寶鑑Bogam

Formulas · Text · Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

Hair

Mobal

한글 모발  ·  Pinyin Mao Fa

Why hair greys, why it falls, and why a eunuch has no beard

毛髮

The Hair chapter opens by assigning hair to the Kidney and then spends the next several sections dismantling that assignment. Scalp hair, eyebrows and beard are shown to belong to different viscera, to grey at different rates in the same person, and — in the two sections on women and eunuchs — to depend on entirely different mechanisms. The observation that a eunuch loses his beard but keeps his hair is used as evidence against the opening claim, and it is essentially correct: what the text is describing is the difference between androgen-dependent and androgen-independent hair. The clinical core is the section on falling and yellowing hair, with two contrasting case histories, and the chapter closes with dyeing recipes the compiler introduces while advising against them.

3.1 The Hair Belongs to the Kidney 髮屬腎

3.1.1
Source원문

內經曰 腎主髮. 又曰, 腎之合骨也. 其榮髮也.

Translation영역
The Inner Classic says: the Kidney governs the hair. It also says: the Kidney couples with the bone, and its bloom is in the hair.
Clinical note임상 주석
The chapter's opening premise, and the one it will qualify heavily. The logic runs through bone: Kidney governs bone, bone produces marrow, and hair is the surplus of marrow appearing at the surface — which is why hair change is read as a report on the deep reserves rather than as a local condition.

Naegyeong 內經

3.2 Hair Is the Surplus of Blood 髮者血之餘

3.2.1
Source원문

血盛則髮潤 血衰則髮衰, 血熱則髮黃, 血敗則髮白. 《入門》

Translation영역
When Blood is exuberant the hair is moist; when Blood declines the hair declines; when Blood is hot the hair yellows; when Blood is spoiled the hair whitens.
Clinical note임상 주석
A second and competing account, given without any attempt to reconcile it with the first. Between them the two premises cover the chapter's whole therapeutic range: Kidney-supplementing formulas for the depleted picture, Blood-cooling and Blood-nourishing ones for the hot or dry picture. The four-step progression — moist, declining, yellow, white — is a usable clinical scale.

Immun 入門

3.3 The Amount of Hair on the Twelve Channels 十二經毛髮多少

3.3.1
Source원문

靈樞曰 美眉者, 太陽多血, 通髥極鬚者, 少陽多血, 美鬚者, 陽明多血.

Translation영역
The Divine Pivot says: fine eyebrows mean the greater yang has much Blood; full whiskers running to a heavy beard mean the lesser yang has much Blood; a fine beard means the yang brightness has much Blood.

Yeongchu 靈樞

3.3.2
Source원문

足陽明之上 血氣盛則髥美長, 血氣少則無髥, 兩吻多畫.

Translation영역
Above, on the foot yang brightness: when Blood and Qi are exuberant the whiskers are fine and long; when scant there are no whiskers and the two corners of the mouth are much lined.

Yeongchu 靈樞

3.3.3
Source원문

足陽明之下 血氣盛則下毛美長至胸, 血氣皆少則無毛, 雖有則稀枯瘁.

Translation영역
Below, on the foot yang brightness: when Blood and Qi are exuberant the lower body hair is fine and long, reaching to the chest; when both are scant there is no hair, or if there is it is sparse, dry and withered.

Yeongchu 靈樞

3.3.4
Source원문

足少陽之上 血氣盛則通髥美長, 血氣皆少則無髥.

Translation영역
Above, on the foot lesser yang: when Blood and Qi are exuberant the whiskers run full and long; when both are scant there are no whiskers.

Yeongchu 靈樞

3.3.5
Source원문

足少陽之下 血氣盛則脛毛美長, 血氣皆少則脛無毛.

Translation영역
Below, on the foot lesser yang: when Blood and Qi are exuberant the shin hair is fine and long; when both are scant the shins have no hair.

Yeongchu 靈樞

3.3.6
Source원문

足太陽之上 血氣盛則美眉, 眉有毫毛毛之長者曰毫, 血多氣少則惡眉.

Translation영역
Above, on the foot greater yang: when Blood and Qi are exuberant the eyebrows are fine and bear long hairs [gloss: a long hair is called 毫]; when Blood is ample but Qi scant the eyebrows are poor.

