Formulas · Supplement 補益 · Seonbang (仙方)

Immortals' Root-Securing Wine

Sinseongobon-ju

한글 신선고본주 · Pinyin Shen Xian Gu Ben Jiu

神仙固本酒

The collation note 未 : 末 inside this leaf annotates 何首烏麄未: the transcription reads 未 and the First Edition 末, coarse powder, which is plainly the sense. The transcription's reading is printed. The source label 仙方 occurs nowhere else in the corpus and is romanised here as Seonbang.

Composition 構成

Useul Niu Xi
牛膝 우슬 · Achyranthes

320 g
Chief 君

牛膝八兩
Hasuo He Shou Wu
何首烏 하수오 · Fleeceflower Root

240 g
Chief 君

何首烏六兩, as a coarse powder
Gugija Gou Qi Zi
枸杞子 구기자 · Goji Berry

160 g
Deputy 臣

枸杞子四兩, pounded small
Cheonmundong Tian Men Dong
天門冬 천문동 · Asparagus Root

80 g
Deputy 臣

天門冬二兩
Maengmundong Mai Men Dong
麥門冬 맥문동 · Liriope

80 g
Deputy 臣

麥門冬二兩
Saengjihwang Sheng Di Huang
生地黃 생지황 · Raw Rehmannia

80 g
Deputy 臣

生地黃二兩
Sukjihwang Shu Di Huang
熟地黃 숙지황 · Prepared Rehmannia

80 g
Deputy 臣

熟地黃二兩
Danggwi Dang Gui
當歸 당귀 · Korean Angelica

80 g
Deputy 臣

當歸二兩
Insam Ren Shen
人蔘 인삼 · Ginseng

80 g
Deputy 臣

人參二兩
Yukgye Rou Gui
肉桂 육계 · Cinnamon Bark

40 g
Assistant 佐

肉桂一兩
Nami Nuo Mi
糯米 나미 · Glutinous Rice

—
Envoy 使

糯米二斗, 2 mal, steamed done
Guk Qu
麴 국 · Brewing Leaven (wine starter)

—
Envoy 使

白麴二升, 2 seung of white leaven

Total g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts. Excludes 2 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

Taken as a wine, claimed to turn white hair black and make the old young again

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Premature greying and the decline of age

Biomedical correlates

Traditional longevity wine; recorded as a historical preparation

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

神仙固本酒, 能變白髮, 返老還童. 牛膝八兩, 何首烏(麄未) 六兩, 枸杞子(擣碎) 四兩, 天門冬ㆍ麥門冬ㆍ生地黃ㆍ熟地黃ㆍ當歸ㆍ人參各二兩, 肉桂一兩, 糯米二斗, 白麴二升. 蒸熟, 和藥末, 釀如常法. 《仙方》

Translation

Immortals' Root-Securing Wine. It can turn white hair black and make the old young again. Achyranthes, 8 nyang; fleeceflower root as a coarse powder, 6 nyang; goji berries pounded small, 4 nyang; asparagus root, liriope, raw rehmannia, prepared rehmannia, korean angelica and ginseng, 2 nyang each; cinnamon bark, 1 nyang; glutinous rice, 2 mal; white leaven, 2 seung. Steam the rice done, blend in the drug powder, and brew by the usual method. — Seonbang 仙方 (Donguibogam · Japbang)

Clinical commentary 臨床

A 固本 prescription brewed instead of pilled. The core of it — asparagus root, liriope, raw and prepared rehmannia and ginseng — is 人參固本丸, the standard yin-and-fluid tonic, and onto that are added achyranthes and fleeceflower root as the two largest drugs, with goji, korean angelica and a nyang of cinnamon bark to warm the whole. Two mal of glutinous rice and two seung of leaven turn it into wine. 變白髮, 返老還童 — turning white hair black and making the old young — is the longevity literature's standard promise, and it is false. Hair greys because the melanocytes of the follicle are exhausted, and nothing taken by mouth reverses that. Fleeceflower root is the one drug here that needs flagging on its own account: **raw and processed Polygonum multiflorum is an established cause of idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury, including liver failure, and it is a restricted or warning-labelled herb in several jurisdictions for that reason.** And it is a wine. As with the other wines of this section, the alcohol is the active principle, and ethanol is a group 1 carcinogen with no safe level of intake. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.