|
Sexy Names of Herbs
- The Origin of Herbal Nomenclature
by Kwon, Hyo Jung
(Grade 3, Chair)
A common use of Dang Gui(當歸Angelicae Gigantis Radix) is for 'returning' Blood to Heart and Liver
 |
One man of the Chosun dynasty returned from a journey that lasted many years. When he came home, his wife, whom he hadn't seen in all that time, was waiting for him with three sons! As the bewildered husband inquired about the three sons she replied, "I swear my loyalty to you by the name of our eldest son, Bang Gi(防己Sinomeni Caulis et Rhizoma, bang means "to guard"; gi means "body"). I bore Won Ji(遠志Polygalae Radix, won- "far"; ji-"thinking") thinking of you, so far away. I named Dang Gui(當歸Angelicae Gigantis Radix, dang-"inevitable"; gui-"to return") praying for your home-coming." The husband, dumbfounded, blurted, "Enough sons to set up a pharmacy!"
It is an allegory in one of the early medical magazines during early 20th century. Of course, the amorous woman's pledge has no truth regarding the origins of the names of those herbs, but it is a coincidence they should be written so. Maybe 防己, a 거풍습약, is named that way because it guards the body from edema, allergies, cancer and oxidation. According to <本草綱目> 遠志 is called so because taking this medicine makes one wiser and stronger willed. 當歸 returns the Ki and Blood to where they belong, thus being an effective cure for postpartum discomforts.
Bok Bun Ja(覆盆子Rubi Fructus). 'Ja(花) ' is a suffix meaning 'seed'.
 |
|
|
If you find that little anecdote of an unfaithful wife distasteful, how is this story of an old man, very dear to his wife? There lived an ancient couple who one day went gathering firewood in the mountains together. They were hungry and looked around for something the forest could offer. There was a bush of berries, resembling raspberry but bigger and darker. That night, the grandfather was overcome by a feeling of such a great love for the grandmother. When he urinated the next morning, his force was so great that the chamber pot was turned over. The fruit was called Bok Bun Ja(覆盆子Rubi Fructus, bok-"to turn over"; bun-"pot"; ja-"seed") since, in honor of the strong man. Or his strongness, get it?
Sounds like a tale out of the Greek mythology, doesn't it? But the story is true, i.e., that is how 覆盆子 got its name. It turns out that our progenitors of medicine were a very romantic people. There are many equivalents of narcissuses, hyacinthus and adonis in Far Eastern Medicine. One example is Ha Su O(何首烏Polygoni Multiflori Radix, ha-a last name; su-"head"; o-"black") There is a story of a person whose last name was Ha in <圖經本草>. The herb, which was called by another name then, turned the person's gray hair black, and was named 何首烏 for its effect. Recently discovered medical action of this medicine includes hematopoiesis and anti-aging function.
In Jin Ho(茵蔯蒿Artemisiae Capillaris Herba). Used to remove Dampness, clear Heat and relieve Poisons. Note the 艹 over the letters.
 |
Cha Jeon Ja(車前子Plantaginis Semen, cha-"cart"; jeon-"fore"; ja-"seed") gets its name for its adaptation of the road or land where cows or horses tread as the growing place. The stem of Ha Go Cho(夏枯草Prunellae Spica, ha-"summer"; go-"to be dried"; cho-"herb") already dries up in summer. In Jin Ho(茵蔯蒿Artemisiae Capillaris Herba) is named because it survives the winter and the old sprout is restored to life. 因(in) means "to be derived from," and 陳(jin) means "to scatter." The 艹 over the letters means "grass." One can imagine the persistent plant hanging on to life throughout the cold winter and spreading out in the wide plain, come the spring.
Ma Hwang(花花), widely known as Ephedra. Is sometimes used as a tonic, but imprudent use without a practitioner's prescription may cause side effects.
 |
Some herbs have descriptive names, such as Ma Hwang, the famous Ephedra. It is spicy in taste(麻ma), and yellow in color(黃hwang). The character 麻 is also used to mean a "hemp," and thus comes the name of Seung Ma(升麻Cimicifugae Rhizoma, seung-"to ascend"; ma-"hemp"), its leaf like that of a hemp and the property of this medicine having an upward tendency. Hwang Ryeon(黃連Coptidis Rhizoma, hwang-"yellow"; ryeon-"to be continued") is another yellow herb. The root of this plant is long and continuous. Dok Hwal(獨活Araliae Continentalis Radix, dok-"alone"; hwal-"to move") is said to "be still in the wind and move alone without the wind." It is also called Dok Yo Cho, the self-shaking plant(搖yo-"to shake").
