Colours that neither dim

Colours that neither dim

nor age

to lively eyes.

 

The ups and the downs

The ups and the downs

all through the realms

and how we are connected.

 

Ode to sweet life

 

Ode to sweet life

When darkness glows

When darkness glows

and colours blast

I sing my joy.

And we are one.

 

I celebrate abundance

I celebrate abundance

My cup runneth over

My heart heavy, thank you.

 

Anything, something

Anything, something

to marvel at

to go forth with.

 

I seek, I get

I seek, I get

I leave

with a heart-ful glow.

Over-demand cannot live

to see another day

 

What I learn

 

heritage in chinese civilisation

3.6  The Thirty-Six Strategems and TCM

i. The Thirty-Six Strategems is about the art of war, and it and TCM share common strategies:
a. ‘strike east but make a sound in the west’ strategem is similar to TCM treatment of illnesses in the upper body via the lower body, e.g. a headache can be treated via the leg and foot; a face distorted on the left but acupuncture treatment is given on the right (one must know root cause of distortion) equals to 

b. ‘man tian guo hai’ (crossing the sea without the emperor’s knowledge) suggests using psychology to treat psychological disease
c. ‘beauty trap’ suggests hitting on what one likes, e.g. on roundworm problem, use prescription that attract roundworms to eat and be narcotised, then other prescription to excrete it
d. ‘throw out a brick to get a jade gem’ suggests always prescribe mild medicine before strong one, i.e. known as to ‘open or explore the path’ (kai lu) medicine/prescription, e.g. tonify the stomach and spleen first so that can absorb medicine; also a mild medicine will enable one to see if prescription is suitable than only followed by a strong prescription
e. ‘looting a burning house’ refers to removing root cause of problem/disease, then only consolidate the situation.

ii. TCM sees the body in holistic view
‘besiege Wei to rescue Zhou’
When an organ has problem, another organ is treated to overcome the problem, i.e. treat the stomach to protect the liver.  Thus, when there is a problem with an organ, check the other organs as well, especially the five 'zhang' organs.

iii. There are three views/treatments in TCM
a. holistic
b. dialectic (know common concepts as well as opposing concepts)
c. remove the root cause

iv. TCM and The Thirty-Six Strategems have in common - 
a. Yin-Yang theory
b. dialectic view, i.e. know your enemy before an attack

v. TCM stresses the philosophy/unity of heaven, earth and man, thus one must know the patient’s physique in order to treat the patient successfully, just as one needs to know the climate and topography before one can attack.
e.g. when a patient is overjoy, he can hurt his heart/fire element, so use the kidney/water element/fear to treat him, based on the Five Element theory.

vi. Two strategies to care for health:
a. ‘watch fire burn across the river’, i.e. have the proper or correct state of mind.  Do not be hasty in understanding illness.  Have proper state of mind before acting on an illness or getting treatment or deciding on healthcare.  Do not follow what others do.
b. ‘pilfer the goat’, i.e. do it the easy way.  The easy way also needs persistence e.g. many TCM care methods are easy to follow but one needs to be persistent.

vii. ‘if all else fails retreat’

None of the 36 strategems is about failure or escape; but is about defeating the enemy.  It is about preserving self-strength before attacking again.  Thus, combine exertion and rest in an appropriate way; slow down pace does not mean stop totally.

* Heritage in brief, for contemplation

What I learn

 

heritage in chinese civilisation

3.5   I Ching and TCM

i. I Ching explains health preservation through 12 hexagrams

ii. Fu (24), Lin (19), Tai (11) hexagrams show Yang Qi just generated, i.e. 'xiao nian', and so forth;
e.g. Fu hexagram  indicates the stage of a baby just born, i.e. “one Yang returning” – a baby clenches fist with thumb pressed inside, pressing on Shaofu accupoint on the heart meridian.  Even the baby needs to protect Yang Qi, i.e. Shenque acupoint on abdomen.