Yeongchu 靈樞

3.3.7
Source원문

手陽明之上 血氣盛則髭美, 血氣皆少則無髭.

Translation영역
Above, on the hand yang brightness: when Blood and Qi are exuberant the moustache is fine; when both are scant there is no moustache.

Yeongchu 靈樞

3.3.8
Source원문

手陽明之下 血氣盛則腋下毛美.

Translation영역
Below, on the hand yang brightness: when Blood and Qi are exuberant the underarm hair is fine.

Yeongchu 靈樞

3.3.9
Source원문

手少陽之上 血氣盛則眉美以長.

Translation영역
Above, on the hand lesser yang: when Blood and Qi are exuberant the eyebrows are fine and long.

Yeongchu 靈樞

3.3.10
Source원문

手太陽之上 血氣盛則頷多鬚. 《靈樞》

Translation영역
Above, on the hand greater yang: when Blood and Qi are exuberant the chin has abundant beard.
Clinical note임상 주석
A systematic mapping of body hair onto channels, region by region, with the amount of hair read as a direct report on the Blood and Qi of the channel beneath it. As physical examination this is more useful than it may appear: the distribution of body hair genuinely does track endocrine state, and a practitioner trained on this passage would notice absent shin hair or a changed hair pattern as a systemic sign rather than a cosmetic one. The division into 上 and 下 refers to the upper and lower course of each channel, not to upper and lower body.

Yeongchu 靈樞

3.4 Hair, Eyebrow, Beard, Whisker and Moustache Are Each Different 髮眉鬚髥髭各異

3.4.1
Source원문

在頭曰髮 髮者, 拔也. 拔擢而出也.

Translation영역
On the head it is called bal (髮). Bal means to pull — it is drawn out and emerges.

Hoechun 回春

3.4.2
Source원문

在目曰眉 眉者, 媚也. 有娬媚也.

Translation영역
At the eyes it is called mi (眉). Mi means charm — there is something winning in it.

Hoechun 回春

3.4.3
Source원문

頤下曰鬚 鬚者, 秀也. 物成乃秀, 人成而鬚生也.

Translation영역
Below the chin it is called su (鬚). Su means to come into flower — a thing flowers when it has matured, and a person's beard grows when he has matured.

Hoechun 回春

3.4.4
Source원문

在頰曰髥 隨口動搖髥髥然也.

Translation영역
On the cheeks it is called yeom (髥), which stirs and sways with the mouth, waving as it goes.

Hoechun 回春

3.4.5
Source원문

口上曰髭 髭者, 姿也. 爲姿容之美也. 《回春》

Translation영역
Above the mouth it is called ja (髭). Ja means bearing — it makes for a fine appearance.
Clinical note임상 주석
These are paronomastic glosses, a standard classical device in which a word is explained by a homophone: 髮/拔, 眉/媚, 鬚/秀, 髭/姿 are near-identical in sound and the resemblance is taken as evidence of meaning. The etymologies are not historically sound, but the passage is doing real work — it fixes five distinct terms that the rest of the chapter depends on, since a formula for the beard is not a formula for the scalp. English has no single-word equivalents for 髥 (cheek whiskers) and 髭 (moustache) as separate from beard, so the romanized terms are kept alongside.

Hoechun 回春

3.5 Hair, Eyebrow and Beard Each Have Their Affiliation 髮眉鬚各有所屬

3.5.1
Source원문

髮屬心 故上生禀火氣也. 眉屬肝, 故橫生禀木氣也. 鬚屬腎, 故下生禀水氣也. 《醫說》

Translation영역
Scalp hair belongs to the Heart, and therefore grows upward, endowed with the Qi of fire. The eyebrows belong to the Liver, and therefore grow sideways, endowed with the Qi of wood. The beard belongs to the Kidney, and therefore grows downward, endowed with the Qi of water.