Geum Eun Hwa(金銀花Lonicerae Flos) starts out white, but turns yellow in two or three days. 'Hwa(花)' is the suffix meaning 'Flower'
 |
There are herbs with very pretty names. The powder of heaven's flower is Cheon Hwa Bun(天花粉Trichosanthis Radix, cheon-"heaven"; hwa-"flower"; bun-"powder"), the peeled and dried root of Trichosanthes kirilowii MAXIM. or T. kirilowii MAXIMOWICZ var. japonica KITAMURA. In the ancients times, this medicine was ground to take the substance settled at the bottom of the juice. The golden and silvery flower is Geum Eun Hwa(金銀花Lonicerae Flos, geum-"gold"; eun-"silver"; hwa-"flower"), the number one sought-after medicinal herb during the SARS epidemic for its 청열해독, 소산풍열 property. The flower is white at first, but turns yellow in two to three days, making the flower tree look like a mysterious plant of mixed colored flowers. The original name of Geum Eun Hwa is very touching too. It was once called In Dong(忍冬, in-"to endure"; dong-"winter"), because like 茵蔯蒿 it survives the winter.
In cases of some herbs, one must look carefully at the characters they are written with. Take Ji Mo(知母Anemarrhenae Rhizoma) for instance. This plant has a lot of fleshy bearded root that looks like horseflies. It was called 蚳母(ji-"bug"; mo-"mother," meaning "root") but in time the Chinese pronunciation changed from chimu to zhimu, and thus the change of letters. (In Korean the pronunciations are same.) The 桂 in Gye Ji(桂枝Cinnamomi Ramulus) is a hieroglyphic character. The cinnamon tree is a tree(木) with an edge(圭). 枝 means "branch."
In technical terms of medicinal herbs, suffixes like 'radix', 'fructus' and 'cortex' follow the botanical name. It is the same in the original Chinese names in some cases. Here is an arrangement of those suffixes and examples.
■根(geun): Radix, Rhizoma (root, rhizome) Ex> Gal Geun(葛根Puerariae Radix, gal-"arrowroot")
■葉(yeop): Folium (leaf) Ex> Cheuk Baek Yeop(側柏葉Thujae Orientalis Folium, cheuk-"side"; baek-tree name) When using this medicine, only the leaves on the side of the branch are picked.
■皮(pi): Percarpium (skin) Ex> Cheong Pi(靑皮Citri Viride Percarpium, cheong-"blue") It is the skin of unripe tangerines.
■子(ja): Semen (seed) Ex> Gyeol Myoung Ja(決明子Cassiae Semen) 決明 is Cassia obtusifolia.
Haeng In(杏仁Arminiaceae Semen). In(仁) is a suffix for 'fruit seed'. Haeng In is the dried seed of apricot.
 |
■仁(in): Semen Ex> Haeng In(杏仁Arminiaceae Semen, haeng-"apricot") ※The seed of a fruit is 仁, and that of an herb is 子.
■果(gwa): Fructus (fruit) Ex> Cho Gwa(草果Amomi Tsaoko Fuctus)
■花(hwa): Flos (flower) Ex> Guk Hwa(菊花Chrysanthemi Flos, guk-"chrysanthemum")
The romanized nomenclature of herbs, with lots of '-i' and '-us' and '-ae,' and all those suffixes, has a lot in similarity with the original Chinese names, which have been used for millenniums. In this article I had wished to introduce the Korean pronunciation for the herbs as well. Please do note that one Chinese character can have multiple definitions and the ones used in this article are not the only meaning to those letters.
Yong An Yuk(龍眼肉Longanae Arillus), its round shape giving it its nane, 'Eye of the Dragon'
 |
Oh, and speaking of similarities in Western and Eastern botanical names, guess what I've found in the midst of all the Angelicae and Zingiberis? Longan! It is Yong An Yuk(龍眼肉Longanae Arillus), the eye of the dragon. The Chinese pronunciation is longan. The sweet juicy oriental fruit has marked its name well in ABC's! Also, Ginseng is the Japanese pronunciation of In Sam(人蔘Ginseng Radix), the finest quality of which is found in Korea. These are examples of names that are derived directly from the original.
So, back to that sexy part. 覆盆子 does have the effect of 보신고정축뇨. More recently, it was discovered to have a function similar to estrogen in the uteri of guinea pigs. It treats involuntary emission of semen and sterility. Take that for an aphrodisiac!
|
