Formulas · External Application 外用 · Jikji (直指)

Sinking-in-Water Paste

Chimsu-go

한글 침수고 · Pinyin Chen Shui Gao

沈水膏

The run 半夏生貝母各五錢 is punctuated here as 半夏ㆍ生貝母 — pinellia, and fritillaria used raw — but it can equally be read 半夏(生)ㆍ貝母, raw pinellia and fritillaria; the transcription gives no mark either way, and both drugs are used raw in applications of this kind.

Composition 構成

Cheonnamseong Tian Nan Xing
天南星 천남성 · Arisaema

30 g
Chief 君

大南星 — a large tuber, 7 don 5 fun · toxic raw
Baekgeup Bai Ji
白及 백급 · Bletilla

20 g
Deputy 臣

5 don
Baekji Bai Zhi
白芷 백지 · Dahurian Angelica

20 g
Deputy 臣

5 don
Jeoksodu Chi Xiao Dou
赤小豆 적소두 · Adzuki Bean

20 g
Deputy 臣

5 don
Banha Ban Xia
半夏 반하 · Pinellia

20 g
Deputy 臣

5 don · toxic raw
Paemo Bei Mu
貝母 패모 · Fritillaria

20 g
Deputy 臣

生貝母 — raw, 5 don
Mokbyeolja Mu Bie Zi
木鼈子 목별자 · Momordica Seed (toxic)

10 g
Assistant 佐

木鼈子仁 — the kernel, 2 don 5 fun · toxic
Yuhyang Ru Xiang
乳香 유향 · Frankincense

10 g
Assistant 佐

2 don 5 fun
Moryak Mo Yao
沒藥 몰약 · Myrrh

10 g
Assistant 佐

2 don 5 fun
Unghwang Xiong Huang
雄黃 웅황 · Realgar

4 g
Envoy 使

1 don · toxic

Total 164 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

Treats 癰疽 and 發背 — expels pus and astringes toxin
Mixed with honey-water, spread on gauze and laid over the swelling

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

癰疽 and 發背 with pus forming
A deep hard swelling that will not come to a head

Biomedical correlates

Abscess and carbuncle of the trunk and back — topical
Suppurative soft-tissue infection — topical

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治癰疽發背, 排膿斂毒. 大南星七錢半, 白芨ㆍ白芷ㆍ赤小豆ㆍ半夏ㆍ生貝母各五錢, 木鼈子仁ㆍ乳香ㆍ沒藥各二錢半, 雄黃一錢. 右爲末, 蜜水調, 付紗貼. 《直指》

Translation

Treats abscesses and sinus abscesses and back eruptions; expels pus and astringes toxin. Large arisaema 7 don 5 fun; bletilla, dahurian angelica, adzuki bean, pinellia and raw fritillaria, 5 don each; momordica kernel, frankincense and myrrh, 2 don 5 fun each; realgar 1 don. Powder them, stir into honey-water, spread it on gauze and lay the gauze on. — Jikji 直指 (Donguibogam · Ongjeo)

Clinical commentary 臨床

A honey-water paste spread on gauze rather than rubbed on the skin, so it can be lifted and renewed without tearing the surface. Arisaema at more than twice the weight of anything else is the body of it; adzuki bean and bletilla are the thickeners, momordica kernel the oily drawing drug, and frankincense and myrrh again for pain. 排膿斂毒 names the two things a dressing of this kind was asked to do at once — bring the pus out and keep the swelling from spreading. That is a real pair of aims in a soft-tissue infection, though neither is achieved by the drugs; it is achieved by opening and draining, which the chapter also describes. **Contains raw arisaema and raw pinellia, which are toxic until properly processed, momordica kernel, which is toxic, and realgar, an arsenic sulphide. This must not be prepared.** — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.