寶鑑Bogam

Formulas · Text · Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

The Ear

I

한글 이  ·  Pinyin Er

The kidney's orifice and the gathering of the ancestral vessels — why the ear rings before it goes deaf, deafness sorted by which side, and the long list of ways to get an insect out

耳

The ear belongs to the kidney and the kidney stores essence, so the Lingshu's line governs the chapter: where the essence is deserted, there is deafness. But the ear is also where the ancestral vessels gather, and that gives the chapter its second rule — an empty stomach empties those vessels, and the emptied vessels ring. Ringing is deafness beginning; only where the qi is shut off does a person go deaf without it. The middle of the chapter is a set of distinctions worth having: a loud ring means phlegm fire and a faint one kidney vacuity; a new deafness is mostly heat and an old one mostly vacuity; and deafness sorted by side — the left from anger, which the chapter says is commoner in women, the right from desire, commoner in men, and both ears from rich food and wine. Six named kinds follow, each with its own sign: wind deafness itches, damp deafness swells and hurts after water has got in, taxation deafness shows a scorched, dusty ear rim. The treatments run from pills to things packed in the ear to a magnet in the ear with iron held in the mouth. Then a section of twenty-five folk remedies for getting an insect out of the ear — oil, sap, smoke, a struck mirror, a bowl of milk, and at the end the one that works: put a bamboo tube to the ear and suck.

1.1 Ear and Eye Take In Yang Qi and So Hear and See 耳目受陽氣以聰明

1.1.1
Source원문

人之耳目猶月之質, 必受日光所加始能明. 耳目亦必須陽氣所加始能聰明. 是故耳目之陰血虛, 則陽氣之加無以受之, 而視聽之聰明失; 耳目之陽氣虛, 則陰血不能自施, 而聰明亦失. 然則耳目之聰明, 必須血氣相須始能視聽也. 《綱目》

Translation영역
A person's ears and eyes are like the substance of the moon, which must take the sun's light upon it before it can shine. The ears and eyes likewise must have yang qi added to them before they can hear and see. So where the yin blood of ear and eye is vacuous, there is nothing to receive the yang qi added, and the sharpness of sight and hearing is lost; where their yang qi is vacuous, the yin blood cannot act of itself, and the sharpness is lost as well. Hearing and seeing, then, need blood and qi to depend on each other before there can be sight and hearing.
Clinical note임상 주석
The moon and the sun: substance and what lights it. The point is that neither half alone accounts for a deaf ear, and the chapter's formulas divide accordingly — some supplement the blood, some move the qi, and the better ones do both.

Gangmok 綱目

1.2 The Ear Is the Kidney's Orifice 耳者腎之竅

1.2.1
Source원문

內經曰, 腎主耳. 又曰, 腎在竅爲耳.

Translation영역
The Neijing says: the kidney governs the ear. It also says: the kidney in orifices is the ear.

Naegyeong 內經

1.2.2
Source원문

腎氣通於耳, 腎和則耳能聞五音矣. 《難經》

Translation영역
The kidney qi passes through to the ear, and when the kidney is harmonious the ear can hear the five notes.

Nangyeong 難經

1.2.3
Source원문

內經曰, 腎藏精. 靈樞曰, 精脫者耳聾. 夫腎爲足少陰之經, 乃藏精而氣通于耳. 耳者宗脉之所聚也. 若精氣調和則腎藏强盛, 耳聞五音; 若勞傷氣血兼受風邪, 損於腎藏而精脫者, 則耳聾無聞也. 《寶鑑》

Translation영역
The Neijing says: the kidney stores essence. The Lingshu says: where the essence is deserted there is deafness. The kidney is the foot lesser yin channel; it stores essence and its qi passes through to the ear, and the ear is where the ancestral vessels gather. Where the essential qi is harmonious the kidney viscus is strong and the ear hears the five notes; where taxation damages the qi and blood and a wind evil is taken in besides, so that the kidney viscus is detrimented and the essence deserted, then the ear is deaf and hears nothing.
Clinical note임상 주석
精脫者耳聾 — where the essence is deserted, deafness. The Lingshu's four graphs are the chapter's foundation, and the taxation deafness at 1.5.10 is that claim applied: a man who has spent himself goes deaf.

Wigye Bogam 寶鑑

1.3 The Pulse 脉法

1.3.1
Source원문

病耳聾, 脉大者生, 沈細者難治. 《脉經》

Translation영역
In deafness, a large pulse means life and a sunken fine one is hard to treat.

Maekgyeong 脉經

1.3.2
Source원문

左寸洪數, 心火上炎; 兩尺洪數, 相火上炎. 其人必遺精夢泄, 兩耳或鳴或聾. 《正傳》

Translation영역
Where the left inch is surging and rapid, the heart fire flames upward; where both cubits are surging and rapid, the ministerial fire flames upward. Such a person will surely have seminal emission and dream ejaculation, and both ears will ring or go deaf.

Jeongjeon 正傳

1.3.3
Source원문

腎脉浮而盛爲風, 洪而實爲熱, 細而澁爲虛. 《醫鑑》

Translation영역
Where the kidney pulse is floating and exuberant it is wind; surging and replete, heat; fine and rough, vacuity.

Uigam 醫鑑

1.3.4
Source원문

耳病腎虛, 遲濡其脉. 浮大爲風, 洪動火賊, 沈澁氣凝, 數實熱塞. 久病聾者專於腎責, 暴病浮洪兩尺相同, 或兩尺數, 陰火上衝. 《回春》

Translation영역
In ear disease from kidney vacuity the pulse is slow and soggy. Floating and large is wind; surging and stirring is fire plundering; sunken and rough is qi congealed; rapid and replete is heat blocking. In long-standing deafness the kidney alone is held to account; in sudden disease the pulse is floating and surging and alike at both cubits, or both cubits are rapid — yin fire surging upward.

Hoechun 回春

1.4 Ringing in the Ears 耳鳴

1.4.1
Source원문

黃帝曰, 人之耳中鳴者何氣使然. 岐伯曰, 耳者宗脉之所聚也. 故胃中空則宗脉虛, 宗脉虛則下流, 脉有所竭, 故耳鳴. 《靈樞》

Translation영역
The Yellow Emperor said: when a person's ears ring, what qi makes it so? Qi Bo said: the ear is where the ancestral vessels gather. So when the stomach is empty the ancestral vessels are vacuous; vacuous, they flow downward, and the vessels have somewhere they run dry — and hence the ringing.
Clinical note임상 주석
胃中空則宗脉虛 — an empty stomach empties the ancestral vessels. It is why 1.11's second rule for the ear is simply 常飽, keep well fed, and why a ring often comes on loudest in a person who has not eaten.

Yeongchu 靈樞

1.4.2
Source원문

上氣不足, 耳爲之苦鳴. 髓海不足則腦轉耳鳴. 《靈樞》

Translation영역
Where the qi above is insufficient, the ear rings bitterly for it. Where the sea of marrow is insufficient, the head spins and the ears ring.

Yeongchu 靈樞

1.4.3
Source원문

內經曰, 一陽獨嘯, 少陽厥也. 註曰, 嘯謂耳中鳴如嘯聲也. 一陽, 膽與三焦也. 膽及三焦脉皆入耳, 故氣逆上則耳中鳴.

Translation영역
The Neijing says: where the first yang alone whistles, it is a lesser yang reversal. The commentary says: whistling means a ringing in the ear like the sound of a whistle. The first yang is the gallbladder and the three burners; the channels of both enter the ear, so when the qi counterflows upward the ear rings.

Naegyeong 內經

1.4.4
Source원문

耳鳴乃是聾之漸. 惟氣閉者多不鳴便聾. 《入門》

Translation영역
Ringing in the ears is deafness by degrees. Only where the qi is shut off does one often go deaf without ringing first.
Clinical note임상 주석
耳鳴乃是聾之漸 — ringing is deafness coming on gradually. The line that makes this whole section urgent: the chapter treats a ring because of what it becomes.

