FOOTSTEPS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE

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Introduction

About the Author Dr. Wang Hongcai, a well-known traditional Chinese medicine scholar and

integrates originality, readability and knowledge. Based on his years of

clinical expert, born in a family of traditional Chinese medicine, has

TCM study, the author vividly illustrates the elements of TCM like

studied under the guidance of two masters of Chinese medicine,

FOOTSTEPS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE

This excellent book narrating the culture of traditional Chinese medicine

meridians, acupoints, acupuncture and moxibustion, qi and the five zang viscera, both familiar and strange to us, as well as their stories throughout the ages, as if unfolding an extraordinary journey of TMC culture for readers. Engaged in the clinical practice and research on acupuncture over 30 years, Dr. Wang, experienced in both TCM theories and practice, has been invited to more than 50 countries for medical treatment or academic exchanges, and sent by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs or State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine to offer medical service for foreign leaders many times. With strong humanistic feelings, Dr. Wang does researches on both medicine and humanity, adept at applying multi-thinking paradigm in interpreting the logic of life and health. Therefore, this book of his is surely a feast of eyes to our readers.

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Professor Guo Chengjie and Academician Cheng Shennong. Dr. Wang is the chief physician of the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a doctoral supervisor, the deputy director of the World Health Organization’s Traditional Medicine Cooperation Center (CHN-32), the deputy secretary-general of the World Federation of AcupunctureMoxibustion Societies (WFAS), and the senior consultant of the American Federation of TCM acupuncturists.

FOOTSTEPS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE Author: Wang Hongcai Translator: Cheng Jiahui Gao Wanwan Liu Hanlu

Toronto Education Press

Cheng Jiahui, a professor of English at Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities and an expert member of the Translators Association of China, has two translations published: Dictionary of Best Quotes for English Basic Words (Bilingual), and English Translation for 100 Selected Chinese Ancient Classic Poems (Bilingual) and Eternal China: 99 Essential Poems on Chinese culture (Bilingual). Gao Wanwan, a teacher at Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, has participated in many translation research projects. Liu Hanlu, an English teacher of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, presiding over the provincial Medical English Interpretation project, is now dean of the English Department of YMUN.

ISBN 978-1-894534-31-4

Price:C$23

About the Translators

Toronto Education Press


Chapter 1 Boundless Love of Moxibustion

In natureꎬ the world is originally a kind of energy it ̄

selfꎬ which is known as the brightness of the sun. We are just wandering in a world of energy conversion.

Fuel of Life The energy of the sun gives life strengthꎻ

This is the quality of heat and the spirit of moxibus ̄

tion.

Miracle

If the Earth were reckoned as one year old from its birth to the presentꎬ " fish" ( primitive single - celled creatures) ꎬ a kind of dynamic lifeꎬ would be born in the third week of Novemberꎬ while humans wouldn't ap ̄ pear in this world until the evening of December 31.

Life is such an original miracle that even to dateꎬ no one can explain clearly how he / she (it) came into being 1


and where he / she (it) is going. These puzzles are the deepest sources of pain for human groups and individu ̄

als. Although faith and religion comfort us from time to timeꎬ it seems that only the warm sunshine is our shared

spiritual consolation. Not staying in the gloomy daysꎬ but in the days with sunbathꎬ we will enjoy ourselves moreꎬ dancing delightfully. No wonder there is such a popular utterance: " Give me some sunlight and I will shine."

We always believe a saying: No sunꎬ no life. Sun ̄

light is the driving force behind the miracle of life and the ultimate fuel of life. People love the greenery of

spring because greenery promises life. Aristotle said: " Nutrients of plants come from the soil." In factꎬ thanks to sunlight and photosynthesisꎬ green plants with chloroplasts inside convert light energy into the food en ̄

ergy we live on. According to Ingenhousz①ꎬ " Nutrients needed by plants come from the sunꎬ" and green plants are nothing more than places to convert the energy of sunlight into starch. Starch is our staple food that pro ̄

vides living things with energy. In natureꎬ this world is a kind of energy or a substanceꎬ known as " The bright ̄ ness of the sun." It's only in a world of energy conver ̄ Jan Ingenhousz (1730-1799) : A physiologistꎬ biologist and chemist in

the Netherlands. He found photosynthesis.


sion where we are wandering.

The light and heat from the sun create atoms and el ̄

ements in our bodies. All the elements of the universe o ̄

riginate from the inexplicable " Big Bang." No one knows why there was an explosionꎬ and when it explod ̄

ed. As for the " solar system " produced by the Big Bangꎬ Fraunhofer Lines① already illuminated the rela ̄

tionship between sunlight and elements. The main logic lines of life like sunlightꎬ heatꎬ and trace elements have

become so radiant in the perspective of astrobiology. As a matter of factꎬ this simple truth that humans and na ̄ ture are closely related to each other is rooted in the e ̄

merging process of humansꎬ and the theory of " correspondence between heaven and humans" is actu ̄

ally some kind of fascination of human beings about their origin and destination.

The Nutrients of Light

When you are deficient in calciumꎬ your doctor will

advise you to bask in the sunꎬ because the ultraviolet

rays of sunlight help you get the vitamin D you need by ①

Fraunhofer Lines: German physicist Fraunhofer (1787 - 1826) found the dark lines in the solar spectrum that result from the absorption of particular frequencies of light by elements present in the outer layers of the sun.


synthesizing the 7 - dehydrocholesterol in the skin. We have known that " sunshine vitamins " are the main

source of vitamin D for humans. For the sake of healthꎬ we must not be short of carbonꎬ hydrogenꎬ oxygenꎬ ni ̄ trogenꎬ calciumꎬ phosphorusꎬ magnesiumꎬ sodiumꎬ i ̄

ronꎬ zincꎬ copperꎬ manganeseꎬ chromiumꎬ selenium and other elements.

The beauty of rainbow is attributed to its ability to

reflect the spectrum of the sun while the beauty of fire ̄ works results from its dazzling colors. Behind these bril ̄

liant colorsꎬ yellow is produced by sodiumꎬ fuchsia by lithiumꎬ light purple by potassiumꎬ purple by rubidi ̄

umꎬ purple red by cesiumꎬ brick red by calciumꎬ ma ̄ genta by strontiumꎬ yellow - green by bariumꎬ green by copperꎬ and white by magnesium. This is not so much

the beauty of physics and the fruit of chemistry as the tribute to the sun by physical and chemical technology.

An ancient plantis a metaphor for the glamor of sun ̄

lightꎬ not only because atomic absorption spectrometry has detected that it contains nutrients from sunlight such

as strontiumꎬ chromiumꎬ cobaltꎬ nickelꎬ manganeseꎬ copperꎬ zincꎬ ironꎬ sodiumꎬ potassiumꎬ calcium and magnesiumꎬ but also because it is the " kindling" that

God has prepared for mankindꎬ like the fire stolen by Prometheusꎬ which continues to deliver the power of 4


warmth. This ancient plant is " Ai" (mugwortꎬ also meaning " love" in Chinese homophony) ꎬ the king of medical herbs.

Just as people have a preference for different colorsꎬ

so do plants. In their growthꎬ plants like red when pro ̄

ducing sugar. For exampleꎬ the adoption of red light in melon - cultivation promises its earlier ripeness with sat ̄ isfying sweetness. Blue light can increase the protein content of plants. Ultraviolet rays and silver are most feared by vegetable aphidsꎬ etc. For animalsꎬ different lights activate different elements. Red light activates i ̄

ron and red blood cellsꎬ blue light activates proteinsꎬ and ultraviolet light produces vitamin D and so onꎬ which is the primitive music jointly composed by light energy and nutrientsꎬ hence creating life. Unfortunate ̄ lyꎬ the primitive melody at the beginning of life is get ̄ ting farther and farther away from usꎬ replaced by su ̄ perficial nutritional supplements. These so - called ad ̄ vanced nutrition products are flooding us with advertise ̄ ments.

The Implication of the Sun God

Although many myths in history have become jokesꎬ

some myths will always be myths.

When Apollo was born on a floating island in Asto ̄ 5


riaꎬ the sky glowed with golden light. After thatꎬ there appeared Apolloꎬ a sun god in Greek legend. He is in charge of lightꎬ youthfulness and medicine. Coinciden ̄

tallyꎬ in other Western classical myths such as Celts①ꎬ we can also find the profound connection between the

sun and medicine. Is this association with God's random distribution or is it something implicit in any profound truth? I wonder.

On the sites of early human civilizationꎬ whether in ̄

Asgard cultureꎬ Mayan cultureꎬ Inca cultureꎬ Mochika culture or in Nazca cultureꎬ we have found the prevail ̄

ing existence of the towering sun templesꎬ indicating man's first worship of god and the beginning of civiliza ̄

tion with the sun. As Max Mueller② said: " The myth of the sun is the core of all myths."

The legend of Houyi shooting at the sun jokingly

tells the truth of the evolution of the universe. When Houyi shot down nine suns from the sky and left us with the last oneꎬ the temperature of the world was just rightꎬ so that we have such an ecological environment where life and nature are harmonious with each other.

Among the legends of the sun god in different civiliza ̄ The Celts: An ancient nation in Europe.

Max Miller (1823- 1900) : A Britain linguist and founder of Western

religion study.


tionsꎬ the most gentle and kindest sun god is Shennongꎬ Yan Emperor of Chinaꎬ who belongs to the fire virtue and is thus revered as the sun god. He made the sun e ̄ mit enough light and heat to boost the growth of grains.

Alsoꎬ He tasted hundreds of grasses to find medicinal

herbsꎬ established medical theoriesꎬ and developed

farming and seri - culture. It was an era of equal pay for equal work and rapid reproduction of the Chinese nation.

The sun is the common object of human worship. The

sun totem maintains human harmony and survival. What has brought about the sun culture? Is it that people want to employ the power of culture to deliver the energy of

the sun? Regardless of whether or not there is an answer to this questionꎬ the " Yang Qi " theory in Shennong Medicine has so far emitted its unique influence.

I have always been believing that the seeds of sci ̄

ence are buried in culture. What we know about the re ̄

lationship between the sun and life is just the tip of the iceberg. The origin of lifeꎬ the variation of speciesꎬ the principle of photosynthesisꎬ the mystery of life and even thinking cannot be unrelated to the physical rules of

sunlight. Physicists divide sunlight into infrared rays

with a wavelength of more than 760 nano - metersꎬ visi ̄ ble rays with a wavelength of 400 to 760 nano - metersꎬ and ultraviolet rays with a wavelength of 180 to 400 7


nano - meters according to their different levels of ener ̄

gy. Physicists' classification of the spectrum has helped medical scientists in finding out its health value: infra ̄

red rays can warm our bodyꎬ dilate blood vesselsꎬ speed up blood flowꎬ improve circulationꎬ and help us feel ex ̄ cited and joyfulꎻ ultraviolet rays can improve our im ̄ mune systemꎬ stimulate the hematopoietic systemꎬ in ̄

crease red blood cellsꎬ white blood cellsꎬ and plateletsꎬ and make phagocytes more active. That is the light per ̄

ception of science and medicineꎬ while in the logic of Traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ an ancient plantꎬ when it

is litꎬ restores the warmth of sunlight. This plant is called " Ai (mugwort) " .

The Sun in the Heart

Sunlight nurtures lifeꎬ and thus the sun has become

the home of human souls.

Since thenꎬ a luminous celestial body (the sun) has

become the creator and protector of the world. It has not only developed countless versions of religion and cul ̄

tureꎬ but also different types of correspondence between man and universe. The Yang in the human body is just like the sun. Once the human body fails to get its nour ̄

ishmentꎬ life will become dimꎬ and life span will lose its due length. According to Discussion on Preserving 8


Health and Protecting Life in the Suwenꎬ " Huamn be ̄

ings rely on the 'Qi ' (the essence of the universe) to survive and follow the laws of four seasons." Human be ̄

ings are endowed with nature to become themselvesꎬ so where can we find the " sun" within us?

In the theoretical system of Yang in Traditional Chi ̄

nese Medicineꎬ there are kidney Yangꎬ spleen Yang and heart Yang. Among themꎬ " Heart Yang" is the clo ̄

sest to the sun. Heartꎬ in anatomyꎬ is like a pumpꎬ an organ that pumps blood through which blood is transpor ̄

ted to all parts of the body. According to textbooks of Traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ the physiological func ̄

tion of the heart is the transport and regulation of bloodꎬ i. e. the so - called " Heart governs blood circulation" . Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine

have been at odds for hundreds of yearsꎬ but they seem to agree to a great extent in terms of heart function. In factꎬ it's a one - sided understanding of " heart" by mod ̄ ern Chinese Medicineꎬ obviously with the trace of sub ̄

mission. Heart firstly governs the " Qi of Yang " (the driving force of the body's metabolism and physiological

functions) . I first heard my father say it probably in

1981. He successfully rescued a patient of heart failure

patient this with theory. He is proud of it for many years and has published some articles. Laterꎬ it was discov ̄ 9


ered that Mr. Ren Yinqgiu① had mentioned it earlier: heart governs blood and there lives the god (the god within the human body which regulates every human ac ̄

tivity)ꎬ but the most fundamental is that " Heart governs the Yang Qi " . " The heart Yang is paramount among

other kinds of Yang within the human body" ꎬ which is

also the original idea of Qibo and Huangdi or Yellow Emperor.

If heart is the sun in the human bodyꎬ how far can

its sunlight cover? It can shine over every part of our body which is visibleꎬ and can also shine over places invisible. The heart is the place where the medicine and

humanism meet. Pathogenic Factors of Lingshu (« 灵 枢􀅰邪客» ) says: The heart is where the spirit stays.

According to Discussion on the Secret Canons Stored in

Royal Library of Suwen (« 素 问 􀅰 灵 兰 秘 典 论» ) ꎬ " Heart governs the spirit." Heart not only governs the Qi of Yangꎬ but also the spirit. In Traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ human organs are " linked to" the spirit. In factꎬ the boundaries of medicine are always blurred.

Since the heart is the most important organ for hu ̄

man beingsꎬ it can't afford to " be hurt" and should be cherished. Heart needs nourishment in Traditional Chi ̄ ①

10

Ren nutrient Qiu (1914-1984) : A renowned modern scientist and edu ̄ cator of Traditional Chinese Medicine.


nese Medicineꎬ correctitude in Confucianismꎬ peace in

Taoismꎬ clarity in Zen (Buddhism) ꎬ and clearance in Yijia (Yi - ology) . People worry so much about the ' heart'. Sun Simiao (孙思邈) told us a simple and effec ̄

tive way to pamper our heartsꎬ " Moxibustion at Danzhong point with one hundred cones to cure chest

pain and heartache" . Danzhong is the breath mouth for lifeꎬ which we will dwell on later.

I don 't know how the heart in the sense of organs

will develop and how to describe it in the futureꎬ but I know that we don't have to ask where the sunlight comes from. When you open your heartꎬ you can feel it. Like ̄

wiseꎬ you don't have to ask where the sun comes from: you can see it when you open your eyes.

Fire and Moxibustion Fire is the beginning of civilization and the origin of health - care. From " Glacial Table (a term in Chinese for Artemisia) " to the ceremony to give thanks to " Fire Ancestor" ꎬ moxibustion has inherited the warmth of fire from the very moxibustion.

The Discovery of the Tinder

Once life appearsꎬ it will be in entanglement all the 11


life time. The word " life" contains all the mysteries of

the universe. You can think of life as the sun. It rises in

the east and sets down in the west. It sets down for a new rise. The eternity of life is bestowed with wonderful

meaning in some religious contexts. Sometimes life needs religionꎬ so does health. Of courseꎬ you can also think of life as an oil lampꎬ and people die like a lamp.

No one wants to dieꎬ so we are constantly looking for ways to defend our life.

In the long history of human struggle for healthꎬ the

most outstanding creation is the invention and use of

" fire" . Fire is an extension of solar energy. When the flaming sun - cart crossed the skyꎬ Prometheus stole the fire with a fairly long fennel branchꎬ and man praised the myth of fire far and wide.

Around Shangqiuꎬ a city of Henan Province in Chi ̄

naꎬ about 10ꎬ 000 years agoꎬ a saint was also said to

have invented fire. According to Supplementary Notes (« 拾 遗 记» ) ꎬ there was a big tree called ' Sui ' in Suiming (a country) in ancient times. The tree was sur ̄ rounded by clouds and fogsꎬ with its branches and leav ̄

es covering tens of thousands of hectares. A traveling sage happened to find a bird like an osprey that could

generate sparks with its beak pecking the treeꎬ so he was inspired and invented the fire - making method with 12


drilling " Sui" branches. This is the story of Suiren Shi' s drilling for fire. Whether in the West or the Orientꎬ the person who invented fire is the greatest. Fire is the beginning of civilization and the origin of health - care. The emergence of fireꎬ for the first timeꎬ reduced disea ̄

ses of human beings and evolved their brains. Just like

what is said in Lihan Wenjia (« 礼含文嘉» ) : " After Suiren Shi drilled wood to make fireꎬ raw food was cookedꎬ abdominal troubles decreasedꎬ and people be ̄ came different from animals."

Kindling and Mugwort

One of the indispensable things to make fire by

drilling wood is kindling. A traditional Chinese Medi ̄ cine often used as kindling is moxa taken from mugwort.

Mugwort is also called " Glacial Table" . Glacial Table was a way to obtain fire from the sky in ancient times. It

was recorded in Huainan Wan Bi Shu (« 淮 南 万 毕 术» ) : Grind the ice to form a convex lensꎬ lift it to ̄

wards the sunꎬ put the moxa underneathꎬ use this piece of ice to focus the sunlightꎬ and the moxa is ignited. This is how mugwort is nicknamed as " Glacial Table" .

In the barbarous period with no physical and chemi ̄

cal sciencesꎬ people did not know the medical function of the Glacial Table. Howeverꎬ from making fire with 13


Glacial Table to holding ceremonies to thank the " Fire Ancestor" by the ancientsꎬ the Glacial Table had been

endowed with the characteristic of warmth. Perhaps the Glacial Tables were the seeds scattered by the sun on

the ground. Mugwort was used to keep fire. People wove it into stringsꎬ hung it in a suitable placeꎬ ignited one end of itꎬ making it burn slowlyꎬ and the fire was pas ̄

sed on. Today we call the Glacial Table the " King of

Herbs" because later discoveries expound its extensive health - care effects. Fire and ice are totally different and incompatible.

Howeverꎬ there is no cold without heat. Water and fire always rely on each otherꎬ just like men belonging to fire and women to waterꎬ who cannot live without each

other. Using ground ice under the sun to make fire is what philosophers call it as: Extremes meet. Everything

has two sides. They are featured by mutual dependenceꎬ opposition and transformationꎬ as well as mutual waning

and waxing. The sages long discovered this law of things and calledit " Yin and Yang " . The understanding of

Yang begins with the sun and ends with fire. According to Major Discussion on the Theory of Yin and Yang and the Corresponding Relationship Among All the Things in

Nature (« 素问􀅰阴阳应象大论» ) ꎬ " Water and fire are signs of Yin and Yang." 14


The Value of Combustion

Be it the fennel branch used by Prometheus or the

" Sui" branch used by Suiren Shiꎬ pharmacologically speakingꎬ they are mild plants which can expel cold within the human body. What Compendium of Materia Medica (« 本草纲目» ) depicts is medicineꎬ and what

myths and legends describe is culture. Since medicine and culture can be traced back to a common starting pointꎬ there should also be a unified end - point.

Combustion symbolizes two meanings. Firstlyꎬ it is

" Holiness" . When a thin curl of smoke risesꎬ flying a ̄

way in the skyꎬ it seems to represent something to be sent to a just world. Thereforeꎬ in a long historyꎬ all

kinds of sacred rituals were accompanied by fire. For exampleꎬ when a master of ceremonies is presiding over a funeral or when a shaman is relieving pains for peo ̄

pleꎬ clouds of smoke create a mysterious atmosphereꎬ infecting the prayers on the sceneꎬ with their pains and helplessness drifting away and hopes ignited. Some peo ̄

ple have verified that art originated from funerals. I don't

know if it is trueꎬ but medicine must have originated from " combustion" .

Secondlyꎬ it is " Purity" ꎬ when " In a vision Saraph

took an ember from the altar with a pair of tongs to

cleanse Isaiah's sin of unclean lips" (Isaiah in the Bible 15


Chapter 6 Part 5 - 7) ꎬ the fire was like waterꎬ purging all kinds of impurities. In most parts of the human histo ̄

ryꎬ people used fire for sterilization. They used it to sterilize equipment for surgeryꎬ cook raw foods and burn mugwort to expel plaguesꎬ all involving fire and burn ̄

ing. So farꎬ we can still see such a wonderful scene: holding alcohol lamps in one hand and a thick acupunc ̄

ture needle in the otherꎬ a man burns the needle point

until it ' s red and quickly pricks it to the acupoint to treat paralysis. It owes to the value of combustion and

fire that " Fire needle" can survive until todayꎬ having finally become an intangible cultural heritage.

Bonfire and the Hot Pot

One night in the summer of 2010ꎬ a full moon was

slowly emerging from among the clouds and mist over the vast grassland of Saihanba when a huge bonfire burst

into flamesꎬ making crackling soundsꎬ and soon the bonfire was surrounded by crowdsꎬ singing and dancing.

A question popped up in my head: Why can the bonfire " hook" people?

Perhaps it has taken humans too long before embra ̄

cing civilizationꎬ and the connected meaning of fire ( 火 ) and length ( 久 ) (moxibustion 灸 ) has been

deeply imprinted in human genes. Todayꎬ no matter how 16


much humans have evolvedꎬ people's yearning for bon ̄

fires has not changedꎬ which is the vestige of primitive health - care behaviors in human minds. A bonfire party in the suburbs brings revelers into the physiological ex ̄ perience of " fire" along with the psychological pleasure.

For people around the campfireꎬ their bodies are no lon ̄ ger coldꎬ their blood circulation is boostedꎬ and per ̄

hapsꎬ they might have a happy surprise that even their pains disappear. The bonfire strengthens human body and infuses vigor into it. At this momentꎬ it is hard to tell whether it is psychological pleasure or physiological one. " Bonfire" is not only the earliest social activity but also the earliest form of health care. The evolution of physiology cannot surpass its historical traces. The most

primitive practice of hot moxibustion is to get warmed up around a " bonfire" . This behavior is performed every ̄

where regardless of different regions and racesꎬ and where there is a river civilizationꎬ there must be sponta ̄ neous bonfire parties.

The second great invention in the defense of health

is the food revolution which is also attributed to fire.

When fire was controlledꎬ intelligent human beings be ̄

gan to break away from the primitive lifeꎬ and realize the importance of " duration and degree of heating" .

According to a report in the Proceedings of the National 17


Academy of Sciencesꎬ cooking was a key factor in the physical sizeꎬ strength and intelligence of early humans.

Some people often have a wrong idea: By eating raw

foodꎬ people will also be strong. One study shows thatꎬ in an experiment on two groups of miceꎬ one group of mice were fed with uncooked ground beef and sweet po ̄

tato chips and the other group with those cooked. As a resultꎬ the latter ate less but developed better with cooked foodꎬ which helps the body's cells get more en ̄ ergy.

Moxibustion can be a kind of thinkingꎬ and also a

way of life. From the perspective of " moxibustion" ꎬ the hot pot is a diet culture derived from health diet. The

charcoal fire in the middle of a basin extends the power of the campfire. Green onionsꎬ gingersꎬ garlicꎬ pep ̄

persꎬ lambs are all medicinal ingredients warming Yang for energy. No wonder Kublai Khanꎬ the founder of the Yuan Dynastyꎬ ate mutton in a soup pot at the critical

moment for a battle. " Black carbon is burnt red with ash

like snowꎬ yellow grain is cooked white with rice like frost" records the lively scenes of Emperor Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty eating from the hot pot in the imperial

gardenꎬ and Qianlong held the " A Great Feast for One Thousand People" in the first year of Jiaqingꎬ which greatly boosted the " burning heat" of the hot pot. 18


Bonfiresꎬ the remainders of a primitive societyꎬ

used to gather people togetherꎬ but now people unite a ̄ round the " hot pot" . Hotpot fire is not as good as bon ̄

fire because of the poor cohesion of peopleꎬ which is the impact of food culture on people.

Todayꎬ people are so used to fire because it can be

seen everywhere like sunshine. Now people do not have a strong notion of fire because when a thing isn't rare it becomes less precious.

The Story of Moxibustion Only by understanding the history of moxibustionꎬ

can we understand today's moxibustion.

Life is like an oil lamp. How can you burn brighter

and longer? With the development of modern technolo ̄ gyꎬ one achievement comes into being after another. Es ̄

peciallyꎬ when antibiotics was discoveredꎬ it seemed

that man was about to conquer infectious diseases by chemical means. In 1967ꎬ the top health official of the USA declared that " it was time to close the books on in ̄

fectious diseases." But before we could close the old

onesꎬ new ones appeared. Biochemical technology is like festival firework in the skyꎬ shining gorgeously.

Aging is the basis of most health problems. To com ̄

bat agingꎬ people go through different ages focusing on 19


organsꎬ cellsꎬ molecules and genes. The anti - aging the ̄

ory is like a whirl of lights which develops very quicklyꎬ making people dazzled. When we feel the charm of mod ̄

ern technologyꎬ the revenge of technology also hurts our bodies unconsciously. Consequentlyꎬ some people start

to reflect. Looking backꎬ they have realized the health principle: the greatest truth is the simplest.

At presentꎬ there goes such a fashionable saying:

" Return to Nature" ꎬ and moxibustion is a return to the field of health care.

The Origin of Moxibustion

I would like to trace the origin of moxibustionꎬ but

ancient people did not record its occurrenceꎬ just as people do not know the true origin of acupoints. We can only quote partially and infer from literature very incom ̄

pletely. Human wisdom is closely related to the state of

mindꎬ and very oftenꎬ although some of the inferences are not conclusiveꎬ they have been circulated as truth a ̄ mong the public.

The older a civilization isꎬ the more it's influenced

by its geography. It is said in the Discussion on Different

Therapeutic Methods for Different Diseases of Su Wen

(« 素问􀅰异法方宜论» ) that moxibustion came from northern Chinaꎬ and the cold caused its appearance. 20


" North China is the hidden realm of the heaven and

earth. Its people lived in high altitudesꎬ and they were used to nomadic life and milk food because of icy cold ̄ ness. They often suffered from diseases caused by dirti ̄ ness and coldꎬ with moxibustion becoming its appropri ̄

ate treatment. Thereforeꎬ moxibustion came from the northern China." The northern part of China may also

be the southern part of another country. The region is only a relative concept. It only shows that the appear ̄ ance of moxibustion is connected with coldness.

The origin of moxibustion is related to the instinct of

animals. It is the nature of animals to love warmness and

avoid coldnessꎬ like plants trending towards light. After the invention of fireꎬ when the ancients used fire to get warmed and roast foodꎬ some pains in the body were re ̄

lieved. Or in the process of using fireꎬ a part of the body is accidentally struck by a burning branchꎬ with the pain there alleviated or gone. This process was an accident at the beginningꎬ but laterꎬ people acquired health - care experience from the primitive instinctꎬ and

learned lessons from countless experience. As a resultꎬ people put hot branches or hot cobblestones heated by the sun on the uncomfortable parts of the body. These subconscious actions become consciousꎬ as the origin of

moxibustion. People experienced " hot moxibustion " ꎬ 21


regardless of nationalities and regionsꎬ which took hundreds and thousands of years.

According to Function of Organs in Lingshu (« 灵

枢􀅰官能» ) ꎬ " Fire can balance Yin and Yang." The origin of moxibustion can be traced with the origin of

fire. It is said that the real origin of moxibustion should be more than two thousand years ago. There was a re ̄

cord of " moxibustion with the patient's back to the fire" in Fifty - two Prescriptions of Mawangdui Silk Texts (« 马 王堆帛书􀅰五十二病方» ) ꎬ which is the earliest re ̄

cord of moxibustion that we can trace. Though it ' s a book of prescriptionꎬ it also records a variety of external

treatments such as moxibustionꎬ piercingꎬ ironing and smokingꎬ etc. From the perspective of the archaeological

eraꎬ this silk scroll might have been written in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Period of Warring Statesꎬ no later than the turn of the Qin and Han dynas ̄ ties.

Please don ' t care about the sequence of time and

spaceꎬ when moxibustion is depicted. The origin of moxibustion has something to do with the warm nature of

animalsꎬ just like plants being fond of growing towards the sun. The core structure of life in this world is at ̄

tuned to sunlight and warmth. Only toward the sun can sunflowers grow magnificentlyꎬ which is the revelation 22


from god through a plant to humans: The arranged structure of sunflower seeds on a sunflower plate is spi ̄

ral. From the structure of DNA that determines the form of lifeꎬ to the plants on which we liveꎬ like the rattan of the morning gloryꎬ the leaf of the plantainꎬ the shell of the snailꎬ the molecule of amino acidꎬ and the pinna of humansꎬ they all have the helical structure without ex ̄

ception. " A helix is the curve of lifeꎬ" said Kirkꎬ a British scientistꎬ after studying the relationship between

the helical shape and the phenomenon of life. It 's the result of the sunꎬ and the result of natural selection.

Since the structure of human life is windingꎬ there must

be a reason for it. Perhaps the curvature of DNA is the

same as the curvature of our path. The original road is always windingꎬ but we always want to take a shortcut.

The acupuncture and moxibustion may also originate

from divination. Speaking of divinationꎬ civilized people in modern times often snort at it as witchcraft. Yetꎬ his ̄

toricallyꎬ wizards and witches were once the most noble profession in human societyꎬ and now are the origin of

civilization and medicine. As recorded in the History volume of the Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion

Communication Volume ( 中 国 针 灸 交 流 通 鉴 􀅰 历 史 卷) ꎬ " The religious beliefs dominated the Shang Dy ̄

nasty (1600 B. C—1046 B. C) ꎬ so much that the 23


Shang kings required divination almost before every e ̄ vent. How did the Shang people carry out the divina ̄ tion? According to the oracle bone fortune - telling for ̄

mula restored by archeologists in modern timesꎬ one way of them was ' burning bones '. The fortune - teller twisted moxa or dried fire weeds into shapes like cylin ̄ ders or beansꎬ coned and placed them on the non - ver ̄

tebral surface of sheep ' scapula. Then they wound a rope of plaited plants around the bone several times and

ignited the moxa or fire weeds on the bone. Generallyꎬ he singed from the wide and thin end of the bone fan to the end of the bone socket line by line in turns until the bone was covered with singed marks on the surface.