Uiseol 醫說

3.5.2
Source원문

人之髮眉鬚 雖皆毛類, 而所主五藏各異. 故有老而鬚白, 眉髮不白者, 或髮白而眉鬚不白者, 藏氣有所偏故也. 男子腎氣外行, 上爲鬚, 下爲勢. 故女子宦人無勢, 則亦無鬚, 而眉髮無異於男子, 則知不屬腎也, 明矣. 《醫鑑》

Translation영역
A person's scalp hair, eyebrows and beard are all of the hair kind, yet the viscera that govern them differ. Hence there are those who age with a white beard while eyebrows and hair remain unwhitened, or whose hair whitens while eyebrows and beard do not — because the Qi of the viscera is unevenly distributed. In a man the Kidney Qi travels outward, becoming the beard above and the member below. Therefore women and eunuchs, having no member, likewise have no beard, while their eyebrows and hair are no different from a man's — from which it is clear that these do not belong to the Kidney.
Clinical note임상 주석
The chapter overturns its own opening premise here, and does so by argument from evidence rather than by assertion. Three observations are marshalled: the three kinds of hair grow in three directions, they grey independently of one another in the same person, and in eunuchs and women the beard is absent while scalp hair is unaffected. The conclusion — that scalp hair cannot belong to the Kidney in the way the beard does — is essentially correct, and describes the distinction between androgen-dependent hair (beard, body hair) and androgen-independent hair (scalp, eyebrows). That a sixteenth-century compilation reached it by comparing eunuchs with intact men is a genuinely impressive piece of reasoning, and it is why the following two sections are given so much space.

Uigam 醫鑑

3.6 Women Have No Beard 婦人無鬚

3.6.1
Source원문

黃帝曰 婦人無鬚者, 無血氣乎. 岐伯對曰, 衝脉任脉, 皆起於胞中, 上循腹裏, 爲經絡之海. 其浮而外者, 循腹右上行, 會於咽喉, 別而絡唇口. 血氣盛則充膚熱肉, 血獨盛則澹滲皮膚, 生毫毛. 今婦人之生, 有餘於氣, 不足於血, 以其數脫血也. 衝任之脉, 不榮口唇, 故鬚不生焉. 《靈樞》

Translation영역
The Yellow Emperor said: women have no beard — is it that they lack Blood and Qi? Qi Bo replied: the thoroughfare vessel and the controlling vessel both arise within the uterus and ascend along the interior of the abdomen, forming the sea of the channels and network vessels. The part of them that floats to the exterior runs up the right of the abdomen, meets at the throat, and branches to net the lips and mouth. When Blood and Qi are exuberant they fill the skin and warm the flesh; when Blood alone is exuberant it seeps into the skin and engenders fine hair. Now in a woman's constitution there is a surplus of Qi and an insufficiency of Blood, because she loses Blood repeatedly. The thoroughfare and controlling vessels therefore do not flourish at the mouth and lips, and so no beard grows.
Clinical note임상 주석
The mechanism proposed is a distribution one: the vessels that would supply the perioral region are drawn on by menstruation, so the beard is never endowed. Repeated Blood loss as the physiological differentiator between the sexes is a reasonable inference from what was observable, and it remains the organizing idea of Korean gynaecology. Note that the thoroughfare and controlling vessels arising in the uterus is the same anatomy the Womb chapter uses, so this passage connects the Hair chapter to the reproductive material rather than standing alone.

Yeongchu 靈樞

3.7 Eunuchs Have No Beard 宦官無鬚

3.7.1
Source원문

黃帝曰 士人有傷於陰, 陰氣絶而不起, 陰不用, 然其鬚不去, 何也. 宦者, 獨去何也. 岐伯對曰, 宦者, 去其宗筋, 傷其衝脉, 血寫不復, 皮膚內結, 唇口不榮, 故鬚不生焉. 帝曰, 其有天宦者, 未嘗被傷, 不脫於血, 然其鬚不生, 何也. 岐伯曰, 此天之所不足也. 其衝任不盛, 宗筋不成, 有氣無血, 唇口不榮, 故鬚不生也. 《靈樞》

Translation영역
The Yellow Emperor said: there are men damaged in the yin organ, whose yin Qi is cut off so that it does not rise and the member does not function, yet their beard does not go. Why is this? And why does the eunuch alone lose his? Qi Bo replied: the eunuch has had his ancestral sinew removed and his thoroughfare vessel damaged; the Blood is drained and does not return, the skin binds within, the lips and mouth do not flourish, and so no beard grows. The Emperor said: there are natural eunuchs who have never been injured and have lost no Blood, yet their beard does not grow. Why? Qi Bo said: this is what heaven has left incomplete in them. Their thoroughfare and controlling vessels are not exuberant, the ancestral sinew is not formed, there is Qi but no Blood, the lips and mouth do not flourish, and so no beard grows.
Clinical note임상 주석
The comparison is the argument. Three groups are set side by side — the man with erectile failure who keeps his beard, the castrated eunuch who loses it, and the congenital case who never grows one — and the beard is shown to track the intact organ rather than its function. This is a controlled comparison in all but name, and the conclusion is right: beard growth depends on testicular androgens, which is why loss of function does not remove the beard but loss of the organ does. **Modern correspondence: the congenital cases described as 天宦 would include hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and disorders of androgen synthesis or receptor function.** The 宗筋, ancestral sinew, is the term the Donguibogam uses for the external genitalia throughout.