Immun 入門

1.4.5
Source원문

凡人嗜慾無節, 勞役過度, 或中年之後大病之餘, 腎水枯涸, 陰火上炎, 故耳痒耳鳴無日而不作. 或如蟬噪之聲, 或如鍾磬之聲, 早而不治, 漸至聾聵, 良可嘆哉. 《正傳》

Translation영역
Where appetites and desires are without measure and labour beyond bounds, or after middle age and in the wake of a great illness, the kidney water dries up and the yin fire flames upward, so that the ear itches and rings and not a day passes without it — sometimes like the noise of cicadas, sometimes like bells and chimes. Not treated early, it comes by degrees to deafness — truly a thing to be sighed over.

Jeongjeon 正傳

1.4.6
Source원문

虛鳴者, 耳觸風邪與氣相擊, 其聲嘈嘈, 宜芎芷散. 或腎氣不足, 宗脉虛, 風邪入耳爲鳴, 先用五苓散方見寒門加枳殼ㆍ橘皮ㆍ紫蘇ㆍ生薑同煎, 呑靑木香元方見前陰散邪疎風下氣, 續以芎歸飮和養. 《直指》

Translation영역
An empty ringing is a wind evil touching the ear and striking against the qi; its sound is a rough noise, and Chuanxiong and Angelica Dahurica Powder is appropriate. Or where the kidney qi is insufficient and the ancestral vessels vacuous, a wind evil enters the ear and rings: first use Five Ingredients Poria Powder formula in the Cold Damage chapter with bitter orange, tangerine peel, perilla and fresh ginger decocted together, to swallow Green Costus Pill formula in the Genitals chapter, scattering the evil, coursing the wind and downbearing the qi; follow with Chuanxiong and Angelica Drink to harmonize and nourish.

Jikji 直指

1.4.7
Source원문

風熱酒熱耳鳴, 用通聖散方見風門加枳殼ㆍ柴胡ㆍ南星ㆍ桔梗ㆍ靑皮ㆍ荊芥, 酒炒製煎服. 《丹心》

Translation영역
For ringing from wind heat or wine heat, Sagely Unblocking Powder formula in the Wind chapter with bitter orange, bupleurum, arisaema, platycodon, green tangerine peel and schizonepeta added, wine-fried and decocted.

Dansim 丹心

1.4.8
Source원문

痰火上升, 兩耳蟬鳴漸欲聾, 宜加減龍薈丸ㆍ鍼砂酒ㆍ通明利氣湯ㆍ復聰湯. 《醫鑑》

Translation영역
Where phlegm fire rises and both ears sing like cicadas and are going deaf by degrees: Modified Gentian and Aloe Pill, Iron Filings Wine, Open the Brightness and Free the Qi Decoction and Restore Hearing Decoction.

Uigam 醫鑑

1.4.9
Source원문

耳鳴皆是腎精不足陰虛火動也. 痰火者鳴甚, 腎虛者微鳴. 宜補腎丸ㆍ黃芪丸ㆍ大補丸ㆍ滋腎通耳湯, 或六味地黃丸方見虛勞以全蝎 四十九枚炒黃爲末, 每二錢, 溫酒調和呑下百丸. 《得效》

Translation영역
Ringing in the ears is always the kidney essence insufficient, the yin vacuous and fire stirring. In phlegm fire the ringing is loud; in kidney vacuity it is slight. Supplement the Kidney Pill, Astragalus Pill, Great Supplementation Pill and Enrich the Kidney and Free the Ear Decoction are appropriate; or Six Ingredients Rehmannia Pill formula in the Vacuity Taxation chapter, with forty-nine scorpions fried yellow and powdered, 2 don at a time stirred into warm wine to swallow a hundred pills.
Clinical note임상 주석
痰火者鳴甚, 腎虛者微鳴 — loud for phlegm fire, faint for kidney vacuity. One question to the patient sorts the two halves of this section, and the formulas divide along it exactly.

Deukhyo 得效

1.4.10
Source원문

耳內鬨鬨然, 是陰虛也. 《丹心》

Translation영역
A clamouring within the ear is yin vacuity.

Dansim 丹心

1.5 Deafness 耳聾

1.5.1
Source원문

耳聾皆屬於熱. 然有左耳聾者, 有右耳聾者, 有左右耳俱聾者, 不可不分. 夫左耳聾者, 足少陽火也, 忿怒之人多有之, 龍薈丸主之方見上. 右耳聾者, 足太陽之火也, 色慾之人多有之, 六味地黃丸主之方見虛勞. 左右俱聾者, 足陽明之火也, 醇酒厚味之人多有之, 通聖散方見風門ㆍ滾痰丸方見痰飮主之. 總三者而言之, 則忿怒致耳聾者爲多, 厥陰少陽火多故也. 《丹心》

Translation영역
Deafness all belongs to heat. But there is deafness of the left ear, of the right, and of both, and they must be told apart. Deafness of the left ear is the foot lesser yang's fire, common in people given to rage, and Gentian and Aloe Pill governs it formula above. Deafness of the right ear is the foot greater yang's fire, common in people given to desire, and Six Ingredients Rehmannia Pill governs it formula in the Vacuity Taxation chapter. Deafness of both is the foot yang brightness's fire, common in people of strong wine and rich flavours, and Sagely Unblocking Powder formula in the Wind chapter and Vaporize Phlegm Pill formula in the Phlegm chapter govern it. Taking the three together, deafness brought on by rage is the commonest, because the reverting yin and lesser yang have much fire.
Clinical note임상 주석
Three causes sorted by which ear. Whatever one makes of the aetiology, the habit of asking which side is right — unilateral and bilateral hearing loss do have different causes — and the chapter builds three formulas on the answer.

Dansim 丹心

1.5.2
Source원문

腎水竅耳而能聞聲者, 水生於金也. 肺主氣, 一身之氣貫於耳, 故能聽聲. 凡治諸聾, 必先調氣開鬱, 間用磁石羊腎丸以開關竅. 盖聾皆痰火鬱結, 非磁石鎭墜ㆍ烏桂椒辛菖蒲辛散流通, 則老痰鬱火何由而開. 愈後以通聖散和之可也. 《入門》

Translation영역
That the kidney has its orifice at the ear and can hear sound is because water is engendered from metal. The lung governs qi, and the qi of the whole body threads the ear, so one can hear. In treating any deafness, first regulate the qi and open the depression, using Loadstone and Sheep's Kidney Pill at intervals to open the gate and orifice. For deafness is always phlegm and fire bound up, and without loadstone to weigh and settle, and aconite, cinnamon, pepper, asarum and acorus to scatter with acridity and set things moving, how should the old phlegm and pent fire be opened? After healing, harmonize with Sagely Unblocking Powder.

Immun 入門

1.5.3
Source원문

左耳聾, 婦人多有之, 以其多忿怒故也. 右耳聾, 男子多有之, 以其多色慾故也. 左右俱聾, 膏梁之家多有之, 以其多肥甘故也. 《醫鑑》

Translation영역
Deafness of the left ear is commoner in women, because they have much rage; of the right ear, commoner in men, because they have much desire; of both ears, commonest in rich households, because they have much fat and sweet food.

Uigam 醫鑑

1.5.4
Source원문

新聾多熱, 久聾多虛. 《入門》

Translation영역
New deafness is mostly heat; long-standing deafness is mostly vacuity.
Clinical note임상 주석
Four graphs that decide the whole treatment. A hearing loss of days is drained and one of years is supplemented, and 1.5.1's heat rule is meant for the first only.

Immun 入門

1.5.5
Source원문

耳聾有風聾ㆍ濕聾ㆍ虛聾ㆍ勞聾ㆍ厥聾ㆍ卒聾.

Translation영역
There are six kinds of deafness: wind deafness, damp deafness, vacuity deafness, taxation deafness, reversal deafness and sudden deafness.