Each bone could be singed for eight or ten times. The

diviner began to mutter to himselfꎬ blowing the fire from time to time for combustionꎬ and sometimesꎬ he had to touch the front of the bone with the fire for a while to make it slightly cracked. Hereꎬ mugwort and divination

might attribute to their dual effects of assisting burning

and eliminating evil spirits... In bone singeꎬ pellets

made by rubbing mugwort or fire weeds were put on the bone and ignited until the cracks appeared. Sometimesꎬ singeing was required at more places. In the endꎬ the wizards or witches observed the lines of cracks on the bone surface and told the good luck or the ill. To respect 24


its sacrednessꎬ they would bury or burn up the sheep bone used for divination" .

Thanks to the long period of interaction among the

functions of fireꎬ the properties of mugwortꎬ and the su ̄

perhuman strength of sacrificeꎬ the ancients came to find out that acupuncture and moxibustion applied to certain specific parts of the human body were more valu ̄ able than divination by bone singeing.

Moxibustion on One's Pulse

Moxibustion emerged from a large scale of bone

singeing and divinationꎬ and became a significant way for health - careꎬ which owes to the establishment of moxibustion points. The Yellow Emperor ' s Cannon of Medicine (« 黄帝内经» ) is hailed as one of the earli ̄ est medical encyclopedias in China. The earlier Fifty -

two Prescriptions of Mawangdui Tomb Silk Texts (« 马王 堆帛书􀅰五十二病方» ) ꎬ a Chinese Medicine litera ̄

tureꎬ recorded the earliest case of moxibustion. It says: mugwort leaves are wrapped to singe the Zhongdian (the top of the head) of a man to treat his scrotal enlarge ̄

ment and the middle toe of his left foot to treat urine dysfunction.

In ancient medical books unearthed from Mawangdui

( 马王堆) tombsꎬ there already existed the way of pulse 25


- taking in Traditional Chinese Medicine. According to

Principles of Pulse - Taking (« 脉法» ) ꎬ " The best way to treat diseases is to treat the first one that turns up. If there are more pulse troubles togetherꎬ treat the most

serious one." Around the Period of Warring States (475B. C - 221B. C) ꎬ the ancients had a better under ̄ standing of the blood vesselsꎬ especially the arteries.

They learned about the case by feeling the changes of

pulse beats of the four limbsꎬ especially the nearby wrists and anklesꎬ and practiced moxibustion on these " pulses" . " Moxibustion on the pulse" proposed in the Eleven Meridians of Foot and Hand for Acupuncture and Moxibustion (« 足臂十一脉灸经» ) is a landmark that

distinguishes the TCM moxibustion from the moxibustion

therapies in other civilizations and regionsꎬ setting a precedent for Chinese moxibustion. In additionꎬ ancient medical books unearthed from Mawangdui tombs provid ̄ ed some prescriptions about the materials for moxibus ̄ tionꎬ the locations for the practice and specific methods. This period saw the moxibustion in embryo.

Properties of Mugwort

According to Shuowen Jiezi ( Paraphrasing Texts

and Words) / « 说文解字» ꎬ Jiu ( 灸) means singe ̄ ing. In a broad senseꎬ all methods by means of stimula ̄ 26


tion with warmth and heat belong to moxibustion. But " Jiu (singeing) " mentioned here refers to methods of

prevention and treatment by singing specific parts of the human body with moxa made of mugwort. The creation

of Chinese characters embodies lots of reasonsꎬ like the relationship between 樂 (joy) and 藥 (medicine) in the

traditional Chinese characters. In terms of healthꎬ “ 樂 (joy) ” itself is a remedy. When 艹 (grass) is put on the top of “ 樂 ( joy) ” ꎬ “ 藥 (medicine) ” is made. So it is with “ 火 (fire) ” put on “ 久 (long) ” .

In the Period of Warring Statesꎬ moxibustion already

appearedꎬ which can be found in the description about moxibustion by Zhuangzi ( 庄子) and Mencius ( 孟子) .

This line " I'd like to say that I practice moxibustion on myself simply for health" recorded in Zhuangzi􀅰Robber Zhi ( 庄子􀅰盗跖) shows that it was the first time that

moxibustion was termed as a treatment. Mencius􀅰 Lilou

(« 孟子􀅰离娄» ) said: " Todayꎬ one who wants to be a king is like the one who asks for mugworts stored for 3

years after having been ill for 7 years" . It means it is too late for the person who wants to be a king to forge his weapon only after fighting.

The popularity of moxibustion is attributed to mug ̄

wort. According to The Discussion on Decoction and

Wine (« 素问􀅰汤液醪醴论» ) ꎬ " In ternal diseases 27


must be treated with poison and external diseases with stone - needle moxibustion " . Another name for “ 艾 (mugwort) ” is “ 灸 法 (moxibustion) ” . Numerous materials were available for acupuncture and moxibus ̄ tion in ancient timesꎬ including the stoneꎬ pineꎬ cy ̄ pressꎬ corianderꎬ trifoliate orangeꎬ tangerineꎬ elmꎬ ju ̄ jubeꎬ mulberryꎬ bambooꎬ etc.ꎬ but only mugwort is u ̄

nique. Why did the ancients only choose mugwort for moxibustion? According to The Second Part of The Book

of Changes (« 周易􀅰下经» ) ꎬ " Focus the sun's rays on mugwort with a glass marbleꎬ or a convex lensꎬ and it will start burningꎬ which is conducive to health. A ̄ mong multitudinous materialsꎬ mugwort is easy for burn ̄

ingꎬ fragrant in smellꎬ rich in resources and easy for processing and storingꎬ etc. What's moreꎬ its even and durable fire can permeate the skin for the focus of infec ̄

tion. All these merits make mugwort as a good material for moxibustion.

Moxibustion applied with mugwortꎬ a seemingly hu ̄

man choiceꎬ is God ' s creation. God prepares all the species of the Earthꎬ distinguishing their qualities. The quality of mugwort varies in different regions. Li Shizhen said in his masterpiece Compendium of Materia Medica " People in Tangyang call it north mugwort (of Hebei Province) ꎬ and people in Siming call it sea mugwort (of 28


Zhejiang Province) . Since Chenghua reign of the Ming dynasty (1465 - 1487) ꎬ mugwort planted in Qizhou has been of the highest quality. When people use mugwort as medicineꎬ they value the locality of the growthꎬ so it is hailed as Qi mugwort. Li Shizhen's favorable comment

on Qi mugwort may result from his father Li Yanwen who said: " Qi mugwort growing on sunny slopes and

gathered on the Dragon Boat Festival (May 5th of Lunar

Calendar) is remarkable for moxibustion" (cited from the History of Qi Mugwort) . On June 18ꎬ 2015ꎬ I traveled to Hunchun County (formerly known as Qi

County) for a health culture festival. What people there liked to talk most was how Li Shizhen sang high praise of Qi mugwort. An idea suddenly came to me: since Li

Shizhen and his father were both born in Qi Countyꎬ did they have some home bias in their praise? Laterꎬ I con ̄

sulted a pharmacologist who told me that they were not the first to give the praise. Different growing places of

medical herbs make differences in medicinal properties and pharmacodynamics.

The Texture of Mugwort

艾 (mugwort) and “ 爱 (love) ” are homophonicꎬ

so they seem to have the same meaning of love. That's why Qu Yuan said: My sweetie went to pick Ge (kudzu 29


vine) . One day apart from her seems like three months! My sweetie went to pick Hao (felon herb) . One day a ̄

part from it seems like three seasons! My sweetie went

to pick Ai (mugwort) . One day apart from it seems like three years! — cited from Books of Poetry 􀅰 Songs a ̄ round the Capital􀅰To Gather Vine.

Kudzu veins can be used for weaving cloth and felon

herbs for offering sacrifice. Only mugwortꎬ alternatively

named as Bingtai① (Glacial Table) ꎬ a medicinal herbꎬ fragrant mugwortꎬ moxibustion herb... can be used in all

respects of life. It enjoys great adoration of peopleꎬ like their dearest lover. That's why Qu Yuan sighed when the

girl went to pick mugwortꎬ " One day apart from her seems like three years!" . Why did the Chu people show

special preference for mugwort? Maybe it is due to their romantic natureꎬ or because Chu State was the original

place of Qi mugwortꎬ or mugwort is fragrant in scent and

virtuous in symbolꎬ often associated with vanilla. It ' s still unknown. In Sorrow after Departureꎬ Qu Yuan said: " How ignorant they areꎬ adorning themselves with

mugwort around their waistꎬ saying that it's bad to wear elegant orchid " . Obviouslyꎬ although Qu Yuan pre ̄ ferred orchid to mugwortꎬ people of the Chu State en ̄ ①

30

Bingtaiꎬ 冰台 in Chineseꎬ Glacial Table. Mugwort can be used to make fire by focusing on the sunlight with a convent lens made of ice.


joyed wearing mugwort around their waist.

In the pastꎬ people liked collecting and weaving

mugwort into an adult or a tiger called mugwort man or

mugwort tiger. They also made wreaths and accessoriesꎬ not only for its beauty and fragranceꎬ but effectiveness in counteracting miasma and evilspirits. So every woman loved to wear it. Zong Linꎬ a literate in the Liang of Southern Dynastiesꎬ wrote in his Festivals and Tradi ̄ tions of Chu Region: " May 5th is Orchid Bath Festival.

Local people walk on the dews of grass for fun and de ̄

toxification. Besidesꎬ they gather and make mugwort in the form of humansꎬ and then hang it on doors to elimi ̄

nate malaria" . Thereforeꎬ picking mugwort on May 5th

and hanging it on doors to dispel evils is a custom of the Dragon Boat Festival.

The ancients found long ago that mugwort had high

medicinal valueꎬ so it earns a good reputation as " a me ̄ dicinal herb" ꎬ applicable both externally and internally.

The Hasty Work by Shi You in the Western Han Dynasty

recorded: " Pinellia ternataꎬ Chinese honey locustꎬ mugwortꎬ and ligularia " . Yan Shigu said: " Mugwort has two alternative namesꎬ i. e. Glacial Table and me ̄

dicinal herb." In the Shennong ' s Classic of Materia

Medicaꎬ mugwort is termed as Baihao (Artemisia stelle ̄ riana) and listed as a top - grade medicinal herb. It is 31


sweet and mildꎬ with its major functions in treating pathogenic factors of the five zang - organs and wind - cold - dampness arthralgiaꎬ helping to regulating spleen

and stomach and Qiꎬ to grow and blacken hairsꎬ and to alleviate the symptoms of eating less and often feeling hungry. Taking it for a long timeꎬ people will feel re ̄

lieved and energeticꎬ having better sight and hearing with longer life.

Mugwort and fireꎬ mugwort and medicineꎬ and mug ̄

wort and loveꎬ are entwined into a texture of mugwortꎬ depicted as " A mugwort flag held in hand attracts hundreds of blessingsꎬ a calamus sword hung at the gate kills thousands of evils" . The Dragon Boat Festival on

the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar has different customs in different regions for the memory of

Qu Yuan①ꎬ Wu Zixu② or Cao E③ꎻ it is celebrated in different waysꎬ such as eating Zongzi (traditional Chi ̄ ①

Qu Yuan was a patriotic poet who couldn't bear that his motherland was

Wu Zixu (559B. C-484B. C) was a militarist and strategist of the Wu

invadedꎬ jumped into Miluo River and committed suicide on May 5th.

State. He cut his own throat on May 5th after his wise advice was rejec ̄

ted by his king. According to legendsꎬ due to his loyalty and integrityꎬ ③

he became Water God after death.

Cao E was a 14-year-old girl in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) ꎬ famous for her filial piety to his father who died accidentally in a river.

Cao E was drowned to death on May 5th by jumping into the river and taking her father's dead body out.

32


nese rice - pudding) ꎬ wearing Douniang (a headwear) ꎬ playing Zhongkui (a folk dance for dispelling evils) ꎬ racing dragon boats and greeting ghost boats (paper or straw boats burned for blessings) ꎬ or wearing perfume satchels to dispel five poisonous creatures (scorpionꎬ vi ̄ perꎬ centipedeꎬ house lizard and toad) ꎬ gathering me ̄

dicinal herbsꎬ hanging mugwortꎬ and drinking calamus wine. In briefꎬ traditionallyꎬ the Dragon Boat Festival

has been a festival of folk customs for good healthꎬ for

sportsꎬ for all epidemic preventionꎬ disease removalꎬ and fitness of multiple ethnics. Todayꎬ people sort out

the significance of mugwort from its texture. Culturally or medicinallyꎬ what is finally left behind will be nice stories spread far and wide.

Hippocrates's Moxibustion

Human medicine has a common beginningꎬ i. e. the

heat moxibustion.

Pyretic Moxibustion

We always like to say that we have a long history

and moxibustion should have a history of about 2500

years. If we trace it back to about one thousand years agoꎬ moxibustion was not exclusive to China. As a mat ̄ 33


ter of factꎬ medicines emerge similarly. Wherever large rivers flowꎬ like veins in the human bodyꎬ life and wis ̄

dom are nourished. About 3ꎬ 600 years agoꎬ burningꎬ hot - ironingꎬ massageꎬ meditationꎬ bloodlettingꎬ herbal medicine and cuppingꎬ etc.ꎬ appeared simultaneously along the Nileꎬ Tigrisꎬ Indusꎬ and Amazon basinsꎬ let

alone the Yellow River in China. We collectively call them " pyretic moxibustion" ꎬ like burningꎬ hot - ironing

and other methods in the early health - care civilizationsꎬ similar to the Chinese moxibustion.

In the swampy area of the lower Nile grows a plantꎬ

from which paper was made easily for writingꎬ known as " papyrus" . The papyrus writings preserve many medical

literature of early days of human beings. Among themꎬ the Ebers Papyrus Writing and Smith Papyrus Writing found in Thebes sepulchers in 1862 recorded the medi ̄

cal conditions in Egypt before the 16th century B. C.ꎬ involving dozens of diseases and their symptoms such as diarrheaꎬ lung diseaseꎬ dysenteryꎬ ascitesꎬ pharyngitis and eye - diseaseꎬ as well as descriptions about anato ̄ myꎬ prescriptions and spells. Among themꎬ some re ̄ cords of pyretic moxibustion were also included. For ex ̄ ampleꎬ hemem and dja are therapies similar to hot mox ̄

ibustion. Some experts believe that hemem may be a metal tool for moxibustionꎬ and dja a wooden moxibus ̄ 34


tion tool.

In addition to Egyptꎬ medical practices similar to

Chinese moxibustion occurred in other early civiliza ̄ tionsꎬ such as Persiaꎬ ancient Indiaꎬ Syriaꎬ and Libya.

They used flaxꎬ artemisia velveteenꎬ soapwort and other materials to make cone - shaped or stick - shaped moxaꎬ which may be called moxa - cone moxibustion and moxa - stick moxibustion respectively. In ancient Indiaꎬ met ̄ als like copperꎬ silverꎬ goat dungꎬ long pepperꎬ bran ̄

chesꎬ and wooden sticks all used to be materials for moxibustion. In Libyaꎬ a clay - cake placed on the hu ̄ man body and heated with a red - hot iron was a standard model for clay - cake - pad moxibustionꎬ but compared

with ginger - pad moxibustionꎬ its medicinal power is presumably reduced.

Heat is a common need of mankindꎬ around which various health - care approaches have been created. In the Persian Empireꎬ the Roman Empireꎬ Europeꎬ and

South Americaꎬ people applied heated materials such as saltꎬ greaseꎬ honeyꎬ doughꎬ mud balls and stones to their bodies. It was a collective medical care. At that

timeꎬ the lack of communication tools made it rare for intercontinental exchangesꎬ hence creating an age of spontaneous health - care civilization. Hot spring bath

and sauna are the evolution of " heat" civilizationꎬ a 35


perfect combination between health - care and leisure.

Heat embraces the whole body of a personꎬ as if it em ̄ braces his / her whole life.

The Reach of Moxibustion

The 10th Year of King Chenggong in Zuo Zhuan (« 左传􀅰成公十年» ) records ten fatal diseases. In 581 B. C (the tenth year of King Chenggong of Lu State ) ꎬ King Jinggong of Jin State became seriously ill. King Huangong of the Qin State dispatched Huanꎬ a famous doctorꎬ to offer him medical service. Huan came to the Jin State to see King Huanggong. He took his pulse and sighed while shaking his head: " The disease is beyond cure. It is above the diaphragm and below the heart - tip fat. Moxibustion cannot be appliedꎬ needles cannot reach itꎬ nor does medicine. Where medicine can ' t reachꎬ it is totally incurable" . In Huan's viewꎬ diseases that are not applicable for moxibustion are incurable. Coincidentallyꎬ in the Westꎬ Hippocratesꎬ the fa ̄ ther of Western Medicineꎬ had similar remarks. He said: " The diseases which cannot be cured with medi ̄ cine can be cured with knives. If knives failꎬ fire may workꎻ if fire fails tooꎬ we can conclude that it is incura ̄ ble." What Hippocrates said above surely has his impli ̄ cation on fire. Medical experts in ancient Greek were 36


used to adopting heat therapies to stop bleeding or im ̄

prove traumatic conditions. As recorded in The Corpus Hippocraticum: when the humerus is dislocated down ̄ wardsꎬ pinch the skin of the armpit to make the disloca ̄ ted humeral arm straightꎬ and then use a thin and slen ̄

der iron to apply heat moxibustion from the pinched skin

to its offside􀆺Ancient Greek doctors had a method for treating sciaticaꎬ which is similar to the suspended mox ̄

ibustion in TCM. In practiceꎬ heat a piece of iron to an appropriate temperature and put it above the thighs and

shanks where the pain occursꎬ keeping some distance

between the iron and skin to make the skin flush. In The Hippocrates Corpusꎬ there is a treatment that cotton wool

can be rolled like cigarꎬ then burned and applied on or above the skinꎬ which looks more like a reproduction of stick - moxa moxibustion. Superficiallyꎬ only cotton wool and moxa are different.

By no means did Li Ting (a doctor in the Ming Dy ̄

nasty) exchange ideas with Hippocratesꎬ but they shared opinions about fire. Li Ting said in his An Intro ̄

duction to Medicineꎬ " When diseases are beyond the reach of medicine and needlesꎬ moxibustion is needed."

His word reminds me of a diagnosis and treatment case.

On February 24ꎬ 2011ꎬ I received a diabetic patient

with severe constipation and insomnia. His blood sugar 37


was extremely unstableꎬ and the daily insulin consump ̄ tion was 28 units (U) . This patient was somehow spe ̄

cial. For one thingꎬ He was suspicious of traditional Chinese Medicineꎻ for anotherꎬ he was rich and knowl ̄ edgeableꎬ being constantly inquisitive and argumenta ̄

tive about the treatment. I joked with him: " You have

never trusted the traditional Chinese Medicine. Surelyꎬ you must have read Hippocrates ' writings or An Intro ̄

duction to Medicineꎬ which makes you understand that

diseases that cannot be cured with medicine can be cured with fire." Coincidentallyꎬ this patient happened to have syndromes of spleen and kidney Yang deficien ̄ cy. Laterꎬ I applied moxibustion with focus on the acu ̄

points of Danzhongꎬ Zhongwanꎬ Shenqueꎬ Guanyuanꎬ Shenshuꎬ and Mingmenꎬ simultaneously with some Chi ̄

nese Medicine as supplementary treatment. Two months laterꎬ he was refreshedꎬ with his constipation and in ̄

somnia disappearing and insulin consumption reduced to

6 units per day. This is not a single case but a clinical

phenomenon. In some casesꎬ moxibustion has amazing effects.

Hippo and Qibo

If Hippo (Hippocrates) is honored as the Father of

the Western Medicineꎬ then Qibo is the Father of the 38


traditional Chinese Medicine. Before the Renaissanceꎬ there were many similar views and methods between the Orient and the West. For exampleꎬ Hippocrates regar ̄

ded the disease as a developing phenomenonꎬ thinking

that what a doctor should treat was not only the diseases but also the personꎬ which is completely consistent with what Qibo said: " Medicine is a profession of benevo ̄

lence" . To change the medicine based on the concept of

witchcraft in early Western Medicineꎬ Hippocrates pro ̄ posed the " Four - Humor Theory " (bloodꎬ phlegmꎬ black bileꎬ and yellow bile) ꎬ while Qibo put forward " Qiꎬ Blood and Fluid Theory" for the same purpose. In additionꎬ Hippocrates advocated " Pin hope on nature"

while Qibo held that man came to life through the Qi of

heaven and earth and he matured in accordance with the laws of four seasonsꎻ Qi from heaven combined with Qi

from the earth generated humans. Hippocrates said " The diseases which cannot be cured with medicine can be cured with knivesꎻ if knives failꎬ fire may workꎻ if fire fails tooꎬ we can conclude that it is incurable." Qi ̄ bo also said: " If acupuncture doesn 't workꎬ moxibus ̄

tion is worth practicing." Hippocratic Oath in the West shares the same spirit with On the Absolute Sincerity of

39


Great Physicians① in the Orient. " Medical experts can ̄

not accomplish their duties only by themselves. Without the cooperation of patients and othersꎬ nothing can be a ̄

chieved" . All ideas mentioned above exist both in the Corpus Hippocraticum and the Chinese herbal medical science. Qibo emphasized holism and the integration of

the mind and the bodyꎬ and all tacit agreements can be found in Hippocrates. Looking back at historyꎬ we find that " patients" at that time were more important than " diseases" .

Perhaps since Hippocratesꎬ the Father of Western

Medicineꎬ and Qiboꎬ the Father of Traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ were almost contemporary with similarity in thoughtsꎬ an unproven association has been made that

Hippos and Qibo were the same person (from Unschuld PU. Chinese Medicine. Massachusetts: Paradigm Publi ̄

cationsꎬ 1998) . This is merely a hypothesis. Howeverꎬ Hipposꎬ the nickname of Hippocratesꎬ may be translit ̄ erated as Qibo according to its pronunciation.

No matter how similar Hippos and Qibo areꎬ heat

« Da Yi Jing Cheng or On the Absolute Sincerity of Great Physicians) : This article is from the Valuable Prescriptions for Emergency authored by Sun Simiao of the Tang Dynasty. It is an important document on medical ethics in classics of Chinese Medicine and a must for the read ̄ ing of people with medical profession.

40


moxibustion in the West has not grown as being popular as moxibustion. About the reasonꎬ people joke that mugwort mostly grows in Northeast Asia and Northeast Chinaꎬ North Chinaꎬ East Chinaꎬ South Chinaꎬ South ̄

west and Northwest. If it is trueꎬ and if we fail to top the potential of this " magic herb" to the fullestꎬ we will re ̄

ally feel sorry for the gift of heaven. Whether or not the land of Egyptꎬ the Mediterraneanꎬ Europe and America is suitable for the growth of mugwort has yet to be veri ̄

fied by botanists. Moxibustion in China remains unique and alive to dateꎬ not only because it is a simple exter ̄

nal treatmentꎬ more importantlyꎬ it is a theory and a life - style. Heat moxibustion of the West had a short life because Western Medicine chose another pathꎬ a path of experimental medicine represented by Visari and oth ̄ er scientists in the 16th century.

The World Trip for Moxibustion More than 2ꎬ 000 years agoꎬ Bian Que's (a famous

doctor in ancient China) curing of the Prince of the Guo State for his cadaverous syncope left endless imagination

for the world. Since thenꎬ acupuncture and moxibustion have been associated with " marvel" .

41


Historical Track

For over 3000 yearsꎬ acupuncture and moxibustion

have obvious uncertainty on geographical dispute over its origin. In factꎬ we don't need to show off our long historyꎬ since short history can also make something brilliant. What's moreꎬ only dating from the Ma Wang

Dui Tomb Silk Textsꎬ acupuncture and moxibustion are good enough to make Chinese people proud.

To be distinguished from the acupuncture / moxibus ̄ tion - like phenomena that appeared in the early civiliza ̄ tion of the worldꎬ the concept of acupuncture and moxi ̄

bustion we are talking about here is a medical science based on Chinese culture and practiced under the guid ̄

ance of theories of traditional Chinese Medicine. More than 2ꎬ 000 years agoꎬ Bian Que's (a famous doctor in

ancient China) curing of the Prince of the Guo State for his cadaverous syncopeꎬ left endless imagination for the world. Since thenꎬ acupuncture and moxibustion have been associated with " marvel" .

The past two thousand years has seen acupuncture

and moxibustion spread throughout the world in the fol ̄ lowing five stages.

In Asia: Around the 6th Century

In Europe: From the 1870s to the 1830s

Recession and Quietude: About 100 years after the 42


1830s

Recovery in Europe: In the 1930s

The craze of acupuncture and moxibustion in North

America: In the 1970s

Historical literature tells usꎬ around the 6th century

A. Dꎬ acupuncture and moxibustion were spread as ad ̄

vanced medical treatment to the neighboring countries and regions around China. The Korean Peninsula is ad ̄ jacent to China and Japanꎬ so the historical stories hap ̄

pening in Korea are often closely linked with China and Japan. Fan Xingzhun in his An Epitome of History of Chinese Medicine says that in August 586ꎬ Japan inva ̄

ded Koguryo Dynasty and captured Zhi Cong of the Wu Stateꎬ who was taken to Japan together with 164 medical

volumesꎬ including the Acupuncture and Moxibustion Chart. It can be seen that acupuncture and moxibustion

were introduced to Japan in 586 A. D. At least before thatꎬ acupuncture and moxibustion had existed in North

Korea. From the first century to the 7th century A. Dꎬ there had been three kingdoms of tripartite confrontation in the history of Korea (Goguryeoꎬ Baekje and Silla) .

This period witnessed the techniques of acupuncture and

moxibustion passed on verballyꎬ thriving and getting popular in the Korea Peninsulaꎬ thanks to the increased exchanges and introduction of books of acupuncture and 43


moxibustion. It is recorded thatꎬ in the twenty - three years of Emperor Kimmei of Japan (562 A. D) ꎬ Zhi

Congꎬ naturalized to Japanꎬ contributing more than 160 medical books including the Acupuncture and Moxibus ̄

tion Chart. In the fifteenth year of Emperor Suiko (607A. D) ꎬ when Prince Shotoku sent Onono Imoko to the Sui Dynastyꎬ the exchange between China and Japan

officially started. In the following yearꎬ Onono Imoko came back to the Sui Dynasty againꎬ accompanied by Yamanahukuin and another Japanese who went to study medicine there. In 618ꎬ the Sui Dynasty perished and the Tang Dynasty was establishedꎬ but medical exchan ̄ ges between China and Japan were furthered.

Yellow Emperor's Canon of Medicineꎬ Pulse Classic

and other classics of traditional Chinese Medicine were brought to Vietnam during the Sui and Tang dynasties.

Howeverꎬ the medical practice of acupuncture and mox ̄

ibustion was introduced earlier to Vietnam and Indone ̄ sia. In the period of the Three Kingdoms (220 - 280) ꎬ when he served as a prefectural governor in Vietnamꎬ Shi Xie suddenly suffered from syncope with convulsion.

Fortunatelyꎬ Dong Fengꎬ a famous medical doctor trave ̄

ling in the same area cured him. As it was recorded in the Biography of Emperor Shun in the History of the Lat ̄ er Han Dynastyꎬ in 131 A. Dꎬ yva - dvīpa Yeꎬ (now Ja ̄ 44


va or Sumatraꎬ Indonesia) dispatched envoys to pay tributeꎬ marking the beginning of China - India exchan ̄ ges in medicine and other fields.

Acupuncture and moxibustion were brought to Eu ̄

rope during the Age of Exploration. The Netherlandsꎬ rising in the early 17th centuryꎬ defeated Spain and be ̄ came the new maritime overlord. In 1602ꎬ the Nether ̄

lands established Dutch East India Companyꎬ to which

state functions were grantedꎬ responsible for colonizing the Orient. In nearly two hundred years until 1799ꎬ the Dutch East India Company dispatched a total of 1ꎬ 772 ships overseasꎬ and about 1 million Europeans took

4789 voyages to Asia for trade and cultural exchangesꎬ including medicine. During this periodꎬ Chinese moxi ̄ bustion was introduced to the Netherlands from Indone ̄

sia (1675) and acupuncture from Japan (1683) ꎬ thus making the Netherlands once a center of acupuncture and moxibustion in Europe.

In the early 19th centuryꎬ due to the rise of modern

medicineꎬ acupuncture and moxibustion went through a

standstill for about 100 years in Europe. In the 1930sꎬ they began to recover in France. The reason why acu ̄

puncture and moxibustion revitalized in France lies in the foundation of Sino - French cultural exchange laid by the early French Jesuit missionaries. In order to learn a ̄ 45


bout Chinaꎬ King Louis XIV of the Bourbon Dynasty dispatched some Jesuit missionaries full of learning to China for exchanges. These missionaries were proficient

in scientific knowledge such as mathematicsꎬ astronomy and geographyꎬ etc. They provided the French Court

and society with a wealth of information about China's

historyꎬ geographyꎬ politics and culture in their booksꎬ letters and reports. In 1722 onlyꎬ 4000 kinds of Chinese

ancient codes and records like The Four Books and The Five Classics were transported to France by Jesuit mis ̄ sionariesꎬ which laid the foundation for France to be ̄ come a center of sinology and acupuncture center of Eu ̄

rope. In the first half of the 20th centuryꎬ the popularity of acupuncture and moxibustion in France had a lot to

do with two legendary Frenchmen. One was George Sou ̄ lie De Morant (1878 - 1955) who came to China in his early years and later became a famous acupuncturistꎬ o ̄

riginally a diplomat. In 1939ꎬ Soulie published Chinese Acupuncture (L ' Acupuncture Chinoise) in France. This book enabled many Europeans to have a systematic un ̄

derstanding of acupuncture for the first timeꎬ and as a resultꎬ his fame spread to China. In 1953ꎬ George Ha ̄

temꎬ an adviser of the Ministry of Public Health of Chi ̄ naꎬ a Lebanon - American doctorꎬ specially presented Soulie the New Acupuncture and Moxibustion authored 46


by Zhu Lianꎬ director of the Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion.

The New Acupuncture and Moxibustion authored by

Zhu Lian was presented to Soulie by Ma Hai Teh

(George Hatem) with inscriptionꎬ which goes: " To

George Soulie de Morant: In token of a great esteem for

one who has greatly developed and spread acupunctureꎬ alleviating numerous diseases of humans." This book was purchased at a Paris auction in April 2011ꎬ by pro ̄

fessor He Tingꎬ the curator of the Museum of Westward

Transmission of Chinese Medicine at Yunnan University of Traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ where it is kept.