Yeongchu 靈樞

3.8 Flourishing and Withering of Beard and Hair 鬚髮榮枯

3.8.1
Source원문

內經曰 女子七歲, 齒更髮長. 五七, 面始焦, 髮始墮. 六七, 面焦髮白. 丈夫八歲, 齒更髮長, 五八, 髮墮齒枯. 六八, 面焦髮白.

Translation영역
The Inner Classic says: in a woman at seven years the teeth are replaced and the hair grows long; at five sevens the face begins to scorch and the hair begins to fall; at six sevens the face is scorched and the hair white. In a man at eight years the teeth are replaced and the hair grows long; at five eights the hair falls and the teeth wither; at six eights the face is scorched and the hair white.
Clinical note임상 주석
The seven-and-eight cycles of the Suwen, applied here to hair. Five sevens is thirty-five and five eights is forty, and the ages given for the onset of visible hair change are not far from what would be recorded now. The system assigns women a seven-year cycle and men an eight-year one, with women reaching each milestone earlier.

Naegyeong 內經

3.8.2
Source원문

鬚髮顔面 皆督脉所絡, 陽精盛, 注於外則鬚髮榮盛, 面體光潤. 《入門》

Translation영역
Beard, hair and face are all netted by the governing vessel; when yang essence is exuberant and pours outward, the beard and hair flourish and the face and body are lustrous.

Immun 入門

3.8.3
Source원문

膽榮在鬚 腎華在髮. 精氣上升, 則鬚潤而黑, 六八以後, 精華不能上升. 秋冬令行, 金削肺枯, 以致鬚髮焦槁如灰白色. 養生者, 宜預服補精血藥以防之, 染掠亦非上策. 《入門》

Translation영역
The Gallbladder's bloom is in the beard, the Kidney's flower in the hair. When essence Qi ascends, the beard is moist and black; after six eights the essential flower can no longer ascend. The ordinances of autumn and winter take effect, metal pares and the Lung withers, and so beard and hair become scorched and dry, the colour of ash. One who cultivates life should take medicines that supplement essence and Blood in advance, as a preventive — dyeing is no better course.
Clinical note임상 주석
The compiler's own position, stated plainly: supplement early rather than dye later. It is worth reading against the dyeing section that closes the chapter, which Heo Jun includes anyway. The seasonal metaphor is doing structural work — autumn and winter within a lifetime, metal paring and the Lung withering, which is the same correspondence used for hair in the Skin chapter.

Immun 入門

3.8.4
Source원문

補養精血 變白髮, 宜張天師草還丹ㆍ延年益壽不老丹方見身形ㆍ四物坎离丸ㆍ秤金丹ㆍ還元秋石丸ㆍ神仙烏雲丹ㆍ却老烏鬚健陽丹ㆍ七仙丹ㆍ五老還童丹方見身形ㆍ加味蒼朮膏ㆍ一醉不老丹ㆍ中山還童酒ㆍ烏鬚酒二方.

Translation영역
To supplement and nourish essence and Blood and turn white hair, use Jangcheonsachohwan-dan 張天師草還丹, Yeonnyeonikssubulro-dan 延年益壽不老丹 formula in the Bodily Form chapter, Samulgamri-hwan 四物坎离丸, Chinggeum-dan 秤金丹, Hwanwonchuseok-hwan 還元秋石丸, Sinseonoun-dan 神仙烏雲丹, Gangnoosugeonyang-dan 却老烏鬚健陽丹, Chilseon-dan 七仙丹, Onoehwandong-dan 五老還童丹 formula in the Bodily Form chapter, Gamichangchul-go 加味蒼朮膏, Ilchwibulro-dan 一醉不老丹, Jungsanhwandong-ju 中山還童酒, or the two beard-blackening wines — Gyeongheomosu-ju 經驗烏鬚酒 and Osu-ju 烏鬚酒.
Clinical note임상 주석
Thirteen formulas for one indication, which is the largest such list in the 外形篇 and a measure of how much attention greying received. Of those held in this collection, Chilseon-dan is the most usable — eight herbs, all current, nothing toxic. Note that two of the thirteen belong to the Bodily Form chapter rather than here, which places greying with the longevity regimens as much as with disease.