iii. Dazhuang hexagram (34) indicates teenager stage (suggesting like a sheep loose on the field), therefore, Dazhuang advises to learn how to let go like letting go sheep on the field.  The person must learn to prevent aggressiveness and excessiveness, seek balance.

iv. Gou hexagram (44) indicates middle age, that Yin Qi comes, therefore, should pay attention to our choice, i.e. should choose something related to Yang, i.e. avoid behaviours, habits etc, that harm Yang Qi; protect Yang Qi through:
a. diet, avoid cooling food
b. adjust mentality and emotion; balance mental state and emotion

v. Dun hexagram (33)  indicates we have two tails, positive and negative, i.e. it is difficult to escape when one has too big a tail
Positive: when young accumulates wealth but do not be showy; Negative: when accumulates bad habits, should learn to abandon them.
Idiom – too difficult to hide tail; also, tail too big to wag – i.e. difficult to change bad habits.

vi. Bo hexagram (23) is also about old people needing to preserve health.  With reference to the 5th line, it suggests that tolerance is most important like the Empress leading the concubines to receive the Emperor’s favour.

vii.  Guan hexagram (20)  is also for the old on preserving health.  It says “know the seasonal change by observing the natural law and spread humanisation all over the country by observing human affairs and ethics”, i.e. the old must observe changes in heaven, earth and man, observe them with their hearts.  The old must be contented with their lot and do things accordingly.

viii. The old should pay attention to giving up something, as suggested by the last three hexagrams.

ix. The 12 divinatory hexagrams show how to obtain something; the first six indicates how to obtain, i.e. Yang Qi has to rise, therefore, has to follow it and not affect it.  Then, Yang Qi comes down, and one has to protect it via:
a. protect and tonify kidneys, according to I Ching based on Yin-Yang equilibrium, five elements which relate to the five organs, five cereals, five vegetables and five fruits, e.g. black food like black soya beans, black sesame tonify kidneys; also care for the brain because brain is connected to kidney, eat walnuts to nourish brain.

x. In conclusion, the I Ching which lays the foundation for the concept of Yin-Yang, relates to health preservation by the “harmony between Yin and Yang”, i.e. 'Yin Yang zhong he'

xi. Man is of Yin and Yang nature, so are all things in the universe and in nature, therefore, all cannot go against this law, e.g. when reaches Kun hexagram (2), of only Yin lines, one must think of moving on to the next thing to do, i.e. the next hexagram, which is back to Fu hexagram (24), i.e. when it is only Yin lines, one must think of Yang, when it is only Yang lines, Qian hexagram (1),  one must think of Yin, then the heart will be strong.

xii. The four stages in life should follow the law of changes in Yin and Yang; change accordingly, when there is need to acquire, do it; when there is need to give up, do it.  TCM is all about the balance of Yin and Yang.

Laozi said, “People should increase their knowledge when doing research, but decrease their subjective consciousness when seeking truths”.

* Heritage in brief, for contemplation

What I learn

heritage in chinese civilisation

 3.4  The Five Internal Organs

i. The body is seen as a unified country in TCM, with the
- heart as the king, that which governs the spirit
- lung as the chancellor (respiration determines state of being); responsible for management 'zhi' and regulation 'jie'
- liver as general in charge of defence, strategies (detox, conducts metabolism, stores blood)
- spleen as granaries minister 
- kidney as invigorating minister, responsible for ingenuity; growth, development, fertility of body

ii. The importance of spleen/stomach
- spleen in TCM is always associated with stomach, refers to function, not an anatomical organ; means the fruits, cereals eaten, water drunk, are transformed into Qi and blood
- e.g. if after chemotherapy, a person must have appetite for food, if not, it means there has been excessive treatment affecting the stomach and spleen, and the person can die due to this, loss of appetite and desire for food, (and not due to the cancer he has chemotherapy for)