Another acupuncture disseminator was De La Fuye

who

sought

advice

from

Soulie

and

created

" homoeosiniatry" by combining European homeopathy with acupuncture. He founded the French Central Col ̄

lege of Acupuncture in 1943ꎬ which initiated education

of acupuncture in Europe. His prestige facilitated the establishment of the French Association of Acupuncture and the International Acupuncture Association in 1946.

He served as the head of these two associations and the central college until his death in 1961. As it often hap ̄

pensꎬ the rise and fall of history are closely linked with the fate of individuals. In the age of De La Fuyeꎬ Euro ̄

peans came to France to study acupunctureꎬ earning 47


Francea prestigious reputation of European acupuncture center. Neverthelessꎬ his death shifted the center east ̄ ward to Austria.

The termination to the Second World War saw a

rather stable international situation with rapid economic growth and a soaring demand for medical care all around the world. Howeverꎬ the increasing burden of medical

insurance and the defects of chemical drugs with toxicity and side - effects stimulated people to try new medical methods. It was acupuncture that satisfied the public timely with its efficacy. The early 1970s witnessed a thaw in Sino - U. S. relation. Acupunctureꎬ as a multi ̄ ple carrier of politicsꎬ medicine and cultureꎬ played an exceptional role in the ice - breaking diplomacy between

China and the United States. On July 26ꎬ 1971ꎬ James Restonꎬ a senior American journalistꎬ published the ar ̄

ticle " Nowꎬ about My Operation in Peking" ① with the large and striking headline on the front - page of the New York Times. The article symbolically sparked the fourth

flame of passion for acupuncture worldwide. Unlike the ①

Reston underwent a surgery in China because of acute appendicitis. He

felt considerable distending pain on abdomen after operation. Luckilyꎬ acupuncture alleviated his suffering and the symptoms stopped recur.

He then wrote down in detail his experience of operation and acupunc ̄ ture treatment.

48


pastꎬ this timeꎬ acupuncture went global in terms of the scale and content. Statistics released by the World Fed ̄ eration of Acupuncture - Moxibustion Societies in 2015 showed that acupuncture had spread to 183 countries a ̄

round the world. Acupuncture today is not only a unique medical scienceꎬ but also an important symbol of cross - cultural communication between China and the rest of world.

The spread of acupuncture has been accompanied all

the way by cultural collision and fusion between the Ori ̄

ent and the West. Its vicissitudes have become home for lots of amazing legends and anecdotes. In the next sec ̄ tionꎬ we will focus on the story of moxibustion.

The Redemption of Priests

The world tour of Chinese moxibustion is full of leg ̄

endary glamour. The story of a priest remains fresh in my memoryꎬ a priest who intended to save our souls on ̄ lyꎬ butꎬ actually saved our bodies as well.

During the Dutch colonial period in Indonesiaꎬ Her ̄ man Baskov (1620 - 1674) ꎬ a Dutch priest arrived in Ja ̄ kartaꎬ the Indonesian capitalꎬ on an East India Compa ̄

ny flight. Jakarta means " Fortress of Victory and Glo ̄ ry" . It was quite prosperous in the 17th centuryꎬ well -

equipped by Dutchmen with the town hallꎬ churchesꎬ 49


hospitalsꎬ pharmaciesꎬ courtꎬ and relief housesꎬ etc.ꎬ becoming a center of the Far East colony for a period of time.

The price that prosperity had to pay was the disease

of civilization like gout. Gout became prevalent in the upper European society in the 17th century. Baskov also

suffered from this disease and the pain in his toe joints was severe and unbearable. His wife advised him to be treated by an Indian female doctorꎬ but Baskov did not

trust her. Laterꎬ his wife told him how the Indian female doctor cured the dyspnea of their only daughterꎬ and

she was invited to Baskov ' s home. When the female doctor told Baskov a fire treatment to be adoptedꎬ he began to hesitate againꎬ but the insufferable pain finally drove him to give it a try. Laterꎬ Baskov wrote down the treatment procedures and his own feeling. " The female doctor asked us to light a candle. She carefully exam ̄

ined my toesꎬ and burned moxa on my feet and knee

jointsꎬ probably leaving behind twenty small scarsꎬ which looked like small dark gray spots. No blister ap ̄

pearedꎬ nor did any pain. After thatꎬ my toes had no more pain."

Baskov was surprised by the unexpected results. He

was a priest and knew little about medicine. Howeverꎬ he believed that it was owing to almighty Godꎬ whoꎬ 50


with the " miracle" testimonyꎬ inspired him to believe

that moxibustion could benefit more people. Thereforeꎬ he put himself out of the way and ventured a new field

to collect and organize information about moxibustionꎬ having eventually published On Gout in Amsterdam in

1675. Only one year laterꎬ On Gout was translated into English and published in London. The book became the first " Road Book" of the moxibustion on its journey to Europe.

Tips: As the best interpretation goesꎬ gout is a met ̄

abolic disease caused by increased concentration of uric

acid in blood and obstruction of excretion. In factꎬ this is just an explanationꎬ and the real mechanism remains to be known yet. Howeverꎬ there are three points worth noticing. Firstꎬ many celebrities had the diseaseꎬ inclu ̄

ding Alexander the Greatꎬ Orensteinꎬ William Harveyꎬ Leibnizꎬ Newtonꎬ Martin Lutherꎬ and Goethe. Secondꎬ gout was prevailing in Europe in the 17th century.

Thomas Sydenhamꎬ a British doctorꎬ made the first ac ̄

curate description of the disease after the 1750s. Thirdꎬ since it is a disease among rich peopleꎬ gout was a pop ̄

ular literary subject in the 17th centuryꎬ which seems to be accompanied by excessive eleganceꎬ or a crapulent lifestyle of rich food.

James Reston told Americans for the first time his 51


story that his abdominal gas pain caused by appendicitis

operation was cured by acupuncture therapy. Likewiseꎬ Baskov described his magical experience about how his gout was cured by moxibustion in his book in 1676ꎬ a ̄

long with another three cases of recovery with the same treatment. He also tried to explain the pathogenesis of gout with Galenus' medical thoughts and six climatic ex ̄

opathogens in traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ as well as the mechanism of moxibustion to cure gout. Thusꎬ he bravely challenged European medical authorities with this conclusion: Gout was curable.

The Moxa Craze in Europe

Baskov in his book coined a word " moxa" for moxi ̄

bustion. " Moxa" is a transliteration of " mogusa / も 广 さ" in Japaneseꎬ referring to burning herbs. This is how moxibustion got its current name in English. The emer ̄

gence of " moxa" marked that moxibustion did really come into the view of Westerners.

Baskov contributed to the Netherlands more than On

Gout. In order to convince people of the curative effect of moxibustionꎬ he posted old moxa and an advertise ̄ ment to his son working at a school of Utrecht. The ad ̄

vertisement read: John Baskovꎬ a lawyer and director of

the Utrecht Latin Schoolꎬ can provide readers who are 52


interested in this new therapy with moxa and guidance for experience.

The relation between social connections among peo ̄

ple and dissemination is always so close. After the pub ̄

lication of Baskov's bookꎬ his brother sent one copy to

Constantine Huygensꎬ a famous Dutch poetꎬ composer and diplomatꎬ who used to be secretary to Prince Or ̄

ange. Obviouslyꎬ Huygens understood the book he gotꎬ and soon he found a good chance to use it. At that timeꎬ William Templeꎬ the British ambassador to the Nether ̄ landsꎬ was a man of powerꎬ controlling policy - making between Britain and the Netherlandsꎬ and taking charge of the marriage connection of Prince William of Orange and Princess Mary of Britain. In 1676ꎬ when he was a ̄

bout to leave for a city in the east of the Netherlands for

peace talks with Franceꎬ he suffered from gout attackꎬ his feet were extremely swollen and unmovable with un ̄

bearable pain. At that timeꎬ Huygens recommended him moxibustion therapy. They were both eminent celebrities of the upper class and Temple believed what the com ̄

poser and diplomat said. Huygens immediately sent a doctor to buy moxa from Baskov ' s son. Based on the method in the bookꎬ the doctor put a bit of moxa wool

on Temple's feet and ignited it with a match. With three moxa cones burnt outꎬ the pain was relieved. The blis ̄ 53


ters treated were just wrapped up and the swelling and pain both disappeared two weeks later.

Temple's gout incident kindled Huygens' enthusiasm

for promoting moxibustion. On February 20ꎬ 1676ꎬ in

his letter to a priestꎬ Huygens mentioned the " new method for treating gout from East India" ꎬ together with several successful cases of treatment. Huygens also rec ̄

ommended the treatment to his other friends who were suffering from goutꎬ and shared the method of moxibus ̄

tion with a maid who was having toothache. Tested by the maidꎬ moxibustion was also effective for toothache.

Huygens took full advantage of the celebrity effect in

popularizing moxibustion. At Huygens' requestꎬ on June

18ꎬ 1677ꎬ Temple wrote an essay with unusual medical experienceꎬ which was later included in his prose col ̄

lection entitled Miscellanies published in London in

1680. The Miscellanies was translated into French and Dutch in 1693 and 1694 respectivelyꎬ having acceler ̄

ated the popularity of moxibustion in the Netherlands and its surrounding countries. Thanks to his prominent

status and extensive social networkꎬ Temple intrigued

widespread interest with his recovery and his healing story was on everyone's lips for a period of time.

If people who promoted moxibustion were outsiders

as mentioned aboveꎬ Stephen Brackett must be a profes ̄ 54


sional. Stephen Brackettꎬ a well - known Dutch doctorꎬ gave a specific introduction to moxibustion in a Dutch medical journal first chiefly edited by him in 1683. Dr.

Brackett cited a bunch of cases treated or cured by mox ̄ ibustionꎬ such as the application of 3 to 4 pill - sized

moxa cones on the temples to treat toothacheꎬ and the treatment of wrist injuries. In 1690ꎬ his introduction to moxibustion was translated into German and published in Leipzigꎬ Germany.

The popularity of moxibustion in Europe this time

was attributed to multiple factorsꎬ including accidentsꎬ celebrity effectsꎬ the curative value of moxibustionꎬ and

of courseꎬ commercial promotion. At that timeꎬ people kept talking passionately about how moxibustion cured

goutꎬ and meanwhileꎬ moxa business run by Baskov 's son was growing prosperously. In 1676ꎬ when Baskov's On Gout was translated into English and published in

Londonꎬ booksellers were also buying and selling moxaꎬ so readers knew where to buy the book and where to get moxa. The booksellers gave away the new directions of moxa application for free. Such marketing strategy favor ̄

ably promoted the dissemination of moxibustion in a strange culture and region.

Eight years after the moxibustion came into the

Netherlandsꎬ acupunctureꎬ another more unique treat ̄ 55


ment from the Orientꎬ was also brought to the Nether ̄

lands. This timeꎬ the disseminator was not a priestꎬ but Willem Tan Renee (1647 - 1700) ꎬ a professional doctor who graduated from Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) . The story of " Needles" will be detailed in another book.

56


Chapter 2 Magic Acupoints

The magic of an acupuncture point may come from

cultural evolution or people 's yearning for magic often derived from the most primitive experience.

Baihui Point If the history of a human life is considered as a his ̄

tory of the decline of Yang Qiꎬ then making good use of Baihui will be a history of anti - aging to boost Qi and Yang.

Cultural Genes of Miraculous Acupuncture

Baihui lies where the straight line between the high ̄

est point of the left ear and the right intersect on the middle line of the top of the head. Once spotting itꎬ you will find a way to prevent or cure hundreds of diseases.

The magic of an acupuncture point may come from

cultural evolution or people 's yearning for magic often 57


derived from the most primitive experience. In the era

before acupuncture points were identifiedꎬ when humans lived a life as savagesꎬ a person with a headache ran in the jungleꎬ not for relieving his headache but for cha ̄ sing the fleeing prey. All of a suddenꎬ a tree - branch

fell and happened to hit the top of his head (Baihui) ꎬ with his headache disappearing instantly. After thatꎬ the

relevance between the top of the head and headache was planted in the mind of ancestors. Similar experiences may have occurred many times. Laterꎬ people became accustomed to pressing that point initially when they had a headacheꎬ thus leading to the emergence of the con ̄ cept of acupuncture points. At lastꎬ the A - B Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion gave the point a name of Baihui. This is a typical story about the origin of a clas ̄ sic acupoint.

As recorded in A New Account of the Great Tang Dy ̄

nasty: in his later yearsꎬ Emperor Gaozong of the Tang

dynasty suffered from frequent headacheꎬ so severe that he couldn't see anything. He summoned Qin Mingheꎬ a well - known doctor for diagnosis. Qin Minghe said to him: " The headache is caused by wind pathogen attac ̄

king upward. If a little blood is let out from your headꎬ you will recover." At thisꎬ Empress Wu Zetian was in ̄

furiated: " You deserve to be beheaded! Is the head of 58


the Emperor a place for you to try the bleeding?" How ̄

everꎬ Emperor Gao Zong couldn't stand the pain and his

wife' s arbitrariness any moreꎬ and shouted aloud: " I have made up my mind." Doctor Qin took a needle and pricked the Baidu and the Naohu on his head. Bleed ̄ ing! the Emperor said: " I have seen it."

Acupuncturing on Baihui ( 百会) is not merely ef ̄

fective on treating headache and eye diseases. A myth

more legendary happened 2000 years ago. One dayꎬ when Bian Que ( 扁鹊) ꎬ a famous doctorꎬ passed by the Guo Stateꎬ the Prince was in a deep swoonꎬ and a large - scale prayer activity was going on throughout the country. Having asked the Prince ' s attendants about

what had happenedꎬ Bian Que pierced the Prince ' s Baihui ( 百会) with a needle and " brought the Prince back to life" . This was the earliest case of acupuncture with written recordsꎬ and also a widely circulated acu ̄

puncture story. It has left an endless imagination on the role of acupuncture for later generationsꎬ having become a cultural gene of magic acupuncture.

Can acupuncture really " make the dead come back

to life" ? According to current medical knowledgeꎬ it is obviously impossible. Only when cadaverous syncope is mistaken as death can " The dead" be brought back to

life by pricking. Even if it cannot resurrect the deadꎬ 59


Baihui ( 百 会) is still an effective point with special functions.

What has been Converged in Baihui Point?

Sun Simiao said in A Supplement to Recipes Worth A

Thousand Taels of Goldꎬ " Every acupoint has a pro ̄

found meaning in its name." According to Baihui ' s

nameꎬ there must be many things gatheredꎬ " Spirit" ꎬ for instance. Thereforeꎬ when consciousness is lostꎬ Baihui is helpful for its resuscitationꎻ when one is out of his mindꎬ Baihui can tranquilize and sedate the mind.

For those who practice martial artꎬ in a calm moodꎬ Baihui is a place for concentrationꎬ collecting all yearn ̄ ingsꎬ like Alkaidꎬ the last star in the Big Dipperꎬ at ̄

tracting essenceꎬ Qi and spirit for people. Howeverꎬ people rarely look up at the stars in the sky now and

most of them have their spirit at lost. Howeverꎬ one study showed that over half of 300 patients with the symptoms of the depression and anxiety disorder were relieved by suspended moxibustion on Baihui. Adopting suspended moxibustion on Baihui only after anxiety at ̄ tacks is similar to forging weapons only after fighting be ̄

gins. Baihui is always thereꎬ so saving against a rainy day is wiser.

Among 12 meridians in the human bodyꎬ the Yin

60


Meridians cannot reach the headꎬ but only the Jueyin

Liver Meridian of Foot ( Liver Meridian) reaches Baihuiꎬ where the liver " Qi" and the " spirit" gather.

According to The Inner Canon of Yellow Emperorꎬ " Wind syndrome manifested typically by convulsion and dizziness is closely related to liver." From the view - point of acupoints in this wordꎬ some diseases caused by wind pathogens and vertigo are treatable with Baihui.

The principle accounts for the widespread moxibustion

on Baihui for treating Meniere ' s syndrome. Thereforeꎬ Baihui has another effect of calming liver wind.

As recorded in The Longevity and Life Preservationꎬ

to stop nose bleedingꎬ just pull aside the hair on the Baihui and drip newly - fetched well - water on it. In ad ̄ ditionꎬ it has another classic recording that people with

diarrhea for three or five years can be healed with five or

seven moxa cones by moxibustion on the Baihui. Baihui makes contributions to leveling up Yang Qi and relie ̄ ving descending disorders. Correspondinglyꎬ all symp ̄ toms of descending disorders and diarrhea like gastrop ̄

tosis and metroptosis benefit from moxibustion on Baihui.

The Ways to Boost Yang Qi

It seems that Baihui is applicable to all diseasesꎬ 61


because it is Baihui ( 百会) . “ 百” means " hundreds of ( things) " and “ 会” means " meet" . In the A - B Clas ̄

sic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion ꎬ Baihui refers to

" three Yang and five hui" ꎬ in which " three Yang" is three Yang meridians of the hand and three Yang merid ̄

ians of the foot and " five hui" means the meeting of Qi

and blood from the five - zang organs. In this respectꎬ we know that Baihui ( 百会) is where Yang Qi converges.

According to the theory of Eight Extraordinary Chan ̄

nelsꎬ the Governor Channel takes charge of Yang Qi all

over the human body. The upper part belongs to Yangꎬ and the lower part belongs to Yin. The Governor Chan ̄

nel has its highest point in Baihuiꎬ which makes the Governor Channel most abundant with Yang Qi.

Yang Qi offers life energy. Where there is Yang Qiꎬ

there is life and vice versa. The moment life is bornꎬ the fertilized egg is formedꎬ which indicates the begin ̄

ning of our life with Yang Qi at its peak. As time goes byꎬ Yang Qi fades away. This is the destiny of life.

Howeverꎬ most people don ' t believe in fate. Conse ̄

quentlyꎬ a lot of methods of invigorating Yang have been inventedꎬ for exampleꎬ stimulating Baihui to boost

Qi and Yang. According to The Inner Canon of Yellow Emperorꎬ an Annotated Edition ꎬ " When Yang Qi is ex ̄ cessive and goes upwardꎬ it should be treated with mox ̄ 62


ibustion on Baihui" .

When it comes to Baihuiꎬ I would think of Academi ̄

cian Cheng Shennongꎬ my respected teacherꎬ who switched from a physician of writing prescriptions to an acupuncturist. He compared the efficacy of ginseng and

large trifoliolious bugbane rhizome used together to the effects of Baihui in " boosting Yang and treating de ̄

scending disorders" . Ginseng is a miraculous plant. As a legend goesꎬ Ruan Xiaoxuꎬ a hermit in the Southern Dynasties (420 - 589) ꎬ went deep into the mountains to dig ginseng for his sick mother. He was searching a ̄

round in vainꎬ when a deer cropped up in front of himꎬ leading him to find ginsengꎬ with which his mother was cured. Not only does ginseng have a wide range of me ̄ dicinal valueꎬ but also it is an auspicious omen. Ac ̄

cording to the Douweiyi of Liwei (On Ethics as Emperor in the Han Rites ) ꎬ " With ginsengꎬ the king can get out of any trouble. Wherever ginseng growsꎬ over it pur ̄

ple air (good luck) flows." In factꎬ we don 't need to

care too much about how modern pharmacology proves the efficacy of ginsengꎬ nor do we have to bother our ̄ selves about where the purple air in ginseng comes from.

Yundou Shu of Spring and Autumn said that ginseng re ̄

sulted from the shining of Alkaidꎬ the seventh star in the Big Dipperꎬ which is based on the logic of corre ̄ 63


spondence between man and nature. It seems that gin ̄ seng plays a role of nourishing both Qi and Yang.

Academician Cheng Shennong is good at syndrome

differentiation of eight extraordinary meridiansꎬ best at

making use of Baihui. In seven years when Academician

Cheng guided me in clinical practiceꎬ I saw the glamour of ginseng reflected by Baihuiꎬ both demonstrating simi ̄ lar magic of internal and external therapies. It also man ̄

ifests brilliant academic thoughts of Academician Cheng and the echoing clinical effect. Baihui deals with

hundreds of diseases responding to the four acupointsꎬ Heguand Taichong in pairs. How can its list of effects be exhausted by soothing the nervesꎬ benefiting intelli ̄ genceꎬ relieving wind syndrome and inducing resuscita ̄ tion only? If the history of a life is reckoned as the his ̄

tory of decline of Yang Qiꎬ making good use of Baihui is the anti - aging history of boosting Yang Qi. This is the most outstanding application of the syndrome differentia ̄

tion of eight extraordinary meridians in therapeutics and health - care.

Danzhong Point As a famous assertion in the science of acupuncture

and moxibustion goes: " Qi converges in Danzhong" . How

come? Who dares to ask further? To many questionsꎬ 64


our answer is just an argument.

What do Subconscious Actions Imply?

According to the TCM theoriesꎬ Qi circulates along

the meridiansꎬ which is perceived by some foreign

scholars as " channels of energy" . If soꎬ there must be " qikou (vent) " with different functions on the journey of Qi movement. Nose and mouth are the most conspicu ̄

ous vents. In additionꎬ there should be multiple " qikou" in the human body responsible for strengthe ̄ ning or regulating energyꎬ like " substation" on the grid.

For these " qikou" ꎬ the ancients gave them a more vivid nameꎬ called " Qi acupoints" .

Many acupoints are related to Qiꎬ such as Qihaiꎬ

Qihuꎬ Qichongꎬ Qisheꎬ etc. The ancients named acu ̄

points mostly based on their functions. For instanceꎬ " Guanyuan" is an acupoint related to " primordial Qi"

in the human body. Among 362 meridian points in the human bodyꎬ there is another acupoint that lacks " Qi"

in its name but it's the most vital point. It is Danzhongꎬ a body - part located in the middle of the thoraxꎬ or " chest" as it was called by Sun Simiaoꎬ a master of

health preservation. As mentioned in the On Four Seas Section in the Ling Shuꎬ " Danzhong is the sea of Qi."

The sea looks broad and we are frequently advised to 65


have a broad mind. Being broad - minded is not only a matter of mental stateꎬ but also a confirmation of physi ̄ ology of Danzhong. As an old saying goesꎬ " How to reg ̄

ulate Qi lies critically in Danzhong " . Regulating Qi

means making Qi movement smooth and energetic in the human body. Modern people are apt to accept the West ̄

ern medical principles. For exampleꎬ the heart is the most important organ of humansꎬ and we must protect it

all the time. When one is suddenly frightenedꎬ one will cover one ' s Danzhong subconsciously. It ' s not for the sake of protecting the heartꎬ but a subconscious action

for regulating the disordered Qiꎬ since TCM believes that " fright gives rise to the disorder of Qi" . More often

than notꎬ when one is in a towering rage with shortage

of breathꎬ one inclines to beat and stroke Danzhongꎬ as if one intends to slap away the anger. No wonder it is said in Discussion on the Secret Canons Stored in Royal Library of Suwen " Danzhong is an official envoyꎬ trans ̄ mitting the joy and anger of the heart." The seven emo ̄ tions and the body's Qi activities converge into an inter ̄ section point in Danzhongꎬ which can be experienced.

Man 's subconscious actions often imply their primitive functionsꎬ and the instinctual movements trigger the outset of various health - care and medicine. What we

look forward to is that joy puts off angerꎬ just as what is 66


said in the Puji Benshi Fang " Joy is born when Qi movement is smooth and soul is comforted."

The Simplest Way to Invigorate Qi

Sufficient Qi is necessary to everyone. Beneficial as

it isꎬ Qi may have something bad at timesꎬ such as Qi

depressionꎬ Qi stagnationꎬ reversed flow of Qiꎬ disorder of Qi and a bunch of other problemsꎬ all of which need to be adjusted by regulating the Qi - flow. Qi regulation

is a TCM term that can be subdivided into promoting Qiꎬ depressing adverse - rising Qi and harmonizing Qi. Qi deficiency is another problem. When it occursꎬ acu ̄ puncturists are apt to think of Qihaiꎬ Guanyuan and Zu ̄

sanli. Few of them pay attention to Danzhong and its function of invigorating Qi. Actuallyꎬ Danzhong is high ̄

ly unusual in nourishing Qi. For many patientsꎬ heart

attack is caused by deficiency of heart Qi according to TCM diagnosis. People with deficiency of heart Qi are prone to heart pain and oppression in chest. Physiologi ̄

cal heartache does no harm to the human bodyꎬ while pathological heartache cannot be cured without medical

treatment. Many treatments are proven to be effective in eliminating heart pain. According to one of the easiest methods concluded by a centenarian from his own expe ̄

rienceꎬ " Chest disorder and heart pain are treatable by 67


applying moxibustion with a hundred moxa cones on

Danzhong" . The centenarian was Sun Simiaoꎬ known as the King of Medicine. As a prestigious master in health - careꎬ he provided a wealth of practical and classic ad ̄ vice and what he said above is one of the most substan ̄ tial suggestions. Generally speakingꎬ moxibustion in ̄ stead of acupuncture is applied to Danzhong. “ 灸 ”

(moxibustion) consists of “ 久” (long) and “ 火” (fire ) ꎬ which metaphorically illustrates that long and enough warmness can melt away depression and stagnation in heart. Resolving depression and stagnation depends on both warmth and Qi movement. Moxibustion on Danzhong is conducive to the smooth flow of blood.

" Chest disorder and heart pain are treatable by ap ̄

plying moxibustion with a hundred moxa cones on Danzhong" remarked by Sun Simiao reminds me of an ̄ other nameꎬ Guo Chengjie. Mr. Guo is a master of tradi ̄ tional Chinese Medicineꎬ and the representative inheri ̄

tor of the Human Intangible Cultural Heritage of TCM acupuncture and moxibustion in the United Nations. At

97ꎬ he still remains in good health and clear - mindedꎬ rendering medical service at the outpatient clinic twice a week. Guo Chengjie and Sun Simiao are both natives of

Shaanxi Province. I read some works of Sun Simiao and I once learned from Guo Chengjie whom I would like to 68


describe as " Contemporary Sun Simiao " . In 2011ꎬ when Beijing Satellite TV was filming Guo's " One - pat - three - rub Method" for the program of Health - Care Lec ̄

tureꎬ a writer and director said: " Guo is a living fossil of health - care" . No matter what we sayꎬ we mean the same. " One pat" is the pat on Danzhong. Moxibustion

on Danzhong is a medical practiceꎬ which needs to be

simplified to allow the general public to experience its magic effect. The method of health - care is too simple to convince peopleꎬ but truth tends to lie in simplicity and ordinariness. Like aerobicsꎬ isn't each of its movement the repetition of simple acts? Speaking of simple exer ̄

ciseꎬ chest expansion is conducive to exercising chest muscles and also making the sea of Qi (Danzhong) exu ̄

berant. The simplest exercise for chest expansion is to keep your head up when walking.

As a song sings: " We pat ourselves on the chest to

get spirit high and no rivers and mountains can prevent us from marching ahead." Oftenꎬ I wonderꎬ why isn't it that " We pat our head and get spirit high" ? The sub ̄ conscious action of patting the chest seems always asso ̄ ciated with grand spirit. How can a person lacking bold ̄

ness display heroic spirit that whelms rivers and mountains? One is likely to pat his / her chest while say ̄ ing: " No problem" . The harder one patsꎬ the more vig ̄ 69


orous Qi one getsꎬ followed by an amount of his heroic utterance. Howeverꎬ Qi energized by patting the chest

has a limit. With serious Qi deficiencyꎬ even if one pats his / her chest hard to let it swellꎬ one is only a " puffy guy" . Thereforeꎬ the words one utters when one pats on one's chest are usually unreliable. If one keeps Qi exu ̄

berant in one's chest at normal timesꎬ one is naturally vigorous and high - spirited.

A Place Where the Heart Beats

Gongsun Chou is one of the disciples of Mencius.

He asked his teacher: " Sirꎬ what are your strong

points?" " I am good at cultivating my magnanimous spirit" ꎬ Mencius replied. The magnanimous spirit in the human body is the vital Qi that can resist diseases. In

light of Chinese calculation of nominal ageꎬ Mencius lived to be 84ꎬ while Confuciusꎬ another sageꎬ lived to be 73. As an old saying goes: " If you are seventy - three or eighty - fourꎬ go to the hell yourself before Yama calls" . The two cultural sages lived their full span to such " venerable years" of their ageꎬ because they un ̄

derstood the importance of the magnanimous spiritꎬ while Sun Simiaoꎬ the sage of health - careꎬ lived to be more than one hundred yearsꎬ because he knew where the magnanimous spirit converged. This may be the mys ̄ 70


tery of evolution.

The association between Danzhong and Qi is more

than the outcome of critical thinking. There is a tradi ̄ tional explanation that stimulation of Danzhong can reg ̄ ulate nerve functionsꎬ relax the smooth muscle and di ̄ late the coronary artery. Danzhong allows the improve ̄

ment of neurological functionsꎬ the relaxation of the smooth muscleꎬ and the dilation of the coronary artery.

But I prefer an interpretation that subverts the tradition ̄

al blood circulation theory of modern times. Below Danzhong is the arcus aortae. Why does blood make a

big bend at the arcus aortae① (Danzhong Point) ꎬ rather than flowing straight into the lumen when it comes out of

the heart? Internally or externallyꎬ no matter what we look likeꎬ there must be some profound purposes. We have two earsꎬ one mouth and one protruding noseꎬ all of which are the outcome of evolution adaptive for sur ̄

vival. How does the heart overcome multiple obstacles

and transport blood evenly to all parts of the body? There are two factors in the traditional doctrine: one is

pumpingꎬ the other is resonating. In this hypothesisꎬ the heart pumps blood against the ascending aorta to ①

Arcus aortae: A part of the aorta that is curved in an arch shape. The

aortaꎬ starting from the left ventricleꎬ is divided into ascending aortaꎬ arcus aortae and descending aorta.

71


produce resonance energy that transports blood into the organs and tissues of the body. If it is trueꎬ Danzhong will be the source of vibration that stimulates the blood flow throughout the bodyꎬ generating pressure waves.

Despite the relationship between Danzhong and hu ̄

man physiology analyzed with Descartes' thinking①ꎬ or the relationship between Danzhong and the meridian system interpreted with Qibo's theoryꎬ both assert that

Danzhong is the nearest place to the heart and man can be kept alive on the condition of heart - beating. Harmo ̄

nious rhythms of the heart are the musical notes of blue seaꎬ the movements of Qiꎬ and the supreme glory of all livings created by God.

