Written By Jun Heo(許浚, 1539~1615), Translated by Namil Kim, Wung Seok Cha et al., Published by Ministry of Health & Welfare (Korea)
• Triple Essence Pill 三精丸 삼정환
When taken for a long time, it makes the body feel light, ensures a long life, and turns the face to that of a child. Prepare 1 geun of pounded Atractylodis Rhizoma (蒼朮) [it is the essence of heaven] and pounded LyciiRadicis Cortex (地骨皮) [the essence of earth] each. Knead 20 geun of well ripened black mulberry (黑桑椹, Mori Fructus) [the essence of human] and put it in a silk pocket; squeeze until the juice comes out and dispose of the waste. Add the two pounded herbs to the juice and mix. Put this in a jar, seal the opening, and put it on a shelf for it to gather the essence qi of the sun during the day and the essence of the moon during night. When it is boiled down and dried by itself, take out from the jar, grind it into powder, and mix it well with honey to make pills to the size of an adzuki bean. Take 10 pills at a time in boiled wine.[B146]
• Super Longevity Elixir 延年益壽不老丹 연년익수불로단
Prepare 8 nyang of Polygoni Multiflori Radix (何首烏). Prepare 4 nyang of red and white ones each. Soak it in rice-washed water. When they are softened, peel the skin and cut into pieces with a bamboo knife, soak them in black bean-boiled water, and dry them in the shade. Again mix it in licorice juice, dry it under the sun, and grind it into powder. It must not be steamed. 5nyang of Lycii Radicis Cortex (地骨皮) (washed in wine and dried under the sun) and Poria Sclerotium (白茯苓) (washed in wine and dried under the sun), 3 nyang of Rehmanniae Radix Crudus (生乾地黃) (soaked in wine for one night and dried under the sun), Radix Rehmanniae Preparata (熟地黃) (washed in wine and dried under the sun), Asparagi Tuber (天門冬) (soaked in wine for 6hours, core removed, and dried under the sun), Liriopis Tuber (麥門冬) (soaked in wine for 6 hours, core removed, and dried under the sunlight), and Ginseng Radix (人蔘) (the stem scar removed) each. Grind all of these together into powder, mix it in boiled honey, and make it into pills as big as the seed of the royal foxglove tree. Take 30~50 pills at a time with warm wine. This medicine has great effects on tonifying, and when taken for 10 days or a month, one will feel oneself different from others. When taken all the time, this has so many effects that they cannot all be Body 身形 43 explained; in fact, Luzu himself is said to have taken it at first.[B099]
• Venerable Age of Ten Thousand Years Elixir 遐齡萬壽丹 하령만수단
It is said in a poem, “When Venerable Age of Ten Thousand Years Elixir (遐齡萬壽丹) is taken, both the ethereal and corporeal souls become comfortable. This medicine must be raised, like an egg brooded by the chicken. The period in which it is made should be carefully followed. It must be made in a quiet room with no one else watching. The pills must be made where the night sky is not seen, on the day of Gapja and the day of Gyungsin. Taking just 1 je extends a lifespan to 60 more years, and taking 2 je extends it to 120 more years. When it is taken, the bones change and one lives a long life along the universe. It is the most mysterious and most profound elixir.” Prepare 1 nyang each of Hoelen cum Radix (茯神), Halloysitum Rubrum (赤石脂), and Zanthoxyli Pericarpium (川椒) (stir-fried and extracted of resin), and 1 nyang each of Cinnabaris (朱砂) (ground and levigated in water), and Olibanum (乳香) (ground with Junci Medulla). Grind these into powder separately. Add 2 eggshell (both yolk and the white removed) separately in Cinnabaris (朱砂) and Olibanum (乳香), wrap with starched paper 7 times, and put it in blue colored silk pocket. Let a robust woman brood it in her abdomen to warm it all the time; brood Cinnabaris (朱砂) for 35 days, and Olibanum (乳香) 49 days and take out. Grind them again, grind the others as well, and mix them thoroughly. Knead with steamed jujube and make pills to the size of a green bean. Take 30 pills a day with warm wine on an empty stomach or with a ginseng decoction. Increase the amount to 40 pills a day after a month. Make it in a deep and quiet place at night on the day of Gapja and the day of Gyungsin; do not let any women, chickens, or dogs see while it is made.[B073] ② In the Recovery from the Myriad Diseases (回春), it is called Rejuvenation Elixir to Reverse Aging.