Donguibogam · Mobal

3.9 Yellowing and Falling of Beard and Hair 鬚髮黃落

3.9.1
Source원문

虛損之疾 一損損於肺, 皮聚而毛落. 宜八物湯方見虛勞. 《保命》

Translation영역
In diseases of vacuity detriment, the first detriment injures the Lung, so that the skin puckers and the hair falls. Use Palmul-tang 八物湯 formula in the Vacuity Taxation chapter.

Bomyeong 保命

3.9.3
Source원문

老來髮落鬚長常也 少壯有髮落, 或鬚亦落者, 火炎血燥故也. 宜服地黃酒ㆍ天門冬膏方幷見身形.

Translation영역
That the hair falls and the beard lengthens with age is the normal course. When a young and vigorous person loses scalp hair, or loses the beard as well, it is because fire flames and Blood is dry. Take Jihwang-ju 地黃酒 or Cheonmundong-go 天門冬膏 both formulas in the Bodily Form chapter.
Clinical note임상 주석
The distinction between normal and pathological is drawn by age, and the observation behind it is exact — scalp hair thins while facial hair coarsens in ageing men, which is the same androgen-dependence the chapter argued for at 3.5. Loss in the young is assigned to fire and Blood dryness instead, and treated by moistening.

Donguibogam · Mobal

3.9.4
Source원문

髮燥者 膽有怒火也. 膽合膀胱, 上榮毛髮, 風氣盛則焦燥, 汁竭則枯也. 《入門》

Translation영역
Dry hair means there is anger fire in the Gallbladder. The Gallbladder pairs with the bladder and flourishes the hair above; when wind Qi is exuberant the hair is scorched and dry, and when the fluids are exhausted it withers.

Immun 入門

3.9.5
Source원문

初生兒胎髮 或童男女髮, 洗淨, 鹽泥固濟, 火煆爲末, 空心, 酒下二三分. 或入補藥服, 尤妙. 《入門》

Translation영역
The birth hair of a newborn, or the hair of a young boy or girl, washed clean, sealed in salted clay, calcined in fire and powdered: take 2 or 3 pun on an empty stomach with wine. Adding it to a supplementing medicine is better still.
Clinical note임상 주석
Calcined human hair (血餘炭) is a standard classical medicinal, used chiefly to stop bleeding; here it is given on the reasoning that hair supplies hair. Human-derived material is not used in contemporary practice.

Immun 入門

3.9.7
Source원문

一男年少 頭髮盡脫, 用六味地黃丸, 不久髮生寸許, 兩月復舊. 《回春》

Translation영역
A young man lost all the hair of his head. Yukmijihwang-hwan 六味地黃丸 was used, and before long the hair grew about an inch; in two months it was as before.

Hoechun 回春

3.9.8
Source원문

一婦年少 髮盡脫不留一莖, 脉微弦而濇. 此由厚味成熱, 濕痰在膈上, 而熏蒸髮根之血, 漸枯而脫. 用防風通聖散, 去芒硝, 惟大黃三度酒炒, 兼以四物湯酒製, 合和作小劑煎以服. 兩月濕熱漸解, 停藥, 淡食調養一年而復舊. 《丹心》

Translation영역
A young woman lost all her hair, not a single strand remaining; her pulse was faintly stringlike and rough. This came from rich food generating heat, with damp phlegm above the diaphragm steaming and scorching the Blood at the root of the hair, which gradually withered so that the hair fell. Bangpungtongseong-san 防風通聖散 was used with the mirabilite removed and the rhubarb wine-fried three times, combined with wine-processed Samul-tang 四物湯, made into a small dose and decocted. In two months the damp-heat gradually resolved; the medicine was stopped, and with bland food and regulated care she was as before in a year.
Clinical note임상 주석
The two cases are placed together deliberately and treated in opposite directions. The young man's total hair loss is read as depletion and answered with the plainest Kidney-yin formula in the repertoire; the young woman's is read as repletion — rich diet, damp-heat, phlegm above the diaphragm scorching the Blood at the root — and answered with a draining formula. Both are described as complete hair loss in a young person, so the discrimination has to come from pulse and history rather than from appearance. **Modern correspondence: alopecia areata totalis in both cases.** Note the aftercare in the second: two months of medicine, then a year of diet and regulation with no medicine at all, which is where the compiler places the actual cure.

