寶鑑Bogam

Formulas · Clear Heat 淸熱 · Uihak Immun (醫學入門)

Life-Rivalling Elixir

Saemyeong-dan

한글 새명단  ·  Pinyin Sai Ming Dan

賽命丹

The Donguibogam prints 白殭蚕 here as the transcription has it; the corpus prints 白殭蠶 in other chapters for the same drug. The transcription writes 癕 for 癰 and 為 for 爲; the standard forms are printed, and 菉豆, 盖, 葱 and 一小鍾 are printed as the transcription and the corpus both have them. 飛龍奪命丹, named in the indication, is a formula of the sores chapter and is referred to here only by cross-reference.

Composition 構成

Total 236 g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts. Excludes 1 ingredient 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

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

  • Abscess and deep-rooted abscess (癰疽), back effusion (發背)
  • Clove sore (疔瘡) and breast abscess (乳癰)
  • Fish-mouth and inguinal toxin (魚口便毒)
  • Every unnamed swelling toxin

Biomedical correlates

  • Severe skin and soft-tissue infection
  • Furuncle and carbuncle
  • Suppurative inguinal lymphadenitis

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治癰疽ㆍ發背ㆍ疔瘡ㆍ乳癰ㆍ魚口便毒, 一切無名腫毒. 賽飛龍奪命丹<span class='sochu'>方見下</span>. 蟾酥ㆍ朱砂ㆍ雄黃ㆍ膽礬ㆍ血竭ㆍ乳香ㆍ沒藥 各三錢, 蜈蚣ㆍ麝香 各五分, 細辛ㆍ全蝎ㆍ蟬退ㆍ穿山甲ㆍ白殭蚕ㆍ猪牙皂角 各六錢, 白礬(以信石少許同枯, 去信石)ㆍ片腦 各五分. 右爲末, 端午日以酒糊和丸菉豆大. 每三丸, 以葱酒一小鍾呑下, 被盖出汗. 或吐, 或不汗, 再服. 白粥調理. 《入門》

Translation

Treats abscess and deep-rooted abscess, back effusion, clove sore, breast abscess, fish-mouth and inguinal toxin, and every unnamed swelling toxin; it rivals Biryong Talmyeong-dan (the formula is given below). Toad venom, cinnabar, realgar, chalcanthite, dragon's blood resin, frankincense and myrrh, 3 don each; centipede and musk, 5 fun each; asarum, whole scorpion, cicada moulting, pangolin scale, silkworm and small tooth-shaped soapberry pods, 6 don each; alum calcined together with a little arsenic and the arsenic then discarded, and flake borneol, 5 fun each. Powder the above and, on the fifth day of the fifth month, mix with wine paste and roll pills the size of mung beans. Three pills to a dose, swallowed down in a small cup of scallion wine; cover the patient with bedclothes to bring out a sweat. If the patient vomits, or does not sweat, give a second dose. Regulate the recovery with plain rice gruel. — Immun 入門 (Donguibogam · Ongjeo)

Clinical commentary 臨床

A 奪命 pill by family even though 奪命 is not in its name: the indication opens by saying it rivals 飛龍奪命丹, and the structure is the same — toad venom at the head with cinnabar, realgar and chalcanthite behind it, and the piercing animal drugs (scorpion, centipede, pangolin scale, silkworm, cicada moulting) to carry the toxin out. Borneol and musk open the orifices so it acts quickly. The one genuinely interesting instruction is the alum: it is calcined together with a little arsenic and the arsenic is then removed, which is a deliberate attempt to take the arsenic's effect without leaving the arsenic in — an impossible aim, since arsenic is not driven off cleanly by calcining. Compounding on the fifth day of the fifth month is calendrical rather than pharmacological; the Duanwu date carries protective meaning and belongs with the formula's history, not its action. **This pill contains toad venom, cinnabar (mercuric sulphide), realgar (arsenic sulphide), arsenic itself, chalcanthite, centipede and scorpion. It must not be prepared or taken.** It also contains musk and pangolin scale, both CITES Appendix I and prohibited in trade, and asarum in a large amount, which carries aristolochic-acid and nephrotoxicity concerns. It is recorded for textual completeness only. The sores it names — clove sore on the face, inguinal bubo, spreading back effusion — are the classic presentations where delay is dangerous, and they require antibiotics and surgical drainage. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.

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