Donguibogam · I

1.5.6
Source원문

左耳聾宜龍膽湯, 右耳聾宜滋陰地黃湯, 左右耳俱聾宜酒製通聖散ㆍ淸聰化痰丸. 《回春》

Translation영역
For deafness of the left ear, Gentian Decoction; of the right ear, Enrich the Yin Rehmannia Decoction; of both ears, wine-processed Sagely Unblocking Powder and Clear the Hearing and Transform Phlegm Pill.

Hoechun 回春

1.5.1 Wind Deafness 風聾

1.5.1.1
Source원문

風聾者, 風邪入耳, 必耳中痒或頭痛. 風熱鬱者, 宜酒製通聖散. 《入門》 耳聾皆屬於熱, 少陽厥陰熱多, 宜開痰散風熱. 通聖散方見風門倍入酒煨大黃, 再用酒炒三次, 後入諸藥通用酒炒, 水煎食後服. 《丹心》 風虛耳聾, 宜桂香散. 《入門》

Translation영역
In wind deafness a wind evil has entered the ear, and there will surely be itching in the ear or a headache; where wind heat is depressed, wine-processed Sagely Unblocking Powder is appropriate. Deafness all belongs to heat, and the lesser yang and reverting yin have much heat, so the phlegm should be opened and the wind heat scattered: Sagely Unblocking Powder formula in the Wind chapter with double rhubarb roasted in wine and then wine-fried three times, the other medicines all wine-fried afterwards, decocted in water and taken after food. For wind vacuity deafness, Cinnamon and Aromatics Powder.

Immun 入門 · Dansim 丹心

1.5.2 Damp Deafness 濕聾

1.5.2.1
Source원문

濕聾者, 因雨水入耳浸漬, 必耳內腫痛. 凉膈散方見火門倍入酒炒大黃, 又黃芩酒浸炒, 加羌活ㆍ防風ㆍ荊芥水煎服; 或五苓散方見寒門加陳皮ㆍ枳殼ㆍ紫蘇ㆍ生薑煎服. 黃龍散入龍腦少許吹入耳中, 妙. 《入門》

Translation영역
In damp deafness, rain water has got into the ear and soaked it, and there will surely be swelling and pain within. Cool the Diaphragm Powder formula in the Fire chapter with double wine-fried rhubarb and wine-steeped fried scutellaria, with notopterygium, saposhnikovia and schizonepeta added, decocted in water; or Five Ingredients Poria Powder formula in the Cold Damage chapter with tangerine peel, bitter orange, perilla and fresh ginger. Yellow Dragon Powder with a little borneol added, blown into the ear — excellent.

Immun 入門

1.5.3 Vacuity Deafness 虛聾

1.5.3.1
Source원문

虛聾, 因久瀉或大病後, 風邪乘虛入耳與氣相搏, 嘈嘈而鳴, 或時眼見黑花. 宜四物湯方見血門加知母ㆍ黃栢(幷鹽酒炒)ㆍ菖蒲ㆍ遠志水煎服; 或腎氣丸方見虛勞加磁石ㆍ破故紙ㆍ兎絲子ㆍ黃栢, 空心鹽湯呑下. 若勞役脫氣者, 補中益氣湯方見內傷加菖蒲ㆍ白茯苓ㆍ黃栢ㆍ知母(幷鹽水炒)煎服. 《入門》

Translation영역
In vacuity deafness, after long diarrhoea or a great illness a wind evil takes advantage of the vacuity, enters the ear and strikes against the qi, so that it rings with a rough noise and at times black flowers are seen before the eyes. Four Substances Decoction formula in the Blood chapter with anemarrhena and phellodendron (both salt-and-wine fried), acorus and polygala added, decocted in water; or Kidney Qi Pill formula in the Vacuity Taxation chapter with loadstone, psoralea, cuscuta and phellodendron added, swallowed on an empty stomach with salt decoction. Where labour has deserted the qi, Supplement the Centre and Boost the Qi Decoction formula in the Internal Damage chapter with acorus, white poria, phellodendron and anemarrhena (all salt-water fried) added.

Immun 入門

1.5.4 Taxation Deafness 勞聾

1.5.4.1
Source원문

勞聾, 經曰精脫者耳聾, 其候頰顴色黑ㆍ耳輪焦枯受塵垢者是也. 因房勞脫精者, 人參養榮湯方見虛勞加知母ㆍ黃栢(幷鹽水炒)煎服; 或補骨脂丸ㆍ益腎散. 《入門》

Translation영역
For taxation deafness, the classic says that where the essence is deserted there is deafness, and its signs are the cheeks and cheekbones black in colour and the rim of the ear scorched and withered so that it takes on dust. Where the essence is deserted through bedroom taxation, Ginseng Nourish the Construction Decoction formula in the Vacuity Taxation chapter with anemarrhena and phellodendron (both salt-water fried) added; or Psoralea Pill and Boost the Kidney Powder.
Clinical note임상 주석
耳輪焦枯受塵垢 — the ear's rim scorched and dry enough to take dust. The Bone chapter's 11.10 reads the same feature for the bone; here it is read for the essence, which is the kidney's own.

Immun 入門

1.5.4.2
Source원문

腎虛耳聾, 宜六味地黃丸方見虛勞加遠志ㆍ菖蒲ㆍ黃栢ㆍ知母(幷鹽水炒). 亦治陰虛火動而聾. 《回春》 腎虛耳聾宜燒腎散, 腎虛久聾宜薑蝎散開之. 《三因》

Translation영역
For kidney vacuity deafness, Six Ingredients Rehmannia Pill formula in the Vacuity Taxation chapter with polygala, acorus, phellodendron and anemarrhena (all salt-water fried) added; it also treats deafness from yin vacuity with fire stirring. For kidney vacuity deafness, Roasted Kidney Powder; for long-standing kidney vacuity deafness, Ginger and Scorpion Powder to open it.

Hoechun 回春 · Samin 三因

1.5.5 Reversal Deafness 厥聾

1.5.5.1
Source원문

厥聾, 暴厥而聾, 偏塞閉不通, 內氣暴薄也. 《內經》 五藏六府十二經脉有絡於耳者, 其陰陽經氣有相倂時, 倂則藏氣逆, 名之曰厥. 厥氣相薄入於耳之脉則令聾, 名曰厥聾. 氣逆耳聾有三, 肝與手太陽少陽也. 經云肝氣逆則頭痛耳聾, 是也. 手太陽氣厥而聾者, 其候耳內氣滿熱壅; 手少陽氣厥而聾者, 其候耳內渾渾焞焞一云煇煇㸌㸌. 皆宜四物湯呑下龍薈丸, 或燒腎散以通之. 《寶鑑》

Translation영역
Reversal deafness: a sudden reversal with deafness, blocked and stopped on one side and not passing, is the inner qi suddenly pressing. The five viscera, six bowels and twelve channels have those that network with the ear, and their yin and yang channel qi at times run together; running together, the visceral qi counterflows, and this is named reversal. Where the reversal qi presses in and enters the ear's vessels it makes deafness, named reversal deafness. There are three kinds of deafness from counterflowing qi — the liver and the hand greater yang and lesser yang. The classic says that when the liver qi counterflows there is headache and deafness. Where the hand greater yang's qi reverses and makes deafness, the sign is the ear full of qi and congested with heat; where the hand lesser yang's qi reverses, the sign is a muffled, clouded feeling within the ear one text has a buzzing, flashing feeling. For all of them, Four Substances Decoction used to swallow Gentian and Aloe Pill, or Roasted Kidney Powder to free it.

Naegyeong 內經 · Wigye Bogam 寶鑑

1.5.5.2
Source원문

因藏氣厥逆入耳痞塞不通, 必兼眩暈, 宜當歸龍薈丸方見五藏兼用塞耳丹塞耳. 《入門》

Translation영역
Where the visceral qi reverses and enters the ear, congesting and blocking it, there will surely be dizziness with it: Angelica, Gentian and Aloe Pill formula in the Five Viscera chapter with Plug the Ear Elixir used in the ear as well.