Shenque Point God marked us with scarsꎬ leaving us with only one

acupoint which is Shenque (belly button) that can be seen and touched.

Relics of life

In the vast South Pacificꎬ there is a small island

René Descartes (1596 - 1650) is a well - known French philosopherꎬ physicistꎬ mathematicianꎬ theologian. He put forward the " hyperbolic doubt" and left a famous saying " I thinkꎬ therefore I am."

72


with an area of only 165 square kilometersꎬ mysterious and beautifulꎬ called the Easter Island. Local inhabit ̄

ants call it " Te Pito Kura" ꎬ meaning " The belly button

of the world" . Both the Kailas Range and the Dead Sea have ever been compared to the " Belly button of the earth" . The locations of the belly button vary from dif ̄

ferent ecological perspectivesꎬ but commonly they enjoy a special status.

A scholar once told me what he thought of the belly button. He said the plant - seed should also have a na ̄ velꎬ stimulated in some wayꎬ may improve the growth of

the plant. I haven't further verified his assumption yetꎬ but some ideas about the navel have come into my mind since then.

It is said that people in love will subconsciously pay

attention to what their belly button looks like. According to The Song of Solomonꎬ the belly button looks like a round goblet filled with mixed wine. Mixed wine itself sounds a sort of romanceꎬ and it must be more intoxicat ̄

ing if contained in belly button. At the end of the 20th centuryꎬ it emerged as a fashion that young ladies en ̄

joyed embedding precious gems on their navel to draw attentionꎬ thus making it significant in the body. Trendy and avant - garde as fashion looksꎬ what is behind it of ̄ ten concerns the return to Nature. The highlight of the 73


navel may imply a relic of life that shouldn't be forgot ̄ ten.

Actuallyꎬ none of us has forgot this relic. There was

once a blood vessel connecting us with our mother. The belly button is the only evidence that proves its exist ̄

ence and reminds us of its significanceꎬ regardless of its eventual disappearance.

Once the umbilical cord is cut offꎬ what remains is a

scar that sometimes evokes associations. For exampleꎬ when bathingꎬ people lie in the bathtub and stare at their navelꎬ thinking about life and death. What they i ̄ magine about the belly button may resemble what Rich ̄

ard Selzerꎬ a surgeonꎬ said in The Mortal Lessonsꎬ " The remaining umbilical cords intertwine painfully with each other. They have been abandoned since the original dis ̄

sociation and have to be entangled tighter in case that obscene intentions run out of our bellyꎬ clamoring." It

seems to be something of flesh entangledꎬ but has never really been disentangled. In acupuncture and moxibus ̄

tionꎬ the belly button has another acupuncture name of

" Shenque" . No matter how to interpret “ 神 (Shen) ” ꎬ it is always associated with the spirit and soul besides its unpredictabilityꎻ “ 阙 ( que) ” is a kind of pavil ̄

ion used for a lookout. There must be good reasons why our ancestors named the belly button as " Shenque" . 74


Coincidentallyꎬ Gustav Ecksteinꎬ a Westernerꎬ after a " good tour" inside and outside the human bodyꎬ com ̄

pared the mysterious belly button to a commemorating medal in memory of the place where Nature makes us.

What's moreꎬ Freud took the navel as the meeting point for reality and dream. He said: " Only when we reveal the navel can we make clear the relations between real ̄ ity and dream."

Navel is special psychologically and culturally. In

additionꎬ evolution has provided us with enough reasons to value it.

Sensitive Belly Button

The belly button is the closed end of the abdominal

wall during the embryonic development. Lack of subcu ̄

taneous fat layer in the deep part of the umbilical skinꎬ the navel is the most vulnerable and sensitive. Stimula ̄

tion applied to this spot is apt to diffuseꎬ even to the deepest part of the nerves. No wonder in Lawrence's no ̄

velsꎬ the lovers kiss each other on the belly button. As early as 1939ꎬ James Bradyꎬ a Scottish surgeonꎬ said in the capacity of a medical doctorꎬ " Human nerve impul ̄ ses rotate around the navelꎬ including both the centripe ̄

tal impulses transmitted to the central nervous system and the centrifugal impulses transmitted from the central nervous system."

75


Studies on pharmacokinetics show that the drug ad ̄

ministrated through the naval is more absorbable and

bioavailable than transdermal administration in other parts. A research by a scholar in the United States con ̄

cluded that the bioavailability of the drug administered

via the umbilical region is twice or six times as much as that of the drug administrated through forearms. Some other modern studies seem to have confirmed the great wisdom of some ancient therapies. In the Jin Dynasty of

ancient Chinaꎬ the medicinal role of the navel was strengthened. According to A - B Classics of Acupuncture and Moxibustionꎬ infertile people can be cured by moxi ̄

bustion on the naval. This statementꎬ of courseꎬ sounds mythicalꎬ but Ge Hong recorded in his Handbook of Preions for Emergency: " Put salt in the navel and prac ̄ tice moxibustion on it" . Ge created a remarkable prece ̄

dent for umbilical therapiesꎬ and raised the efficacy of Shenque in consolidating physical foundation and revi ̄ ving yang to a high level.

In Sun Simiao ' s therapeuticsꎬ youngsters feeling

weak and breathing hard because of indulgence in sexu ̄

al intercourse can be treated by moxibustion with salt on the navel with about 14 cones. According to the Taiping Holy Prescriptions for Universal Reliefꎬ when one is fain ̄ ted and unconscious with cold limbsꎬ one can be res ̄ 76


cued by moxibustion with ground monkshood powder put

on one's belly button. Both of the treatments mentioned

above are typical demonstrations about how to tap the therapeutic potential of the navel. For children afraid of

taking injections and medicineꎬ the belly button is an excellent channel of external treatment. Gong Tingxian

remarked in his Curative Measures for All Diseases: " Ointment decocted with Chinese gall and vinegar ap ̄ plied to the belly button can cure children 's diarrhea.

The combination of medicine and the navel has brought about countless stories of healing and rescue. The histo ̄ ry of treatments on the belly button serves as a wonder ̄

ful chapter in the external therapeutics of traditional Chinese Medicine. The navel is an exquisite creation of

Nature and the only tangible acupoint marked by the scar and presented by God.

The Belly Button Connecting all Channels

In TCM theoretical systemꎬ the navel connects all

channels. As pointed out by Peng Zu in his Steaming

Belly Button Therapies for Emergencyꎬ " The navel is a location where original Qi from kidneys gathers. The o ̄

riginal Qi flows through all channelsꎬ distributes in all

internal organs and circulates in the meridian systemꎬ reaching Baihui at the top and Yongquan at the bottom. 77


It brings about harmonious and smooth channel move ̄

ment as well as unobstructed pores and orifices" . What' s moreꎬ Nan Jing states: " The navel is the door of res ̄

pirationꎬ the source of three energizers. It governs the regulation of three Qi (original Qiꎬ defensive Qi and

Pectoral Qi) and circulates in the viscera " . Zhang Jingyue① held that the belly button can be called the vi ̄

tal gate of lifeꎬ saying: " The one who gives birth to me starts my life with the belly button and those who are generated by me are nourished and shaped with the bel ̄

ly button. The gate of life is the gate of death. For this reasonꎬ the prosperity and declineꎬ safety and danger of

a personꎬ are all determined by the navelꎬ serving as the source of Qi generation. When Qi is flourishingꎬ one is healthy and strongꎻ when Qi is deficientꎬ one will fall ill" .

From our perspectiveꎬ the belly button can ' t be

more commonꎬ but why did the ancients attach so great importance to it even to the extent of influencing our na ̄ tional costumes? For exampleꎬ the belly - band is an a ̄ mazing invention that safeguards the life - gate of a na ̄ tion. ①

Zhang Jingyue (1563- 1640) : An outstanding medical scientist in the Ming Dynastyꎬ and the representative of the School of Warm Tonifica ̄ tion in TCM.

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Chapter 3 Why Does the Meridian System Exist?

Meridian systemꎬ as we seeꎬ may be flawed while

its existence and value are by no means an illusion.

Whether we believe it out of its mysteriousness or we are fascinated about it out of trustꎬ once the conviction be ̄

comes natural to usꎬ it will change us psychologically and influence us physiologically. All kinds of learning in this world start and end with experience.

The Beauty of Meridians Meridians are the manifestation of life phenomena.

All graceful meridians strung together illustrate the track of how our forefathers learned about themselves and Na ̄ ture.

Symmetry

Symmetry is a law of existence created by God.

The distribution and extension of meridians are sym ̄ 79


metrical. Where there is a Ren Channel in the right frontꎬ there is a Du Channel at the right back. One of

them is Yin and the other is Yangꎬ controlling Qi and

blood of Yin and Yang in the body. Additionallyꎬ twelve regular meridians that correspond to our twelve internal viscera are symmetricalꎬ distributed evenly when circu ̄ lating on both sides of our body. This is aesthetic sym ̄ metryꎬ and physiological symmetry all the more.

The question why meridians are symmetrically dis ̄

tributed and circulated is like the question of why pe ̄

ripheral nerves in our body are symmetrically distributed

and extended. Is it coincident or inevitable that both the meridian system and the peripheral nervous system are symmetrical? People with superficial views will definite ̄ ly say that it must be coincident because meridian sys ̄

tems and the nervous system run on tracks in different

waysꎬ so they have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Indeedꎬ meridians are certainly not nerve. How ̄ everꎬ the symmetry in them is not a coincidence at all.

Why do people favor symmetry? Because symmetry

presents the most primitive human aesthetics. Why does symmetry have primitive beauty? Only God knows it.

Perhaps the human body is structurally evolved accord ̄ ing to the law of symmetryꎬ serving as a way to pay trib ̄ ute to Nature. 80


The formation and improvement of the meridian sys ̄

tem have an inseparable relationship with human aes ̄

thetics. Intentionally or unintentionallyꎬ the ancients based themselves on original ideals when they were loo ̄

king for the materials and data to develop the concept of

the meridian system. They linked the symmetry and the data through their esthetic perception in the process of understanding the world and lifeꎬ thus leading to the e ̄

mergence of meridian system. For this reasonꎬ meridians look beautiful.

Meandering

People often ask: Where are meridians? Do they ex ̄

ist? In factꎬ there are two ways of existenceꎬ visible and perceptible.

Looking down from the skyꎬ we can see rivers mean ̄

dering on the earth. Yet nature doesn't allow us to jump out of our body and observe ourselves from another ob ̄ ject. As it often happensꎬ we cannot see ourselves clear ̄ lyꎬ including our meridian system. Howeverꎬ we are be ̄

stowed with the ability to approach and feel it. In the era when man was close to Natureꎬ there was a kind of spir ̄

itual pursuit called cultivation to tranquilize the mind or to keep the vital Qi within the body. In this stateꎬ some sensed that Qi and blood were meandering in their body. 81


In a small circulatory cycle and a big circulatory cycleꎬ blood and Qi connect all in the organism and make a beautiful circle. Meridians are a structural fragment of the grand spectacle (The movement of blood and Qi per ̄

ceived by early cultivators under static conditions was fragmented) .

In different states of cultivationꎬ people detected

different channels of Qi and bloodꎬ accounting for the origin of meridians. In ancient timesꎬ meridians were winding without dead ends. The dead ends in the circu ̄ lation on the wall - chart of acupuncture and moxibustion

we see today deviate from the tracks of our ancestors and the closed angle is the will of later generations.

The moon on the 16th day of the lunar month is

rounder than that on the 15th. When the moon is fullꎬ people like to enjoy the moonꎬ because its fullness is the most beautiful. Pythagorasꎬ an ancient Greek phi ̄

losopherꎬ said that the Earth was sphericalꎬ and the sphere is the symbol of all entirety and integrity. The beauty of curvaceousness comes from the fragmented sphere. For this reasonꎬ people pursue curvilinear beau ̄

tyꎬ not only the external curve of the human bodyꎬ but also the internal structure. As remarked by Н. А.

82


Дмитриева①ꎬ " Beauty is not a transcendental ideology.

Beauty exists objectively. In other wordsꎬ there is some ̄

thing in the objective world which is consistent with our understanding of beauty... They can be perceived by hu ̄

man consciousness in the whole complex natural force and the special activities of man" .

Meridiansꎬ a meandering beautyꎬ contain the glory

of Nature. It makes the history and the present of acu ̄ punctureꎬ and shapes our behaviors as an ideology.

Connection

People tend to compare rivers to blood vessels and river - water to milk. This metaphor vividly reflects man's reliance on rivers.

Babylon is famous for the civilization of the Tigris

and Euphrates riversꎬ or Mesopotamia culture historical ̄ ly. The two rivers have had their blood vessels lingering ̄ ly marked on Babyloniansꎬ so the word " blood vessel"

became their country's name———Iraq in their language.

The Seine Riverꎬ credited as the " Blood Vessel of Par ̄

is" ꎬ like a ribbonꎬ strings the most beautiful sights of

Paris like a vessel. The Yellow River is boasted as the ①

Н. А. Дмитриев: A Soviet educatorꎬ author of Aesthetic Education and other works.

83


blood vessel of Chinese people and the milk that nouri ̄

shes the Chinese civilization. This is the beauty of rivers and also the spectacle of meridians.

Qi and blood flow through meridiansꎬ carrying innu ̄

merable information and exchanges of ideas. Todayꎬ riv ̄ ers have been weakened in their function of transporta ̄ tion. If ancients adopted the present thinking to con ̄

struct the meridian systemꎬ it would be more like the Internetꎬ invisible but tangibleꎬ where message is trans ̄ mittedꎬ exchangedꎬ processed and regulated boundless ̄

ly. The meridian system resembles the Internet of the human bodyꎬ serving as an expression of life phenome ̄ na.

If we believe that there is nothing isolated in the

natural worldꎬ we should believe what is said in the In ̄ ner Canon of Yellow Emperorꎬ " The functions of inter ̄

nal organs often have their external manifestations" . Its literary expression by Su Shi is: " Wisdom in holdꎬ ele ̄ gance in mold." In additionꎬ traditional Chinese Medi ̄

cine also has the theory of " complexion reflected on the

face" . Why are internal conditions reflected externally? Meridians give us an answer.

Thanks to the presence of meridian systemꎬ doctors

can deduce the conditions of your visceral function in the light of your complexion and appearance. As is said 84


in the Chapter of Meridians of Linshu: " Generally speakingꎬ in detecting the pathological changes of me ̄ ridiansꎬ green vein indicates the stagnation of pathologi ̄ cal cold accompanied with painꎻ red vein implies heat.

If the stomach is pathologically coldꎬ meridians in the big thenar region will mostly appear green. On the con ̄

traryꎬ when the stomach is attacked by heatꎬ Yuji will

be red. If they become blackꎬ it denotes that the trouble lingers too long and has turned into arthralgia bi dis ̄

ease. The mixture of redꎬ black and green in the meridi ̄ ans manifests cold - heat syndromeꎬ while green and

short vein suggests the deficiency of Qi " . Thereforeꎬ Dou Cai said in Bianque Xinshuꎬ " In the pastꎬ those who knew the patient condition only by inspection were those who were familiar with the meridian system. How ̄ everꎬ doctors today who fail to study the meridian sys ̄

temꎬ relying too much on the properties of medicine and

pathogenesisꎬ are consequently unable to decide where the trouble is. Thereforeꎬ the meridian system is crucial in judging the location of diseases" .

When diagnosing diseasesꎬ the ancients had no

medical instruments and they could merely rely on the meridian systemꎬ thus obtaining sophisticated skills in

meridian diagnosis. On the contraryꎬ medical experts nowadays know little about meridiansꎬ but with lots of 85


knowledge about medical devicesꎬ through which they judge whether the visceral function of a patient is nor ̄

mal or not. How easy and simple it is! Unfortunatelyꎬ people are not machines. Medical instruments and e ̄

quipment not only widen the distance between doctors

and patientsꎬ but also ruin the potential of doctors for diagnostics. What's worseꎬ The saying " One who diag ̄ noses diseases only by inspection is Godꎬ one who diag ̄

noses diseases only by auscultation and olfaction is a saintꎬ one who diagnoses diseases only by inquiry is a masterꎬ and one who diagnoses diseases only by pulse - taking and palpation is a skillful craftsman" ꎬ as com ̄ mented in the Chapter of the Sixty - first Difficult Issue in

the Classic of Difficult Issues. Such a remark no longer exists.

The meridian system can transmit the information of

five internal organs to the outsideꎬ and vice versa. Acu ̄

puncture and moxibustion serve to stimulate acupoints on the meridiansꎬ via which different stimulating messa ̄

ges are conveyed to viscera for regulation. Thereforeꎬ the meridian system is the therapeutic basis for acu ̄

puncture and moxibustionꎬ where curing headache by treating the head is feasibleꎬ and curing headache by treading the feet is possibleꎬ too. The headache caused by stagnation of liver Qi can be acupunctured at Tai ̄ 86


chong on the dorsum of feetꎬ because Jueyin Liver Me ̄

ridian of Foot circulates from the foot to the head. This

is a good example of " Meridian treatment is effective for any disease within the reach of meridians" .

Meridians connect all parts of the human body from

top to bottomꎬ internally and externallyꎬ as well as life.

During a flight of Scandinavian Airlines in 2000ꎬ each

passenger was presented a card before lunchꎬ reading: " The stomach is a window open to the soul" . That is an old Scandinavian proverb. It is not so much an adver ̄ tisement of aviation lunch. As a physiological phenome ̄

nonꎬ when your stomach is comfortableꎬ your heart is at

ease. It has the same sense as that of a joke long told by people in modern times: " You will have to satisfy the man's stomach if you want to win his heart." The rela ̄ tionship between the heart and the stomach is well un ̄

derstood if explained in accordance with the meridian theory. The Meridian Branches in Ling Shu has stated clearly: The branches of the stomach meridian " reach up to the heart" . Meridians link the heart with the stom ̄

ach closely. My story is not over yet. The purpose of that

flight of mine was to give lectures in Norway and Bergen was my first stop where I gave a lecture about " The syn ̄

drome differentiation on the treatment of insomnia" . We know that insomnia has something to do with " The heart 87


failing to store the spirit" . The similarity between the ancient Nordic proverb and a famous saying of " Uncomfortable stomach leads to a restless night" pro ̄ vided me with the best cultural ground for my lecture.

At leastꎬ Scandinavian audience effortlessly understood

the simple axis relation of " In somnia—the stomach— the heart" .

From the Inner Canon of Yellow Emperor to the Acu ̄

puncture and Moxibustion Chart on the Bronze Manꎬ and to wall charts of acupuncture and moxibustion in

modern timesꎬ masters of medicine through the ages

have drawn beautiful lines for meridians. No matter how complicatedly the meridians are categorizedꎬ their es ̄

sential significance has been presented in this saying of

the Inner Canon of Yellow Emperor: " Twelve regular meridians reveal the mysteries behind the existence of

manꎬ the development and treatment of diseasesꎬ the

starting point of medical study and the highest realm for medical experts."

As pointed out in Lingshu 􀅰 Extensive Commenta ̄

tions (« 灵 枢 􀅰 海 论» ) : " Twelve regular meridians connect all viscera internally and link up all limbs and joints externally" . The ways of harmony and unity and the normal physical activities of tissues and organs in ̄

cluding visceraꎬ limbsꎬ bonesꎬ sense organsꎬ orificesꎬ 88


skinꎬ muscles and tendons rely on the connection and

communication of the meridian system. Meridians have enabled people to realize their dream of harmony and u ̄ nityꎬ serving as a good tool to justify the concept of ho ̄

lism. The meridian system is not so much a theory as it is a kind of thoughtꎬ flawed but beautiful.

Ancient Chronomedicine

In the years when there were no roadsꎬ rivers were

the only channels for transportation. As is written by Guangziꎬ " Water in rivers is like blood that flows in the vessels of the human body." We don ' t know how the

river of meridians started. It seems to have started from the early morning of the dayꎬ as the outset of Yang Qi's

growth. Sometime three to five o'clock in the morningꎬ Qi and blood in the meridians start circulating from the first main stream (Taiyin Lung Meridian of Hand) . They pass through other 11 different main streams at different timeꎬ and end up flowing into their starting point. Qi

and blood flow in different meridians at different timeꎬ which is the earliest physiological model of the human

body established by the Chineseꎬ and the first life de ̄ scription from the perspective of space - time theory by humans. It attempts to unlock the mysteries of the hu ̄ man body like a keyꎬ a key full of glamour and confu ̄ 89


sion.

Let me show you its sequence of circulation.

Taiyin Lung Meridian of Hand → Yangming Large

Intestine of Hand → Yangming Stomach Meridian of

Foot → Taiyin Spleen Meridian of Foot → Shaoyin Heart Meridian of Hand → Taiyang Small Intestine Me ̄

ridian of Hand → Taiyang Bladder Meridian of Foot → Shaoyin Kidney Meridian of Foot → Jueyin Pericardium Meridian of Hand → Shaoyang Triple Energy Meridian

of Hand → Shaoyang Gallbladder Meridian of Foot → Jueyin Liver Meridian of Foot → Taiyin Lung Meridian of Hand

This circulation is characterized by " Internal and

external connection without ends like a ring" ꎬ as re ̄ marked in The Chapter of the River of Meridians in Ling ̄

shuꎬ bringing endless moisture and nourishment. Its continuous flow implies ceaseless regulation and adjust ̄

ment. Each journey it goes through represents the rhythm of our lives and life. For exampleꎬ at five and

seven o'clockꎬ when Qi and blood flow through the large intestine meridianꎬ we had better excrete the remaining residue of yesterday and embrace a new day unloaded.

Thereforeꎬ whether you are constipated or notꎬ during this periodꎬ you should develop the habit of defecation in line with the rhythm of the large intestine meridian. 90


Excretion is for taking in new foodstuff. The next hours (7 - 9 AM) will see Qi and blood visit the stomach

meridian. As a saying goes: " The time from seven to nine o ' clock for breakfast nourishes the body best."

This is an old saying about healthꎬ and its truth comes from this ancient chrono - medicineꎬ because stomach meridian is responsible for receiving and digesting food and waterꎬ which functions best in the period from sev ̄ en to nine o'clock in the morning.

Perhaps you are escaping your breakfast to lose

weightꎬ but that is a misunderstanding of weight loss.

The circulating law of Qi and blood in meridians tells

us: never miss your breakfastꎬ if you are struggling for lighter weightꎬ because it is the best time of the day that allows you to replenish energy and burn calories simul ̄

taneously. The meridian theory is not only the basis for TCM diagnosisꎬ but also a way of life. Eat when you should and excrete when you needꎬ which is the most natural lifestyle.

The Exploration into Meridians Because we believe in our eyes too muchꎬ we en ̄

deavor to see clearly the nature of meridians. We have almost caught sight of it but missed it somehow. Meridi ̄ ans are challenging the limits of human wisdom.

91


Beautiful things may not always be seen clearly.

Like a wonderful experienceꎬ we can feel its existenceꎬ but cannot figure out its ins and outs. People habitually adopt " seeing is believing" ꎬ sparing no efforts to find the nature of meridians.

The term " meridian essence " is not so hot now.

What is the essence of the meridians after all? Such a fascinating question once attracted so many imaginative explorers. They dedicated themselves to seeking an ̄

swersꎬ racking their wits. Eventuallyꎬ what they have brought us is endless imaginationꎬ while what is taken away from them is their youth.

The Forerunner of Modern Research

In the spring of 1949ꎬ the hospital affiliated to Chi ̄

ba Medical University in Japan saw a marvelous specta ̄

cleꎬ i. e. a patient was acupunctured on his distal limbs and the stimulation aroused an odd sensation that circu ̄ lated along twelve regular meridians and eight extraordi ̄ nary meridians. This phenomenon excited Yosio Naga ̄ hamaꎬ a Japanese scholarꎬ who called it " needle echo ̄ ing" . The resounding name broke the static research in ̄

to the meridian systemꎬ taking the initiative in studying the essence of meridians.

Coincidentallyꎬ in 1950ꎬ Dr. Yoshio Nakataniꎬ a

92


professor of the Department of Biology at Kyoto Univer ̄ sity in Japanꎬ conducted a minute amount of direct cur ̄ rent to a patient with kidney disorderꎬ in order to un ̄

cover the mystery of the meridians. A series of points with higher electrical conductivity than that of the sur ̄

rounding skin appeared on this patient. Connecting

these pointsꎬ Dr. Yoshio Nakatani found a line similar to Shaoyin Kidney Meridian of Foot described in the ac ̄

upuncture and moxibustion. Similar meridian lines showed up when the approach was applied to other pa ̄

tients. Thereforeꎬ Nakatani named these points " good conductivity" ꎬ and the lines linked by them " good con ̄

ductive network" . Further research by Japanese scholars has also revealed that when visceral functions of organ ̄ ism changeꎬ the electric flow in the skin with the corre ̄ sponding meridians and acupoints will also change. Lat ̄ er this finding became the foundation for many instru ̄ ments of meridian detection and diagnosis.

Chinese people worship foreign civilization displayed

most prominently in the TCM research. We have been

following suit. Seeminglyꎬ Western methodology is the only truth. In 1956ꎬ the study on the essence of the me ̄ ridians was listed in the National Natural Science Devel ̄

opment Program. Chinese researchers set out to uncover the mysteries of meridians from the perspectives of anat ̄ 93


omy and physics. Howeverꎬ neither the scalpel nor the

microscope showed any power in the meridian studyꎬ and the morphological studies at the naked eye level

found nothing. The meridian research in the 1950s failed to go beyond the level of " good conductive net ̄ work" proposed by Nakatani Yoshio et alꎬ but it is firm ̄

ly believed that the essence of meridians will finally be found.

A Historic Scam

Where there is faithꎬ there will finally be an aston ̄ ishing voice. Kim Bong - hanꎬ a professor at PyongYang University in North Koreaꎬ was deeply convinced that

the meridians and collaterals could be seen. He had

decades of painstaking work with persistence in this field. In 1963ꎬ his 41 - page dissertationꎬ On the Kyun ̄ grak systemꎬ published in the 5th issue of the Journal of

the DPRK Academy of Medical Scienceꎬ proclaimed

that the meridian system was an independent system composed of " Bonghan ducts (primo - vessels) " and " Bonghan corpuscles" ꎬ which connected different parts of the body and regulated the functions of organism. The announcement shocked the world extraordinarily and breathtakingly.

Perhapsꎬ those special years needed such a cardio ̄

94


tonic badly. Hardly had the research result of " Bonghan ducts" been issued when the People ' s Daily reported

" The great discovery" in a high profile on December

14ꎬ 1963ꎬ which subsequently drew unanimous ap ̄

plause of other major media. This finding stimulated Chinese scientistsꎬ and triggered a large - scale cam ̄ paign of meridian scientific researchꎬ known as " a sci ̄

entific research battle" ꎬ which was joined by scientists from the mainstreams of anatomyꎬ histochemistry and

biochemistryꎬ under the leadership of Zhu Kezhenꎬ vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences at that time. The me - too scientific research movement yielded no innovationꎬ revolving only around the idea of " Bonghan corpuscles" which turned out to be a mis ̄

take. As a resultꎬ Kim Bonghan committed suicide and Chinese practitioners of Western Medicine no longer be ̄ lieved meridians.

Meridian Phenomena

In the 1970sꎬ an event of a great impact on the world took placeꎬ a thaw in Sino - US relations. In

1971ꎬ James Restonꎬ deputy president of the New York Timesꎬ a senior American journalistꎬ was invited to visit China. During his stayꎬ he had an acute appendicitis.

After surgeryꎬ his abdominal distention and pain were 95


successfully eliminated by acupuncture. On July 26 of

the same yearꎬ James Reston published the article

" Now About My Operation in Peking" on the front page of the New York Times with a striking headlineꎬ which made much of a stir in the United Statesꎬ and ignited

enthusiasm in the world for acupuncture. At the same

timeꎬ domestic interest in acupuncture anesthesia was surging forward vigorously. Under such a situationꎬ me ̄

ridians once again came into the view of researchers in a high profile.

In the following decade and moreꎬ large - scale in ̄

vestigation into the propagated sensation along the chan ̄

nel and research into the truth of meridians had been

going on nationwide. The researchers tried to capture the traces or clues of meridians by physical and chemical methods. Some results of the research are shown as fol ̄ lows:

Meridians can be blocked and disconnected by me ̄

chanical pressureꎬ injection of normal saline and freez ̄ ing under low temperature.

Angiectasisꎬ mild edemaꎬ and myoelectricity may

sometimes be detected on the route of the propagated sensation along the channel.

Some amputees have an illusory sense of meridian

transmission at the amputation site. 96


Tests on meridians have found that the luminous in ̄

tensity of the points on meridians is 1􀆰5 times higher than that of the points on the non - meridians.

The temperature of acupoints on meridians is 0􀆰5 ~ 1􀆰 0C higher than that of the acupoints on non - meridi ̄ ans nearby.

On December 13ꎬ 1984ꎬ entrusted by the Ministry

of Public Healthꎬ the Scientific Research and Collabo ̄

ration Office of National Acupuncture and Moxibustion

and Acupuncture Anesthesia held an appraisal meeting in Beijing about " Study of Meridian Phenomena on Propagated Sensation along meridians and their Visibili ̄

ty" to evaluate the achievements concerning research

into meridian phenomena by 21 institutions including the Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion of the A ̄

cademy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The appraisal proved the existence of propagated sensation along me ̄ ridians and latent propagated sensation along meridians.

Moreoverꎬ researchers believe that when the propagated

sensation along meridians occursꎬ even if the feeling is subjectiveꎬ what causes the occurrence of the transmis ̄ sion must be objective.

Scaling Programs on Meridianss

In the early 1980sꎬ Romanian and French scholars 97


respectively photographed the linear trace of element migration trajectories with cameraꎬ whose trajectory of

migration roughly corresponded to that of meridiansꎬ and that track was neither lymph and vesselsꎬ nor nerves. These findings were published in 1981 and 1984

respectively. Since international studies illustrated the track of meridiansꎬ domestic research had no reason to

be left behind. As a resultꎬ meridian research was brought into line with the key projects of the 7th Nation ̄ al Five - Year Plan for Science and Technology Develop ̄

ment of China (hereinafter as the Five - Year Plan) ꎬ and successively listed into the State Climbing Programs on Meridian Research during the 8th and 9th Five - Year Plan in the following decade. These programs have wit ̄ nessed Chinese investment of considerable fundsꎬ at ̄

tempting to unveil the mystery of meridians with the most advanced technology at that time.