Dansim 丹心

3.10 Dyeing White Beard and Hair Black 染白烏鬚髮

3.10.1
Source원문

宜秘傳烏鬚方ㆍ染鬚方ㆍ外染烏雲膏ㆍ烏鬚髮方ㆍ旱蓮膏.

Translation영역
Use Bijeonosu-bang 秘傳烏鬚方, Yeomsu-bang 染鬚方, Oeyeomoun-go 外染烏雲膏, Osubal-bang 烏鬚髮方, or Hallyeon-go 旱蓮膏.
Clinical note임상 주석
A section consisting of one line and five formulas, and the compiler has already said at 鬚髮榮枯 that dyeing is no better course. He includes the methods anyway, which is characteristic — the Donguibogam records what is practised alongside what is advised. Four of the five are external dyes built on tannin and a metallic mordant; the fifth, Hallyeon-go, is taken internally and closes the section by returning to supplementation. The copper-containing preparations cannot be used; see the individual formula pages.

Donguibogam · Mobal

3.11 The Hair Should Be Combed Often 髮宜多櫛

3.11.1
Source원문

髮是血之餘 一日一次梳. 《類聚》

Translation영역
Hair is the surplus of Blood; comb it once a day.

Yuchwi 類聚

3.11.2
Source원문

髮多梳則明目去風 故道家晨梳, 常以百二十爲數. 《延壽》

Translation영역
Combing the hair much brightens the eyes and dispels wind; therefore Daoists comb at dawn, taking one hundred and twenty strokes as the regular count.
Clinical note임상 주석
The one purely preventive section in the chapter, and the one most usable as patient advice. A hundred and twenty strokes is a scalp massage of some minutes, and the stated benefits — clearer eyes, wind dispelled — describe what increased scalp circulation and the relief of head tension would feel like. Worth pairing with Jayeong-san for a patient with patchy hair loss, since both work on the same principle of bringing Blood to the root.

Yeonsu 延壽

3.12 Divining Inauspicious Signs from the Hair 髮占凶證

3.12.1
Source원문

病人髮直如麻者 十五日死.

Translation영역
When a patient's hair stands straight like hemp, death follows in fifteen days.

Pyeonjak 扁鵲

3.12.2
Source원문

病人髮如乾麻 善怒者, 死.

Translation영역
When a patient's hair is like dry hemp and he is given to anger, death follows.

Pyeonjak 扁鵲

3.12.3
Source원문

病人髮與眉衝起者 死. 《扁鵲》

Translation영역
When a patient's hair and eyebrows bristle upward, death follows.
Clinical note임상 주석
The same prognostic genre as the nail signs in the Hand chapter, and read the same way — as recorded observation rather than prophecy. Hair that has gone coarse, dry and unmanageable is a visible marker of protracted undernutrition and systemic failure, and in a patient already gravely ill it would indeed carry a poor outlook. The fifteen-day figure should not be taken literally.

Pyeonjak 扁鵲

3.13 Simple Medicinals 單方

3.13.1
Source원문

凡十八種.

Translation영역
Eighteen kinds in all.

Donguibogam · Mobal

3.13.2
Source원문

鍼砂 染白髮令黑. 取二錢, 醋浸七日, 取曬乾炒黑, 入沒石子一箇爲末, 搽如上法. 《本草》

Translation영역
Iron filings (鍼砂): Dye white hair black. Take 2 don, steep in vinegar seven days, take out and sun-dry, fry black, add one Aleppo gall and powder; rub on as in the method above.
Clinical note임상 주석
Iron and gall, which is the classical black ink reaction and the same chemistry as the copper-mordant dyes in 3.10 with a different metal. Iron is the safer of the two.