iii. The brain has a combined function with heart, i.e. to think

iv. The five internal organs are also known as spiritual organs that govern
- spirit (heart)
- spiritual soul (liver)
- physical soul (lung)
- idea (spleen)
- will (kidney)
e.g. spleen governs idea, direct thinking; if a person faces a problem and cannot solve it, he will 'fa pi Qi' (vent spleen anger)

v.  All five organs generate and restrain each other, in the order of the Five Elements
fire – heart
earth – spleen
metal – lung
wood – liver
water – kidney
e.g. 
a. spleen/stomach is the mother of the lung; when a person has tuberculosis, re-enforce earth to generate metal, i.e. enhance spleen/stomach to repair lung calcification
b. if angry and no appetite to eat, regulate the liver Qi (wood) to control stomach/spleen Qi (earth) in order to have appetite again

vi. Internal disorders are due to imbalance in Yin-Yang Qi, and blood
It is also caused by the seven emotions – joy, anger, sorrow, brooding, fear, fright, grief – which will most damage the five internal organs
“When one is indifferent to fame and fortune, and achieves inner peace, the principal Qi will be smooth in the body.”
e.g. the liver and gallbladder work best between 11.00 pm and 3.00 am, thus, one must sleep within these hours; if one stays up and does mental work, blood goes to the head instead of the liver which is responsible for lipid metabolism, thus a person will beget fatty liver.

vii. Man is integral in nature (tian ren he).  Movement of Qi comes from descending Heaven Qi and ascending Earth Qi; man is product of Heaven and Earth.  He lives within the movement of Qi.  This movement of Qi is manifested in the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter – which produces wind, cold, heat, dryness, dampness, summer heat, which only affects the five internal organs under extreme circumstances.

viii. Diet and the four seasons
Spring Qi  corresponds to liver Qi
Summer Qi corresponds to heart Qi
Autumn Qi corresponds to lung Qi
Winter Qi corresponds to kidney Qi
a. in spring, liver is most active, do not eat too much sour, eat more sweet to enhance stomach/spleen Qi, e.g. Chinese yam, dates
b. in summer, eat less bitter food, more acrid food such as fresh ginger, garlic, scallion to protect lung
c. in autumn, eat less acrid food, more sour food for liver, e.g. pears, grapes
d. in winter, eat less salty food, more bitter food to protect heart, e.g. celery, asparagus lettuce

* Heritage in brief, for contemplation

What I learn

 

heritage in chinese civilisation

3.3 Relationship between the five emotions and the five 'zang' organs
i. relate to the five elements, for control and generation
ii. to regulate the five emotions, relate to Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism as Buddhism advocates impermanence, Confucianism kind-heartedness and humanity and Taoism laws of nature
iii. the existence of the five emotions is natural just as a baby when born into the world enters with clenched fist and crying; when a man leaves the world, he no longer clenches his fist, there is abandonment; so there is sorrow and happiness, there is obtainment and abandonment

3.3.1 Five 'zang' organs and five emotions
i. e.g. to manage anger/liver (wood), one needs sorrow/lung (metal), i.e. need to be sad to manage anger
ii. to regulate the emotions, fall back on Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism
iii. from crying (at birth) - smiling; abandonment - obtainment (clenching of fist at birth)
i.e. understand that nothing is permanent, law of nature, then one can regulate one’s emotions

* Heritage in brief, for contemplation

What I learn

 

heritage in chinese civilisation

3.2 Chinese diet and health
a. Chinese saying: illness finds its way in through the mouth

b. Three practices to follow:
i. appropriate amount of food
– no overstuffing: ‘medicines are more or less harmful but overeating is most harmful’
– Sun Sumiao, Tang Dynasty’s King of Medicine: practise self-cautiousness
– practise principle of retaining 30% hunger and cold
ii. appropriate taste
 – five evils of tastes are sweet, salty, sour, bitter, hot
iii. appropriate nutrition
– balance nutrition, e.g. protein, oil, etc
iv. appropriate temperature and hardness