• Extend Life and Stablise Root Elixir 延齡固本丹 연령고본단
It treats impotency due to all kinds of deficiencies or the greying of hair before 50. Taking the medicine for 15 days and one would be able to have a better sex life, after a month the face would become like that of a child and the eyes would be able to see 10 li. After 3 months the greying hair would turn black, and after a long time the spirit qi would not decline, the body would be light and healthy, and one would be able to reach the level of a hermit. Prepare 4 nyang of Cuscutae Semen (兎絲子) (processed with wine) and Cistanchis Herba (肉蓯蓉) (washed in wine), 2 nyang of Asparagi Tuber (天門冬), Liriopis Tuber (麥門冬), Rehhmanniae Radix Crudus (生地黃) and Rehmanniae Radix et Rhizoma Preparata (熟地黃) (processed with wine together), Morindae Radix (巴戟) (soaked in wine and core removed), Lycii Fructus (枸杞子) and Corni Fructus (山茱萸) (soaked in wine and seed removed), 2 nyang each of Poria Sclerotium (白茯苓), Schisandrae Fructus (五味子), Ginseng Radix (人蔘), Aucklandiae Radix (木香) and Thujae Semen (柏子仁), 1.5 nyang each of Rubi Fructus (覆盆子), Plantaginis Semen (車前子), and Lycii Radicis Cortex (地骨皮), and 1 nyang each of Acori Gramineri Rhizoma (石菖蒲), Zanthoxyli Pericarpium (川椒), Polygalae Radix (遠志), and Glycyrrhizae Radix (甘草) (soaked in water and stir-baked with ginger juice), and Alismatis Rhizoma (澤瀉). Grind all of these herbs into powder, add wine and decoct; add thinly prepared starch and mix it again, and make pills to a size of the seed of the royal foxglove tree. Take 80 pills at a time on an empty stomach. Add Angelica Gigantis Radix (當歸) and Halloysitum Rubrum (赤石脂) for women. Avoid radish, green onion, garlic, beef, sour food such as vinegar, taffy, and mutton when taking the medicine.[B182]
• Spotted Dragon Pill 斑龍丸 반룡환
Prolongs life when taken every day. Prepare 8 nyang of Cervi Cornus Colla (鹿角膠), Cornu Cervi Degelatinatum (鹿角霜), Cuscutae Semen (兎絲子), Thujae Semen (柏子仁), and Rehmanniae Radix Preparata (熟地黃), and 4 nyang each of Poria Sclerotium (白茯苓) and Psoraleae Semen (破古紙). Grind these well into powder. Add wine and decoct; mix it with prepared rice starch and make pills, or prepare melted Cervi Cornus Colla (鹿角膠) in wine to mix the medicines with and make pills to a size of the seed of the royal foxglove tree. Take 50 pills at a time with ginger and salt juice. Long time ago in the Shu state of China, an old man who sold this medicine in the market said “it lengthens life to 380 years.” All the time he sang, “If one does not hold the coccyx, the water in the vast ocean will dry, and the ninth cinnabar will be useless. Only the bead on top of the head of the spotted Body 身形 45 dragon could save the blood below CV18.” Only the person who had heard this Tao learned this formula, and the old man transformed himself into a white crane and flew away; no one has heard from him since.[B172]
• Ginseng Stabilize the Root Pill 人參固本丸 인삼고본환