Boncho 本草

3.13.3
Source원문

地黃 乾熟二種, 皆黑鬚髮良藥. 丸服, 或釀酒服之爲佳. 《本草》

Translation영역
Rehmannia (地黃): Both the dried and the prepared kinds are fine medicinals for blackening beard and hair. Take as pills, or brew into wine — both are good.

Boncho 本草

3.13.4
Source원문

牛膝 止髮白. 煎服, 或釀酒服之佳. 《本草》

Translation영역
Achyranthes (牛膝): Stops the hair whitening. Decoct and take, or brew into wine.

Boncho 本草

3.13.5
Source원문

旱蓮草 長鬚髮, 令變白爲黑. 六月採取汁, 入薑汁蜜熬爲膏, 每一匙, 酒服. 《本草》

Translation영역
Eclipta (旱蓮草): Lengthens beard and hair and turns white to black. Gather in the sixth month and take the juice; add ginger juice and honey, boil down to a paste, and take a spoonful with wine.
Clinical note임상 주석
The simple form of Hallyeon-go, and the entry that best represents the chapter's preferred approach — a single food-safe herb taken internally over time.

Boncho 本草

3.13.6
Source원문

半夏 治眉髮落不生. 先用生薑擦三次, 後半夏生爲末, 麻油調塗之卽生. 《入門》

Translation영역
Pinellia (半夏): Treats eyebrows and hair that have fallen and will not grow. First rub with fresh ginger three times, then powder raw pinellia, mix with sesame oil and apply — it grows.
Clinical note임상 주석
Raw pinellia is acrid and irritating to mucous membranes and skin; the ginger rubbed on first is both a counter to that irritancy and a stimulant in its own right, the same principle as Jayeong-san. Keep it away from the eyes.

Immun 入門

3.13.7
Source원문

竹瀝 男女粘髮, 或因油膏而粘滯者, 取竹瀝塗之卽解. 和少鹽, 尤妙. 《野語》

Translation영역
Bamboo sap (竹瀝): When a man's or woman's hair is matted, or clogged by oils and pomades, apply bamboo sap and it loosens at once. Adding a little salt is better still.
Clinical note임상 주석
A clarifying treatment for product buildup, which is a recognizably modern complaint. The salt adds mild abrasion.

Yaeo 野語

3.13.8
Source원문

何首烏 黑鬚髮. 末服, 丸服, 或釀酒服皆佳. 《本草》

Translation영역
Fleeceflower root (何首烏): Blackens beard and hair. As a powder, as pills, or brewed into wine — all are good.

Boncho 本草

3.13.9
Source원문

芭蕉油 治婦人髮落. 塗之, 長髮令黑. 《本草》

Translation영역
Banana sap (芭蕉油): Treats hair loss in women. Apply it; it lengthens the hair and blackens it.

Boncho 本草

3.13.10
Source원문

槐實 久服令鬚髮不白. 服法詳見身形. 《本草》

Translation영역
Pagoda tree fruit (槐實): Taken long, it keeps beard and hair from whitening. The method of taking it is given in detail in the Bodily Form chapter.

Boncho 本草

3.13.11
Source원문

黑桑椹 變白髮. 釀酒服之, 佳. 又取一斤, 和科斗一升, 甁盛封口, 懸屋東頭百日, 盡化爲黑泥. 染白髮髭黑如漆. 《本草》

Translation영역
Black mulberry (黑桑椹): Turns white hair. Brewed into wine it is good. Also: take 1 geun, mix with 1 seung of tadpoles, put in a bottle and seal the mouth, hang it at the east end of the house for a hundred days, and it becomes entirely black mud. Dye white hair and moustache with it and they turn black as lacquer.

Boncho 本草

3.13.12
Source원문

母丁香 以生薑汁硏, 拔去白鬚, 塗孔中, 卽生黑髮. 又白蜜塗孔中, 亦生黑者. 《本草》

Translation영역
Clove fruit (母丁香): Grind with fresh ginger juice; pull out the white beard hairs and apply it into the follicles, and black hair grows. White honey applied into the follicles likewise grows black hair.