c. Confucius said 
– eat seasonal food
– operation and change in man should correspond to seasons in nature, as heaven-earth-man are linked

d. Food influences spleen and stomach (spleen and stomach are foundations of acquired constitution as kidney is foundation of congenital life)
– don’t eat when angry or in bad mood because blood goes to the head and not to the spleen and stomach which needs blood for digestion
– eat soft, ripe and warm food to protect spleen and stomach
– regulate diet means nursing spleen and stomach as a lot of illnesses come from damage to spleen and stomach
– “do not warm cold food with spleen and stomach”
– “do not soften hard food with spleen and stomach”
– “do not cook raw food with spleen and stomach”

e. Huangdi Nei Jing advocates, in order of succession, five cereals (for Qi, vitality); five fruits; five domestic animals, five vegetables as supplement

f. Do not eat many things from other places 
– “each place has its own way to support its inhabitants”

g. Chinese cooking always comprises combination, and not singly

h. The human body does not need much;  a simple diet is best

* Heritage in brief, for contemplation

What I learn

heritage in chinese civilisation

3.1 The Classic of Herbal Medicine
a. Three grades
i. low grade herb – to treat illnesses, e.g. sweet wormwood which is toxic, bitter/cold in nature
ii. medium grade herb – e.g. dan gui to cultivate temperament; is non-toxic
iii. top grade herb – e.g. red dates (good but limit it because too much sweet hurt stomach and spleen;  Chinese  yam (which is good for spleen, stomach; builds muscle, good for limb, for Qi, for ability to see and hear; nourish lungs and kidneys too {stomach is mother of lung})
b. Two main principles of TCM
i. eat what you wish to eat (the body will lead you)
ii. stop when you should stop

3.1.1. Forms of dosage in TCM:
i. decoction or 'tang yao' must be taken before it becomes cold; decoction can wash away waste such as urine and sweat
ii. pulvis or 'san ji' remove stasis and can be assimilated quickly, so is usually used to cure gastrointestinal diseases
iii. pill or 'wan' works slowly, is thus used to cure disease that develops over time

3.1.2 Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders
i. based on the Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Disorders by Zhang Zhongjing
ii. there are 12 classes of disorders
iii. single medicine vs compound medicine to resist evolving virus/bacteria
iv. individualized treatment
v. organs are classified as monarch, minister, assistant and guide
vi. everyone should have some medical knowledge on TCDD, e.g. when one has headache, vomit, prick tip of ear to release some blood

 * Heritage in brief, for contemplation

Tokens, symbols

Tokens, symbols

Energise the heart.

 

What I learn

heritage in chinese civilisation

 

2.6.1  Four realms of life according to Fen Youlan (Chinese philosopher)

i. universe realm – the highest realm (tian di)
ii. moral realm – dao de (he overcomes the true, the counterfeit and enters dao de)
iii. utilitarian realm – material world (gong li)
iv.  nature realm – natural (ji ran)

2.6.2  The Eight Immortals

i. Is Journey to the East (is about Taoism) written by Wu Yuantai; written in Jiajing era, Ming Dynasty

ii. versus Journey to the West

iii. based on eight trigrams, e.g. Lu Dongbin is Qian, Pure Yang; HeXian’gu is Yin; the rest is combination of Yin-Yang

iv. prefect representation of 

- man : LuDongbin

- woman: He Xian’gu

- young: Han Xiangzi

- old: Zhang Guolao

- honored rich: Cao Guojiu

- lowly poor: Lan Caihe

- sick: Tieguai Li

- fit: Han Zhongli

v. deeper meaning of JtoE: advocates

- law of nature/Tao

- non-interference; destiny

 - Zhang Guolau reflects non-action and freedom

 - Tieguai Li reflects inner world which is more important than outer appearance (Zhaungzi’s advocate)