Immun 入門

1.5.5.3
Source원문

熱氣閉塞者, 耳不鳴. 《丹心》

Translation영역
Where it is heat qi that blocks and shuts the ear, there is no ringing.
Clinical note임상 주석
A single line, and a diagnostic one: the absence of tinnitus tells against a vacuity and for a heat block. The ringing deafnesses of 1.4 and the vacuity deafnesses above all sound; a silent, stopped ear is read as heat shutting the orifice, which is why the formulas for it are the draining ones.

Dansim 丹心

1.5.6 Sudden Deafness 卒聾

1.5.6.1
Source원문

卒聾者, 腎氣虛, 風邪搏於經絡, 入於耳中, 正氣與邪氣相薄, 故令卒聾. 宜芎芷散方見上ㆍ淸神散方見下. 《綱目》

Translation영역
In sudden deafness the kidney qi is vacuous and a wind evil strikes at the channels and network vessels and enters the ear; the right qi and the evil qi clash there, and so the deafness comes suddenly. Gungji-san formula above and Cheongsin-san formula below are appropriate.
Clinical note임상 주석
The sixth of the deafnesses named at 1.5.5, and the one defined by its onset rather than by its cause: a vacuous kidney with wind striking a channel, so that the ear closes at once. Sudden unilateral hearing loss is a recognized presentation now and is treated as an emergency; the Bogam's two prescriptions are a wind-dispelling powder and a clearing one.

Gangmok 綱目

1.5.6.2
Source원문

暴聾皆是厥逆之氣. 經云少陽之厥, 暴聾, 是也. 《綱目》

Translation영역
Abrupt deafness is in every case a qi of reversal and counterflow. The classic says: in the reversal of the lesser yang, abrupt deafness — this is it.
Clinical note임상 주석
The Gangmok folds abrupt deafness back into the reversal deafness of the entries above, so that the two headings describe one thing from two sides: 厥聾 names the mechanism and 暴聾 the onset.

Gangmok 綱目

1.5.6.3
Source원문

暴聾, 宜蒲黃膏ㆍ龍腦膏塞耳. 方見下

Translation영역
For abrupt deafness, Pohwang-go and Yongnoe-go are appropriate, plugged into the ear. formulas below

Gangmok 綱目

1.5.6.4
Source원문

甘遂爲末作丸, 塞耳, 內服甘草煎湯. 令兩人各製用, 不可一處安頓. 又巴豆二十粒爲泥, 松香 五錢, 入葱汁擣作丸, 綿裹塞耳中. 《入門》

Translation영역
Kansui powdered and made into a pill, plugged into the ear, with a decoction of licorice taken internally. Have two separate people prepare the two, and they must not be kept in one place. Also twenty croton seeds ground to a paste with rosin 5 don, mixed with scallion juice and pounded into a pill, wrapped in cotton wool and plugged into the ear.
Clinical note임상 주석
令兩人各製用, 不可一處安頓 — have two people prepare them and never keep them together. Kansui and licorice are the classic antagonistic pair, and the Immun extends the doctrine to the workshop: the two must not touch even before use. It is the most literal statement of drug antagonism in these chapters. **Kansui and croton seed are both violent purgative irritants and neither must be prepared.** Croton oil blisters skin and mucosa on contact, and the preparation here is to be placed inside the ear canal.

Immun 入門

1.6 Hardness of Hearing 耳重聽

1.6.1
Source원문

耳重聽, 宜淸神散ㆍ聰耳湯ㆍ地黃湯.

Translation영역
For hardness of hearing: Clear the Spirit Powder, Sharpen the Ear Decoction and Rehmannia Decoction.
Clinical note임상 주석
重聽 is the ear that hears but hears thickly — sound arrives muffled and has to be repeated, which is not the chapter's 聾 and not its 耳鳴 either. The Bogam gives it a section of three formulas and no theory, and the three are arranged by what is blocking: Clear the Spirit Powder for wind qi congesting the ear with a clouded head, Sharpen the Ear Decoction for the damp heat below it, and Rehmannia Decoction for kidney-channel heat where the right ear is the one that mishears.

Donguibogam · I

1.7 Suppurating Ear 聤耳

1.7.1
Source원문

耳者宗脉之所聚, 腎氣之所通, 足少陰之經也. 若勞傷氣血, 熱氣乘虛入於其經, 熱氣聚則生膿塞耳, 謂之聤耳. 《綱目》

Translation영역
The ear is where the ancestral vessels gather and where the kidney qi passes through; it is the foot lesser yin channel. Where taxation damages the qi and blood and heat qi takes advantage of the vacuity to enter that channel, the gathered heat qi engenders pus that blocks the ear — this is called suppurating ear.
Clinical note임상 주석
The same two propositions the chapter opened with — the ear as the meeting of the ancestral vessels, the ear as the kidney's channel — turned to an infection. What makes a person liable to it is taxation; what fills the ear is heat.

Gangmok 綱目

1.7.2
Source원문

人耳中有津液, 若風熱搏之, 津液結硬成核塞耳, 亦令暴聾, 謂之聤耳. 熱氣乘虛隨脉入耳, 熱聚不散, 膿汁出焉, 謂之膿耳. 《直指》

Translation영역
There is fluid in a person's ear, and where wind heat beats upon it the fluid binds hard into a core that blocks the ear and can bring on sudden deafness; this too is called suppurating ear. Where heat qi takes advantage of vacuity and follows the vessels into the ear, and the gathered heat does not disperse, pus discharges — and that is called pus ear.
Clinical note임상 주석
Two outcomes from one fluid: beaten upon by wind heat it hardens into a plug, and that is 聤耳; left to gather heat it liquefies into pus, and that is 膿耳, the subject of the next section. The hardened core is recognisable — impacted wax or a keratin plug, which does block hearing suddenly, and which 1.8's packings and insufflations were never going to shift.

Jikji 直指

1.7.3
Source원문

耳中津液結核塞耳, 暴聾而爲聤耳, 宜服柴胡聰耳湯. 外用猪脂ㆍ地龍ㆍ鍋底煤等分, 葱汁和丸棗核大, 綿裹入耳令潤, 挑去. 《丹心》

Translation영역
Where the fluid in the ear binds into a core that blocks it, with sudden deafness, making a suppurating ear: take Bupleurum Sharpen the Ear Decoction. Externally, equal parts of lard, earthworm and soot from the bottom of the pot, bound with scallion juice into a pill the size of a jujube stone, wrapped in cotton and put into the ear to soften it, then hooked out.
Clinical note임상 주석
Inside and outside at once, and the external measure is the sensible half: a greasy pill left in the ear to soften a hard plug, then lifted out. That is what is still done, with oil or a softening drop; the soot is doing nothing but colouring the lard.

Dansim 丹心

1.8 Earache Becoming Pus Ear 耳痛成膿耳

1.8.1
Source원문

風邪乘少陰之經入於耳內, 熱氣聚則痛而生膿, 或風熱上壅腫痛, 日久膿汁流出, 皆謂之膿耳. 膿不去則塞耳成聾. 《入門》

Translation영역
A wind evil takes the lesser yin channel and enters the ear; the gathered heat qi gives pain and engenders pus. Or wind heat congests upward with swelling and pain, and after many days pus discharges. Both are called pus ear, and if the pus is not got rid of it blocks the ear and becomes deafness.
Clinical note임상 주석
Acute otitis media and its chronic suppurative sequel, described by what the patient feels in the order they feel it: pain first, discharge after days, hearing loss if it goes on. 膿不去則塞耳成聾 is the section's reason for existing, and it is correct — untreated chronic suppuration does damage hearing permanently.

Immun 入門

1.8.2
Source원문

耳內作痛, 宜鼠粘子湯ㆍ蔓荊子散ㆍ犀角飮子ㆍ荊芥連翹湯ㆍ東垣鼠粘子湯.

