Dew and Stars Paste

Noseong-go

한글 노성고 · Pinyin Lu Xing Gao

露星膏

露 is word-initial here and takes the n- form under the Korean initial-sound rule, as the corpus prints it in 露宿湯 (`nosuk-tang`) and 露薑飮 (`nogang-eum`), so the id is `noseong-go`; the automatic romaniser returned `roseong-go` and the reading was settled by hand. 治同上, treats the same as above, carries over the 脊疳 of the preceding leaf 蘆薈丸 (`nohoe-hwan`) and is left as the plain text it is rather than marked as a cross-reference. The leaf writes 為 for 爲, normalized.

Composition 構成

Hwanggi Huang Qi
黃芪 황기 · Astragalus

—
Chief 君

stir-fried in honey water (蜜水炒), equal parts (各等分)
Hohwangnyeon Hu Huang Lian
胡黃連 호황련 · Picrorhiza

—
Deputy 臣

equal parts (各等分)
Jigolpi Di Gu Pi
地骨皮 지골피 · Lycium Root Bark

—
Deputy 臣

equal parts (各等分)
Siho Chai Hu
柴胡 시호 · Bupleurum

—
Assistant 佐

equal parts (各等分)
Bongmil Feng Mi
蜂蜜 봉밀 · Honey

—
Envoy 使

蜜, honey, as the binder, and honey water for frying the astragalus
Bakha Bo He
薄荷 박하 · Mint

—
Envoy 使

薄荷湯, mint decoction, which the pills are steeped in to be taken

Total g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts. Excludes 6 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 the same as the preceding formula — spine gan, the child wasted to the backbone
Euryale-sized honey pills steeped in wine overnight and left out a night under the dew and stars; next day the wine is poured off and the pills are taken steeped in mint decoction

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

脊疳 — spine gan, carried over from the preceding leaf by 治同上
The depletion fever that runs with long-standing gan

Biomedical correlates

Severe wasting in a young child, with low-grade fever
Chronic infection — tuberculosis among others — in a malnourished child

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治同上. 黃芪(蜜水炒)ㆍ胡黃連ㆍ地骨皮ㆍ柴胡各等分. 右爲末, 蜜丸芡實大, 隔宿酒浸, 露一宿, 次日澄去酒, 薄荷湯浸服之. 《湯氏》

Translation

Treats the same as above. Astragalus (stir-fried in honey water), picrorhiza, lycium root bark and bupleurum, equal parts of each. Powder the above and make honey pills the size of euryale seeds. Steep them in wine overnight and leave them out one night in the dew; next day pour off the clear wine and take them steeped in mint decoction. — Tangssi 湯氏 (Donguibogam · Soa)

Clinical commentary 臨床

Astragalus honey-fried, with picrorhiza, lycium root bark and bupleurum: the one formula in these twelve that supplements as well as cools, and the only one whose chief drug is a tonic. Against the rest of the section it reads like a 虛熱 formula — the fever of depletion rather than of repletion — which is what the child with long-standing gan actually has. It is a 膏 in name only. The pills are made with honey, steeped in wine overnight, then set out a second night to take the dew and the starlight the name records; the wine is decanted off and discarded in the morning and the pills are taken softened in mint decoction. Nothing pharmacological happens in the dew. What the method does achieve is a slow-dissolving pill that a weak child can swallow in liquid, which is a real problem solved. The honest reading of the fever is worth stating: a wasted child with a persistent low fever in 1613 Korea most often had a chronic infection, tuberculosis foremost among them, and lycium bark and bupleurum do not treat it. The point made in full on 胡黃連丸 (`hohwangryeon-hwan`) applies, with the one qualification that the astragalus at least points at depletion. For the picrorhiza, see the same leaf. **The whole formula is equal parts of an unstated total given to a child, and the text gives no dose by weight anywhere.** — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.