2.6.3  Zhou Yi

i. It is the law of development of things

ii. There are 64 hexagrams – permutations and combinations

iii. Confucius: about the mandate of Heaven; wrote the “Ten Wings” or Great Commentary

iv. Qian lines are all auspicious lines

v. Used to change fate – by mandate of Heaven; by law of causation

* Heritage in brief, for contemplation

What I learn

heritage in chinese civilisation

 

2.5  Respect and reverence

i. respect is external; reverence is internal; respect must be accompanied by reverence at heart

ii. respect your parents do not mean worship them

iii. to disagree with parents is not unfilial; to be filial to the dead means to uphold their values and virtues; to behave in ways in which they would be proud of you if they were alive

Why mourn for late parents for three years?

A baby is carried in his parents' arms for three years, before he can be said to be able to move away freely from his parents.

iv. reverence for spirits/deities:

- Confucius – “While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve their spirits?"
- saying -  "ren zai zou, tian zai kan" (man acts, heaven observes)

2.5.1 Meaning of Qing Ming

i. Life Qing Ming: remember one’s past

ii. Ecology Qing Ming: arrival of spring

iii. Political Qing Ming: remember Jie Tu; Hanshi/Cold Festival

* Heritage in brief, for contemplation

What I learn

 

heritage in chinese civilisation

2.4 The Doctrine of Mean (a dose)

(4 great books:  The Analects, The Great Learning, Mencius, The Doctrine of Mean)

i. of impartiality, balance, fairness, consistency in principles (but does not mean need to be equidistant, thus been mediocre, taking the safe position)

ii. of understanding variables, in order to make decision (but does not mean taking extremes, to produce balance, e.g. taking cold drink on a hot day vs hot drink on a hot day which is better to keep cool)

iii. Confucius: “I can tackle the question by exploring it from end to end and then come up with the answer.”

iv. 'zhong' does not mean equidistant; it is a variable, impartiality, e.g. balancing a Chinese scale (steelyard)

v. TDoM also refers to putting self in other’s shoes; also, proper limit

* Heritage in brief, for contemplation

What I learn

heritage in chinese civilisation

 2.3 Wisdom of Zhuangzi (a dose)

i. involvement in affairs of society is like an egg or carrot or tea in boiling water (a person decides which one he wants to be)

- the egg turns hard

- the carrot becomes mushy

- the tea releases fragrance

ii. “neither fear death, nor court death” – allow nature to take its course: birth, growth, sickness, old age, death

iii. “everything exists for an implicit and established reason”; “nature has beauty which is not explicit” – understand what is explicit truth, what is established reason

iv. do not be spiritually confined but have an open clear view

v. inner fast = spiritual fast: keep out distracting thoughts; keep calm in the heart

vi. a sage is calm at heart; many things are covered by noise.  Water is clear when it’s calm, so too will spirit be

* Heritage in brief, for contemplation

Seek

Seek and you'll find

freshness, vitality

even in the least expected.

 

What I learn

heritage in chinese civilisation

 

2.2  Significant values of Chinese culture 

1. Confucian values
i. Benevolence

ii. Compassion
- harmony
- social responsibility
- ceremony courtesy
iii. based on: 
- words of benevolence vs western values
- righteousness vs democracy
- rites vs human rights
- intelligence vs liberty
- fidelity vs constitutionality
- integrity vs dignity of individual

2. Challenge to cultural identity, traditions, core values of Chinese culture, in a modern, open, foreign society - threat or co-existence?

3. Filial piety need not be obedience but mutual growth/progress

4.  Treat nature as a community
Heaven is Father/Earth is Mother

5. Bring food to the mouth or mouth to the food

6. Why does the lotus rise from the mud?

7. Eight fears
i. pride
ii. ignorance
iii. anger
iv. jealousy
v. wrong view
vi. miserliness
vii. attachment
viii. doubt

8. Where is the road?  Under your feet.

When there is no road but you keep going, a road will open up.
Go with the flow = keep going, especially when fatigue or in doubt/uncertain.