Translation영역
For pain within the ear: Burdock Decoction, Vitex Fruit Powder, Rhinoceros Horn Drink, Schizonepeta and Forsythia Decoction and Dongyuan's Burdock Decoction.
Clinical note임상 주석
Five formulas for the painful stage, all of them cooling and wind-dispersing rather than draining. Rhinoceros horn is prohibited under CITES and the species are critically endangered; the formula is recorded as a document, not a prescription.

Donguibogam · I

1.8.3
Source원문

去膿汁, 宜紅綿散ㆍ抵聖散ㆍ黃龍散方見上ㆍ明礬散ㆍ吹耳散.

Translation영역
To get rid of the pus: Red Cotton Powder, Reach the Sagely Powder, Yellow Dragon Powder formula above, Clear Alum Powder and Blow Into the Ear Powder.
Clinical note임상 주석
All five are powders to be dried into the canal after the pus has been wiped or blown out, and four of the five are built on calcined alum and cuttlebone — astringents that dry a weeping surface. The procedure the formulas specify is the useful part: clear the discharge first, then apply, which is still the order of an aural toilet.

Donguibogam · I

1.8.4
Source원문

耳痛, 以白龍散塞耳.

Translation영역
For earache, White Dragon Powder is packed into the ear.

Donguibogam · I

1.8.5
Source원문

耳熱出汁, 滑石ㆍ石膏ㆍ天花粉ㆍ防風各一錢, 龍腦一分. 右爲細末, 糝耳中卽止. 《綱目》

Translation영역
For a hot ear discharging fluid: talc, gypsum, trichosanthes root and saposhnikovia 1 don each, borneol 1 pun. Powder them fine and sprinkle into the ear; it stops at once.
Clinical note임상 주석
An unnamed powder, which is why it is given here in full rather than linked: four cooling drying minerals and herbs with a trace of borneol for the sting of relief. 糝, sprinkled in dry, is the same method as the five named powders above.

Gangmok 綱目

1.9 Itching in the Ear 耳痒

1.9.1
Source원문

有人患耳痒, 一日一作可畏, 直挑剔出血稍愈, 明日復然. 此乃腎藏虛致浮毒上攻, 未易以常法治也. 宜服局方透氷丹方見風門, 忌酒麪鷄猪辛熱之物, 能盡一月爲佳, 不然無效. 《得效》

Translation영역
A man suffered an itching of the ear that came once a day and was dreadful; only by digging at it until it bled did it ease a little, and next day it was the same again. This is the kidney viscus vacuous, so that a floating toxin attacks upward, and it is not easily treated by the ordinary methods. The Gukbang's Penetrate the Ice Elixir formula in the Wind chapter should be taken, avoiding wine, wheat food, chicken, pork and acrid hot things; if he can keep it up a full month it is well, and otherwise there is no effect.
Clinical note임상 주석
A daily itch relieved only by scratching until it bleeds, and a month of abstinence required for the cure. The Deukhyo is honest about what it costs: 不然無效 — otherwise it does not work.

Deukhyo 得效

1.9.2
Source원문

宜服玄參貝母湯.

Translation영역
Scrophularia and Fritillaria Decoction should be taken.

Donguibogam · I

1.10 Medicines That Penetrate the Gate and Free the Qi 透關通氣藥

1.10.1
Source원문

邪氣閉塞爲聾聵, 當用透關通氣之藥, 宜塞耳丹ㆍ通神散ㆍ鍼砂酒方見上ㆍ蒲黃膏ㆍ龍腦膏ㆍ甘遂散ㆍ透耳筒ㆍ透鐵關法.

Translation영역
Where an evil qi shuts and blocks so that there is deafness, medicines that penetrate the gate and free the qi should be used: Plug the Ear Elixir, Spirit Penetrating Powder, Iron Filings Wine formula above, Cattail Pollen Paste, Borneol Paste, Kansui Powder, the Ear-Penetrating Tube and the Iron Gate Penetrating Method.
Clinical note임상 주석
Eight preparations and only one of them is swallowed. The chapter's judgement is that a blocked ear is treated at the ear, and the pills of 1.5 are for what lies behind it.

Donguibogam · I

1.11 Methods of Cultivation 修養法

1.11.1
Source원문

以手摩耳輪, 不拘遍數, 所謂修其城郭, 以補腎氣, 以防聾聵也. 《養性》

Translation영역
Rub the rim of the ear with the hand, any number of times; this is what is called repairing one's city walls, to supplement the kidney qi and guard against deafness.
Clinical note임상 주석
修其城郭 — repairing the city walls, the outer ear being the wall around what matters. The Nose chapter's 2.17 rubs the bridge of the nose on the same principle, and both are among the few things in these chapters a reader can do at once.

Yangseongseo 養性書

1.11.2
Source원문

養耳力者常飽. 《養性》

Translation영역
One who would nourish the power of hearing keeps well fed.

Yangseongseo 養性書

1.12 Untreatable Signs 不治證

1.12.1
Source원문

久聾腎虛氣虛, 絶不聞者, 難治. 《入門》

Translation영역
Long-standing deafness with kidney vacuity and qi vacuity, where nothing at all is heard, is hard to treat.

Immun 入門

1.13 Insects Gone into the Ear 諸蟲入耳

1.13.1
Source원문

諸蟲入耳不出, 將兩刀於耳門上相磨敲作聲, 蟲聞自出. 又將鏡子敲之亦出. 《本草》

Translation영역
Where an insect has gone into the ear and will not come out, take two knives and grind and strike them together at the ear's opening to make a sound, and the insect hears it and comes out of itself; striking a mirror also brings it out.

Boncho 本草

1.13.2
Source원문

取車釭脂塗耳孔, 蟲自出. 《本草》 藍靑汁滴入耳中, 蟲自死出. 《得效》 川椒末醋浸良久取汁灌耳中, 蟲自出. 《本草》

Translation영역
Smear axle grease on the ear hole and the insect comes out of itself. Drip indigo juice into the ear and the insect dies and comes out. Steep powdered Sichuan pepper in vinegar a good while, take the liquid and pour it into the ear, and the insect comes out.

Boncho 本草 · Deukhyo 得效

1.13.3
Source원문

諸蟲及虱入耳, 白膠香燒烟熏入耳, 耳內煖, 蟲自出. 《綱目》 蟲入耳痛者, 鰻鱺魚膏塗入耳中. 《本草》 諸蟲入耳, 桃葉熟挼塞耳中卽出. 《本草》 惡蟲入耳, 桃葉作枕枕之, 蟲自鼻出. 《得效》

Translation영역
For any insect or ant in the ear, burn storax and blow the smoke into the ear; the ear grows warm and the insect comes out. Where an insect in the ear causes pain, smear eel fat into the ear. For any insect in the ear, pound peach leaves soft and plug the ear, and it comes out at once. For a malign insect in the ear, make a pillow of peach leaves and sleep on it, and the insect comes out at the nose.

Gangmok 綱目 · Boncho 本草 · Deukhyo 得效

1.13.4
Source원문

飛蟲入耳, 好醋滴入耳內, 蟲必死而出. 《綱目》 飛蛾入耳, 醬汁灌耳中卽出; 又擊銅器於耳傍亦出. 《本草》

Translation영역
For a flying insect in the ear, drip good vinegar in and it dies and comes out. For a moth in the ear, pour soy liquid into the ear and it comes out at once; striking a bronze vessel beside the ear also brings it out.

Gangmok 綱目 · Boncho 本草

1.13.5
Source원문

百蟲入耳, 韭汁ㆍ葱汁ㆍ薑汁ㆍ麻油ㆍ鷄冠熱血, 隨所得灌耳中卽出. 《本草》 驢乳ㆍ牛乳灌入耳亦卽出. 《丹心》 蜈蚣入耳, 生薑汁或韭汁灌耳中卽出. 《得效》 又猪脂肉灸令香掩耳, 蜈蚣自出. 《本草》

Translation영역
For any insect in the ear, leek juice, scallion juice, ginger juice, sesame oil or the hot blood of a cockscomb — whichever is at hand — poured into the ear brings it out at once. Ass's milk or cow's milk poured in also brings it out at once. For a centipede in the ear, ginger juice or leek juice poured in brings it out at once; or roast fat pork until it is fragrant and hold it over the ear, and the centipede comes out of itself.
Clinical note임상 주석
Roasting a piece of fat pork and holding it at the ear. Of the twenty-five methods here this is the one most often repeated in later books, and the principle — offer the creature somewhere better to go — is sound.