On November 30ꎬ 2001ꎬ the Final Report and Ap ̄ praisal Meeting of Pre - selected Items of National Scal ̄

ing Program on Meridians During the 9th Five - Year Plan of the National Science and Technology Ministry was held in Beijingꎬ having reached consensus on the following aspects.

This program made important progress during the period of the 9th Five - Years Plan. In terms of literature 98


researchꎬ with systematical organization and study of meridian literature in ancient timesꎬ it has clearly pro ̄ posed that the scientific connotation of the theory of me ̄

ridians mainly reflects the law of the specific connection

between the human body and the body surfaceꎬ the body surface and the specific parts of the visceraꎬ thereby de ̄ fining the issue of meridians with the one that can be u ̄

niversally understood by the scientific community. In

additionꎬ its systematical review and research on the modern status of acupuncture and moxibustion and me ̄

ridians at home and abroad have laid a solid foundation for the in - depth study of the overall project with suffi ̄ cient constructive experience and inspiration.

The study on the mechanism of propagated sensation

along meridians has been performed intensivelyꎬ ranging from excitatory transmission among skeletal musclesꎬ re ̄

flex activities along meridians among skeletal muscle subdivisionsꎬ to the dendritic connections and mutual

interactions that dominate motor neuron of meridians. As it has been founded in the experimentsꎬ under the state of " solitary arm"

( sensory nerve activities not

affected) ꎬ the propagated sensation along meridians vanished simultaneously with myoelectricityꎬ serving as significant scientific evidence for the connections be ̄

tween meridian sensory transmission and motor nerve 99


skeletal muscle chains. As for the research on the physi ̄ cochemical property of tissues along meridiansꎬ produc ̄ tive exploration has been carried out on the infrared em ̄

anation in its the property along meridiansꎬ formation mechanismꎬ spectrum and wave lengthꎬ from which val ̄

uable information has been obtained. The study of perivascular space and low flow resistance passages a ̄

round the tissues along the course of meridians has found liquid crystals occurring on the acupoints and me ̄

ridians after acupuncture and moxibustion therapiesꎬ which is predominately constituted of protein in the pre ̄ liminary analysis. On the part of the meridian - viscera relationshipꎬ systematic research of morphologyꎬ physi ̄ ological functionꎬ and molecular biology has been im ̄ plemented on the nerve segment domination and func ̄ tions of nerve ganglions related to heart meridianꎬ acu ̄

points of pericardium meridian and the heart. What ' s moreꎬ combined with the mechanism of referred painꎬ it

has profoundly expounded the special connection on the neuroscientific basis as well as neuropeptide Y and oth ̄ er matters that facilitate the effect. The study on the re ̄

lationship of stomach meridian and stomach has proved the existence of spinal cord neurons in mutual interac ̄

tion. Andꎬ vagal neuron nuclei are superior nervous centralis which realize the connection between the func ̄ 100


tions of stomach and the acupoints of stomach meridian. Alsoꎬ it has noticed the role of the brain - gut peptides in connections.

The expert commission of the acceptance check has appraised that the'Meridian Research' of the Pre - select ̄ ed Climbing Program of the 9th Five - Year Plan is a for ̄

ward - looking project with reasonable distribution and mechanism of well - equipped operationꎬ which promises the satisfying completion of scheduled tasks. Remarka ̄ ble achievements have been made in many aspectsꎬ in ̄

cluding the mechanism of propagated sensation along meridiansꎬ meridian - visceral related neuroendocrine mechanismꎬ and the connection between the meridian - viscera mechanism and referred painꎬ besides the cen ̄

tral integration. In terms of the physicochemical property of meridiansꎬ innovational progress has been made on

the study of infrared radiation and its mechanismꎬ as well as special liquid crystals of meridians and related

viscera. Comprehensivelyꎬ the research has reached the international advanced level in its achievements.

Alsoꎬ the expert commission has held that this pro ̄

ject is the current forefront of life science. As a branch

of life scienceꎬ acupuncture and moxibustion are a dis ̄ cipline that covers many parts of modern bio - medicineꎬ thus implying great difficulty in the research. Blessed 101


with competitive advantages and characteristicsꎬ science of acupuncture and moxibustion has taken the lead in going global. The state should continually fund this pro ̄

gramꎬ so that further research combined with the current

research findings of genomics and other complicated subjects will be performed on the effect mechanism of acupuncture and moxibustion as well as meridian theo ̄ riesꎬ so as to improve the clinical efficacy of acupunc ̄ ture and moxibustionꎬ define their predominant disea ̄ sesꎬ and maintain its leading position in the internation ̄ al academic community. (April Issue No. 4ꎬ 2002ꎬ Chi ̄ nese Acupuncture and Moxibustion)

Meridian Research with No Breakthrough

The past sixty years has seen the meridian research

subjected to skepticism. Negativists have questioned its existence while believers have doubted its justification of research direction and approaches. Perhapsꎬ meridi ̄

ans are actually not for seeing. Howeverꎬ people have difficulty in believing an invisible system.

Since consensus has not yet been reached on meridi ̄

ansꎬ there are various meridian " The ories" ꎬ from the

perspectives of neurographyꎬ humoralismꎬ energeticsꎬ fascia theory and even informationism. No matter how supporters backed up their argument with citation and 102


referenceꎬ they failed to self -justify the nature of meridi ̄ ans. Whether the meridian system is an unknown struc ̄ ture or an unknown function of a known structureꎬ every ̄

thing is possibleꎬ as long as there is no final conclusion. Todayꎬ we don ' t lack the results of meridian re ̄

search. Howeverꎬ meridians still remain confusing and mysterious. The study of meridians is one with the big ̄

gest investment and also the most embarrassing project

in the field of acupuncture and moxibustion. It is said that we have taken a round about way in the research of meridians. Yet even soꎬ it is a path that we cannot de ̄

tourꎬ because we trust our eyes too much. Along this detourꎬ we almost met with meridiansꎬ but after all we didn't see its face clearly.

The understanding of meridians is challenging the

limit of human wisdom. Some have been asserting that

the development of science in the future will definitely

reveal the essence of meridians and this predictionꎬ I hopeꎬ can come true.

The Formation of Meridians Human civilizations have their evolution character ̄

ized by their biological traits and meridians have their e ̄ volution shaped by the features of ancient Chinese civi ̄ lization.

103


Magnificent Meridians

An assumption has it that occasional touch on cer ̄

tain parts of the body in the earliest life and labor led to the elimination of pain and other discomforts. Conse ̄ quentlyꎬ some specific locations evolved into acupoints.

Connecting related acupoints into a line leads to a me ̄ ridian. This speculation sounds plausibleꎬ but is it real ̄ ly the origin of meridians?

The question why there are meridians is the same as

the question of why there are nervesꎬ because both of

them are essential to life. All human needs are derived from the central nervous systemꎬ where thinking occurs.

The thinking of ancient people was the starting point for us to get to know meridians.

At their first sight of the worldꎬ our ancestors saw

rolling mountains extend linearly along a certain direc ̄ tion. Mountains were the images with which our ances ̄

tors established the concept of routes. Thereuponꎬ there were mountain veins (ranges) ꎬ water veins and blood

veinsꎬ which came down in one continuous line. Before the Han Dynastyꎬ the basic meaning of veins was route. The concept of meridians is evolved from " veins" .

People look up to observe the sky and look down to

study the earth. The ancients had no instruments or e ̄

quipmentꎬ so observation was the only way for them to 104


get to know the worldꎬ as it is remarked in Xici in The Book of Changes: " Looking up at the sky for astronomy and looking down at the earth for geography are how we acquire knowledge and learn about the world." There are high and low mountains. When people stand upꎬ the

highest place is the head (top) ꎬ and the lowest place is the foot (bottom) . Thereforeꎬ we call the highest place of the mountain range the head (top) or top of the mountainꎬ the lowest place the foot or bottom of the

mountainꎬ and the middle position the hillside. This is

called " taking the images far and near as examples" ꎬ namelyꎬ comparing Nature with manꎬ which has devel ̄ oped into a thinking paradigm of analogy. Laterꎬ analo ̄

gy became the most important knack for the acquirement

and application of traditional Chinese Medicine. With thisꎬ man and Nature are closely connected.

Turning eyes from magnificent mountains down to

the groundꎬ the ancients saw ceaseless running riversꎬ and they must wonder: Where is the river of life? Mountain ranges and river channels enlightened the self

- knowledge of early humansꎬ which started the journey

to explore the lifeline of the human body. Regrettablyꎬ no complete records about the course of the journey are kept and all that are left are things fragmented.

It is remarked in the Exogenous Pathogen of Lingshu 105


( « 灵枢􀅰邪客» ) that " The earth has twelve great

riversꎬ and man has twelve regular meridians in the

body." The Twelve Great Rivers in Lingshu ( « 灵枢􀅰 经水» ) is a chapter focusing on the correspondence between twelve regular meridians and twelve great riv ̄

ers. To be specificꎬ the Taiyang Bladder Meridian of

Foot corresponds to the Qingshui River ( 清 水) ꎬ the

Shaoyang Kidney Meridian of Foot to the Weishui River ( 渭水) ꎬ the Yangming Stomach Meridian of Foot to the Haishui River ( 海水) ꎬ the Taiyin Spleen Meridian of Foot to the Hushui River ( 湖水) ꎬ the Shaoyin Heart Meridian of Foot to the Rushui River ( 汝水) ꎬ the Juey ̄

in Liver Meridian of Foot to the Mianshui River ( 沔 水) ꎬ the Taiyang Small Intestine Meridian of Hand the Huaishui River ( 淮水) ꎬ the ShaoYang Triple Energy Meridian of Hand to the Luoshui River ( 漯 水) ꎬ the Yangming Large Intestine Meridian of Hand to the Jian ̄

gshui River ( 江 水 ) ꎬ the Taiyin Lung Meridian of Hand the Heshui River ( 河 水) ꎬ the Shaoyin Heart

Meridian of Hand to the Jishui River ( 济水) ꎬ and the Jueyin Pericardium Meridian of Hand to the Zhangshui

River ( 漳 水) . Todayꎬ twelve rivers recorded in the early geological documents have already " changed be ̄

yond recognition" . By no means will we believe their corresponding relationship with twelve meridiansꎬ but it 106


is exactly a cognition that people reached at that time.

The map above is based on the ink drawing of the

Yuji Map engraved in 1136 AD. According to the re ̄

cords about the corresponding relationship between twelve meridians of the human body and twelve rivers in nature in Lingshu 􀅰 Jingshuiꎬ the corresponding rela ̄

tionship between them is marked by black and gray lines. The black line represents the river corresponding to the Yang meridianꎬ while the gray line represents the river corresponding to the Yin meridian. [ The original

drawing is cited from The History Volume (First Part) in the Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion Communica ̄ tion Volume.]

Mysterious Numbers

A scientistꎬ whose name I have forgotꎬ once said

that the laws of the universe are embodied in simple numbers.

Sima Qian believed what Bian Que said about " mai

(meridians) " and wrote in the Records of Historiansꎬ " So farꎬ the first one talking about mai (meridians) is

Bian Que " . What were the meridians that Bian Que mentioned? Bian Que was a well - known medical doctor

during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Period of Warring States (770B. C. - 221B. C) . All knowledge 107


about the meridians at that age has been recorded in three booksꎬ i. e. Eleven Meridians of Foot and Hand for Acupuncture and Moxibustionꎬ Eleven Meridians of

Yin and Yang for Acupuncture and Moxibustionꎬ both written on silk and unearthed from the No. 3 tomb of Mawangdui Tombs of the Han Dynastyꎬ Changshaꎬ Hu ̄

nan Provinceꎬ in 1971ꎬ and the Classic of Meridiansꎬ written on bamboo slips and excavated from a tomb of

the Han Dynasty in Zhangjiashang Mountainsꎬ Jianglin Countyꎬ Hubei Province between December 1983 and January 1984. They are the records of the earliest litera ̄ ture about meridians we can see.

Eleven Meridians of Foot and Hand for Acupuncture

and Moxibustion may have been completed in the Spring and Autumn Period (770B. C. - 476 B. C. ) ꎬ which indicates 6 meridians of lower limbs pertaining to feet (foot meridians) and 5 meridians of upper limbs belong ̄

ing to the hand (hand meridians) . Eleven meridians were arrayed with foot meridians prior to hand meridi ̄

ansꎬ basically circulating from the ends of limbs to the

chest and belly or the head and face. Eleven Meridians of Yin and Yang for Acupuncture and Moxibustion was written in two stylesꎬ slightly later than the Eleven Me ̄ ridians of Foot and Hand for Acupuncture and Moxibus ̄

tion. The formerꎬ based on the latterꎬ has made great 108


adjustments and supplements about the circulating path ̄

ways of 11 meridians and major diseases. Additionallyꎬ it determines the sequence of meridians with Yin merid ̄

ians preceding Yang meridiansꎬ nine of which stretch from limbs to the bodyꎬ contrary to the humeral vein

and the Shaoyin Kidney Meridian of Footꎬ circulating from head or lower abdomen to the ends of limbs.

Meridians were respectively independent and irrele ̄

vant in the era when books written on silk were predomi ̄ nately available. The pale lines on the silk books be ̄ came the beginning of people's understanding of meridi ̄

ans. At the earliest timesꎬ the ancients marked eleven meridians on human bodies. Why was it eleven instead of twelve? What makes the difference? The mystery of meridians starts from numbers.

Number worship is embedded in our genesꎬ which

can be seen from the carefully selected wedding day.

The magic of numbers may be attributed to its nature as

a gameꎬ or as an expression of implication. No matter which way it isꎬ in Chinaꎬ during the period of more than 500 yearsꎬ at least from the 12th year of King Mu of the Zhou (965 BC) to the extinction of Zhibo (453

BC) ꎬ five and six had been a pair of mysterious digitsꎬ exerting widespread influence on our life.

As for five and sixꎬ it is said in the Zhou State (The 109


Second Part) of the Discourse of States that " The heaven

manifests six meteorological phenomena (Yinꎬ Yangꎬ windꎬ rainꎬ darkness and brightness) while the earth holds five elements (metalꎬ woodꎬ waterꎬ fire and earth

) which is a common sense about numbersꎬ with the heaven as longitude and the earth as latitude." The lon ̄

gitude of the heaven and the latitude of earth are both

remarkableꎬ naturallyꎬ so are six and five. According to the Commentary of Zuoꎬ in 541 B. C.ꎬ Yi Heꎬ a well - known doctor from the Qin Stateꎬ was invited to see King Ping of the Jin State. In his diagnostic analysisꎬ he explained that " The heaven has six meteorological phe ̄ nomenaꎬ exerting influence on the earthꎬ which is man ̄

ifested in five flavors (sourꎬ bitterꎬ sweatꎬ pungent and salty) ꎬ five colors (greenꎬ redꎬ yellowꎬ white and black ) and five musical notations (doꎬ reꎬ miꎬ solꎬ la) ."

That represents the early application of numbers in med ̄

icine. Chinese ancients assumed that five and six were the " constants of numbers " . Although it is different from Einstein 's cosmological constantꎬ it is the digital

cosmology of that eraꎬ just like 365 days in a year and 7 days in a week.

Six and five add up to elevenꎬ hence becoming the

sum of constants. The increasing amount of knowledge about Yin and Yang as well as clinical experience 110


brought about 11 meridiansꎬ with numbers indicating u ̄

niversal phenomena and Yin and Yang as the guiding principles.

A human being has only five Zang - organs (heartꎬ

liverꎬ spleenꎬ lungsꎬ kidneys) ꎬ while the Discourses of

States said the earth holds five elements. Is it a sheer coincidence or implicit correspondence? There are so many things told and untold. Howeverꎬ " The heaven -

based six and earth - based five" may be derived from the Chinese calendar.

Yellow Emperor defeated Chi Youꎬ a powerful and

brutal tribe leaderꎬ with arduous endeavors and the help of the Empyrean Fairyꎬ a Taoist goddess versed in war ̄ craftꎬ who instructed him in person about military tac ̄

tics and strategies. Laterꎬ he consulted Guangchengziꎬ a Taoist masterꎬ about self - cultivation and state adminis ̄ trationꎬ before riding a dragon to the land of the immor ̄

tal. In astronomyꎬ he innovatively numbered years with Jiaziꎬ the first year of a 60 - year cycle on the stem -

branch calendar of Chinese calendar. Legendarilyꎬ it is said that on a day in 2697 B. C.ꎬ it happened to be the time when five stars were linked together in astronomy and the time when Yellow Emperor ascended the throne and that very moment was designated as the first Jiazi

Yearꎬ Jiazi Monthꎬ Jiazi Dayꎬ and Jiazi Hour. The day 111


with five stars linked together marks the initiation of stem - branch calendar and the moment for Yellow Em ̄

perorꎬ the ancestor of Chinese cultureꎬ to ascend the throneꎬ so it naturally became the onset of the Chinese calendar.

Calendar is an ancient science. It is the Chinese cal ̄

endar that tells time in the light of tenTiangan (heavenly

stems) ꎬ including Jiaꎬ Yiꎬ Bingꎬ Dingꎬ Wuꎬ Jiꎬ Gengꎬ Xinꎬ Renꎬ and Guiꎬ and twelve Dizhi (earthly

branches) ꎬ involving Ziꎬ Chouꎬ Yinꎬ Maoꎬ Chenꎬ Siꎬ Wuꎬ Weiꎬ Shenꎬ Youꎬ Xu and Hai. As early as the Yin and Shang Dynastiesꎬ Tiangan and Dizhi were used to record the daysꎬ months and years. Both matched

with each other. Sixty was a cycle. In this cycleꎬ the

heavenly stem cycles six timesꎬ the earth branch cycles five timesꎬ for which " The heaven - based six and the earth - based five" came into being. Inspired by the mys ̄

tery of five and sixꎬ the ancients believed human beings were transformed from the Qi of the universe. Specifical ̄

ly speakingꎬ they maintained that humans lived on the Qi of the heaven and earthꎬ became mature in accord ̄

ance with the laws of four seasons and generated their five zang - organs and six - organs. From this point of

viewꎬ man has his constitution corresponding to the number of days. 112


Just like we will no longer think that there is only

one sun in the universeꎬ people's cognition is constantly improving. Five plus six equals elevenꎬ which was no longer the criterion of Taoism and the law in the Han Dynasty. Twelve began to gain favor.

The Bible says that there are four rivers in the Gar ̄

den of Eden. Coincidentallyꎬ Huainanzi says that there are four rivers in the world. No one knows why God cre ̄ ated four rivers in the Garden of Edenꎬ but the four riv ̄

ers flowing on the Divine Land of China are supposed to

be coordinated with " Four seasons of the nature " ꎬ which has 12 months. In the era of simple world - out ̄ lookꎬ the law made for human beings by heaven started

with the yearꎬ the month and the day. It is said in the Separate Discussion of Yin and Yang of the Suwen that

" Huangdi asked Qiboꎬ 'Human body has four channels (channels of heartꎬ liverꎬ lungs and kidneys) and twelve branches or collaterals. What does that mean? '.

Qibo answeredꎬ 'Four channels correspond to four sea ̄

sonsꎬ twelve branches or collaterals correspond to twelve months that correspond to twelve regular meridians '."

Similarlyꎬ Five Parts of Disorders in the Lingshu saysꎬ " Twelve regular meridians in the human body corre ̄ spond to twelve months."

Numbersꎬ once escalated to a kind of theoryꎬ turn 113


into criteria. For this reasonꎬ there are 12 gods in divi ̄

nationꎬ 12 chambers in Mingtang (Bright Hall) ꎬ 12 gates in the capital of a countryꎬ 12 emblazonments in the garments of emperors and 12 musical temperaments.

Even the first part of Sima Qian's Records of Historians has 12 volumes exclusively on the life and achievements

of emperors. Twelveꎬ what a divine and solemn digit! Its significance is summed up in The Seventh Year of King Aigong of the Zuo's Commentary: " The Zhou Dy ̄ nasty stipulated the rules of etiquettes since its unifica ̄ tion of the whole world. The finest tribute shall not ex ̄

ceed twelve articlesꎬ because twelve is the great number decided by the heaven."

Here are the examples of twelve in the theoretical

system of TCM.

" All those between the heaven and the earthꎬ and all within the universe are interconnected with Heaven -

Qiꎬ such as nine states of Chinaꎬ nine orifices in the human bodyꎬ five - zang organs and twelve channels."

———Discussion on the Interrelationship Between Life

and Nature of Suwen

" The collaterals of twelve channels are all distribu ̄

ted in the skin regions." ———Discussion on Skin Divi ̄ sions

" Five zang - organs have six fu - organs while six fu -

114


organs have twelve primary acupoints."

———Comprehensive Discussion on Acupoints of Ling ̄

shu (Spirit Pivot)

" There are twelve sections of acupoints to adapt

themselves to pathological changes of twelve regular me ̄ ridians." ——— Proper Application of Acupuncture Nee ̄ dles of Lingshu

" In twelve contraindications aboveꎬ the vital Qi of

patients is disordered and disperse with dysfunctional

supply of nutrients and defensive Qiꎬ in addition to the insufficiency of meridian Qi. When acupuncture is ap ̄ pliedꎬ Yang diseases will involve Yinꎬ while Yin disea ̄

ses will turn into Yang. As a resultꎬ pathogenic factors stage a comeback." ———The Systematic Principle of Ac ̄ upuncture of Lingshu

" Yellow Emperor asked Qiboꎬ 'I was told that hu ̄

man body was constituted to correspond to the universe. Interiorlyꎬ five - zang organs are related to Nature in five musical scalesꎬ five colorsꎬ five flavors and five direc ̄ tions. Exteriorlyꎬ the six - fu organs echo with six tem ̄

peraments. Six temperaments have both Yin and Yang in

natureꎬ responding to six Yin meridians and six Yang meridians of the hand and the foot respectively. Six tem ̄

peraments of Yin and Yang are made up of twelve monthsꎬ 12 chens (two - hour periods) ꎬ 12 solar termsꎬ 115


12 great riversꎬ 12 hours and 12 meridians. That is how five - zang organs and six - fu organs of the human body

correspond to different perspectives of Nature '" . ——— On Collaterals of Lingshu

" Twelve pathological changes mentioned above are

all caused by the invasion of pathogenic factors through orifices" . ———Oral Account of Lingshu

" All the dreams aroused by twelve kinds of exuber ̄

ance above can be traced to their relative pathogenic factors. With acupuncture to evacuate excessive patho ̄

genic factorsꎬ normal physiological functions can be brought back very soon."

———Dreaming Caused by Exuberant Pathogenic

Factors of Lingshu

" A year has twelve months. Correspondinglyꎬ the

human body has twelve channels." " We must first know the beginning and the end of twelve meridians as well as the cold and heat of the skin."

——— Pathogenic Factors of Lingshu

" A year has twelve monthsꎬ and a day has 12

chens (two - hour periods) . Zi (23: 00 - 01: 00) repre ̄ sents northꎬ and Wu (11: 00 - 13: 00) represents

southꎬ belonging to longitudeꎻ Mao (05: 00 - 07: 00) denotes east and You (15: 00 - 17: 00) stands for westꎬ belonging to latitude." ———The Circulation of 116


Defensive Qi of Lingshu

" The six treating needles are analogized to six lv

temperamentsꎬ including six Yang temperaments and six Yin temperaments. Twelve temperaments correspond to twelve meridians of the human body. The invasion of pathogenic deficiency into meridians will cause acute at ̄

tack of arthralgia." ———Discussion on Nine Kinds of Needles of Lingshu

Whether it is eleven or twelveꎬ the glamour of the

constant affects the construction of the meridian system.

Meridiansꎬ a Free - hand Brushwork

Meridians originally refer to mai (vein) ꎬ or passages

and routes which are used for transportation. Yetꎬ what

was exactly transported in the mai remained confusing to people until the Han Dynastyꎬ when they seemingly as ̄

sumed that " blood" circulated in the mai. It was said in Great Rivers in Lingshu that " A human of eight - chi (a ̄ bout 8. 7 feet) is constituted by skinꎬ fleshꎬ blood and

vessels. When he is aliveꎬ extrocorperal survey can be

doneꎻ when he is deadꎬ his body may be dissected for careful observation." By anatomyꎬ the ancients must have seen a structure of the human body - vesselsꎬ and

blood flowing in the vessels. Thereforeꎬ according to

Discussion on the Essentials of Pulse in the Suwen ꎬ 117


" Mai (Channels) is the house of blood" . Some simply

changed the “ 月” in “ 脉” into “ 血” ꎬ making a new character with “ 血” on the left and “ 永” on the right.

" Mai (vessels) is the house of blood" which was the

clearest cognition about body constitution. Since thenꎬ blood vessels have not been mysterious any more. Hu ̄

man beings are connected by blood and vesselsꎬ thus becoming a symbol of the nearest and dearest relation ̄ ship.

Neverthelessꎬ in the following two thousand yearsꎬ

the concept of blood and meridians has not been clearꎬ and experts have been constantly arguing about it.

No matter how many data have been quoted by the " blood - vessel theory" ꎬ supporters to verify that mai and blood vessels are the sameꎬ the concept of mai won

't be bound to develop into blood vesselsꎬ because there is an ancient and charming thing in the mai - - Qi. Mai

Qiꎬ mentioned in the Collected Biographies of Bianque and Chun Yuyi of the Records of Historiansꎬ is truly an inseparable symbol with blood vessels. The " blood ves ̄

sel theory" in history is an improvement in the eyes of

the reductionists. If Chinese medical sages had carried

out this paradigm forwardꎬ maybe William Harvey wouldn't have been the founder of the blood circulation theoryꎬ and medicine would have been another story. 118


TCM defines Qi as the minimum substance consis ̄

ting of lifeꎬ naturally more important than blood. Defi ̄ nitelyꎬ matter is certain to present its functions. Com ̄

pared with the pattern of manifestation of function based

on anatomy in Western Medicineꎬ " Qi transformation" ꎬ originated from the Taishi Tianyuan Star Mapsꎬ is a basic form of expressive function of traditional Chinese

Medicine. With the " transformation" of Qiꎬ meridians and viscera are vigorous. For this reasonꎬ Qi has turned into a paradigm for TCM practitioners to understand life.

We can't see meridians because we can't see Qi. In ̄

visible and intangible as it isꎬ Qi of life is inseparable from dietꎬ as we know. According to The Special Discus ̄ sion on Channels and Vessels of Sunwenꎬ " When drink ̄ ing water enters the stomachꎬ Jing Oi (VitalQi) is dis ̄

tributed around and transported to the spleen. The spleen distributes and transports the essence upward to

lungs. Lungs regulate water passage and transport water to the bladder. In this wayꎬ the essence of water is dis ̄

tributed all through the body and into the channels of five - zang organs􀆺" . As far as we knowꎬ the most simi ̄ lar concept to Qi is " energy" .

Qi (energy) in its movementsꎬ demonstrates differ ̄

ent life phenomena and functionsꎬ making it possible to divide meridians. The shift from " Mai Qi (vein Qi) " 119


in Collected Biographies of Bianque and Chun Yuyi of Records of Historians to the " Jing Qi (meridian Qi) "

in the Inner Canon of Yellow Emperor is a forward stride in TCM understanding. Meridian system is divided into

straight vessels and branch collaterals. Twelve regular meridians include Taiyin Lung Meridian of Handꎬ Juey ̄ in Pericardium Meridian of Handꎬ Shaoyin Heart Merid ̄

ians of Handꎬ Yangming Large Intestine Meridian of Handꎬ Taiyang Triple Energy Meridian of Handꎬ Taiy ̄ ang Small Intestine Meridian of Handꎬ Yangming Stom ̄

ach Meridian of Footꎬ Shaoyang Gallbladder Meridian of

Footꎬ Taiyang Bladder Meridian of Footꎬ Taiyin Spleen Meridian of Footꎬ Jueyin Liver Meridian of Foot and Taiyin Kidney Meridian of Foot. Twelve regular meridi ̄ ans divide Qi into twelve major morphological catego ̄

riesꎬ from which eight extraordinary meridiansꎬ fifteen

divergent collaterals and twelve meridian divergencesꎬ to name but a fewꎬ are derived. The number of meridi ̄ ans may be theoreticalꎬ but the idea of creating meridi ̄

ans is practical. It manifests another interpretation of the body structure. Compared with the anatomical lines de ̄

picted by Leonardo da Vinciꎬ the meridian system is a piece of freehand brushwork.

Conclusion made by man can by no means get rid of

human limitations completely. Depictions of meridians 120


made by the ancients are various. It is not surprising that things of freehand may change with subjective pref ̄ erence and perception.

The earliest meridianroutes might have been drawn

according to the circulation of " Qi" presented by spe ̄

cial people in a special stateꎬ such as special practice or receiving stimulation on body surface. They authenti ̄ cally manifested some phenomena of life activities. Per ̄

sonallyꎬ descriptions about the movement of meridians at early stage were justified for most parts. We have no reason to deny the perception of the ancients toward lifeꎬ because of our own functional degeneration today.

Regarding the formation of meridiansꎬ there is such

a saying: " Meridians come before acupoints" . The pro ̄

ponents maintain that the closeness of the ancients to Nature enabled them to have greater access to feeling the " flow" of Qi. In their point of viewꎬ meridians are the circulating paths of Qi summarized by practitioners. The assertion of " Meridians coming before acupoints"

found its favorable witness in the earliest meridian mon ̄ ographꎬ i. e. Eleven Meridians of Foot and Hand for Ac ̄

upuncture and Moxibustionꎬ which exclusively expounds eleven meridiansꎬ with no trace of acupoints. This is one of the understandings about the origin of meridians.

Of courseꎬ there is another assumption of " Meridians 121


coming after acupoints" ꎬ which will be explicated in the ensuing chapter.

What Has Changed the Direction of Meridians?

The proven literature shows that the specific defini ̄

tion of acupoints hadn't taken shape when that of merid ̄ ians came into being. The lost early documents of merid ̄ ians lead to an ambiguous relationship between meridi ̄

ans and acupoints. Consequentlyꎬ an increasing number of people embrace the presumption of " Meridians coming after acupoints" .

In ancient timesꎬ when people subconsciously tou ̄

ched a part of the bodyꎬ or bumped into it unconscious ̄ lyꎬ the pain or discomfort on the very position was re ̄ lievedꎬ and this position became an acupoint in embryo.