* Heritage in brief, for contemplation

What I learn

 

heritage in chinese civilisation

2.1  Chinese culture/tradition comprises

1. Rituals/customs in Chinese culture, e.g.

a. Spring festival – reunion, time for family to get together to eat; celebration – when people are free in winter, land cannot be worked on

b. Qing Ming

i. Respect for and appreciation of ancestors

ii. Philosophy of death

iii. Know how to live
Know where we come from
Know where we are
Know where we are going to

iv. Like a kite – a celebration, a release

2. Values

i. Filial piety

ii. Ancestor respect

iii. Austerity

3. Symbols such as 

i. Yin Yang

ii. Images

iii. Colours

iv. Architecture

4. Main doctrines in Chinese culture – based on three modes/manifested by :

i. Personality – dao or doctrine of gentleman (vs mean person, xiao ren)

ii. Thinking – mean (i.e. oppose all extremism)

iii. Behavioral – etiquette – family ethics

5. Elements in Chinese culture, e.g.

dance reflects 

- circle feature

- reaching towards earth (angled in earth)

6. Integration and assimilation

- what/how much to absorb; what/how much to let go, if at all;

- crossing the divide – communication

7. Upholding cultural practice need not be expensive, e.g. tea drinking practice – need not require one to be well-educated, rich

8. Stories/values to guide (vs others with religion)

9. Everyone has duties, occupation and possesions, e.g. the monk and his bundle of possession/duties vs the official and his documents/responsibilities

10. Sometimes it's better to be wise than to be right.

* Heritage in brief, for contemplation

What I learn

heritage in chinese civilisation

2.0 How to Cultivate Oneself

1. Four virtues to cultivate
i. Trustworthiness – true, loyal, sincere
ii. Sense of shame
iii. Integrity
iv. Gratitude – to parents; even to those you can help

Man is different from animal because of culture.
Man is given the greatest freedom, also the greatest restraint

2. Teachings

i. Confucianism – have the courage to do things (duties, responsibilities)
ii. Buddhism – life is fleeting; know when to let go – do not hold on to past; do not long for future; live in the present
iii. Daosim – know how to view the world (there is contentment)

3. Emphasis on contentment and self-sufficiency.

4. Go with the natural, i.e. the natural = innateness of things, i.e. what you are, not how you should be when compared to others, e.g. if others eat two bowls of rice, you eat one, do not try to eat two.

Stay within your own limits, i.e. not eat or wear more than what you are in size – stomach, body measurement

5. Propriety = respect
Cultivating self is a gradual process – learn things to benefit self, not for trade, etc.

* Heritage in brief, for contemplation.

Flit, flirt, love

Flit, flirt, love

Live, leave, love

 

Seasons of life

Seasons of life

Taking and giving

Celebration is not an illusion.

 

What I learn

 

wisdom in traditional chinese medicine

29. TCM (how the Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine (Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen) uses the Tao Te Ching and Yi Jing)

1. (*Chinese characters which share the same pronunciation have the same origin)
‘One’ in the Origin of Chinese characters was a dot (circle); it refers to Taiji (a state of Yin and Yang in complete harmonious relationship).
The TTC relates the origin of human – 
Tao engenders one
One engenders two
Two engenders three
Three engenders everything
This is the syncretism between heaven and man.
Before the formation of the universe, there was Tao, there was obscure but physical existence.  Tao engenders One which is Taiji, then One forms Two – Two is Qing Yang which is in the heaven, and Zhou Yin which is in the earth.
When Yang increases heaven is formed, when Yin declines earth is formed, so heaven and earth became Two, then as One engenders Two, Two engenders Three, earth Qi constantly rises while heaven Qi declines, the state of Qi with motions of heaven and earth was formed, this is Three, i.e. when all creatures on earth were produced.
What is the essence of man?  According to TCM, in the TTC, human is everything, the most perfect product of Yin and Yang.  The essence is that Yin and Yang must be balanced (core philosophy of TCM).