Boncho 本草 · Dansim 丹心 · Deukhyo 得效

1.13.6
Source원문

蚰蜒入耳, 半夏生爲末, 麻油調塗耳門外, 蟲聞香卽出. 《綱目》 活地龍一條納葱葉中化水, 滴耳中, 蚰蜒化爲水. 《本草》 鼠婦蟲硏如泥, 攤紙上撚作條納耳中自出. 又蝸牛滴水硏爛, 滴汁耳中亦出. 《綱目》

Translation영역
For a centipede in the ear, powder raw pinellia, mix with sesame oil and smear it outside the ear opening; the creature smells the fragrance and comes out. Put a live earthworm into a scallion leaf until it turns to liquid and drip it into the ear, and the centipede dissolves to water. Grind woodlice to a paste, spread it on paper, roll it into a twist and put it in the ear, and it comes out; or grind a snail with a drop of water and drip the juice in, and it comes out too.

Gangmok 綱目 · Boncho 本草

1.13.7
Source원문

脂麻油作煎餠枕臥, 須臾出. 《本草》 小蒜汁滴入耳卽出, 諸蟲皆同. 《本草》 牛酪或驢乳灌耳中, 當消成水. 《本草》 蟻子入耳, 穿山甲燒末水調灌之卽出. 《本草》 猪脂或牛脂或肉灸令香, 安耳孔, 蟲自出. 《本草》

Translation영역
Make a pancake with sesame oil and lie with the ear on it, and presently it comes out. Drip small garlic juice into the ear and it comes out at once; the same for any insect. Pour cow's cream or ass's milk into the ear and it dissolves to water. For an ant in the ear, burn pangolin scale, powder it, mix with water and pour it in, and it comes out at once. Roast lard or beef fat or meat until fragrant and set it at the ear hole, and the insect comes out of itself.

Boncho 本草

1.13.8
Source원문

耳中有物不可出, 用弓弦或麻繩打令頭散, 塗好膠粘着其物, 徐徐引出, 妙. 《本草》 取葱管合於耳門內, 極力吸之卽出. 《本草》 一切蟲物入耳不出, 以竹管入耳內, 用口氣盡力吸出, 最妙. 《丹心》

Translation영역
Where something in the ear cannot be got out, take a bowstring or a hemp cord, beat its end until it frays, coat it with good glue so that the thing sticks to it, and draw it out slowly — excellent. Or fit a scallion tube to the ear opening and suck with all one's force, and it comes out. For anything at all gone into the ear and not coming out, put a bamboo tube into the ear and draw it out by sucking with all the breath one has — best of all.
Clinical note임상 주석
Suction with a tube, and the frayed cord coated with glue for something solid. These two are the methods that survive: an ear syringe works the same way, and the glue-on-a-probe trick is still used for a bead a child has pushed in.

Boncho 本草 · Dansim 丹心

1.14 Simple Medicinals 單方

1.14.1
Source원문

凡二十種.

Translation영역
Twenty kinds in all.

Donguibogam · I

1.14.2
Source원문

白礬 治膿水出耳中. 煆爲末, 入麝香少許, 綿裹塞耳中. 《本草》

Translation영역
Alum (白礬): Treats pus and water coming out of the ear. Calcine it, powder it, add a little musk, wrap it in cotton wool and plug it into the ear.
Clinical note임상 주석
**Nothing in this section should be put into an ear.** Eighteen of these twenty entries are instillations or plugs, and the ear canal is the one place in the body where a well-meant remedy does the most damage: a perforated drum lets anything poured in reach the middle ear and the round window, where alum, croton oil, animal bile and urine are all ototoxic and the hearing loss they cause is permanent. 膿水出耳中, pus and water coming from the ear, is a discharging otitis media or a cholesteatoma, and it needs examination with an otoscope, suction under the microscope, and topical drops chosen for a perforated ear.

Boncho 本草

1.14.3
Source원문

鹽 治耳卒痛. 鹽三五升, 蒸熱, 裹以靑布枕之, 冷復易, 立效. 《綱目》

Translation영역
Salt (鹽): Treats sudden pain of the ear. Three or five seung of salt, steamed hot, wrapped in blue cloth and used as a pillow, changed again when it goes cold — it takes effect at once.
Clinical note임상 주석
The one entry in the section that puts nothing in the ear, and the one a reader can act on: a hot salt bag laid under the ear. Dry heat is genuinely soothing for earache, and salt holds heat longer than almost anything else in a kitchen, which is why the method survives in Korean households.

Gangmok 綱目

1.14.4
Source원문

磁石 治久聾. 取緊磁石如豆大ㆍ穿山甲 燒爲末, 二分半, 右新綿裹了塞耳中, 口中含小生鐵, 覺耳內如風雨聲, 卽愈. 《綱目》 ○又磁石生硏細, 綿裹納聾耳中, 別用鍼砂末納不聾耳中, 自然通聽. 《直指》

Translation영역
Magnetite (磁石): Treats long-standing deafness. Take a strongly magnetic stone the size of a bean, with 2.5 pun of pangolin scale burnt and powdered; wrap them in fresh cotton wool and plug them into the ear, and hold a small piece of raw iron in the mouth. When a sound like wind and rain is felt within the ear, it is cured (Gangmok 綱目). ○ Or grind magnetite fine while raw, wrap it in cotton wool and put it into the deaf ear, and separately put powdered iron filings into the ear that is not deaf; hearing opens through of itself. (Jikji 直指)
Clinical note임상 주석
**Pangolin is not to be used:** all eight species are on CITES Appendix I and the trade is prohibited. The two methods are the same physical idea in different arrangements — a magnet in the ear and iron elsewhere, so that the pull runs through the head. 覺耳內如風雨聲, a sound like wind and rain in the ear, is given as the sign that it is working; it is in fact what tinnitus sounds like.

Gangmok 綱目 · Jikji 直指

1.14.5
Source원문

菖蒲 治耳聾. 石菖蒲 一寸ㆍ巴豆肉 一粒, 合擣作丸, 綿裹塞耳, 日一易. ○耳痛, 取自然汁灌耳, 神效. 《本草》

Translation영역
Acorus (菖蒲): Treats deafness. Acorus 1 chon and one kernel of croton seed, pounded together and made into a pill, wrapped in cotton wool and plugged into the ear, changed once a day. ○ For earache, take the natural juice and pour it into the ear — marvellously effective.
Clinical note임상 주석
**Croton seed must not be used.** It contains phorbol esters and is a violent vesicant: a pill of it held against the skin of the ear canal raises blisters, and that blistering is what these methods were counting on. Acorus is the corpus's chief orifice-opening drug and appears in the ear, the nose and the tongue for the same reason.

Boncho 本草

1.14.6
Source원문

生地黃 治耳鳴耳聾. 生地黃灰火煨, 綿裹塞耳, 數易之, 以差爲度. 《本草》

Translation영역
Raw rehmannia (生地黃): Treats ringing in the ears and deafness. Bake raw rehmannia in the ashes of a fire, wrap it in cotton wool and plug it into the ear, changing it often, until cure is reached.

Boncho 本草

1.14.7
Source원문

薄荷 治水入耳. 取汁點入, 立效. 《經驗》

Translation영역
Mint (薄荷): Treats water that has got into the ear. Take the juice and instil it — it takes effect at once.
Clinical note임상 주석
水入耳, water in the ear, is the complaint anyone who has swum knows, and it is the one condition in this section where instilling something is close to right — though what is used is alcohol-based drying drops, and never in an ear with a perforation or a grommet. Water trapped behind wax that then macerates the canal is how swimmer's ear begins.

