Reading Herb Names in Hanja: 藿香, 鹿茸, 柏實

The Donguibogam is written in hanja, and many herbs have a common Korean name that differs from the classical one.

Reading the Donguibogam means moving between hanja names and everyday Korean names, because one plant often has several names, and the name we use may differ from the book's. Each herb page on this site gives the hanja name to help with searching.

Common examples

• Gwakhyang — 藿香: the fragrant leaf
• Deer Antler — 鹿茸: the newly growing antler
• Baekjain — 柏實: the arborvitae seed
• Mugwort — 艾葉: the mugwort leaf
• Jakseolcha — 苦茶: what we usually call jakseolcha
• Burdock — 惡實: the burdock fruit

Why the names differ

One reason is that different parts of the same plant carry different names: the medicinal name 惡實 refers to the burdock fruit. Another is that the common name differs from the entry name: jakseolcha is a quality grade, while the Donguibogam writes 苦茶. The last is names that changed by era and region.

Searching in hanja

Searching by hanja can sometimes bring up the same name for different herbs. Each entry here gives the Latin name and hanja together, and flags cases where the source plant is ambiguous.

This article is educational and does not recommend using any herb.