Written By Jun Heo(許浚, 1539~1615), Translated by Namil Kim, Wung Seok Cha et al., Published by Ministry of Health & Welfare (Korea)
① Divine Pivot (靈樞) says the following. “Huangdi (黃帝) said, ‘What causes one to become forgetful?’ Qibo (岐伯) said, ‘It is because upper qi is deficient and lower qi is excessive; hence the intestines and stomach are excessive but the heart and lungs are deficient. When nutrient and defense qi stay in the lower part for a long time because the heart and lungs are deficient, they cannot ascend even when it is the right time. This is what causes one to be forgetful.'” It also says, “Will can be damaged when the kidneys get angry continuously. One forgets what one said just before when one’s will is damaged.”
② The Inner Classic (內經) says, “When blood gathers up in the lower part of the body and qi gathers in the upper part of the body, one’s mind is disorderly and one forgets well.”
③ Danxi (丹溪) said, “Forgetfulness occurs a lot in those who are deficient in essence and spirit, as well as in those who have phlegm.”
④ Dai Yuanli (戴元禮) said, “Forgetfulness is when one starts to do work but cannot finish it, and when one cannot keep up the consistency of one’s words. This is the name of a disease and not a condition where one is foolish from birth and is unreasonable.”
⑤ Forgetfulness is when one forgets something and cannot remember it no matter how hard one tries. The problem usually lies within the heart and the spleen. The heart commands one’s thinking and the spleen also commands one’s thinking. When the heart is damaged because one thinks too much, blood is used up and scattered, causing the spirit to be unable to protect its proper position. When the spleen is damaged, one thinks very deeply even after stomach qi has become weak. Therefore, one forgets all of a sudden in both situations. Treatment is to nurture the heart blood and to command the spleen Earth. Therefore, one should be taken care of with medicine that gathers the spirit and relieves will. Also, one will become comfortable day by day if one enjoys comfortably at a secluded place, loses one’s worries and anxieties, and keeps away from the six excesses and the seven emotions.
⑥ When throbbing is prolonged, it becomes forgetfulness. This is because the spirit has waned because of the deficient blood of the heart and the spleen. In this situation, a Lead Spirit Back Home Elixir is mostly used. If one has forgetfulness from decreased congenital yin corporeal spirit, a Settle the Will Pill or Open Heart Powder should be used. If one is forgetful because of old age, a Modified Stabilize the Root Pill should be used.
⑦ Take an Augmented Poria Decoction, Enhance Intelligence Decoction, Restore Spleen Decoction, Modified Tonify Heart Decoction, Celestial King Tonify Heart Elixir [the prescription is shown afterwards], Direct Heart Downward Elixir, Strengthen Base Pill, Augmented Deity of Longevity Formula, or Master Zhu’s Book Reading Pill.
