Formulas · Calm the Spirit 安神 · Samin (三因)

Lamp Wick Powder

Deungsim-san

한글 등심산 · Pinyin Deng Xin San

燈心散

鵬砂 is left as the transcription writes it; the corpus prints that form in ten places. The alias 花火膏 is not registered.

Composition 構成

Deunghwa Deng Hua
燈花 등화 · Lamp-Wick Snuff

—
Chief 君

燈花, the charred snuff that forms on the lamp wick, three or four of them (三四顆) ground fine; seven (七枚) in the alternative method
Bungsa Peng Sha
硼砂 붕사 · Borax

1 g
Deputy 臣

鵬砂, borax; 一字, in the alternative method
Deungsimcho Deng Xin Cao
燈心草 등심초 · Rush Pith

—
Deputy 臣

燈心, rush pith, decocted as the vehicle
Jusa Zhu Sha
朱砂 주사 · Cinnabar (toxic)

—
Deputy 臣

a little (少許), in the alternative method · cinnabar — mercuric sulfide, toxic
Inyu Ren Ru
人乳 인유 · Human Milk

—
Envoy 使

乳汁, breast milk, to send it down
Bongmil Feng Mi
蜂蜜 봉밀 · Honey

—
Envoy 使

蜜, honey, as the binder in the alternative method

Total 1 g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts. Excludes 5 ingredients measured by count or used as a vehicle, shown as —.

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 a small child with a parched heart crying at night
The lamp snuff is ground fine, stirred into a rush-pith decoction, smeared in the mouth and sent down with breast milk, three times a day
An alternative method binds the snuff with borax and cinnabar in honey and smears it on the lips

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

心燥 — a parched, restless heart
夜啼 — crying at night

Biomedical correlates

Infantile colic

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治小兒心燥夜啼. 燈花三四顆, 硏細, 以燈心煎湯調, 塗口中, 以乳汁送下, 日三. ○一方, 燈花七枚, 鵬砂一字, 朱砂少許, 硏細, 蜜調抹唇上, 立止. 《三因》 ○一名花火膏. 《正傳》

Translation

Treats a small child with a parched heart crying at night. Three or four lamp snuffs, ground fine, stirred into a decoction of rush pith, smeared in the mouth and sent down with breast milk, three times a day. ○ One method takes seven lamp snuffs, borax 1 ja and a little cinnabar, grinds them fine, blends them with honey and smears it on the lips; the crying stops at once. — Samin 三因 ○ It is also called Hwahwa-go. — Jeongjeon 正傳 (Donguibogam · Soa)

Clinical commentary 臨床

The first method is the harmless one, and it should be said plainly: a few grains of charred lamp-wick snuff stirred into a decoction of rush pith and sent down on breast milk is inert. Rush pith is one of the lightest drugs in the Bogam, used by the pinch to lead heat out through the urine, and the snuff is carbon. Nothing in the first method could hurt a baby, and nothing in it could help one either. The second method is a different prescription wearing the same name. It replaces the rush decoction with honey and adds borax and cinnabar, and it is smeared on the lips of a newborn, where it will be licked off repeatedly. Crying at night in an otherwise well, growing baby is infantile colic: it begins in the first weeks, peaks at about six weeks, is worst in the evening, and resolves by three or four months whatever is done. Nothing treats it reliably — which is why this section has six formulas, and why the ones that appear to work are the ones that sedate. **The alternative method contains cinnabar, which is mercuric sulfide — mercury. There is no safe dose at any age, the developing nervous system is the organ at risk, and the injury does not reverse. It also contains borax, which is toxic to infants by ingestion and absorption and was abandoned as an infant oral preparation for that reason. Honey must never be given to a child under one year because of infant botulism. The patient is a newborn and the text gives no dose by weight anywhere. The alternative method must not be prepared.** — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.