Formulas · External Application 外用 · Dangbang (唐方)

Fragrant Soap

Hyangbijo

한글 향비조 · Pinyin Xiang Fei Zao

香肥皂

黑糖, black sugar, is not among the registered medicinals and is entered as 砂糖 with the text's own word kept in the preparation note, following the corpus's existing treatment of the same drug. 皂角末 is 皂角 powdered. The source label 唐方 occurs nowhere else in the corpus and is romanised here as Dangbang; it means simply a Chinese recipe. 凣 is printed as 凡 and 清 as 淸 by the usual corrections.

Composition 構成

Jogak Zao Jiao
皂角 조각 · Gleditsia Pod

200 g
Chief 君

皂角末五兩, powdered gleditsia pod, the detergent
Chimhyang Chen Xiang
沈香 침향 · Agarwood

40 g
Deputy 臣

沉香一兩
Baekdanhyang Bai Tan Xiang
白檀香 백단향 · Sandalwood

40 g
Deputy 臣

白檀一兩
Jeonghyang Ding Xiang
丁香 정향 · Clove

40 g
Deputy 臣

丁香一兩
Yeongneunghyang Ling Ling Xiang
零陵香 영릉향 · Lingling Fragrant Herb (species undetermined)

40 g
Deputy 臣

零陵香一兩
Sannae Shan Nai
山柰 산내 · Sand Ginger

40 g
Deputy 臣

三乃子一兩
Yongnoe Long Nao
龍腦 용뇌 · Borneol

12 g
Assistant 佐

小腦三錢, a grade of borneol
Sahyang She Xiang
麝香 사향 · Musk (prohibited)

4 g
Assistant 佐

麝香一錢
Sadang Sha Tang
砂糖 사당 · Granulated Sugar

80 g
Envoy 使

黑糖二兩, or 3 nyang; the text's word is black sugar, entered as 砂糖, melted as the binder

Total 496 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

Rubbed on the hands and face at washing to take off grime and grease

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

None given; the leaf is a washing ball, not a medicine

Biomedical correlates

Toilet soap; not a therapeutic preparation

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

香肥皂, 沉香ㆍ白檀ㆍ丁香ㆍ零陵香ㆍ三乃子各一兩, 小腦三錢, 麝香一錢. 右爲末, 入皂角末五兩, 黑糖二兩或三兩, 於火上熔化, 拌和香末, 作丸彈子大. 凡盥洗時用此搓洗手面, 去垢膩. 俗名香飛露. 《唐方》

Translation

Fragrant Soap. Agarwood, white sandalwood, clove, loosestrife herb and sand ginger, 1 nyang each; small borneol, 3 don; musk, 1 don. Powder them, add 5 nyang of powdered gleditsia pod and 2 or 3 nyang of black sugar, melt over the fire, blend in the aromatic powder and make balls the size of a bullet. Whenever you wash, use this to scrub the hands and face; it takes off grime and grease. The common name is Hyangbiro. — Dangbang 唐方 (Donguibogam · Japbang)

Clinical commentary 臨床

A washing ball, and the one functional drug in it is the gleditsia pod, five nyang of it against one nyang each of the aromatics. Gleditsia pods are rich in triterpene saponins, which lather and emulsify grease in water; this is a genuine detergent and it is what 去垢膩, taking off grime and grease, refers to. The black sugar is melted to carry and bind the powder into a ball, and everything else is scent. It is not soap in the chemical sense — no fat is saponified with alkali — but it is a soap in use. Saponins are irritant to mucous membranes, so a ball of this is for hands and face rather than for eyes, and the aromatics add their own sensitising potential. **Contains musk (麝香). Musk deer are protected under CITES and the drug cannot lawfully be traded.** — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.