人參) are retained. Terminology follows Wiseman & Feng, A Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine. Translation and clinical notes are original to this site. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.