Formulas · Purge Downward 瀉下 · Uihak Immun (醫學入門)

Embracing a Jar Pill

Powong-hwan

한글 포옹환 · Pinyin Bao Weng Wan

抱甕丸

The lighter variant, named 斬鬼丹 in the Dansim, drops genkwa, croton and morinda; recorded in the source text rather than registered separately.

Composition 構成

Wonhwa Yuan Hua
芫花 원화 · Genkwa (toxic)

40 g
Chief 君 equal parts (各等分) — TOXIC
Osuyu Wu Zhu Yu
吳茱萸 오수유 · Evodia

40 g
Deputy 臣 equal parts
Cheono Chuan Wu
川烏 천오 · Aconite Main Root

40 g
Deputy 臣 equal parts — TOXIC
Jingyo Qin Jiao
秦艽 진교 · Large Gentian

40 g
Assistant 佐秦芃; equal parts
Siho Chai Hu
柴胡 시호 · Bupleurum

40 g
Assistant 佐 equal parts
Baekgangjam Bai Jiang Can
白殭蠶 백강잠 · Silkworm

40 g
Assistant 佐白殭蚕; equal parts
Pageuk Ba Ji Tian
巴戟 파극 · Morinda Root

40 g
Assistant 佐 equal parts
Padu Ba Dou
巴豆 파두 · Croton Seed

40 g
Assistant 佐 equal parts — TOXIC

Total 320 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

Drives out blood gu and ghost foetus
Expels malign matter

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Blood gu
Ghost foetus in women with the belly as though embracing a jar

Biomedical correlates

Molar pregnancy
Large ovarian cyst
Pseudocyesis with mass

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治血蠱, 及婦人鬼胎, 如抱一甕. 芫花ㆍ吳茱萸ㆍ川烏ㆍ秦芃ㆍ柴胡ㆍ白殭蚕ㆍ巴戟ㆍ巴豆各等分. 右爲末, 蜜丸梧子大. 每七丸, 蜜酒呑下, 惡物立出而愈. 《入門》輕者, 去芫花ㆍ巴豆ㆍ巴戟三味, 名曰斬鬼丹. 《丹心》

Translation

Treats blood gu, and ghost foetus in women, where the belly is as though embracing a jar. Genkwa, evodia, aconite, gentiana macrophylla, bupleurum, silkworm, morinda and croton in equal parts. Powder them, make honey pills the size of a firmiana seed, and take seven at a time down with honeyed wine; the malign matter comes away at once and the patient recovers. In lighter cases, remove genkwa, croton and morinda — three medicinals — and it is named Chamgwi-dan. — Uihak Immun 入門 (Donguibogam · Jeokchwi)

Clinical commentary 臨床

鬼胎, ghost foetus, is the period's term for an abdomen that swells as in pregnancy without a pregnancy — covering hydatidiform mole, large ovarian cysts and pseudocyesis, conditions that look alike from outside and are entirely different within. The name of the formula is a description of the sign: the belly held as one holds a jar. That the lighter variant is made by removing the three most violent medicinals, and is named for beheading ghosts, shows how the naming and the pharmacology run on separate tracks here. **This formula contains genkwa, croton and aconite, all toxic, and is an abortifacient. It must not be prepared or taken. An abdomen enlarging without confirmed pregnancy requires urgent ultrasound assessment — molar pregnancy and ovarian malignancy are among the causes.** — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.