TCM -Re:persimmon

[Guest guest]

Chinese Medicine , " J. Lynn

Detamore " <lynndetamore wrote:

>

> eric, i have a couple rather elemetary q's. being primarily an

acupuncturist, i do not know what herbal " lacquer " is, and do not

recall what " frost " is. pardon my apology, thanx for the great info!

 

I'm not entirely sure how they make the lacquer of the persimmon tree.

I think that in general, lacquer is made by using a solvent for

extraction and then evaporating the solvent, but I'm not sure what

process or solvent they traditionally use for persimmon lacquer.

Lacquer was in production and use in ancient times in China and Japan,

and was refined to very sophisticated levels. I don't have a copy of

the Chinese book " zhong yao da ci dian " in front of me, but it will

definitely have a brief description of how the lacquer is obtained if

anyone wants to look it up.

 

As for persimmon frost, see the third type of frosting in the list

below. This comes from the Practical Dictionary of ,

by Wiseman and Feng.

 

 

1. One method is the defatting and grinding of seeds. The seeds are

first sun-dried or stir-fried, the husks are removed, and the kernels

are pounded to an almost paste-like consistency. The materials are

sandwiched between layers of paper, and then sun-dried, baked, or

pressed, so that the paper absorbs the oil. The paper is repeatedly

changed until the materials are light, loose and no longer stick

together. Medicinals processed in this way include ba dou shuang

(croton frost, Crotonis Seminis Pulvis) and gua lou ren shuang

(trichosanthes seed frost, Trichosanthis Seminis Pulvis).

 

2. Another method, used to treat certain gourds, is efflorescence.

For example, xi gua (watermelon, Citrulli Fructus) is frosted by

gouging out a small lump to form a hole in which a small amount of

mang xiao (mirabilite, Mirabilitum) is placed. The lump is then

replaced, and the watermelon is hung up to air. The mang xiao comes

out and effloresces, so that a fine, white frost forms on the surface

of the watermelon, which when brushed off is ready to use.

 

3. The production of shi shuang (persimmon frost, Kaki Saccharum)

represents a third method of frosting: shi bing (dried persimmon, Kaki

Fructus Exsiccatus) is exposed to the sun in the day and to the dew at

night and then is covered to allow the skin to saccharify and form a

frost.

 

Eric Brand