With deeper understanding about those pointsꎬ they

found that some points had fixed positions and functions relativelyꎬ thus starting the description of them. In the endꎬ ancient physicians analyzed and classified the dis ̄

covered acupoints based on their major functions. When

they drew a line between those of similar effectsꎬ there

came meridians whose later association with viscera brought about a chart of meridian - viscera. That seems to sound logic in inference.

From the Han Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty (202B. C.

122


- 420 A. D. ) ꎬ acupoints had experienced a booming

period. The 160 acupoints that were clearly marked with names in The Inner Canon of Yellow Emperor surged up to 349 acupoints in the A - B Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion authored by Huangfu Mi. How did the soar ̄

ing 189 acupoints come from? Huangfu Mi failed to make it clear. In the Qing Dynastyꎬ Li Xuechuan added another 12 acupoints in his Literature Compilation of Ac ̄ upunctureꎬ fixing 361 acupoints on meridians.

The abundant number of acupoints are bound to

have their originsꎬ since everything must be connectedꎬ which were the ideals and conviction of ancient Chinese.

Thereforeꎬ in 1341ꎬ Hua Shou managed to classify sev ̄ eral hundred acupoints into 14 meridians. The great in ̄

novation was represented in his Elucidation of Fourteen

Channels which has earned great fame as a masterpiece

for science of acupuncture and moxibustion. Acupoints have dotted a " perfect" outline of meridiansꎬ and the " dead angles" as well. These " dead angles" make the

flow of Qi and bloodꎬ which used to be mellow and fullꎬ not so smooth and freeꎬ causing changes in the original directions of meridians.

As it often happensꎬ anything with abundant supply

is reduced to be unvalued. Great development in acu ̄

pointsꎬ now up to 361ꎬ conducive to improving the 123


scroll of meridian system thoughꎬ failed to demonstrate their clinic value. There is no lack of people who can

reel off the names of 361 acupoints even backwards since ancient timesꎬ yet it is no easy job to locate differ ̄

ent acupoints within a very small range. The number of

points that really work is still unknownꎬ but I believe some special parts must exist on the surface of the hu ̄

man bodyꎬ where mysterious functions we know or do not know are performed.

Flawed as what meridians may look like in our eyesꎬ

the significance of meridians is not an illusion. Whether our fascination with meridians brings about our belief in

their existence or our belief leads to our fascinationꎬ once habits become second natureꎬ they change us mentally and psychologically. All kinds of learning in the world start from and end up with experience.

The Dredging of Meridians The basic idea of meridians is marked by smooth

circulation and releaseꎬ which is the survival wisdom summarized by ancient Chinese and can be accepted as our way of life.

124


The Memory about Flood

In Western Medicineꎬ there are not many concepts

related to " tong" (smooth circulation and release) ꎬ but

in the system of TCM acupuncture and moxibustionꎬ the smooth circulation and release of meridians are almost the sole core concept. It is said in the Inner Canon of Yellow Emperor that " Meridians play a decisive role be ̄

tween life and deathꎬ because they can deal with a

number of diseases and regulate deficiency and excess syndromes. Thereforeꎬ it is necessary for meridians to maintain smooth circulation." Alsoꎬ The Inner Canon of

Yellow Emperor said that " Making meridians smooth is the prerequisite for regulating Qi and blood." " Tong"

entails all the principles of meridiansꎬ representing the basic epistemology and methodology of acupuncture and

moxibustion in preventing and treating diseases. Why did our ancestors particularly emphasize the smooth cir ̄ culation and release of meridians?

A historian whose name I have forgot once said that

flood changed our thinking. Tracing back to the origin of dredging meridians evokes our memory of the Great

Flood. Mythologicallyꎬ as far as 5000 years agoꎬ it was a time when the sky failed to shelter the world and the earth couldn't bear all things on itselfꎬ surging flood o ̄

verwhelming the universe. To rein the rampant Tianhe 125


River (Heaven River) from further pouringꎬ Nuwaꎬ a goddess of human creatorsꎬ made five - color stones to mend the broken sky successfully. The ancient legend

implies a most primitive idea that " Whenever the water risesꎬ we use earth to keep it back" .

In the reign of Zhuan Xuꎬ the earth was deluged by

floodꎬ and levee break forced the Yellow River to change its courses oftenꎬ inevitably posing great threat to people's survival. There emerged a hero named Gong ̄

gong who led people to build breakwaters against the flood. He adopted the strategy of " blocking" to control

the flood waterꎬ but failure repeated itself again and

gain. Though Gonggong was always an indomitable manꎬ he turned out to be a failure anyway. Under the rule of

Yao and Shunꎬ people were continuously plagued by

raging torrents. The Emperor Yao gave a helpless sigh: " Alas! The whole land is inundated by rising water. It surrounds the mountains and drowns the hillsꎬ about

which people are worried so much. Who can control the flood?" Gun or Chongbo was recommended with one ac ̄

cord. He followed the old ways of constructing dykes and dames against flood. Nine - year endeavors achieved little and he was put to death in Yushan Mountains by the Emperor Shunꎬ the successor of the Emperor Yao.

On the heels of Gun's deathꎬ Dayuꎬ continued his fa ̄ 126


ther's unfulfilled mission to tame the flood.

Dayuꎬ a man of wisdomꎬ drew on lessons from his

predecessors and employed a different approach. Instead

of blocking waterꎬ he dredged rivers and diverted water to flow in designated channels. Dayu worked hard for 13 years and finally made itꎬ the flood - stricken Central

Plain (comprising the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River) saw alleviation. To regulate rivers and watercoursesꎬ Dayu left his newly - married wife and daughter aloneꎬ passing by his house three times with ̄

out any stop. Passing by his home the third timeꎬ

though he heard his son Qi calling him daddyꎬ he didn' t stopꎬ just waving goodbye to his wife and son. Dayu

was thought highly of in The History of the Xia Dynasty of the Record of Historians. As the praise sings: " During the reign of Emperor Shunꎬ devastating flood wreaked havoc on the earthꎬ obstructing traffic and causing star ̄

vation. Dayu made assiduous efforts to dredge waterways and his hands and feet were full of calluses. Transferring from one kind of vehicle to anotherꎬ he kept trudging

hither and thither all the year round. He left behind his bride several days after their weddingꎬ too busy to get

home even passing by his house three times for public devotion. When the rivers of the whole nation were regu ̄

lated in good orderꎬ Dayu was awarded with a precious 127


black jade as a great honour."

Dayu became the first ruler of the Xia Dynasty thanks

to his merits and achievements. The disappearance of flood left the country with nine statesꎬ where people be ̄ gan to live and work in peace and contentment.

The touching story that Dayu tamed flood also en ̄

lightens people on their relationship with Nature. Zhi

( 治) ꎬ referring to state governanceꎬ was the name of an

ancient riverꎬ which began to benefit local people after having been dredged by Dayu. As a resultꎬ the name of

a river evolved into a kind of consciousnessꎬ denoting that “ 治” got a new meaning of governance and regula ̄ tion.

Due to different views on the riverꎬ a variety of civi ̄

lizations were born. Herodotusꎬ a historian of ancient Greeceꎬ famously said: " Egypt is the gift of Nile" . E ̄ gypt is a pearl bred by the flood of Nile. In ancient E ̄

gyptꎬ " flood" was a commendatory wordꎬ and ancient

Egyptians held a ceremony every year to pray to the riv ̄ er - god " Hapi" for timely flood. Ancient Indians had a very unique attitude towards Ganges. In their viewꎬ the " destruction" caused by the flood was for regeneration

and the Phoenix Nirvana. Thereforeꎬ ancient Indians were not afraid of Ganges flooding. According to Hindu ̄ ismꎬ the Ganges is the nearest place to the heaven. Peo ̄ 128


ple hope to die in the river nearest to the heavenꎬ so that they can avoid the suffering of samsara. For the two rivers of Babylon (Tigris and Euphrates) ꎬ the Sumeri ̄

ans left on the clay tablets such a poem: " No one can

fight against the rushing and roaring floodꎬ it shakes the heaven and makes the earth tremble." In the face of

such a floodꎬ Noah obeyed God's revelation and built a

huge ark. He led eight people in his family including his wifeꎬ three sons and daughters - in - law to hide in the ark when the flood came. The flood ravaged all lives on the earth. Only the lives in the ark were saved. There ̄

foreꎬ they are all descendants of Noah. This is the story

of Noah's Ark in the Bible. It seems that our ancestors had heard this story when they were creating Chinese charactersꎬ otherwise why did they make the “ 船 ”

(ship) with “ 八 (eight) 口 (mouth) added to the right

of 舟 ( boat) ” ? Whether it is a coincidence or notꎬ the idea of dredging flood looks more positive than dod ̄ ging flood in an ark.

Six Methods of Meridian Dredging

The long - term experience of ancient Chinese in har ̄

nessing water strengthened their confidence in harmoni ̄

ous coexistence with Nature. " Let Nature take its course and dredge floods instead of blocking them" is the mag ̄

ic key that man acquired for the first time for the belief 129


of " Man can conquer Nature" . The great Chinese nation founded by Dayu also adopted the “ 治 ( administer) ”

formed by “ 水 ( water ) for the meaning and 台 ( chancel ) for the sound” to rule the country. Since

thenꎬ dredging has been deeply rooted in people ' s

hearts. Meridians are rivers in the human body. Alsoꎬ with " Zhi (administer) " ꎬ the human body will be benefited. As a resultꎬ " dredging meridians " has e ̄

merged as the fundamental principle of acupuncture and moxibustion. It also sparked brilliant imagination of medical practitioners in ancient China.

Yellow Emperor said to Qibo: " I love my people.

They pay taxes to support officials of all levels. I feel so

sorry that they suffer from all kinds of illness constantly and fail to live longer than expected. I hope their pain

could be relieved without the administration of bitter

medicineꎬ nor the application of stone needles. Insteadꎬ merely with thin and small needles to dredge their me ̄ ridiansꎬ smooth movement of Qi and blood can be a ̄

chieved." This is the opening remark of Nine Kinds of Needles and Twelve Yuan Acupoints in the Yellow Emper ̄ or's Cannon of Medicine. The words above were not nec ̄ essarily uttered by Yellow Emperorꎬ but they did em ̄

body the wishes of medical experts of that era. There ̄ foreꎬ dredging meridians with needles has been the life - 130


long pursuit by medical doctors of later generations.

The blocked meridians can be caused by various

factorsꎬ which call for different approaches of dredging.

According to Meridians in the Lingshuꎬ " Meridian blockage due to the exuberance of Qi and blood should be treated by dredging and discharging. On the contra ̄

ryꎬ meridian blockage resulting from the insufficiency of

Qi and blood requires tonifying deficiency" . Meridians in the Lingshu also said: " Cold syndrome should be treated with longer retention of needlesꎬ yet hot syn ̄

drome with swift retention of needles." Both heat and

cold can cause obstruction of meridians. The former may well condense Yin bloodꎬ while the latter can freeze wa ̄

ter channels. Thereforeꎬ the meridian blockage caused by pathogenic cold requires longer stay of needles in

meridiansꎬ but meridian blockage caused by pathogenic heat requires shorter stay of needles to discharge the heat in the blood. What's moreꎬ meridian blockage can be manifested in the circulating directions of meridian

Qi. The Discussion on the Most Important and Abstruse Theory in Suwen said: " If Qi descendsꎬ it should be lif ̄ tedꎻ if Qi flows adversely upwardꎬ it should be inhibi ̄

ted." What is mentioned above is about six classic

methods of meridian dredging summarized in the Yellow Emperor's Cannon of Medicine.

131


The Ideology of Meridians

The ideology of meridians may be generalized with

one word “ 通 (smooth movement) ” .

“ 通” is composed of “ 辶 (walking) ” and “ 甬

(path) ” : where there is a pathꎬ there is “ 通 (pass) ” . Howeverꎬ most of the timeꎬ the path we walk

on makes us very “ 痛 (painful) ” . “ 痛 (pain) ” is the “ 甬 ( path) ” with “ 疒” added above. Much of our pain is because we have no path to walk on. Accord ̄

ing to the theory of acupuncture and moxibustionꎬ " The failure of smooth flow of Qi and blood leads to pain" .

Coldness is the major factor of obstructed meridians.

Just as rivers in winter are frozen and fail to nourish the earth with their " milk" ꎬ there come health troubles.

The illness in winter is “ 疼 (ache) ” ꎬ because meridi ̄

ans get frozen and blocked when they are attacked by the cold. Blockage in meridians is a sign of diseases.

From this perspectiveꎬ the cold is apt to result in ill ̄

ness. Whether it is cold weather or the cold heartꎬ they

are respectively concerned with “ 疼 (ache) ” . Ache is pain. Ache and pain are not separatedꎬ usually termed as “ 疼痛” (pain) ꎬ which is the medical science em ̄ bodied in words.

Since " coldness" has caused various pains on usꎬ

we need warmthꎬ i. e. warmth from familiesꎬ friends or 132


societyꎬ any of which will help Qi and blood flow freely within our meridians. Thereforeꎬ what circulates in me ̄ ridians not only includes Qi and bloodꎬ but also human ̄ itarian care and benevolent sincerity of great physicians.

I have seen many practitioners of meridians become

models of life. On October 23ꎬ 2016ꎬ a seminar on the

inheritance of academic thoughts of Guo Chengjie ( 郭 诚杰) ꎬ a master of traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ was held in Xianyangꎬ an ancient capital. Some scholars summarized Professor Guo ' s academic propositions as

four approaches of " Shu ( 疏ꎬ dredging) ꎬ Tong ( 通ꎬ circulating) ꎬ Bu ( 补ꎬ tonifying) and Tiao ( 调ꎬ regu ̄ lating) " and the principle of " taking liver as the piv ̄ ot" . Howeverꎬ in my opinionꎬ what Profession Guo ad ̄

vocates is " smooth circulation" . " Taking liver as the pivot corresponds to " dredgingꎬ circulatingꎬ tonifying and regulating " ꎬ in that the function of liver is de ̄

scribed classically as " governing the free flow of Qi and blood " . Shuowen Jiezi ( the Paraphrasing Texts and Words) explains that Shu ( dredging) is Tong ( smooth

circulation) and Xie ( discharge ) means water. Gao You of the East Han Dynasty interpreted in his Annota ̄

ted Version of Huai Nan Ziꎬ " Xie (discharge) refers to Tong (smooth circulation) " . The idea of " dredging the waterway" is the philosophical heritage of Dayu ' s ta ̄ 133


ming flood. Professor Guo's clinical thoughts mentioned above serve as practical annotations on the meridian ide ̄ ology centered by free flowꎬ which is applicable for trea ̄

ting diseases and healing the soul. Free flow is needed in meridiansꎬ Qiꎬ blood and zang - fu visceraꎬ and also in our thinkingꎬ will and spiritꎬ which Professor Guo a ̄

dopts ed as his therapeutic principles and his principles of heath maintenance. Based on this viewꎬ it is not diffi ̄

cult to understand why Professor Guoꎬ aged 97ꎬ is still hale and hearty with agile mindꎬ and keeps having out ̄

patient visits twice a week. In the light of his persistent pursuit well combined with personal characters of humil ̄ ity and affabilityꎬ no surprisinglyꎬ he still shines bright ̄ ly on the stage of life.

Corresponding to " The failure of smooth flow of Qi

and blood leads to pains " ꎬ another saying goes like this: " Pain is caused by the failure of smooth flow of Qi

and blood." Pain is the most common response of the

body to injury. It is the language of the bodyꎬ telling us that meridians are blocked. In addition to the coldꎬ me ̄ ridian blockage may appear with many inappropriate be ̄

haviors in lifeꎬ such as excessive or inadequate dietꎬ undue fatigue or easeꎬ anxiety or depression or other disequilibrium. Thusꎬ it is cited as a description closest

to the essence of meridians in the Inner Canon of Yellow 134


Emperor that " Meridians play a decisive role between life and deathꎬ because they can deal with a number of

diseases and regulate deficiency and excess. For this reasonꎬ smooth circulation of Qi and blood in meridians is quite necessary." It is the description closest to the essence of meridians.

Meridians are the core of acupuncture and moxibus ̄

tion. The thought of meridians makes acupuncture

students energetic. It not only guides medical practiceꎬ but also influences our lifestyleꎬ which is reflected in many aspects of life.

Dayu's thought of flood control has deeply affected

the primitive soul of the Chinese nation. It is engraved

in our bodies in the language and form of meridians. The logic of life is that everything must be in smooth circula ̄ tion.

135


Chapter 4 Mysterious Qi

Qi is invisibleꎬ but energeticꎬ just like vision which

is invisible but powerful.

Qi in the East The thought of Qi satisfies our wish for " One world and one dream" . Qi is a non - empirical existence.

Diverse Manifestations of Qi

We are accustomed to defining our impression of

somebody with Qizhi (temperament) or Qichang (dispo ̄ sition) . " Qi" can distinguish different peopleꎬ for ex ̄

ampleꎬ people with Junren Qi (military mien) ꎬ Shujuan Qi (scholar mien) ꎬ Fei Qi (brigand manner) or Guanqi (official manner) . " Qi" can also differentiate spiritual outlooksꎬ including Jun Qi (handsome spirit) ꎬ Ruiqi (invincible spirit) ꎬ Caiqi (literary and artistic spirit)

and Sangqi (crestfallen spirit) and others. Moreoverꎬ 136


" Qi" can categorize visceral functions into kidney Qiꎬ liver Qiꎬ spleen Qi and heart Qi. In a wordꎬ Qi has

seemingly covered all our understanding of the worldꎬ and with an attribute put before itꎬ the distinctive char ̄

acteristics of different things come to us vividly. Of

courseꎬ what we crave most is what Mencius said as the " awe - inspiring righteousness" ꎬ which can resist the at ̄ tack of diseases and safeguard our mental health.

Just like mountain ranges and water veins inspiring

people with the outline of meridiansꎬ when the ancients began to understand Natureꎬ " cloud" was one of the most direct scenes they saw. As interpreted in the Shuo ̄

wen Jiezi ( Paraphrasing Texts and Words) ꎬ " Cloud is the Qi of mountains and rivers." Then what is Qi of the

mountains and rivers? The book also said: " Qi means cloud Qiꎬ image - like." Furtherꎬ Duan Yucai explained that " Qi is like the rising cloud." The shape of Qi in Xiaozhuan (small seal style) also looks like the rise of clouds. In shortꎬ from the beginningꎬ Qi has been with ̄ in clouds and fog.

The scene veiled by clouds is misty and mysteriousꎬ

arousing a sense of beauty. The beauty of Qi lies in its

constant derivations and changes. Aristotle once said: " There is something that consists of everything. Every ̄

thing originates from it and finally returns to it. As an 137


entityꎬ it remains identical forever in nature" . Is it Qi that Aristotle mentioned?

Qiꎬ which seems to have no definite connotation nor

extensionꎬ can explain the universe and Natureꎬ society and ethicsꎬ spirit and temperamentꎬ life and health. In the history of Chinaꎬ politicsꎬ religionꎬ humanitiesꎬ ge ̄

ographyꎬ and medicineꎬ Qi is everywhere. The evolution

history of the word " Qi" is a history of Chinese thoughts.

Qi and Tao ( WAYS)

Thoughts are the most enigmatic. By natureꎬ they

take place when the brain molecules collide after receiv ̄

ing external information. What is produced in the brain has been processed alreadyꎬ and the distinction between the truth and the falsity lies in the perspective. Actual ̄

lyꎬ there are no ideas that are right or wrong in the

world. It is thoughts that make them good or bad. For human beingsꎬ the ultimate " thinking" and " thoughts"

have been inseparable from the " Heavenly Questions

(questions to God) " : Where did the world come from? Where will it go? Where did humans come from? Where will they go? Confusion about the answers is the root of our deepest suffering.

Where did the world come from? People have been

138


answering the question since the concept of Tao (the natural law) was proposed. When the character Tao ( 道) is separatedꎬ it means the “ 辶 ( walking) ” of

“ 首 ( head ) ” . The most striking function of “ 首 ( head) ” is thinking. Lao Ziꎬ a great thinker and phi ̄

losopher of ancient Chinaꎬ lived in the period from 571 B. C. to 471 B. C. What's moreꎬ he was a representa ̄

tive of wise men. Legendarilyꎬ Lao Zi was born with white eyebrows and mustache and that was how he got

his nameꎬ Lao refers to the old ageꎬ and Zi denotes a

boy. Alternativelyꎬ he was also addressed as Li (his family name) Er (ear) due to his unusually big ears. Lao Zi saidꎬ " Tao ( 道) produces One (primordial Qi) .

One produces Two (Yin and Yang) . Two produces Three (heavenꎬ earth and man) . Three produces all things." From this respectꎬ " Tao" is the originator of all things in the universeꎬ but it is so elusive and ab ̄ stract that it leaves the coming generation with consider ̄

able room for imagination. A modern interpretation that

makes sense maintains that the " Tao" of Lao Zi refers

to the natural lawꎬ that isꎬ the rotation of the galaxyꎬ the alternation of the sun and the moonꎬ the changes of weatherꎬ and the life - cycle of birthꎬ agingꎬ illness and death. In the words of Godꎬ Tao may be explained with the first word in the Genesisꎬ " In the beginning ap ̄ 139


peared the Taoꎬ and the Tao was with Godꎬ and the Tao was God."

The above explanation is made in the name of God

and if you believe in Godꎬ it naturally becomes the con ̄

vincing definition of Tao. Howeverꎬ the law of Tao must

have its indispensable material foundation. What is it? According to Chapter 42 of Lao Ziꎬ " Tao produces One.

One produces Two. Two produces Three. Three produces all things. All things bear both Yin and Yangꎬ which make regulation for their harmony." That is Lao Zi's i ̄

dea about hylogenesis (the origin of matter) . " One" is

Tai Chi ( 太极) and Taichu ( 太初) ꎬ " two" stands for Yin and Yangꎬ and " three" refers to the harmony of

Yin and Yang. The logical synthesis of the three is Taoꎬ one Yin and one Yang are associated with Taoꎬ and the movement of Qi is also Tao. The " Theory of Qi Yuan (Primordial Qi) " ꎬ a theory of Qi generating all

thingsꎬ is a beautiful philosophy of Lao Ziꎬ which has deeply influenced the soul of the Chinese nation.

The Symbol of Qi

Do thoughts affect the expression of words or words

affect the formation of thoughts? Chinese characters are embedded with quite a few intentions of their creators.

The following graph shows the shape of “ 气 (Qi) ” in ̄ 140


scribed respectively on oracle bonesꎬ ancient tablets and bronzes that we have seen. The earliest version of “ 气 (Qi) ” looked like a rippled “ 三 (three) ” ꎬ de ̄

picting a natural phenomenon of misty clouds floating between mountains and riversꎬ which was later extended

to represent an invisibleꎬ intangibleꎬ but perceptible symbol. In the 21st Chapter of Lao Ziꎬ it says: " If Tao exists in the form of substanceꎬ it should be something obscure. Within the obscurity emerge images where something substantial could be detected." The obscure Tao mentioned by Laozi seems like Qiꎬ elusive and in ̄ conclusive.

When we talk about " Think three times before you

act." ꎬ " three" here in Chinese context is not a real numberꎬ but an imaginary number that indicates a lot.

The digit of " three" can represent an indefinite repro ̄

ductive concept which may be derived from what Lao Zi

said: " The Three begets all things of the world" . I am wondering why “ 气 (Qi) ” was originally written as “ 三” (three) before the Zhou Dynasty. According to

the Buci Qiuyi ( Decoding of Oracle Inscriptions « 卜辞 求义» ) ꎬ

‘ 气 (Qi) ’ at the very beginning was

written as ‘ 三’ . When it came to the Zhou Dynastyꎬ it was very confusing when used for combination or for numberꎬ so it was transformed into ‘ 气’ by crooking 141


the top line and the bottom line for easier identifica ̄

tion." What an intriguing coincidence! Did Lao Zi draw his perception of " The Three begets all things of the world." from the appearance of Qi? Or did he spiritually exchange ideas with Cang Jie (the inventor of Chinese characters in legend) ?

Qi Defined by Zhuang Zi

Primordial Qi evolving into Yin and Yang manifests

progress in thoughts. In the late Western Zhou Dynasty at leastꎬ people already realized that Yang Qi was fea ̄

tured by dispersing while Yin Qi was characterized by gathering and that only by movement balance between dispersing and gathering could Yin Qi and Yang Qi maintain the order of nature. Bo Yangfuꎬ an official his ̄

torian of the late Western Zhou Dynastyꎬ claimed that it

was the imbalance of Yin Qi and Yang Qi that caused the severe earthquake in Shaanxi province. He ex ̄

plained it in The Zhou State of The Discourses of The States that " When Yang Qi is heavily suppressed by Yin

Qi and fails to evaporate from the earthꎬ there comes

earthquake. Nowꎬ the areas surrounding Jinghe Riverꎬ Weihe River and Luohe River are struck by earthquakeꎬ which is exactly attributed to the disfunction of Yang Qi caused by the suppression of Yin Qi" . 142


Zhuang Zi was a great thinker full of fantastic imagina ̄

tion in the Period of Warring States. When speaking of

Qiꎬ he said in the Chapter of Zhi's Northward Travel in Zhuangziꎬ " One is alive because one 's Qi gathers to ̄

getherꎻ one dies because one ' s Qi disperses." In his viewꎬ the universe was in great chaos. The space be ̄ tween the heaven and the earth was filled with Qi.

Thereforeꎬ he concluded that " The whole universe is pervaded by Qi." In terms of " One" ꎬ he deemed " Vast as the heaven and the earth areꎬ natural changes be ̄

tween them are kept in balance. Diverse as things in the universe areꎬ they are essentially identical." ꎬ cited

from On the Heaven and the Earth of Zhuangzi. Talking about " Tao" ꎬ he reckoned that " Tao is reasonable and credibleꎬ yet inactive and intangible. It could be per ̄

ceived but couldn 't be depicted or observed. It is the

root and source of itselfꎬ with permanent existence far before the universe came into being. Gods and Ghosts created the heaven and earth. It is not high even if it is over Tai Chiꎬ and it is not deep even if it is below Liu

Chi (the universe) . What lived before the universe are not long and what grew in the chaotic period are not old." Zhuang Zi interpreted Qi with Tao: Qi is the sub ̄ stance and the most original state of life.

Sima Qian made comments on Zhuang Ziꎬ saying: 143


" Zhuang Zi studied extensivelyꎬ yet his extensive learn ̄

ing should be attributed to the philosophy of Lao Ziꎬ most of whose works with more than 10ꎬ 0000 words in total later became fables." Zhuang Zi inherited and de ̄

veloped the thoughts of Tao that Lao Zi had proposedꎬ advocating the ideas of " Harmony between the heaven

and man" ꎬ and " The pursuit for a quiet and inactive life" . He advocated freedom and never fawned on au ̄

thority. This unity of Tao and ego is an ideal realm that only people with sophisticated thinking can reach.

Qi and Yi ( 易)

Qi is the most basic thing that constitutes everything

in the universe. According to Lao Ziꎬ this basic thing is " void" ꎬ so he emphasized " nothing" and " govern by doing nothing that goes against nature " . People may think that " a sheer fabrication out of nothing" is almost absurd. Howeverꎬ as long as there is enough timeꎬ crea ̄ ting something out of nothing is a living reality.

The world is like a big conceptus full of " Qi" ꎬ so

the ancients also created a noun to describe itꎬ called " Tai Chi ( 太极) " . Zheng Xuanꎬ a master of Confu ̄

cian classics in the Han Dynastyꎬ said that Tai Chi ( 太 极) was " a kind of pure and undivided Qi " . Kong Yingdaꎬ a learned scholar in that flourishing ageꎬ re ̄ 144


marked: " Tai Chi ( 太 极) existed before the heaven

and earth were separatedꎬ and the primitive Qi was mixed into one." It seems that Qi is characterized by turbidityꎬ mystery and gestation. Thereforeꎬ in addition to the existence of Qi itselfꎬ it also has endless changes.

The Zhou Book of Changes ( « 周易» ) is a book about changes whose essence lies in movement and changes.

The Classic of Changes (« 周易􀅰系辞上» ) says: " Yi ( 易) has Tai Chi ( 太 极) ꎬ which generates two Yi ( Yin and Yang) . Two Yi generates four images ( 象) .

Four images ( 象) generates Eight Diagrams. The Eight

Diagrams ( 八卦) determines the good or ill luck which leads to ups and downs" ꎬ as the changing rule of " Qi" in The Book of Changes .

Philosophy of Qi

We all value the possession of things. In factꎬ it is

not so important whether we have it morphologically or not. What matters is its usefulness. None of us has ever seen Santa Clausꎬ but he is very useful to us because we don't want to go without Christmas. So even though we know that Santa Claus will not comeꎬ we still tell

children generation after generation: On Christmasꎬ Santa would come. No one knows what the abstract looks

likeꎬ like the saying of " One two three four five " ꎬ 145


whose form is not importantꎬ but when you say " Go up

the hill and fight the tiger" ꎬ you can use it. Hegel said: " We can't see the " one" ꎬ because it is an abstraction of thoughts."

According to the insight of Qi in Guanziꎬ " The big ̄

gest or smallestꎬ it is boundless." ꎬ we can describe Qi

as " An existence tiny and invisible" . According to the

logic of materialismꎬ this is a " nonsense" . Howeverꎬ the complexity and simplicity of the world are beyond our imagination. So farꎬ there is no logic that can reas ̄ sure us to explain the worldꎬ including those sacred sci ̄

ences. The way of thinking about Qi fulfills our wish for the world harmony and the ultimate. There is no distinc ̄

tion between " existence" and " nonexistence" about

Qiꎬ only the difference between " The tangible " and " The invisible" ꎻ there are only the different forms of

the existence of Qi in the universeꎬ without absolute nothingness. Laozi's nothingness has been filled with Qi

by his adherents. Wang Fuzhi was good at astronomyꎬ calendarꎬ mathematics and geographyꎬ and he also had a lot of ideas in the study of Confucian classics and his ̄

torical science. He said: " All void belongs to Qi. When it is gatheredꎬ it will be revealedꎬ and thus people be ̄

lieve it exists. When it is scatteredꎬ it will not be seenꎬ and thus people don't believe its existence." Only peo ̄ 146


ple who have a good mastery of literature and art will have such a grand summary. In the light of this line of thoughtsꎬ it seems that another concept of Qi can be de ̄ duced: Qi is a form of non - experienceꎬ it is a kind of philosophical thinking.

Qi in the West The eye is the organ closest to brain. Evolution has

made brain believe what can be seen. We cannot see the past of the worldꎬ nor its future. We only know from the historical records that we can see that the world has e ̄ volved in this way.

