![Carp to relieve swelling after childbirth… Snakehead to soothe fever[이상곤의 실록한의학]〈154〉](https://dimg.donga.com/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2024/10/21/130264805.1.jpg "Carp to relieve swelling after childbirth… Snakehead to soothe fever[이상곤의 실록한의학]〈154〉")
The two carp that appear in folktales usually mean ‘news’ or ‘scorpion.’ It is a symbolic expression that originates from a poem in Gogujinbo, a collection of poems from the Song Dynasty in China. The ‘Deungyongmun painting’, in which a carp swimming up the Yellow River becomes a dragon at Yongmun, is also famous. After a midsummer monsoon rain or typhoon, carp return upstream along the ditch. If you are trapped in a small puddle due to low water, you will become like a rat in a poison and will be easily caught. Carp could be sold at a high price as a health food for pregnant women, so when I was young, the day I woke up very early and encountered a carp in the pool was truly a windfall. My current habit of waking up early in the morning may have originated from this ‘good luck’ from my childhood.
In Oriental medicine, carp is a medicinal food that helps with childbirth. As the mother goes through the process of giving birth, pushing the fetus out of the placenta with all her might, her muscles, ligaments, and even bones and joints stretch. Like melting iron in a furnace, the joined pubis is melted and spread apart to expand the birth canal. The process of digestion after childbirth involves contracting the relaxed body tissues back to their original state. After giving birth, the mother’s body is swollen and saggy. In order to shrink a wet towel or blanket to its original state, you must squeeze out the moisture, dry it in the sun, and iron it. Even a body that is relaxed after giving birth must expel moisture and apply heat to contract to its normal state and for muscles and joints to slowly return to their original positions. It is for this reason that pregnant women are told not to come in contact with cold things or to be exposed to wind.
For pregnant women, how to get rid of edema is a very important concern. In most cases, swelling after childbirth or swelling as if the baby has gained weight is due to edema. To prevent body shape from collapsing even in middle age, ‘postpartum wind’ caused by edema must be properly treated.
Carp is very helpful in expelling moisture from the body and returning relaxed tissues to normal. Carp is a yang-yang fish. The energy of jumping into the sky and the scales that sparkle even after death symbolize positive energy. If your digestive function is poor and your body feels cold and cold, you should eat carp. In ‘Herbal Medicine’, a research book on herbal medicine from the Ming Dynasty in China, it is written, “If you warm your stomach and eat a lot, you will get wind fever.” He clearly states the strong yang energy of carp, saying, “If a paralyzed person eats it, he or she will regret it.”
In folk medicine, making soup with mallow and green onion roots in carp to treat edema caused by pregnancy, or boiling soup with green onion roots and hemp seeds in carp when your legs are swollen due to heart disease, are all prescriptions with diuretic effects in mind. . To enhance stamina, carp is boiled and eaten with deodeok, ginger, and jujube, keeping in mind the quantitative power of carp.
On the other hand, what it looks like is a yin food ingredient that is as dangerous as a snake but is deadly. As is the case with their black color, their nature is to face downward, and if there is no water, they dig into the mud to breathe. It is called Yeeo (鱧魚) because it is said to know etiquette. It is named so because it has seven dots on its head symbolizing the Big Dipper and bows its head towards the North Star at night. The color black, the habit of moving at night, and the downward force symbolize the negative energy full of nature. It is said to be so effective for pregnant women that it is called Kamochi (加母致), which is said to protect against snakebites. It helps soothe fever after childbirth and has a strong diuretic effect. Its power to soothe fever and aid diuresis also aids liver function. In the private sector, soup is made with snakehead fish and water parsley.
Lee Sang-gon, director of Gapsan Oriental Medicine Clinic
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