2. In the Chinese culture, an important idea is that man is the lord of creation – 
Man follows Earth,
Earth follows Heaven, 
Heaven follows Tao, 
Tao follows Nature – 
Why is this said?
Man has the capacity to put heaven and earth together – look at the philtrum.  When a person is in the womb, it is called the “nine obstructed orifices” – the navel is connected with the mother.  All other orifices are closed.  When the baby is born, the “nine orifices” open.  The orifice is the channel between independent life and the nature.  The channel is open.  How are the nine orifices distributed –
Above the philtrum: three even numbers
Two eyes
Two ears
Two nostrils
Below the philtrum: three odd numbers
One mouth
One external genitalia
One anus
Three even numbers = Kun trigram, which means earth
Three odd numbers = Chien trigram, which is heaven
However, originally heaven is above and earth is below, but how can man follow heaven and earth?
Earth Qi must rise and heaven Qi must decline.  At this point, man is alive.
When the nine orifices are distributed, earth Qi rises so above is even number, heaven Qi declines, so below is odd number, therefore, the philtrum is where Yin and Yang meet.
When man is born, he follows heaven and earth.  When earth Qi rises, heaven Qi declines, then man is alive.
When you faint, earth Qi no longer rises, heaven Qi no longer declines, so pinch the philtrum so that heaven and earth Qi can start to run again.

3. Tai hexagram (Tai kua) in the Yi Jing is where heaven and earth meet, this is the relationship between TCM and the Yi Jing.  Yi in Yi Jing is represented by the sun and moon pictograph.  The sun and moon are forever changing, moving all the time.  Therefore, the Yi represents motions and changes in nature, Yin and Yang.  In TCM, what regular rules Yin and Yang, have in the process of a man’s growth?

Yi Jing (also known as Zhou Yi) has three basic meanings –
1. Variation – always changing

2. Simple (jian yi), i.e. all movements in nature are inseparable like the changes of sun and moon, and the sun and moon represent Yin and Yang.  Therefore, TCM says that the essentials of all changes shall be known.  TCM states that understanding the Yin and Yang will understand all the change rules in the world.  It uses the changes of Yin and Yang in nature to understand the change rules in the world.

3. Hard (bu yi).  Between heaven and earth, Qi is moving and changing – it has fixed and regular rule but it is not like this on the first day.

In summary, the Yi Jing has three meanings – change and variation, simple yi and hard yi. 

(*yi as in yi of Yi Jing)

* Sharing a nugget of vitality, not to be swallowed whole.

What I learn

 

wisdom in traditonal chinese medicine

28. Secret of Yang Qi

1. Yang Qi refers to life activities of human bodies such as prompt thinking, brisk movement, which are external manifestations of Yang Qi.

2. Yin Qi goes hand in hand with the production of blood, semen and other body fluids.

3. Yang Qi supports life activities, and Yin Qi forms tangible matters of the body tissues and fluids.

4. Abide by the principles of nature; according to Lao Tzu,
Man models on Earth
Earth models on Heaven
Heaven models on the Way
The Way models on Nature

Yang Qi is from heaven and the sun; Yin qi is from earth and the moon – work during the day, rest during the night.
Yang Qi is at the external body during the day, it returns to the body at night – Yang Qi is needed to maintain Yin Qi at night – both Yang and Yin Qi must be in the body to enable body to keep well – if you exercise at night, Yang Qi cannot return into the body.

5. To look after Yang Qi, women should look after the spleen, stomach and blood while men should look after the kidneys and semen.