Gyeongheombang 經驗

1.14.8
Source원문

萆麻子 治耳聾耳鳴. 萆麻子 去皮, 四十九粒ㆍ大棗肉 十箇, 入人乳和擣令勻, 每取作棗核大, 綿裹塞耳中, 覺熱爲度, 一日一易, 名棗子錠. 《得效》

Translation영역
Castor bean (萆麻子): Treats deafness and ringing in the ears. Forty-nine castor beans with the husks removed and the flesh of ten jujubes, pounded together with human milk until even; take a piece the size of a jujube stone each time, wrap it in cotton wool and plug it into the ear, until warmth is felt, changed once a day. It is called Jojajeong 棗子錠, the Jujube Pellet.
Clinical note임상 주석
**This must not be prepared.** The castor seed contains ricin, one of the most toxic substances in the materia medica, and forty-nine of them pounded into a paste is a lethal quantity by mouth. 覺熱爲度, until warmth is felt, is again the irritant effect taken as the endpoint.

Deukhyo 得效

1.14.9
Source원문

甘遂 治久聾. 甘遂半寸, 綿裹塞耳內, 甘草半寸嚼口中, 卽通. 《綱目》 ○又甘遂末吹入左耳, 甘草末吹入右耳, 亦效. 須兩人各處修製乃效. 《丹心》

Translation영역
Kansui (甘遂): Treats long-standing deafness. Half a chon of kansui wrapped in cotton wool and plugged into the ear, with half a chon of licorice chewed in the mouth, and it opens through at once (Gangmok 綱目). ○ Or powdered kansui blown into the left ear and powdered licorice into the right, which is also effective. The two must be prepared by two people in separate places for it to work. (Dansim 丹心)
Clinical note임상 주석
**Kansui is toxic and must not be used.** The whole point of this entry is the classical incompatibility of kansui and licorice — the two are the standard example of drugs that must never meet — and the method exploits it, putting one in the ear and the other in the mouth so that the antagonism itself does the work. 須兩人各處修製乃效, they must be prepared by two people in separate places, carries the idea to its conclusion: the drugs must not even be handled together.

Gangmok 綱目 · Dansim 丹心

1.14.10
Source원문

巴豆 治耳聾ㆍ久聾ㆍ耳痛. 巴豆肉 一兩ㆍ松脂 三兩, 同擣勻, 作棗核大, 綿裹塞耳, 日一易. 《本草》 ○巴豆一粒去皮, 蠟裹, 鍼刺一孔令透, 塞耳中. 《本草》 ○巴豆肉十四箇硏爛ㆍ鵝脂半兩, 熔化作丸, 綿裹塞耳中. 《丹心》

Translation영역
Croton seed (巴豆): Treats deafness, long-standing deafness and earache. Croton kernel 1 nyang and pine resin 3 nyang pounded together until even, made into a piece the size of a jujube stone, wrapped in cotton wool and plugged into the ear, changed once a day (Boncho 本草). ○ Or one croton seed with the husk removed, wrapped in wax, with a single hole pricked through with a needle, plugged into the ear (Boncho 本草). ○ Or fourteen croton kernels ground to a mash with half a nyang of goose fat, melted together and made into a pill, wrapped in cotton wool and plugged into the ear. (Dansim 丹心)
Clinical note임상 주석
**This must not be used.** Three methods for one drug, and the second is the most ingenious and the most alarming: the seed sealed in wax with a single needle hole, so that the oil seeps out slowly and steadily. It is a controlled-release device for a violent vesicant, pressed against the skin of the ear canal.

Boncho 本草 · Dansim 丹心

1.14.11
Source원문

龜尿 治久聾. 取得尿, 盛靑葱管中, 滴入耳中. 取尿法, 以明鏡照龜, 龜淫發放尿. 又艾灸其尻亦放. 《丹心》

Translation영역
Turtle urine (龜尿): Treats long-standing deafness. Obtain the urine, hold it in a hollow scallion stalk, and drop it into the ear. The method of obtaining the urine: hold a bright mirror up to the turtle, and the turtle, roused by desire, passes urine. Moxa applied to its rump will also make it pass.
Clinical note임상 주석
**This is not to be done**, to the patient or to the turtle. The mirror method is the most quoted curiosity in the Korean materia medica and it rests on a real observation — that a turtle shown its reflection will react to it — turned to a use nobody would defend. Reptiles are a reservoir for salmonella, and all native Korean turtles are now protected.

Dansim 丹心

1.14.12
Source원문

鯉魚膽 治耳聾. 取汁滴入耳中. 《本草》 ○取鯉腦髓, 綿裹塞耳, 亦治聾. 《直指》 ○治暴聾. 鯉魚腦髓 二兩ㆍ粳米 三合, 和鹽醬煮粥食. 《入門》

Translation영역
Carp gall (鯉魚膽): Treats deafness. Take the bile and drop it into the ear (Boncho 本草). ○ Take carp brain, wrap it in cotton wool and plug it into the ear; this also treats deafness (Jikji 直指). ○ For sudden deafness: 2 nyang of carp brain with 3 hop of polished rice, boiled into a gruel with salt and soy and eaten. (Immun 入門)
Clinical note임상 주석
暴聾, sudden deafness, is the one condition in this chapter that is a genuine emergency: sudden sensorineural hearing loss is treated with high-dose steroids and the window for treatment is days, so a hearing loss that comes on over hours needs seeing the same week. Raw fish bile is also directly hepatotoxic and nephrotoxic when swallowed — poisonings from raw carp gall are well documented — and the gruel is the only safe form here.

Boncho 本草 · Jikji 直指 · Immun 入門

1.14.13
Source원문

鼠膽 治久聾. 取膽汁, 令病人側臥, 瀝汁入耳令盡, 須臾膽汁從下耳出. 初灌益聾, 半日乃差. 能治三十年老聾. 但鼠膽難得, 鼠纔死膽便消矣. 或云月初三日前有之. 《入門》 ○鼠腦髓綿裹塞耳, 亦治聾. 《直指》

Translation영역
Rat gall (鼠膽): Treats long-standing deafness. Take the bile, have the patient lie on their side, and drip the fluid into the ear until it is all in; after a little while the bile comes out of the lower ear. At first the pouring makes the deafness worse, and after half a day it is cured. It can treat a deafness of thirty years' standing. But rat gall is hard to come by, for the gallbladder vanishes the moment the rat dies; some say it is there only before the third day of the month (Immun 入門). ○ Rat brain wrapped in cotton wool and plugged into the ear also treats deafness. (Jikji 直指)
Clinical note임상 주석
**This is not to be done.** Rats carry leptospirosis, hantavirus and much else, and bile poured into one ear does not run out of the other unless something is very wrong. 初灌益聾, at first the pouring makes it worse, is a reaction reframed as part of the cure. The complaint that the gallbladder vanishes the moment the rat dies is a real observation of autolysis, dressed up with a calendar.

Immun 入門 · Jikji 直指

1.14.14
Source원문

蛇膏 治耳聾. 取蛇膏塞耳中, 神效. 《千金》 ○耳內忽大痛如有蟲在內奔走, 或血水流出, 痛不可忍. 蛇退皮燒存性爲末, 吹入耳中, 立愈. 《正傳》

Translation영역
Snake fat (蛇膏): Treats deafness. Take snake fat and plug it into the ear — marvellously effective (Cheongeum 千金). ○ Where there is sudden severe pain within the ear as though an insect were running about inside, or blood and water flow out, with pain beyond bearing: burn a snake's sloughed skin with its nature preserved, powder it, and blow it into the ear — it is cured at once. (Jeongjeon 正傳)
Clinical note임상 주석
如有蟲在內奔走 — as though an insect were running about inside — and sometimes it is: a live insect in the ear canal is a real presentation and intensely distressing, and the treatment is to drown it with oil or lidocaine before removing it. Blood and water flowing out with severe pain is an acute otitis media that has perforated, or a trauma, and blowing powder in is the worst thing to do.