As Kind and Soft as Water

Thales (approximately 624B. C. - 546B. C. ) ꎬ an

ancient Greekꎬ was the first outstanding natural scientist

and philosopher in Western history. Hegel said: " Only a nation with people who look up into the sky is promis ̄

ing." Thales was a person who enjoyed looking up at the sky. It is said that one nightꎬ he stared at the starry sky and predicted that it would rain the following day. While he was making this predictionꎬ he fell into a pit. When rescuedꎬ he said: " Do you know? It will rain tomor ̄

row!" Soꎬ people have an impression on philosophers: 147


They are not down to earth since they only know things up in the sky.

In factꎬ Thales also observed things on the earth. He

carefully studied the records of the annual rise and fall

of the Nile Riverꎬ and also personally observed the flood

receding. He found that every time the flood recededꎬ countless tiny embryos and larvae began to growꎬ so he

concluded that everything originated from water. Thales believed: " Water is the origin for everythingꎬ and all things return to water in the end." In Thales' eyesꎬ wa ̄

ter has exceeded the scope of a concrete object. It exists

as an intrinsic matter as the unified matrix of all thingsꎬ as the origin of the world. In ancient Greeceꎬ a famous motto saysꎬ " Water is the best " ꎬ which is just like " The highest goodness is like water. It benefits all

things and does not fight for anything." in Moral Classic . In 500 BCꎬ water traveled through time and space and was unanimously praised by wise people in the Orient and the West.

" Apeiron" and Qi

Anaximander ( approximately 610B. C. - 545B.

C. ) ꎬ a student of Thalesꎬ also thought that people e ̄ volved from water. When he asked his teacher why eve ̄

rything originated from water and what its specialty was 148


compared with other mattersꎬ his teacher failed to an ̄ swer the question. " The worthy disciple excels his mas ̄ ters" ꎬ so another great philosopher appeared. Anaxi ̄ mander imagined that there was something more adap ̄ tive than water as the " origin" of matter that existed in ̄

definitely or unlimitedlyꎬ and our world was just one of many worlds. He called this " origin"

of matter

" Apeiron" (infiniteꎬ that isꎬ a matter with no fixed lim ̄

itsꎬ form and nature) . " Apeiron" split the two sides of

things like the phenomena of being cold and hotꎬ dry and wet in the movementꎬ thus generating everything.

Anaximander first proposed the philosophical concept of " origin" . For the first timeꎬ he linked the fate and inev ̄

itability of thingsꎬ claiming " The process that takes place on the earth will inevitably occur throughout the universe." Although his On Nature was lostꎬ his myste ̄

rious saying of " When destroyedꎬ all things will return to the ones from which they were bornꎬ which is defined

by fateꎬ because all things compensate one another for their injustice according to the order of time." Has been passed on so far.

Anaximander's " Apeiron" with no fixed limitsꎬ form

and natureꎬ is fundamentally similar to Qi of Laozi and

Guanzi. In the eyes of Anaximenes (approximately 570B. C. - - 526B. C. ) ꎬ Anaximander ' s studentꎬ 149


they were the same. In his plain lifeꎬ Anaximenes al ̄ ways kept thinking about the question: Is Qi an omnipo ̄

tent thingꎬ and can it enter our soul spontaneously? Such thinking is closely related to the ancient Greek culture of " Soul is sometimes the breath of life" . He al ̄

ways insisted on explaining the world with objective facts. Qi conforms to the power of nature and is trans ̄ formed into other matters through dilution and compres ̄

sion. " Qi is the source of all things" is his outstanding proposition.

The

dilution

and

compression

of

Anaximenes ' Qi are no different from those of Wang Fuzhi's " All vacancy belongs to Qi. When gatheredꎬ it will be revealedꎬ and thus people believe that it exists.

When scatteredꎬ it will not be seenꎬ and thus people don't believe that it exists." As far as the " origin" of matter is concernedꎬ there should be no difference in O ̄

riental and Western world. In the recognition stage of understanding simple materialismꎬ Qi is the best ex ̄

pression of the " origin" of matters. As Engels said: " In the nebula's air massꎬ although all objects exist sepa ̄

ratelyꎬ they all blend with pure matters themselvesꎬ that

is to sayꎬ they only act as matters but not according to their own special attributes."

150


One Cannot Walk into the Same River Twice

Most people with insight into the world can easily

close themselves up and dive into a profound artistic conceptionꎬ where they are most likely to touch the na ̄

ture and original things. Heraclitus ( approximately 540B. C. - - 470B. C. ) was such a person. He was born in a royal family in the city of Ephesus in the Ioni ̄

an region. He ceded the throne to his brother and ran

into seclusion near the Temple of Artemis. There was no lady accompanying himꎬ and he lived on grass roots and plants. Such an indifferent life led him to another direc ̄ tion. Thenꎬ the eternal " fire" of his universe was crea ̄

tedꎬ with brilliant flaming thoughts shining on thinkers of one generation after another. " This orderly universe is

the same to all things. It is created neither by God nor by man. Its pastꎬ present and future will always be an e ̄

ternal living fireꎬ burning and extinguishing on a certain scale" . The origin of all things is fireꎬ which is the most delicate of the elements and the closest to the formless.

More importantlyꎬ fire can make itself and other things move. This is Heraclitus' claim. Fire and all things can

be transformed into each otherꎬ the original unity is constantly moving and changing and will never stop. Its creation is destructionꎬ and vice versa. From one thing to anotherꎬ nothing has the same natureꎬ and nothing 151


has eternal properties. In this senseꎬ everything exists and at the same time does not exist. Only with this kind

of opposition can there be a world. " One can't walk into the same river twice" is Heraclitus' famous sayingꎬ ex ̄

plaining the world view of " All things move" and " all things flow" . Moreoverꎬ he believed that war and strug ̄

gle are the driving forces for the transformation of things. Homer prayed: " I wish all gods and human be ̄

ings would wipe out struggles" ꎬ while Heraclitus said: " If Homer's prayer comes trueꎬ then everything will be wiped out." " It should be known that war is common to everything. Struggle is justiceꎬ and everything in the world is generated and destroyed through struggle." Per ̄

haps Heraclitus did not think how plain his life as a monk wasꎬ as another famous saying goes: " The road to ascent and descend is the same." He pioneered dialecti ̄

cal thinkingꎬ which earned him the reputation as the founder of dialectics.

The Birth of Scientific Thinking

If there is a person who is proficient in philosophyꎬ

logicꎬ physicsꎬ mathematicsꎬ astronomyꎬ flora and fau ̄

naꎬ medicineꎬ psychologyꎬ ethicsꎬ militaryꎬ and artꎬ and who has the capacity to cover science and astrolo ̄ gyꎬ Democritus (approximately 460B. C. - 370B. C.ꎬ 152


or 356B. C. ) should be the one.

Democritus started off from Greeceꎬ crossed the

Mediterranean Seaꎬ and came to the upper reaches of

the Nileꎬ studying the irrigation system thereꎬ geometry in Egyptꎬ and astrology in Persia. He traveled to Baby ̄

lonꎬ Indiaꎬ and other civilizations in order to complete

his writing of The Cosmic Systemꎻ in order not to let his eyes becloud the brilliance of reasonꎬ he was said to have blind eyes. Blind as he wasꎬ he had the most ad ̄

vanced scientific thinking at that time: The origin of all

things is atom and void. Atoms are indivisible particles of mattersꎬ and void is the place where atoms move. At ̄

om is called existenceꎬ and void is called nonexistenceꎬ but void is only related to the non - existence of atoms. In factꎬ non - existence and existence are both facts. At ̄

oms are produced in the vortex motion of the void in the universeꎬ and man is also the product of the atomic mo ̄

tion in the universeꎬ so Democritus thought that man was a small universe. Thereforeꎬ Democritus believed

that man was a small universe. There was no room for God in Democritus' atomism. He believed that people's cognition was produced by the " image" formed by at ̄

oms emitted from thingsꎬ acting on people's senses. The human soul was also composed of the most active and

subtle atomsꎬ so it was also an object. If the atoms were 153


separatedꎬ the objects would be destroyedꎬ so it was

with the soul. Apart from the eternal atom and voidꎬ there had never been an immortal spirit. Democritus was

worthy of being a disciple of Leukippos and the creator of Western scientific genes. His atomism later formed the scientific foundation of modern times through the e ̄ volution of Epicurusꎬ Clerius and John Dalton. John Dalton (1766 - 1844) 's chemical atomism cre ̄

ated a brand - new scientific world: Chemical elements

are composed of indivisible particlesꎬ i. e. atomsꎬ which were the indivisible smallest units in all chemical

changes. The atomic properties and quality of the same kind of elements were the sameꎬ and the atomic proper ̄

ties and quality of different elements were different. The atomic quality was one of the basic characteristics of the element. Dalton proposed the first atomic chartꎬ using

simple symbols to represent the composition of elements and compounds. Dalton created a new era of atomic weight measurement and chemical science.

John Dalton was unmarried for his whole life and

was a color blindꎬ but he was the person who saw it most clearly in that era. His atomism not only has far -

reaching influence on scienceꎬ but also leads people in the pursuit of material structure in philosophy.

154


Scientific Tolerance

The idea that atoms are indivisible was once a gen ̄

ius speculationꎬ but there are still different views on

whether there is the smallest particle that constitutes matters.

Todayꎬ we already know that atoms can be divided.

Atoms are composed of nuclei and extranuclear elec ̄ trons. Atomic nuclei are composed of protons and neu ̄ trons. Neutrons and protons are composed of quarks.

What about the composition of quarks? If the particle of

matters is divided indefinitely in the name of science and scientific methodꎬ logically speakingꎬ that particle will be divided infinitelyꎬ and that smallest particle will never be foundꎬ which is a regret for the micro - world. Just as people have been searching for the smallest

thing that constitutes mattersꎬ people believe that as long as they find the thing that causes diseasesꎬ then

they can be eliminated. Since the 19th centuryꎬ " science" and logical empirical methods have become increasingly close. Biologists have found that streptococ ̄ cus pneumoniae causes lobar pneumoniaꎬ typhoid bacil ̄

lus causes typhoid feverꎬ and meningococcal bacteria causes epidemic meningitis. The successful development of penicillin and sulfa drugs has made people more con ̄

vinced that medicine is science. From molecular biology 155


to brain scienceꎬ genomicsꎬ systems biologyꎬ and preci ̄ sion medicineꎬ the hope of modern medicine is con ̄

stantly changing. People have never been so confident as we are todayꎬ and we are about to overcome diseases.

Howeverꎬ some prudent medical scientists are thinking about a question: with our medical methods continuous ̄ ly improved and drugs constantly changed and en ̄

richedꎬ why are diseases not controlledꎬ but more and more of them appear? From a cold to a cancerꎬ which

kind of disease like diabetesꎬ rheumatoid arthritisꎬ Alzheimer's diseaseꎬ etc. can we really cure?

Human confusion starts with the expansion of vision.

This is especially true for our physical confusion. The surprises of early bacteriology and virology research are now dazingꎬ and the achievements of genetics and ge ̄ nomics do not seem as exciting as they were at the be ̄

ginning. The health problems we face today are much

more complicated than ever beforeꎬ but neverthelessꎬ you can still do what people expected two thousand

years ago: human beings can overcome all diseases one day. This is the belief of scientism. Howeverꎬ if one dayꎬ science fully proves that humanity is destined to be accompanied by diseases foreverꎬ then don't be pessi ̄

mistic about science. Because Darwin long said that long ago: " Science is to sort out facts." 156


All facts and evidence are influenced by the evalua ̄

tor's world outlook. Howeverꎬ when it comes to scienceꎬ it seems to be something of truth and justice. It is the common magic weapon for scientists and warlocks to show their academic nobility in the name of science.

Howeverꎬ what is science? At least until todayꎬ neither scientists nor philosophers have given a definition of sci ̄

ence correctly and comprehensively. No wonder Einstein

said: " The childhood of science has passed." Some prudent scientists have also noticed the limitations of

science itself: at least medicine is not just a scientific

issue. With the complexity of thingsꎬ as long as there is doubt and no conclusionꎬ the spirit of inclusiveness and democracy should become a scientific toleranceꎬ which should contain Anaximander's " Apeiron" and more im ̄

portantlyꎬ Guanzi 's " The biggest or smallestꎬ it is boundless."

Body Qi If the body's soul and flesh are two worldsꎬ then we

must have underestimated the magic of the universe.

Anything that can be described belongs to Qi. It can nourish and harm people.

157


Qi's Temperament

If the body's soul (spirit) and flesh (substance) are

two worldsꎬ then we must have underestimated the mag ̄

ic of the universe. As long as there are enough time and spaceꎬ inanimate matter can become a living soulꎬ not to mention God's creation.

Qi is the foundation of creating magic. " There is Qi

between the no beginnings " . " No beginning " is the time coordinate of Qi and " between" is the spatial coor ̄

dinate of Qi. In this infinite time and spaceꎬ Qi grows and thrives. Zhang Zai said: " Anything that can be de ̄ scribed existsꎬ anything that exists has imagesꎬ any ̄ thing imaginal belongs to Qi." (Qiancheng of Zheng ̄

meng) . He means that all perceptible phenomena are Qi.

Marx said: " Materials smile with a poetic and per ̄

ceptual glow to the whole body of man." If the world is made up of atomsꎬ then this atom is not a cold oneꎬ as it emits the light of the universeꎬ becauseꎬ in recent yearsꎬ some studies seem to be prompting: Did the mat ̄

ter really exist? If atoms are divided indefinitelyꎬ there

will be energy with no form in the end. If language is used to describe its shapeꎬ it can only be " The smallest

with no boundaries inside " remarked by Guanzi. No matter whether being tangible or intangibleꎬ Qi has en ̄ 158


ergy and temperamentꎬ which is beyond our ability of

perception. Howeverꎬ people with aura can feel more life tension from Qi.

The ancients talked about things and enjoyed using

" Qi" ꎬ such as Xianqi ( 仙 气) (immortality) ꎬ Xieqi ( 泄气) (discouragement) ꎬ Huiqi ( 秽气) (filth) ꎬ Fu ̄

qi ( 福气) (bliss) ꎬ Caiqi ( 财气) (wealth) ꎬ Yiqi ( 义 气) (loyalty) . In the Qing Dynastyꎬ according to Liu

Xizai's Book Outline in the Art Outlineꎬ " When it comes

to Book Qiꎬ Scholar Qi tops. Qi of womenꎬ soldiersꎬ villagersꎬ townsmenꎬ carpentersꎬ and Qi of people with

rotꎬ angerꎬ farceꎬ brotherhoodꎬ snobbishnessꎬ wine meatꎬ and pedantry are all abandoned by scholars."

Everything seems to be suitable to be described by " Qi" . Some people say that this is the vague feature of

Chinese characters. In factꎬ this world has never been

clearꎬ and vagueness is a cautious attitude. Even todayꎬ the value of obscurity is not outdatedꎬ for exampleꎬ when you go to the train station to pick up a strangerꎬ using mathematics to mark the data of the person ' s eyesꎬ noseꎬ and mouth is much less useful than using fuzzy descriptions like eye - size and nose - heightꎬ not to

mention the breath perception sometimes. Qi is aliveꎬ and breath is temperamental. Behind ancient people ' s handling of " things" by " Yiqi ( 意 气 ) (will and 159


spirit) " is the unity of man and things.

Chinese people enjoy talking about " Qi" ꎬ not only

because the world is made of itꎬ but also Qi itself is the

lodge of soul and the home of spirit and fleshꎬ which is a life force that requires perception. Xi Ci Zhuan in the Book of Changes said: " Essence Qi is of matterꎬ while the wandering soul is of change." Even in the pre - Qin periodꎬ essenceꎬ Qiꎬ and spirit were three treasures of life. The simple theory of primitive Qi determines the u ̄ nity of the spirit and body of Chinese people.

Qi gathers together and forms an object. Be it good

or notꎬ it will give off a breath. Human beings are also made of Qi. A person's " breath" is different due to dif ̄

ferent " Qi" ꎬ which is called a person's " Qichang (aura ) " or " Qizhi (disposition) " . Emperor Wei Wen (Cao Pi) said that Kong Rong was " good in moral charac ̄

ter" ꎬ because at the age of sevenꎬ he could offer the

bigger pear to his elder brother and kept the smaller for himselfꎬ and he topped in intelligence in his living timesꎬ as a person of exemplary virtue of the country at

that time. Emperor Wei Wen (Cao Pi) also said that Xu Wo had dilatory Qiꎬ and Liu Zhen had elegant Qi. Em ̄

peror Wei Wen (Cao Pi) was able to take up the pen for writing at the age of eightꎬ and was good at riding and shooting. He knew all the theories presented by ancient 160


philosophersꎬ and he was adept with both pen and

swordꎬ so he could judge people by Qi. The Biographic Sketches of Emperors for Xiang Yu in the Records of His ̄

torians records a kind of emperor Qi: " I asked someone to observe his Qiꎬ and it was found to be the Qi of drag ̄

ons and tigers (spirit and essence) with various colorsꎬ which is the Qi of an emperor. Don't miss it." In factꎬ there are different kinds of emperor Qiꎬ just like differ ̄ ent strategies for stabilizing the country.

Female Qi is a kind of smell. When there is not e ̄

nough femininityꎬ Chanel can be used to make up for it.

Howeverꎬ no matter what is used for the make upꎬ it

can't replace people's original smell. According to the theory of traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ female Qi be ̄

longs to Yinꎬ corresponding to the earthꎬ and it should

be hidden. A woman who can't hide herself is likely to suffer a lot during her lifeꎬ which will bring nothing good either to her husband or to her kidneys. Compared with female Qiꎬ the best Qi for a man is morale Qi and Yang Qi. Morale Qi is a kind of courage and full respon ̄ sibility for a manꎬ a heroic Qi of " A fearless tiger "

commented by Xin Qijiꎻ while Yang Qi is something that can emit light and heat.

Mencius said: " Our body is full of Qi." Chinese

scholars are very different from foreign ones. " Scholar 161


Qi" is the deepest temperament of Qi culture deep in

the hearts of Chinese people. Scholar Qi refers to those

things that naturally arise from a lot of readingꎬ namelyꎬ the pursuit of morality and ideals. If people are too ide ̄

alꎬ they can easily break away from reality. Thereforeꎬ Chinese scholars are always a little bit sad. Lu Xun once said: Real intellectuals are always dissatisfied with the societyꎬ and that they always feel painful and are ready for future sacrifices. The society gets lively also because of them. The most beautiful Scholar Qi is the artistic

charm. It is distributed on the masters of calligraphyꎬ paintingꎬ piano music and other art mastersꎬ being qui ̄

etꎬ elegant and vivid. The biological basis of Scholar Qi

with aesthetic value is Zhu Danxi's saying: " If you have something insideꎬ you may show it subconsciously " .

That ' s what we call " Wisdom in holdꎬ elegance in mold."

Heaven has Qiꎬ and man has temperament. The flow

of Qi brings infinite vitality to this world. The word " Qi" has brilliance because of its temperament.

Excessive Dampness

It seems that many diseases are related to damp ̄ nessꎬ and the health - care centers also " popularize" some plausible dampness - concerned knowledge to cus ̄ 162


tomers. Thereforeꎬ some of my patients often ask me: " Is it because of too much dampness?"

The word “ 湿 (dampness) ” is comprised by three

drops of water on the leftꎬ so it is related to water. Be ̄ ing soaked in waterꎬ it gets damp with more water. Fe ̄

males are made of water. Thereforeꎬ dampness has a

delicate relationship with females. At leastꎬ dampness in women is more than that in menꎬ which is about mu ̄ tual generation between Yin and Yang. Dampness is op ̄

posite to drynessꎬ and water is opposite to fireꎬ so fire and heat can be used to treat dryness and dampness.

Love has temperature and can eliminate dryness and dampnessꎻ Ai (mugwort) also has temperatureꎬ which

can not only eliminate dryness and dampnessꎬ but also

dispel coldness. Thereforeꎬ many health - care centers and beauty salons apply moxibustion whether reasonably or unreasonably.

If a person stays in a dark and humid place for a

long timeꎬ the dampness will invade his / her body and

cause damage to health. Then the dampness becomes " dampness pathogen" . How to know if there is damp ̄

ness pathogen? We perceive its existence according to the characteristics of dampness. The most important

characteristic of dampness is the feeling of being " heavy and turbid" . " Heavy" means ponderosity and tumes ̄ 163


cenceꎬ while " turbid" means unclear. Thereforeꎬ as long as we have the feeling with the following character ̄

istics in our bodyꎬ such as a heavily loaded head as if

being wrappedꎬ a weary and heavy bodyꎬ heavy and weak limbsꎬ painful jointsꎬ edemaꎬ etc.ꎬ or turbid u ̄

rineꎬ viscous leucorrheaꎬ excessive eye dischargesꎬ and

turbid excrement and excretaꎬ they suggest that there may be too much dampness in the body. The second

characteristic of dampness pathogen is dampness marked by being sticky and stagnant. Stickiness means being glutinous and greasyꎬ and stagnation denotes sta ̄

sis. Thereforeꎬ as for some diseases like sticky stoolꎬ with a longer course and longer time to cureꎬ we also consider the possibility of dampness pathogen.

In the Qing Dynastyꎬ Ye Tianshiꎬ an expert of warm

diseases in his timeꎬ said: " Dampness pathogen in our Wu area is the most harmful to people." In factꎬ not on ̄

ly were Wu people susceptible to dampness pathogenꎬ but more and more people were exposed to dampness

pathogen. Nowꎬ it has come to a serious levelꎬ or " haze" ꎬ a disease with the damp turbidity. Zhang Jingyue said: " Diseases of dampness come from the Qi of heaven with mistꎬ doing harm mostly to people's in ̄

ternal organsꎬ and some of them are caused by the Qi of

earth with the mudꎬ doing harm mostly to people's skin 164


and veins." Anywayꎬ the turbid air between heaven and earth is called haze which aggravates our dampnessꎬ be ̄

cause it is inhaled into the body by lungs. Thereforeꎬ in

preventing it from affecting our healthꎬ we should first think of a word -- lung - clearing. Ye Tianshi said in his book Ye Xuan Yihengꎬ " Dampness is a kind of Qi steamed by Yin and Yang between heaven and earth.

The invasion of mist into human body or rainy days may cause dampness." According to the theory of traditional

Chinese Medicineꎬ spleen controls dampnessꎬ so it is necessary to tonify spleen to remove haze.

Dampness pathogen can invade human body from

outsideꎬ which is called the feeling of " exogenous e ̄ vil" . In factꎬ people's living conditions have been great ̄

ly improvedꎬ and there have been few chances for to stay in dark and humid places and leakage of rain and water for long. Howeverꎬ the phenomenon of too much

dampness has not been improvedꎬ and it has become

more and more serious. That is because dampness pathogen can not only be exogenousꎬ but also more en ̄

dogenous. The main cause of endogenous dampness pathogen is the spleen's weakening function of transpor ̄

ting and transforming water and dampnessꎬ so tonifying

spleen is the most basic method of dehumidification. A better method than spleen - tonifying is a healthy eating 165


habitꎬ i. e. prudent in take of raw or cold foodꎬ carbon ̄

ated cold drinksꎬ fatꎬ and greasy foodꎬ etc. Traditional

Chinese Medicine believes that " The rawer and colderꎬ the more dampness is" .

Dampness is often combined with other pathogenic

factorsꎬ such as cold hygrosisꎬ rheumatalgiaꎬ summer heat dampnessꎬ damp heatꎬ etc. Dampness makes our body heavyꎬ damages our Yang Qiꎬ and blocks our me ̄

ridians. A strong wind can blow away the smog in the skyꎬ make the air dry and freshꎬ and make the microor ̄ ganisms like bacteria lose the conditions for reproduc ̄ tion and propagationꎬ but it can't take away the damp ̄

ness in our bodies. There is a story telling us a simple method of dehumidification. In the Eastern Han Dynas ̄

tyꎬ Ma Yuanꎬ " General Fubo " ꎬ was ordered by the Emperor Guangwuꎬ Liu Xiuꎬ to lead troops to Guangxi

to quell the rebellion in southern part of the country. On the way to Guangxiꎬ soldiers were affected by a kind of noxious dampness in the mountainsꎬ and there were e ̄

dema of the lower limbs and swelling of the whole body among soldiers. Ma Yuan had to give order to camp to seek treatment. A few days laterꎬ a mysterious expert living outside the noisy places boiled soup with a kind of local pearl - like seeds for soldiers. As a resultꎬ he mi ̄

raculously dispelled the noxious dampness and made Ma 166


Yuan win a great victory. That seed kernel once magical

is now known as the ordinary coix seed. Annotation on

Materia Medica says: " Coix seed can dispel dampness with its dry natureꎬ its sweetness can enter spleen to tonify itꎬ and its light taste can excrete dampness.

Thusꎬ pathogenic evils in tendons and bonesꎬ with ur ̄

gent spasm and contraction of the main tendons and

rheumatic arthralgiaꎬ can be eliminated. It does good to intestines and stomach and enables people to eat food by removing edema." Later generations called the mountain

" Fubo Mountain" to commemorate the generalꎬ and the cave in the mountain was called " Huanzhu Cave (cave for returning pearls) " ꎬ which is now the " Fubo Scenic Spot" by Lijiang River of Guilin. And " semen coicis" also has the reputation of " coix pearl" .

As a saying goesꎬ the acupoint of Yinlingquan can

dispel dampnessꎬ which is the combined point of spleen meridian. Spleen belongs to earthꎬ and spring is related

to water. Shui Nan has such an explanation: " The acu ̄ point of Yinlingquan is the water - point of spleenꎬ spleen is the top Yin in Yin. A hill is higher than a massifꎬ and water flows in high position." " Get gener ̄ als to stop soldiersꎬ and get earth to cover water" sug ̄

gests that the Yinlingquan is a major acupoint for the

treatment of diseases related to waterꎬ such as edemaꎬ 167


urinary retentionꎬ urinary incontinenceꎬ ascitesꎬ watery

stools and so on. The dispersing of water is dampnessꎬ and the gathering of it is water. Water and dampness share the same characteristic. Thereforeꎬ dehumidifica ̄

tion with the acupoint of Yinlingquan has become a classic. Songs of Acupuncture Synergy says: " The acu ̄

points of Yinling and Shuifen are the umbilical cords to eliminate edema."

There are more than a dozen acupoints that can be

used for dehumidificationꎬ and dozens of traditional

Chinese Medicines that can remove dampness by means

of aromatics or diuresis. Howeverꎬ in many casesꎬ dampness is always thereꎬ because it is sticky and diffi ̄ cult to be completely removed.

Excessive Cold Air

Coldness is a feeling that can be felt but cannot be

seen. People could really feel it more than three thou ̄

sand years agoꎬ so the Chinese character coldness in

" Jinwen (Chinese bronze inscriptions) " at that time symbolized a " person"

curled up in the “ 宀

( house) ” ꎬ with two pieces of " grass" on the left and rightꎬ and also two strokes meaning " ice" at the bot ̄

tom. The combination of these four shapes expresses all

the metaphors of the word " coldness" . The Chinese 168


word “ 气 (Qi) ” is added after the word " coldness" to compose the culture and medical term behind the word " coldness" .

If a house only has ice and grassꎬ it must be hum ̄

bleꎬ and is called " cold house" ꎬ whose gate is called " cold gate" ꎬ and the lady at home is called " cold la ̄

dy" . Accordinglyꎬ the family is " cold and hungry" . The beadle from such a family is called " an impoverished low - ranking official from a poor family" . In shortꎬ eve ̄ rything is humble. This is a kind of withering and deso ̄

late air resulting from coldnessꎬ which makes people shiver with sadness. Another kind of cold airꎬ though desolateꎬ is spectacular. That ' s how Jing Ke is de ̄ scribed as " Wind blowing bleakly with water coldꎬ nev ̄ er return will the hero so bold" ꎬ and Hua Mulan (a her ̄

oine) is also depicted as " North cold wind sending off

the sound of the watches at nightꎬ shining on cold iron clothes is the cold moonlight" . This kind of Hanqi (cold air) is a kind of strong energy and fighting spiritꎬ which is the reversal of the extreme of slight coldꎬ full of great

aspiration and passion in " Terror of battles during the day like dark clouds does flyꎻ the wind of the cold night sounds like the night - watched drum's sad cry" . Com ̄

pared with the heroic sadness of " Shining on cold iron

clothes is the cold moonlight" ꎬ the cold air rendered by 169


" The night with cold rain falling on Wu endlessly. After seeing off my friends in the morningꎬ I found myself a ̄

lone with the shadow of Mount Chu lonely." This is full

of sadness of partingꎬ permeated with the mist and rain of the Man Jiangꎬ which is closely linked Man with na ̄

ture. This cold Qiꎬ once understoodꎬ is a beautiful paintingꎬ

and

it

can

also

be

footnote

" correspondence between the heaven and man" .

of

Tangwen in the Liezi suggests " Cool is the beginning

of coldnessꎬ and coldness is the extreme of cool." Chill

(Liangqi) ꎬ cool air (Lengqi) and cold air (Hanqi) are the same kind of Qiꎬ all belonging to Yin (negative air) ꎬ all of which damage Yang (positive air) of the hu ̄

man body. Chinese people enjoy hot drinks and hot

food. They are worried that cold drinks and cold food will be harmful to the body's Yang Qi. Health - care ex ̄ perts have warned us to use the air conditioner less in summerꎬ because TCM doctors highlight human compli ̄

ance with four seasons. In summerꎬ we should live with

summer. If people go without any sweat in summerꎬ they are likely to have health problems in winterꎬ according to the health theory of " Yang should be nourished in spring and summerꎬ while Yin in autumn and winter" .

No matter what method is usedꎬ to protect our Yang Qi is a truth of health. The best way to protect it is to pre ̄ 170


vent coldness from hurting people.

When coldꎬ an attribute of the natural climateꎬ en ̄

ters the human bodyꎬ it turns into cold air. If there is too much cold airꎬ diseases will occur. We call the cold

air that causes diseases " cold pathogen" . Neither the cold air nor the cold pathogen can be seenꎬ so someone " Invented" some methods to diagnose cold air. An edi ̄ tor of a health magazine once told meꎬ after her col ̄

league went for the scraping therapyꎬ her skin became bruisedꎬ and she was diagnosed with " uterus full of

cold air" . In cuppingꎬ the appearance of blood suggests cold airꎬ and the darker color means the stronger cold.