6. Hot-natured food promotes Yang Qi, cold natured food suppresses Yang Qi, e.g. 
i. watermelon is red and sweet, is cold natured – red is related to heart which is of hot nature, i.e. red things go to the heart, thus, watermelon reduces heat in heart as one will pee after eating watermelon.

ii. lichee is hot, sweet, gentle; if weak spleen and stomach, can eat lichee because can promote Yang Qi; but not for hot-natured person, it can cause inflammation, so boil lichee peel in water and drink because peel is cold-natured.
iii. fresh ginger is gentle; yellow goes to the spleen and stomach.
iv. pepper/chilli is hot-natured and promotes Yang Qi better.
v. old duck is hot-natured; young duck is cold-natured.
vi. American ginseng replenishes Yang Qi fluids, is best eaten in summer.
vii. Nuts, peanuts, chestnuts, hazels, are seeds, so are good vegetable protein – seeds have vitality, carrier of vitality – promotes kidney Qi.
viii. “Each place has streams come in from all over the country”, i.e. follow own local practices and customs to keep well.

7. In TCM, foods of specific nature are medicines such as watermelon, ginger, pepper.

8. Medicine is less effective than food.  Extractive medicine or chemosynthetic medicine – avoid artificial/chemosynthetic medicine as a specific function of the medicine is exaggerated.

9. In spring and summer look after Yang Qi; in autumn and winter, look after Yin Qi.

10. Negative emotions affect Qi, e.g. rage causes Qi to rise; anxiety causes Qi to depress.
Overthinking/overworking affects Yang Qi, the spleen – deficient Yang Qi causes loss of appetite, abdominal pain, diarrhoea.
Diabetes, depression also affects Yang Qi.

11. Yang Qi must transform and transmit in body; there should not be Qi stasis or this will lead to internal heat.

12. The Yin-Yang Fish in the Eight Trigrams/Baqua is reflective of the origins of the universe – according to Sun Simiao, if man does not understand the laws of the universe, he does not understand the principles of life; it’s about the relation between macro Yin-Yang and micro Yin-Yang.

* Sharing a nugget of vitality, not to be swallowed whole.

What I learn

 

wisdom in traditional chinese medicine

27.  Food in Ancient Chinese Culture

1. Bitter gourd = insulin

2. Garlic = antibiotics 

3. Peanuts with skin = red blood cells

4. Day lily = feel good feeling

5. Rice is important, rice is in Qi character; vegetable is important, it is in Jing character as field is in Shen character.

6. Based on number of teeth, i.e. 4 canines and 32 molars, it suggests that 1/8th meat in diet is enough.

7. Millet = ‘miyou’ which is better than milk

8. Sweet potato prevents obstruction in intestines, i.e. clean intestinal tract = longevity. Also, has cholesterol lowering ability, 10 times more than 130 other foods.

9. Vegetables must be fresh, green, yellow, red.  Must be bought fresh, not stored for days in fridge; green for chlorophyll and folic acid, yellow for carotene, red for lycopene.  Vegetable contain the character Shu which means grass and dredging, suggests able to open meridiens and clean obstruction.

10. Fruits cannot replace vegetables – eat less fruits but more times. 
Fruits can be classified as normal, hot or cold, e.g. banana (cold) puts one in good mood – has good adjustment effect; apple (normal) prevents dementia; persimmon (hot) must not be eaten with crab (hot).

11. Cooked with low heat.

Good to cook with slow fire, e.g. mantou is better than bread, both made from wheat but mantou is steamed.

12. Eat carbohydrates to burn fats.

13. Grain eater said to have wisdom and thinking ability; grazer to be stupid and labored; meat eater to be bold and hot tempered.  Too much meat increases abdominal heat, makes a person want to drink ice water.

14. Ice water is bad for abdominal brain, makes a person easily rejects others.

15. Abdominal brain = EQ; head brain = IQ

16. Functional food = target organ (food as medicine), e.g. walnut for brain; almond for heart; fish head soup nourishes brain.

17. Balance is health, adjustment is treatment.

*Sharing a nugget of vitality, not to be swallowed whole.