- Lead Spirit Back Home Elixir 引神歸舍丹 인신귀사단
It cures forgetfulness caused by heart wind. Bovis Fel Preparata Arisaematis Rhizoma (牛膽南星) (2 nyang), Cinnabaris (朱砂) (1 nyang), and Aconiti Lateralis Radix Preparata (附子) (put in a child’s urine, wrapped in wet paper and then roasted) (7 don). Grind these, knead with the blood of the heart of a pig to make paste, and make it into pills the size of the seed of the royal foxglove tree. Take 50 pills at a time with water decocted with Hemerocallidis Radix (萱草根). - Stabilize Will Pill 定志丸 정지환
It cures forgetfulness caused by deficient heart qi. It also cures instability of spirit and ethereal spirit, palpitations, fear, and nightmares. Ginseng Radix (人參), Poria Sclerotium (白茯苓), Hoelen cum Radix (茯神) (3 nyang each), Acori Gramineri
Rhizoma (石菖蒲), Polygalae Radix (遠志) (processed) (2 nyang each), and Cinnabaris (朱砂) (1 nyang) (half of which is coated on the outside). Grind these, knead with honey, and make it into pills the size of the seed of the royal foxglove tree. Take 50~70 pills at a time with water boiled with rice. - Open Heart Powder 開心散 개심산
It cures forgetfulness. Take out Hoelen cum Radix (茯神) from a Settle the Will Pill (定志丸), grind all the other ingredients, and take 2 don at a time with boiled water or rice gruel. - Modified Stabilize the Root Pill 加減固本丸 가감고본환
It cures forgetfulness of the elderly and forgetfulness that comes after wind stroke. It is the Salvia and Ginseng Elixir that is mentioned in the chapter Wind. [The prescription is shown in the chapter Wind.] - Augmented Poria Decoction 加味茯苓湯 가미복령탕
It cures forgetfulness and clumsy talking caused by phlegm blocking the pericardium. Ginseng Radix (人參), Pinelliae Tube Preparata (半夏製), Citrus Unshius Pericarpium (陳皮) (1.5 don each), Poria Sclerotium (白茯苓), Cyperi Rhizoma (香附子), Alpiniae Oxyphyllae Fructus (益智仁) (1 don each), and Glycyrrhizae Radix (甘草) (5 pun). Chop these, make them into 1 package, and decoct with 3 pieces of Zingiberis Rhizoma Crudus (生薑) and 1 Mume Fructus Praeparatum (烏梅).
• Enhance Intelligence Decoction 聰明湯 총명탕
It cures forgetfullness. When taken for a long time, one can memorize a thousand words a day. Hoelen cum Radix (白茯神), Polygalae Radix (遠志) (put into water decocted with Glycyrrhizae Radix (甘草), its core removed, and then processed with the the juice of Zingiberis Rhizoma Crudus.(生薑汁)), and Acori Gramineri Rhizoma (石菖蒲) (all the same amounts). Chop these and decoct in water by 3 don. One can also grind them and mix the powder by 2 don with tea water boiled 3 times a day.
• Restore Spleen Decoction 歸脾湯 귀비탕
It cures forgetfulness and throbbing caused by damage in the heart and the spleen which is caused by anxiety and thoughts. Angelica Gigantis Radix (當歸), Longan Arillus (龍眼肉), Zizyphi Semen (酸棗仁) (parched), Polygalae Radix (遠志)
(processed), Ginseng Radix (人參), Astragali Radix (黃芪), Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba (白朮), Hoelen cum Radix (茯神) (1 don each), Aucklandiae Radix (木香) (5 pun), and Glycyrrhizae Radix (甘草) (3 pun). Chop these, make them into 1 package, and decoct in water with 5 pieces of Zingiberis Rhizoma Crudus (生薑) and 2 Zizyphi Fructus (大棗).
• Modified Tonify Heart Decoction 加減補心湯 가감보심탕
It cures all kinds of forgetfulness that is caused by the deficiency pattern. Citrus Unshius Pericarpium (陳皮), Poria Sclerotium (白茯苓), Angelica Gigantis Radix (當歸), Paeoniae Radix Alba (白芍藥), Rehmanniae Radix Crudus (生地黃), Polygalae Radix (遠志) (processed), Liriopis Tuber (麥門冬), Zizyphi Semen (酸棗仁) (parched), Phellodendri Cortex (黃柏) and Anemarrhenae Rhizoma (知母) (put together in wine and parch) (5 don each), Ginseng Radix (人參), Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba (白朮), Acori Gramineri Rhizoma (石菖蒲), and Glycyrrhizae Radix (甘草) (3 don each). Chop these, divide them into 2 packages, and decoct in water.
