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”.

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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.