It is also called a Scutellaria and Coptis Formula. The heart of a human stores blood and the kidney stores essence. The person’s hair and beard do not grey, the face does not grow old, and one lives long if essence-blood is full. There is no other medicine that tonifies and nurtures other than Rehmanniae Radix Crudus (生地黃) and Rehmanniae Radix et Rhizoma Preparata (熟地黃). However, people only know how to eat them; they do not know that Liriopis Tuber (麥門冬) and Asparagi Tuber (天門冬) are the ones leading other herbs. Rehmanniae Radix Crudus (生地黃) makes blood and moves to where Liriopis Tuber (麥門冬) makes blood, and Rehmanniae Radix et Rhizoma Preparata (熟地黃) tonifies essence and moves to where Asparagi Tuber (天門冬) makes essence. Four herbs interact with one another; Ginseng Radix (人蔘) opens up the way for heart qi to flow well. Prepare 2 nyang each of Asparagi Tuber (天門冬) (removal of the core and soaked in ginger juice for 2 days and in wine for 2 days), Liriopis Tuber (麥門冬) (removal of the core and soaked in wine for 2 days and in rice-washed water for 2 days), Rehmanniae Radix Crudus (生地黃) and Rehmanniae Radix et Rhizoma Preparata (熟地黃) (soaked in wine together). Grind these on a grinding stone or pound them, and melt the mixture in a decoction of Armeniacae Semen, and filter it to remove sediment. Grind them again, and in a clean state take the sediment from the mixture. Throw away the water above and dry the medicine under the sunlight. Add 1 nyang of Ginseng Radix (人蔘) powder, and mix it with boiled honey; make pills to a size of the seed of the royal foxglove tree. Take 50~70 pills a day with warm wine or salt water. Avoid radish, green onion, and garlic.[B099]
• Black Cuscutae Seed Pill to Stabilize the Root 玄兎固本丸 현토고본환
Treats diseases like the previous prescription. Prepare Cuscutae Semen (兎絲子) (stir-baked with wine), Rehmanniae Radix Crudus (生地黃) and Rehmanniae Radix et Rhizoma Preparata (熟地黃) (soaked in wine together and dried under the 4 nyang of Asparagi Tuber (天門冬) and Liriopis Tuber (麥門冬) (soaked in wine together and core removed), Schisandrae Fructus (五味子), Hoelen cum Radix (茯神), 3 nyang of Dioscoreae Rhizoma (山藥) (mildly stir-fried), 2 nyang of Nelumbinis Semen (蓮肉), Ginseng Radix (人蔘), and Lycii Fructus (枸杞子). Mix these together and grind into powder, mix with honey, and make pills to a size of the seed of the royal foxglove tree. Take 80~90 pills at a time with warm wine or salt water.[B104]
• Stabilize the Root Wine 固本酒 고본주
Tonifies deficiencies, ensures a long life, blackens the beard and hair, and makes the face beautiful again. Prepare 2 nyang of Rehmanniae Radix, Rehmanniae Radix Preparata (熟地黃), Asparagi Tuber (天門冬) and Liriopis Tuber (麥門冬) (together cores removed), and Poria Sclerotium (白茯苓), and 1 nyang of Ginseng Radix (人蔘). Cut the herbs and soak for three days in a porcelain pot with 10 bottles of wine of good quality. Decoct the mixture afterwards over medium heat for 2~4 hours and drink 3~5 cups on an empty stomach.[B094]
• Wine for Black Hair 烏鬚酒 오수주
Treats diseases like the previous prescription. Prepare 3 mal of Setariae Semen (黃米), 8 nyang of Liriopis Tuber (麥門冬), 4 nyang of Rehmanniae Radix Crudus (生地黃) and Polygoni Multiflori Radix (何首烏), 2 nyang of Asparagi Tuber (天門冬), Rehmanniae Radix Preparata (熟地黃), Lycii Fructus (枸杞子), Achyranthis Radix (牛膝), and Angelica Gigantis Radix (當歸), and 1 nyang of Ginseng Radix (人蔘). Grind these herbs into powder, put it in a good leaven, mix it with rice, and brew wine in the usual way of making wine. When the wine matures, press to extract clean rice wine, and drink 1~2 cups in the early morning everyday, and get mildly drunk. Avoid soju (Korean vodka distilled from rice), radish, green onion, garlic, and beef. Setariae Semen (黃米) is glutinous rice that resembles Panicis Semen Glutinosa (粘黍), and the color is yellow.[B182]