Boncho 本草

3.13.13
Source원문

胡桃 外靑皮和科斗爲泥, 染白鬚令黑. 又胡桃仁取油, 塗鬚髮, 令黑潤有光. 《本草》

Translation영역
Walnut (胡桃): The green outer husk mixed with tadpoles into a mud dyes white beard black. Also: press oil from the walnut kernel and apply to beard and hair, making them black, moist and glossy.
Clinical note임상 주석
Green walnut husk contains juglone, a genuine and rather persistent brown-black dye that stains skin as readily as hair — which is presumably why it appears three times in this chapter.

Boncho 本草

3.13.14
Source원문

胡麻 生取油, 塗頭, 生禿髮. 又烏麻九蒸九暴爲末, 棗膏丸服, 令白髮還黑. 又取葉煎湯沐頭, 長髮. 《本草》

Translation영역
Black sesame (胡麻): Press the oil raw and apply to the head, and hair grows on bald places. Also: black sesame steamed and sun-dried nine times, powdered and made into pills with jujube paste, returns white hair to black. Also: decoct the leaves and wash the head with it to lengthen the hair.

Boncho 本草

3.13.15
Source원문

蔓菁子 壓取油, 塗頭, 能變蒜髮. 今人呼斑髮爲蒜髮. 《本草》

Translation영역
Turnip seed (蔓菁子): Press out the oil and apply to the head; it can change garlic hair. People now call speckled hair garlic hair.
Clinical note임상 주석
Garlic hair (蒜髮) is the vernacular term the text pauses to gloss — hair streaked white and black like a garlic bulb, which is salt-and-pepper greying. The gloss is the compiler noting a colloquialism for readers who might not know it.

Boncho 本草

3.13.16
Source원문

熊脂 主頭痒. 生白禿瘡, 髮落常常塗之, 令生髮且長黑. ○髮落, 熊腦髓作油, 塗之. ○髮黃落, 熊脂亦常塗之. 《本草》

Translation영역
Bear fat (熊脂): Governs itching of the head. Where white bald sores arise and hair falls, apply it constantly; it makes hair grow, long and black. For falling hair, make an oil of bear brain and apply. For yellowing and falling hair, bear fat likewise applied constantly.
Clinical note임상 주석
Prohibited and unobtainable — all bear species are listed on CITES Appendix I or II and protected under the US Endangered Species Act. Recorded as documented. The indication, white bald sores with itching, describes tinea capitis, for which an occlusive fat would be palliative at best.

Boncho 本草

3.13.17
Source원문

白鴿糞 治頭上白禿瘡. 取糞爲末, 以酸泔洗了香油調付. 《本草》

Translation영역
Pigeon droppings (白鴿糞): Treats white bald sores on the head. Powder the droppings, wash the place with sour rice-water, and apply mixed with sesame oil.

Boncho 本草

3.13.18
Source원문

羊糞 治髮落. 燒灰, 淋汁沐頭, 令易生而黑. 又髮鬚落, 糞和雁膏, 付三宿卽生. 《本草》

Translation영역
Sheep droppings (羊糞): Treats falling hair. Burn to ash, pour water through it and wash the head with the liquid, and hair grows readily and black. Also, for falling beard and hair, mix the droppings with goose fat and apply for three nights and it grows.
Clinical note임상 주석
Wood and dung ash leached with water gives a strongly alkaline lye, which is how soap was made; what this describes is a cleansing wash rather than a medicine, and alkaline washing would indeed remove scale and buildup from the scalp. It would also damage the hair shaft with repeated use.

Boncho 本草

3.13.19
Source원문

猪鬐膏 主髮落. 取臘月者, 火上烊化塗之卽生. 髮薄不生亦宜. 《本草》

Translation영역
Pig mane fat (猪鬐膏): Governs falling hair. Take that of the twelfth month, melt it over fire and apply, and hair grows. It also suits thin hair that will not grow.
Clinical note임상 주석
The last of eighteen, and the chapter ends as it has run throughout — alternating between substantial internal medicine and simple household applications, with no apparent hierarchy between them. Fat rendered in the twelfth month was the standard keeping grade, cold-rendered and least likely to have gone rancid.

Boncho 本草

About this translation 凡例

Base text: Donguibogam (東醫寶鑑, 1613 first edition), Donguibogam, Hair chapter. The Chinese text is collated against the public-domain Wikisource transcription and a printed edition; original character forms (脉, 人參) are retained. Terminology follows Wiseman & Feng, A Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine. Translation and clinical notes are original to this site. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.