• Direct Heart Downward Elixir 降心丹 강심단
It cures forgetfulness caused by deficiencies in the heart and kidneys. Rehmanniae Radix Preparata (熟地黃), Angelica Gigantis Radix (當歸), Asparagi Tuber (天門冬), Liriopis Tuber (麥門冬) (3 nyang each), Poria Sclerotium (白茯苓), Ginseng Radix (人參), Dioscoreae Rhizoma (山藥), Hoelen cum Radix (茯神), Polygalae Radix (遠志) (put into the juice of Zingiberis Rhizoma Crudus (生薑汁) and then dried) (2 nyang each), Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus (肉桂), and Cinnabaris (朱砂) (5 don each). Grind these, knead with honey, and make it into pills the size of the seed of the royal foxglove tree. Take 30 pills at a time with water decocted with Ginseng Radix (人參).
• Strengthen Base Pill 壯元丸 장원환
It tonifies the heart, produces blood, relieves spirit, and stabilizes will. If one puts too much effort for work, reads under poor lighting conditions, or has forgetfulness, throbbing, forgetfulness, and insomnia, taking this medicine will enable the person to memorize a thousand words a day and keep ten thousand books in one’s heart. Polygalae Radix (遠志) (put into the juice of Zingiberis Rhizoma Crudus (生薑汁) and then dried), Longan Arillus (龍眼肉), Rehmanniae Radix (生乾地黃) (cleansed with wine), Scrophulariae Radix (玄參), Cinnabaris (朱砂), Acori Gramineri Rhizoma (石菖蒲) (3 don each), Ginseng Radix (人參), Hoelen cum Radix (白茯神), Angelica Gigantis Radix (當歸) (cleansed with wine), Zizyphi Semen (酸棗仁) (parched), Liriopis Tuber (麥門冬), and Thujae Semen (柏子仁) (with its oil squeezed out) (2 don each). Grind these, knead with the blood of the heart of a pig, make it into pills the size of mung beans, and plate them with gold. Take 20~30 pills at a time with water boiled with glutinous rice.
• Augmented Deity of Longevity Formula 加味壽星元 가미수성원
It cures forgetfulness and absent-mindedness caused by stagnant phlegm and saliva in the pericardium, as well as the rattling noise of phlegm and pulling feeling in the limbs caused by wind stroke. A big Pinelliae Tuber (半夏) (put into the juice of Zingiberis Rhizoma Crudus (生薑汁) and then dried) (6 nyang), Arisaematis Rhizoma (南星) (wrapped in wet paper and roasted) (3 nyang), Cinnabaris (朱砂) (levigated) (1 nyang) [used to coat outer surface], Succinum (琥珀), Alumen (白礬) (roasted) (5 don each) and Margaritifera Usta Concha (眞珠母) (1 don). Grind these, knead with paste in which the juice of Zingiberis Rhizoma Crudus (生薑汁) is added, make it into pills the size of the seed of the royal foxglove tree, and coat them with Cinnabaris (朱砂). Take 30~50 pills at a time with water decocted with Zingiberis Rhizoma Crudus (生薑).
• Master Zhu’s Book Reading Pill 朱子讀書丸 주자독서환
It cures forgetfulness. Hoelen cum Radix (茯神), Polygalae Radix (遠志) (put into the juice of Zingiberis Rhizoma Crudus (生薑汁) and then dried) (1 nyang each), Ginseng Radix (人參), Citrus Unshius Pericarpium (陳皮) (7 don each), Acori Gramineri Rhizoma (石菖蒲), Angelica Gigantis Radix (當歸) (5 don each), and Glycyrrhizae Radix (甘草) (2.5 don). Grind these, knead with flour paste, make it into pills the size of mung beans, and coat them wih Cinnabaris (朱砂). Take 50~70 pills at a time with water decocted with Junci Medulla (燈心) before going to sleep.
• Great Sage Confucius’ Pillow Prescription 孔子大聖枕中方 공자대 성침중방
One becomes smarter once this medicine is taken. Testudinis Plastrum (龜板), Fossilia Ossis Mastodii (龍骨), Polygalae Radix (遠志) (put into the juice of Zingiberis Rhizoma Crudus (生薑汁) and then dried), and Acori Gramineri Rhizoma (石菖蒲) (all the same amounts). Grind these and put the powder in wine by 2 don, three times a day.