Cheongeum 千金 · Jeongjeon 正傳

1.14.15
Source원문

蚯蚓汁 治耳聾. 取地龍納葱葉中化水, 點之. 《本草》

Translation영역
Earthworm juice (蚯蚓汁): Treats deafness. Put earthworms inside a scallion leaf and let them dissolve into a liquid, then instil it.
Clinical note임상 주석
納葱葉中化水, put into a scallion leaf and let dissolve into liquid — earthworms deliquesce in salt and in the sulphurous juice of an allium, and the method is an observation of that. The hollow scallion leaf serves as both the vessel and the dropper, as it does in the turtle entry above.

Boncho 本草

1.14.16
Source원문

杏仁 治耳痛出膿水. 熬赤爲末, 葱涎和丸, 綿裹入耳中, 日三易. 《本草》

Translation영역
Apricot kernel (杏仁): Treats earache with pus and water coming out. Roast it red, powder it, make a pill with scallion sap, wrap it in cotton wool and put it into the ear, changed three times a day.

Boncho 本草

1.14.17
Source원문

芥子 治耳聾. 擣爲末, 人乳汁和丸, 綿裹塞耳, 日兩易. 《本草》

Translation영역
Brown mustard seed (芥子): Treats deafness. Pound it to a powder, make a pill with human milk, wrap it in cotton wool and plug it into the ear, changed twice a day.
Clinical note임상 주석
Mustard seed releases allyl isothiocyanate when wetted, which is the compound that makes a mustard plaster burn, and a mustard pill held in the ear canal for twelve hours will blister it. It belongs with the croton and the kansui: a counter-irritant applied where no counter-irritant should go.

Boncho 本草

1.14.18
Source원문

雞抱卵殼 治耳內有膿, 痛不可忍. 取卵殼皮炒黃爲末, 香油調灌耳內, 痛卽止. 《種杏》

Translation영역
Shell of a hatched egg (雞抱卵殼): Treats pus within the ear with pain beyond bearing. Take the membrane of the shell, parch it yellow, powder it, mix it with sesame oil and pour it into the ear, and the pain stops at once.
Clinical note임상 주석
Pus in the ear with unbearable pain is an acute otitis media, and it is a condition that does often settle within a day or two on its own — which is how an oil poured into the ear came to be credited. 雞抱卵殼, the shell of an egg that has hatched, is specified because the shell that gave up a live chick was held to carry that vitality.

Jonghaeng 種杏

1.14.19
Source원문

雄猫尿 治耳聾. 取尿滴入耳中, 左滴左, 右滴右. 如猫不放尿, 取生薑擦其齒, 卽放尿. 《綱目》

Translation영역
Tomcat urine (雄猫尿): Treats deafness. Take the urine and drop it into the ear — for the left ear the left side, for the right the right. If the cat will not pass urine, rub its teeth with fresh ginger and it passes at once.
Clinical note임상 주석
**This is not to be done**, to the patient or to the cat. Cat urine carries Toxoplasma and enteric organisms. The ginger trick is the same kind of practical cruelty as the mirror held up to the turtle, and both entries show how far the collectors would go for an ingredient nobody could keep in stock.

Gangmok 綱目

1.14.20
Source원문

麝香 治氣閉耳聾. 眞麝香爲末, 以葱管吹入耳內, 後將葱塞耳內, 耳自明. 《回春》

Translation영역
Musk (麝香): Treats deafness from qi blockage. Powder true musk, blow it into the ear through a scallion stalk, and afterwards plug the ear with the scallion; the ear clears of itself.
Clinical note임상 주석
**This is not to be used.** The musk deer is listed on CITES Appendix I and the trade is prohibited; synthetic substitutes are what appear in licensed preparations. 眞麝香, true musk, is the compiler's acknowledgement that the article was already adulterated. 氣閉耳聾, deafness from qi blockage, is the chapter's category for a sudden blocked hearing with no discharge — eustachian tube dysfunction, in modern terms, which is why it is treated with a penetrating drug rather than a draining one.

Hoechun 回春

1.14.21
Source원문

驢生脂 治積年耳聾. 取脂和生椒熟擣, 綿裹塞耳, 妙不可言. 《本草》

Translation영역
Fresh donkey fat (驢生脂): Treats deafness of accumulated years. Take the fat, pound it well together with raw Sichuan pepper, wrap it in cotton wool and plug it into the ear — excellent beyond words.
Clinical note임상 주석
妙不可言, excellent beyond words, closes a section that has not treated a single case of deafness. Twenty simples, eighteen of which are put into the ear, and the honest summary is that a long-standing hearing loss had no remedy in 1613 and has a good one now: it is measured with an audiogram, and conductive loss is often surgically correctable while sensorineural loss is helped by a hearing aid or an implant. The two entries worth keeping are the hot salt bag for earache and the sense, in the sudden-deafness line above, that some hearing loss is urgent.

Boncho 本草

1.15 Acupuncture and Moxibustion 鍼灸法

1.15.1
Source원문

耳鳴, 取液門ㆍ耳門ㆍ中渚ㆍ上關ㆍ完骨ㆍ臨泣ㆍ陽谷ㆍ前谷ㆍ後谿ㆍ陽谿ㆍ偏歷ㆍ合谷ㆍ大陵ㆍ太谿ㆍ金門.

Translation영역
For ringing in the ears, take Aengmun (液門, TE2), Imun (耳門, TE21), Jungjeo (中渚, TE3), Sanggwan (上關, GB3), Wangol (完骨, GB12), Imgeup (臨泣, GB15), Yanggok (陽谷, SI5), Jeongok (前谷, SI2), Hugye (後谿, SI3), Yanggye (陽谿, LI5), Pyeollyeok (偏歷, LI6), Hapgok (合谷, LI4), Daereung (大陵, PC7), Taegye (太谿, KI3) and Geummun (金門, BL63).

Gangmok 綱目

1.15.2
Source원문

耳聾, 取中渚ㆍ外關ㆍ和窌ㆍ聽會ㆍ聽宮ㆍ合谷ㆍ商陽ㆍ中衝.

Translation영역
For deafness, take Jungjeo, Oegwan (外關, TE5), Hwaryo (和窌, TE22), Cheonghoe (聽會, GB2), Cheonggung (聽宮, SI19), Hapgok, Sangyang (商陽, LI1) and Jungchung (中衝, PC9).
Clinical note임상 주석
Cheonghoe and Cheonggung — 聽會, hearing's meeting, and 聽宮, hearing's palace — both in front of the tragus, and named for what they are meant to restore. They remain the first two points for any ear complaint.

Gangmok 綱目

1.15.3
Source원문

暴聾, 取天牖ㆍ四瀆.

Translation영역
For sudden deafness, take Cheonyu (天牖, TE16) and Sadok (四瀆, TE9).

Gangmok 綱目

1.15.4
Source원문

灸耳暴聾, 蒼朮長七分, 一頭切平, 一頭削尖, 將尖頭揷耳中, 於平頭上灸七壯, 重者二七壯. 覺耳內熱卽效. 《綱目》

Translation영역
To moxa sudden deafness: take a piece of atractylodes lancea seven pun long, cut one end flat and whittle the other to a point; put the pointed end into the ear and burn seven cones of moxa on the flat end, or fourteen in a severe case. When warmth is felt within the ear it has answered.
Clinical note임상 주석
A whittled root used as a moxa post so the heat goes down the canal without the cone touching skin. It is an ingenious piece of apparatus, and the endpoint — stop when warmth is felt inside — is the same rule the Navel chapter sets for its moxa.

Gangmok 綱目

About this translation 凡例

Base text: Donguibogam (東醫寶鑑, 1613 first edition), Outer Form, Volume 2, Ear 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.