These imprudent diagnoses are almost ridiculousꎬ but they are very popular and seem to be a result of " science popularization" .

Cold pathogenic disease has the following character ̄

istics. Shuowen Jiezi ( « 说文解字» ) has this defini ̄ tion: " coldness is freezing." The severe coldness in na ̄

ture can prevent the flowing objects from running smoothly or freezeꎬ and the cold pathogen in the human

body can make the Qi and blood fluid run slowlyꎬ or the Qi and blood stagnateꎬ and the meridians are blocked.

" Stagnation leads to pain" is a basic principle of tradi ̄

tional Chinese Medicine. Thereforeꎬ coldness is closely related to painꎬ and when there is painꎬ we think of 171


coldness. We can't see the cold pathogenꎬ but we can

experience the pain in the body. A bit of pain means a bit of coldness. That's why " If a person feels painꎬ he /

she must have a lot of cold air which causes pain" was written in Discussion on Bi - Syndrome in Suwen. Fearing coldness is the most obvious manifestation of

cold pathogen in the bodyꎬ and one of the vaguer ex ̄

pressions of fearing coldness is curling upꎬ just like the person in the Chinese character " cold" who curled up amid the grass. The cold air is characterized by retract ̄

ing and curling up. " Retraction" means contraction and traction. Cold nature refers to cold pathogen which can

cause symptoms such as convergence of Qi mechanismꎬ blockage of skin textureꎬ contraction and contracture of

meridians and tendons. According to Discussion on Pains in Suwen ꎬ " Coldness leads to Qi contraction" . If cold air is in the meridiansꎬ the tendon and vessel will

curl up because of the coldnessꎬ which leads to flexion contracture pulling external meridiansꎬ causing sudden pain.

Curling up betrays the signs of coldness. The cold

air of modern people is not caused by the invasion of

foreign cold pathogenꎬ but the deficiency of heart Yang and kidney Yangꎬ etc. Only when we understand the characteristics of cold - caused disease and combine the 172


overall tongue veins and symptoms can we predict how much the cold air is.

Excessive Internal Heat

No matter what it isꎬ furyꎬ lustꎬ or annoyanceꎬ if it

accumulates to a certain extentꎬ it will ignite. Like vol ̄

canic eruptionꎬ fire is a form of energy release. Those who never get angry are saintsꎬ and the energy accumu ̄ lated by the saints is transformed into " The Holy Spir ̄

it" ꎬ which illuminates the dark night sky. Most people inevitably get angryꎬ and they are getting more and more angry. By contrastꎬ the holy flame of an ordinary person is a short performance at the opening ceremony of the O ̄ lympic Games.

" Fire" ꎬ as the oracle inscription showsꎬ looks like

rising flame. The essence of fire is burning. People who love to get angry often burn themselves and cannot illu ̄

minate others. Thereforeꎬ angry people harm othersꎬ not benefiting themselves. Traditional Chinese Medicine be ̄ lieves that rage impairs the liverꎬ and converselyꎬ peo ̄

ple suffering from stagnation of liver Qi are also apt to

get angryꎬ which shows the relationship between liver and fire. The fire in the body has an exitꎬ and the exit of the liver - heat is in " Taichong" on the back of the

foot. Some studies have suggested that stimulating this 173


acupuncture point can soothe the liver and purge the heat.

In the Yellow Emperor's Cannon of Medicineꎬ the fire

in the body is divided into two types: " good fire" and " evil fire" . Good fire is the fire that maintains the nor ̄

mal physiological function of the bodyꎬ also called

" normal fire" . As suggested by Major Discussion on the Theory of Yin and Yang and the Corresponding Relation ̄ ship Among All the Things in Nature: " Normal fire gen ̄ erates Qi" ꎬ Li Zhongzi explained in Essentials of Inter ̄

nal Classic that good fire was actually Yang Qi: " This sort of fire is Yang. Without this kind of fireꎬ nothing can grow and people will not have their ' life roots '" .

Normal fire ( 少火) is divided into Sovereign Fire and

Ministerial Fire. " Sovereign Fire" is actually the Yang Qi of the heartꎬ and " Ministerial Fire" ꎬ the Yang Qi of liverꎬ gallbladderꎬ kidneyꎬ tri - jiaoꎬ etc. " Sovereign Fire makes all purely brightꎬ Ministerial Fire makes all peaceful" tells the influence of Confucianism on TCM.

" Evil fire " is a pathological fireꎬ also known as " superheat" which is produced by the hyperactivity of

Yang. It can consume the " good fire " of the human body. Thereforeꎬ in Major Discussion on the Theory of Yin and Yang and the Corresponding Relationship A ̄ mong All the Things in Nature it says: " Super heat con ̄ 174


sumes Qi" .

Rumen Shi Qin records: " In time of disturbanceꎬ

all administrative decrees are in a messꎬ people have to pay a lot of taxꎬ and wars break out all the timeꎬ and thus internal and external fire breaks out." The " Inter ̄

nal fire" and " external fire" first mentioned here refer to the source of the fire. The " Internal fire" mentioned by traditional Chinese Medicine refers to the self - gener ̄

ated evil fire in the bodyꎬ and the " external fire" is the fire from the outside. The external fire can destroy the defense system of human bodies and invade the human body from the outsideꎬ with extraordinary force. There ̄

foreꎬ all external fire is " sthenia fire" . Internal fire can be divided into deficiency - fire and sthenia fire. In term of the balance between Yin and Yangꎬ water and fireꎬ if

there is less waterꎬ fire will lose its balanceꎬ and the flame will be stronger and higher. This is the so - called hyperactivity of fire due to Yin deficiencyꎬ namelyꎬ de ̄ ficiency - fireꎬ only to be treated by nourishing Yin and

replenishing water. Another kind of deficiency - fire is described in " Qi declinesꎬ fire thrives" remarked by Li

Dongyuan. On Injury Due to Diet in the Lanshi Micang

statesꎬ " If one is too happyꎬ too angryꎬ or too tiredꎬ leading an irregular lifeꎻ it will destroy one's Qi and it

will declineꎬ and fire will thrive." The treatments of fire 175


caused by Qi deficiency and Yin deficiency are totally different. The former needs to be replenishedꎬ and the latter required to be nourished. It seems that reducing fire is far more complicated than drinking herbal tea.

Besidesꎬ Zhu Danxi's Gezhi Yu Lun also says: " Surplus Qi may cause fire" .

Fire was everywhere and widespread after the Jin

and Yuan dynasties. This is related to the academic proposition of Liu Wansuꎬ a great master in the early Jin and Yuan dynasties. He strongly advocated the " fire - heat theory" ꎬ emphasizing that windꎬ humidityꎬ dry ̄ nessꎬ and coldness could all become fiery during the pathological changesꎬ which is the famous theory of

" All six Qi can generate fire" . Liu Wansu also said in

Plain Questions about the Original Disease Pattern thatꎬ " Angerꎬ joyꎬ sadnessꎬ concern and fear are signs of

changes of the five major internal organs. Sadness is worry. If five internal organs are overworkedꎬ they will hurt themselves. All the injuries to the five internal or ̄

gans are caused by fire." This means that all kinds of

extreme emotional excitement may generate fire. Liu ' s academic thought has a great influence on later genera ̄

tions. Firstꎬ Qi depression changes into fireꎬ and then long stagnation makes fire. And " fire" burns every ̄ whereꎬ which makes Chen Shigong say: " Every sick ̄ 176


ness arises from fire." When fire results in rednessꎬ swellingꎬ heat and painꎬ only bitter and cold effects can

reduce fire. Anything going to extremes will have side effects. No doubtꎬ bitter and cold effects are effective in fire reductionꎬ but it is more important for them to pro ̄ tect our Yang.

Some people compare the " fire" in traditional Chi ̄

nese Medicine to the " Inflammation" in Western Medi ̄ cineꎬ which is an imaginative metaphor. In the 1st cen ̄ tury ADꎬ Romans proposed that the four major symp ̄

toms of inflammation were rednessꎬ swellingꎬ fever and

painꎬ similar to " fire tending to flame" in Shang Shu􀅰 Hong Fan. And it is also similar to " All kinds of fever with blurred visionꎬ limb convulsion are caused by

fire" ꎬ " All Qi uprush is caused by fire" ꎬ " All manias are caused by fire" ꎬ and " All diseases of swelling with sour discomfort and fear are caused by fire" ꎬ all sum ̄

marized in the nineteenth pathogenesis of the Discussion on the Most Important and Abstruse Theory in Su Wen.

The " heat" ꎬ " uprush" ꎬ " mania" and " swelling" are all the attributes of excitement and inflammation ex ̄

pressed by " flame" . After mastering the attributes of

fireꎬ you can master the symptoms of fire. Learning

" fire" in traditional Chinese Medicine is actually easier than learning " Inflammation" in Western Medicineꎬ be ̄ 177


cause you need to learn only half of it and the rest is for you to experience.

Soꎬ what are the attributes of fire and the character ̄ istics of fire - caused diseases? Fire is Yang evilꎬ and

hyperactivity of Yang may clinically show obvious signs of high feverꎬ over heatednessꎬ facial rednessꎬ and

pulse rate disorder. Because of sweating caused by body fluid leakage and thirst caused by body fluid consump ̄

tionꎬ symptoms of dry throatꎬ scanty dark urineꎬ and constipation will occur. Due to " Qi consumed in super ̄

heat" or Qi consumed in body fluidꎬ the fatigue and

lack of energy may also occur. Fire tending to flameꎬ so symptoms such as headacheꎬ flushingꎬ swelling of the throatꎬ swelling and pain in the gumsꎬ and oral erosion may appear. Fire corresponds to heart and is easy to af ̄

fect the mind. So vexationꎬ insomniaꎬ maniaꎬ stun and delirium may also occur. Fire can cause inflammation resulting in rotten muscles and fleshꎬ carbuncleꎬ ab ̄

scessꎬ sore and ulcerꎬ red swelling and heat pain. The heat burns meridians and collaterals and forces the blood to rush recklesslyꎬ causing all kinds of bleeding

diseasesꎬ such as hematemesisꎬ bleedingꎬ bloody stoolꎬ urineꎬ skin spotsꎬ metrorrhagia and other diseases. Fire originally refers to concrete fireꎬ but later gets a philo ̄ sophical conceptꎬ and finally the fire in traditional Chi ̄ 178


nese Medicine. This is a deductive process of analogyꎬ which is also a shortcut for us to get to know our body thoroughly.

Excessive Wind

It is people's instinct to have the interest of compa ̄

ring similar thingsꎬ and what we know about wind in the body starts from the perception of the wind in nature.

Wind is a common natural phenomenon. Chinese

Dictionary explains that wind is the phenomenon that air rises when heatedꎬ shrinks when it is coldꎬ and flows due to expansion and contraction. The flow of wind is arbitrary and uncertain. Thereforeꎬ when the pain in the body is constantly moving and the itching does not have a fixed part. Possiblyꎬ the wind is constantly blowing a ̄

way the coordinates of the symptomsꎬ just like wht Qibo said: " Wind is always moving and changing." Wind

can not only blow away the symptomsꎬ but also quake

the earth when strongꎬ leaving people with dizzinessꎬ tremorꎬ convulsion and spasm. In other wordsꎬ the

symptoms like shaking may also be caused by windꎬ as Zhang Zhongjing said: " Dominating wind causes vibra ̄ tion" .

When someone wakes up with his mouth crookedꎬ

and half of his body can't moveꎬ it's the sudden strike 179


of a symptom caused by assault of windꎬ which may oc ̄

cur at any time. Of courseꎬ now we know that this is an acute cerebrovascular disease caused by a sudden rup ̄

ture of a blood vessel in the brain or a blockage of a blood vessel. But in the pastꎬ people could not see the changes in their brainsꎬ so they saw it as a hurricane which suddenly changed people. Thereforeꎬ people called it " stroke" .

Wind is colorlessꎬ tasteless and fickleꎬ making it e ̄

lusive. Some wind is falseꎬ not realꎬ so we cannot sim ̄

ply call it wind at the sight of wind symptoms. Although

sound comes along with windꎬ sometimes wind is just a hearsay. Everyone can hear the wind in Nature but things that " sneak into the night with the wind" can on ̄

ly be captured after having been carefully experiencedꎬ whether it is tangible or intangibleꎬ psychological or physiological.

Wind can blow people's hair and make people think

endlesslyꎬ and it can also make people feel that the earth shakes and mountains move. Different kinds of " wind" are changing our bodies. East wind is a symbol

of auspiciousnessꎬ heralding the advent of spring. " One night's east wind adorns thousands of trees with flowers"

expresses warmthꎬ and " An ancient pathꎬ a bony horse in the west wind" expresses desolationꎬ which is the 180


" psychology" of wind.

According to Major Discussion on the Theory of Yin

and Yang and the Corresponding Relationship Among All

the Things in Natureꎬ " The east produces windꎬ wind

produces woodꎬ wood produces acid and acid produces liver." To concludeꎬ liver is the organ of wind and wood. " Wind passes through the liver "

is the

" physiology" of wind. As recorded in Syndrome Differ ̄

entiation and Therapeutics: " Wind depends on woodꎬ and luxuriant wood can turn into wind." As suggested

by The Discussion on the Most Important and Abstruse Theory in Su Wen : " All convulsions and dizziness are caused by liver troubles" ꎬ and " All kinds of sudden

limb ankylosis are related to wind " ꎬ which is the " pathology" of wind.

Of courseꎬ the physiology and pathology of wind are

not only related to liver. Fire and heat can generate

wind when they reach a certain extent. The pyreticosis that causes people to have sustaining high fever with convulsions and opisthotonos is a typical " extreme heat

causing wind" . Once the wind is mixed with fireꎬ the wind will take advantage of the fire which will help the

wind. It will cause a prairie fireꎬ a serious disease of wind. Hot flashes and dysphoria in chest palms - soles are typical manifestations of Yin deficiency. Clinical 181


features of windꎬ such as transient muscle movementsꎬ hand and foot peristalsisꎬ and dizzinessꎬ are called " wind due to deficiency" ꎬ in which there exists a kind of " wind due to blood deficiency" whose main manifes ̄

tations are limb tremorꎬ stiff jointsꎬ muscle tremorꎬ numb limbs and itchy skin due to deficiency of bloodꎬ dystrophy of tendons and veinsꎬ and endogenous defi ̄ cient wind.

As emphasized by The Yellow Emperor's Cannon of

Medicineꎬ wind is the root of all diseases ( Discussion on Genuine - Zang Pluses « 素 问 􀅰 玉 机 真 脏 论 » ) ꎬ " Actuallyꎬ wind is the root of all diseases" . As recor ̄

ded in Su Wen 􀅰 Wind Theory: " Thereforeꎬ wind is the root of all diseases" . Discussion on the Interrelation ̄

ship Between Life and Nature of Suwen ( « 素问􀅰生气

通天论» ) saysꎬ " Wind is the origin of all diseases" ꎬ and Discussion on Osseous Orifices ( « 素 问 􀅰 骨 空 论» ) writes: " I hear that wind is the origin of all dis ̄ eases" . These intensive emphases make doctors who de ̄

fer to the ancient instructions think that wind pathogen is the origin and primary cause of exogenous diseases.

Wind with its nature of pervasiveness can open the grain

of skin and the texture of subcutaneous fleshꎬ allowing coldnessꎬ dampnessꎬ heatꎬ dryness and summer heat to

enter the body. Clinical Guide Medical Case has this 182


smart sayingꎬ " Among six of the Qiꎬ only wind can mix with five of them. If wind mixes with coldnessꎬ it be ̄ comes wind - coldꎬ if with heatꎬ then wind - heatꎬ if with

dampnessꎬ it is called rheumatismꎬ if with drynessꎬ then wind - drynessꎬ and if with fireꎬ it becomes wind - fire. Wind can agitate these five Qi to hurt peopleꎬ so it is why it is called: The root of all diseases." Detailed A ̄

nalysis of Epidemic Warm Diseases also says: " Among five movements and six climatesꎬ nothing can be done without windꎬ and it is also the head of six Qiꎬ the leader of all diseases." Another meaning of " Windꎬ the root of all diseases " suggests the diversity of wind

pathogen causing diseases. The diseases named after wind in the Yellow Emperor's Cannon of Medicine rank

first among various diseases. As far as body parts are

concernedꎬ there are meridian windꎬ pulse windꎬ liver windꎬ heart windꎬ spleen windꎬ lung windꎬ kidney windꎬ and intestinal wind. In term of mixed evilsꎬ be ̄

sides six exogenous factorsꎬ there are also overwork windꎬ stroke wind and the head windꎬ and even " Sweating and getting hot are caused by wind" (Com ̄

ments on Febrile Diseases in Suwen) . There are so many kinds of wind in our bodyꎬ but fortunatelyꎬ there are many outlets on our bodies - - Fengfuꎬ Fengchiꎬ Feng ̄ menꎬ Fengshiꎬ Bingfengꎬ Yifengꎬ Bafengꎬ etc.ꎬ which 183


are all wind - related acupoints. So Sun Simiao said: " Every point has its own function."

Righteousness (Vital Qi)

" With righteousnessꎬ all things live and grow in

their forms. There are rivers and mountains down on the earthꎬ and the sun and stars up in the sky. It's called

righteousness on earthꎬ and it is everywhere in this world." That 's the righteousness of Wen Tianxiangꎬ a poet in the Southern Song Dynasty. In traditional Chi ̄

nese Medicineꎬ Vital Qi (Righteousness) is a general name for maintaining people's normal physiology and a ̄ bility to resist diseasesꎬ also known as Geniune Qi. Dis ̄

cussion on Acupuncture Methods in Suwen says: " Where there exists righteousness (Vital Qi) ꎬ there is no evil."

As recorded in Zuo ' s Commentary (« 左 传 » ) ꎬ

When Zheng ' s prime minister visited Jinhouꎬ he told

Shuxiangꎬ a minister of the Jinꎬ about how to preserve health: People have to do the corresponding things at

different timesꎬ just like the king who should administer

state affairs in the morningꎬ modify decrees at sunsetꎬ and rest at nightꎬ etc.ꎬ so Qi in the body can be adjus ̄ ted. Zhu Danxi saidꎬ there will be no disease with e ̄

nough and stable Qiꎬ but if people get depressed and gloomyꎬ diseases will come along. Thereforeꎬ most dis ̄ 184


eases are caused by Qi depression.

Qi is important to healthꎬ so the Classic of Difficult

Issues says that Qi is the root of the human body. How ̄

everꎬ we have never seen exactly what it looks like. On

the oracle inscriptions and small seal styleꎬ Qi is like the transpiration of cloud which is obviously not the " Qi" of life.

In traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ Qi is extremely mi ̄

raculousꎬ tangible and intangible. Although it is diffi ̄ cult for us to see itꎬ most oftenꎬ we can feel it. Qi is in ̄

visibleꎬ but energeticꎬ just like vision which is invisible but powerful.

Where does the power of Qi come from? At least

part of it comes from the air we breathe in. The nostril is the first outlet. In remote timesꎬ " nose" was written as " self" . Shuo Wen Jie Zi 􀅰 Zi Bu saysꎬ " Self is nose."

Thereforeꎬ when people say " self" ꎬ they often point

their noses with their finger. It is said that people with a high nose - bridge have a stronger ability to respond to diseases and crises. There is no reason for thisꎬ but if a

“ 心 (heart) ” is added under " self" ꎬ then life has " breath" .

There must be matters behind anything that has en ̄

ergy. To lifeꎬ the power of Qi comes from food besides airꎬ as an explicit recognition in the Tang Dynasty. 185


Thereforeꎬ after the Tang Dynastyꎬ the traditional Chi ̄

nese word “ 气 (Qi) ” was always written as “ 氣 (Qi) ” with “ 气” above and “ 米” below. Rice ( 米)

is a symbol of food. For peopleꎬ nothing is more impor ̄

tant than food. Laterꎬ the word “ 氣” was simplified as “ 气” and “ 米" was removed. This simplified “ 气”

makes it easy for us to forget the meaning of eating.

Thereforeꎬ because of eatingꎬ more and more diseases crop up.

If there is no fireꎬ the rice in the cooking pot will never become sweet - smelling hot riceꎬ and neither will

it provide pleasant steaming Qi for lifeꎬ which is the simplest idea of " gasification" in traditional Chinese Medicine. According to Shangshu Yinyiꎬ " Gasification creates life." Life is created by Qi and the gasification is gorgeous and colorfulꎬ making the whole theory of tra ̄

ditional Chinese Medicine full of music of Qi. Pectoral

Qi gathered in the chest makes our breath and speech

clear and orderlyꎬ and our heart rhythm and pulse even and rhythmicꎻ Ying Qi running in arteries and veins nourishes and metabolizes our bloodꎻ Defensive Qi flow ̄

ing between the skin and the flesh guards the first line of defense of our bodyꎬ as the main force of righteous ̄

ness (Vital Qi) in our bodies. The metaplasia of Qi not

only produces pectoral Qiꎬ Pectoral Qiꎬ Defensive Qiꎬ 186


bloodꎬ body fluidꎬ energyꎬ etc.ꎬ but also Qi in internal organs - - heart Qiꎬ lung Qiꎬ spleen Qiꎬ kidney Qiꎬ liver Qiꎬ gall Qiꎬ and stomach Qiꎬ etc. An attributive put before Qi is actually a summary of different func ̄

tional characteristicsꎬ with different manifestations of righteousness (Vital Qi) .

Ascentꎬ descentꎬ exit and entrance are four forms of

Vital Qi in the body. Qi is in constant motionꎬ flowing in the whole bodyꎬ promoting and stimulating physiolog ̄ ical activities of internal organs and meridians. The dy ̄

namic balance of viscera Qi ascending and descending

is the key to maintaining normal life activitiesꎬ such as lung breath and exhalationꎬ spleen digestion and nour ̄ ishmentꎬ and stomach drainage which are all manifesta ̄

tions of vital Qi. There are both vital Qi and evil Qi. Too much and too less vital Qi will cause Qi depressionꎬ re ̄

versed flow of Qiꎬ Qi collapseꎬ Qi desertion and Qi blockage.

Enough Qi and blood can maintain vital Qi. The ear ̄

liest diagnostic reports in the literature were about Qi

and blood. As recorded in Zuo 's Commentary: In 552

BCꎬ Wei Zifeng was commissioned as Ling Yin (prime minister in ancient China) by King Chu Kangꎬ but he refused with the excuse of illnessꎬ and lay in bed on an empty stomach. King Chu sent a doctor to visit him. 187


Coming backꎬ the doctor said that he was " very thinꎬ but his blood Qi is still there" ꎬ meaning that he was thinꎬ but with no deficiency of vital Qi. " Qi" was very popular during the Period of Warring Statesꎬ and all philosophers talked about itꎬ but finally they found that

it was everywhere in the human body. " Qi" is not so popular in the human body as it is in the human mind.

The way of thinking about " Qi" meets our aspirations for world unity and ultimate. Qi is a non - empirical form of existence.

188


Chapter 5 Borders of Five Internal Organs

Different Perceptions of Organs Have Been Blurring

Our Vision.

The five organs that we can see and touch in our

bodies originally had nothing to do with the heartꎬ liverꎬ spleenꎬ lungsꎬ and kidneys in traditional Chinese Medi ̄

cine. When Western missionaries came to China batches after batchesꎬ Chinese and Western Medicine began to interact with each other. In 1839ꎬ dispatched by London Missionary Societyꎬ He Xin came to China to preach

with other outstanding British doctors. While practicing medicine and preachingꎬ they translated Western medi ̄

cal books into Chinese. In the process of translationꎬ they used the term " five internal organs" of traditional

Chinese Medicine without reservation to translate the " five organs" of Western medical anatomyꎬ which uni ̄ fied the heartꎬ liverꎬ spleenꎬ lungsꎬ and kidneys of tra ̄

ditional Chinese and Western medical sciences in 189


" language" ꎬ as the first combination of traditional Chi ̄

nese and Western Medicine. The first time is always

beautifulꎬ full of ideals and expectations. Howeverꎬ things go against our wishes and different understandings of the five internal organs have been blurring our vision.

What a wonderful wish is the integration of Chinese

and Western Medicine! We have spent a lot of taxpay ̄

ers' money and spared no effort to prove the connection

of the five internal organs between traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine. We have also quoted

" Autumn is not good for pulmonary patients" in Corpus Hippocraticum to verify the consensus of " lungs should be nourished in autumn" in traditional Chinese Medi ̄ cine. Howeverꎬ the chasm between anatomy and image ̄ ry is always difficult to be crossed.

The concept of five internal organs of traditional

Chinese Medicine is not a " physical object" from the

beginning. It is a simple division of five related systems of humansꎬ natureꎬ psychology and society under the

guidance of five elements. Benzang: The Viscera as the

Foundation of Human Beings ( « 灵枢􀅰本藏» ) saidꎬ " The Five Zang - Organs corresponds to the heaven and the earthꎬ match with Yin and Yangꎬ connect with the four seasons and adapt to the time of the year dominated by the pathological windꎬ fireꎬ dampnessꎬ dryness and 190


coldness." Traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ centering on five internal organsꎬ agreeing with six Fu - organs or ̄

gansꎬ fleshꎬ hairꎬ and five sense organs in the bodyꎬ while corresponding to Yinꎬ Yangꎬ four seasons in the heavenꎬ and going with happinessꎬ angerꎬ sorrow and

joy in moodꎬ is a five major system represented by the heartꎬ liverꎬ spleenꎬ lungꎬ and kidneyꎬ which is an or ̄ ganic integration that affects the whole body.

We don't seem to see the boundaries of five internal

organs. This picture shows us only half of the world.

Thereforeꎬ when practitioners of traditional Chinese

Medicine say that there is something wrong with your kidneysꎬ they not only mean that pair of " kidneys" in both sides of the waist.

Heisenberg once said: " What we observe is not na ̄

ture itselfꎬ but the nature revealed by the way we ask questions." Our ancestors ' interpretations of life and health have always been " complete both in form and

spirit" ꎬ so the ancient way to express strongly the close

relationship between mind and bodyꎬ spirit and matter is the match of five internal organs with five minds.

When emotion has a destinationꎬ the emotional damage will also cause physical scars. Rage impairs liverꎬ mel ̄ ancholy impairs lungsꎬ overjoy impairs heartꎬ worry im ̄

pairs spleenꎬ and fear impairs kidneys. The five internal 191


organs of traditional Chinese Medicine have not only re -

planned the physiological functions of the human bodyꎬ but also divided our spiritual world.

Understanding " five internal organs" of people from

a scientific perspective and appreciation from a cultural aspect is my pursuits.

The Heart The heart is an organ of high - grade animals. In the

eyes of an anatomistꎬ it is as big as a fistꎬ but in my eyesꎬ it leads to the boundaries of the universe.

Spirit in the Heart

The textbook of traditional Chinese Medicine says

that the physiological function of the heart is " heart con ̄

trolling blood circulation" ꎬ and to put it more succinctlyꎬ the function of the heart (heart Qi) is to promote the

movement of blood in blood vesselsꎬ which coincides with a discovery made by Harveyꎬ a 17th -century British medical scientistꎬ that heart contraction promotes blood flow. The difference lies in terms: one is " heart Qi" and

the other is " constriction" . The difference reflects the differentiation of the two kinds of medicine.

Harvey asked himself how much blood could be

192


squeezed out of the heart in one contractionꎬ and he calculated that it was 2 ounces (1 ounce≈ 28. 4 ml) .

If calculated by 72 contractions of the heart per minuteꎬ the blood ejected from the heart in an hour should be 8ꎬ

640 ouncesꎬ which is several times more than the weight

of the bodyꎬ so Harvey confirmed that the ejected blood

returned to the heart. That is the power of mathematicsꎬ and the wisdom of Harvey. Thusꎬ Harvey ' s theory of

blood circulation opened a new era in medicineꎬ having also lengthened the distance between the two " hearts"

(the heart of traditional Chinese Medicine and that of Western Medicine) .

The concept of God has always been a supernatural

power that can control human behaviors and willꎬ and goes deep into the heart and comes out from the heart. If we believe himꎬ he is almighty. Guangyun says that " God is a kind of magical spirit" . We can't see the ap ̄ pearance of Godꎬ nor can we find his trace with scientif ̄ ic methodsꎬ but he has never been eliminated by sci ̄

ence. In the pastꎬ God covered scienceꎬ and now the heart always yearns for Godꎬ but they can never be com ̄

bined into one. The heart and God are like men and

women. They were originally integratedꎬ but now they are two things.

Traditional Chinese Medicine says: " God is stored 193


in the heart" ꎬ and this " God" is invisible but toucha ̄ ble. It refers to a person's spiritꎬ consciousnessꎬ think ̄

ingꎬ emotion and other psychological activities. It lives in the heart. According to Pathogenic Factors of Ling ̄

shuꎬ " The heart is the home of the spirit " ꎬ and in Movement of the Heartꎬ Harveyꎬ the originator of blood

circulation theoryꎬ boldly stated: The heart is like a pumpꎬ but also a " center" . " Center" is a word with

strong political colorꎬ and the central position of the heart is vividly interpreted by traditional Chinese Medi ̄

cine: According to Discussion on the Secret Canons Stored in Royal Library of Suwenꎬ " The heart is a main

organ and spirit comes from it." The heart is like the king of the human body that needs protection. Hence a

concept of " The coat of heart / pericardium" appearedꎬ which was the extension of analogy to sociology. As long as you have enough imaginationꎬ it is not so difficult to learn traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ if you understand

the word " analogy." Psycho - psychological activity is clearly derived from brain and has nothing to do with the heart. This concep ̄

tual confusion is a contradiction between science and

culture. It doesn't matter to have contradictionsꎬ and the world is full of them. Now we can say decently: in the theoretical system of traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ the 194


concept of the heart covers the function of brain. There ̄ foreꎬ there is a kind of absent - mindedness called laxity of mindꎬ a kind of talking nonsense called heart spirit

confused by phlegmꎬ a kind of mental depression called insufficient Qiꎬ and a kind of insomnia called irritabili ̄ ty. For that reasonꎬ five internal organs of Chinese Med ̄

icine cannot be treated equally with those of Western Medicine.

The heart is a center that extends inward and out ̄

ward indefinitely. One end we can perceive is Godꎬ or ratherꎬ the spirit. To understand how life movesꎬ one

must understand the spirit and life themselves. Just as the matter can determine the spiritꎬ spirit can also gen ̄ erate matterꎬ whose process does not require the cataly ̄

sis of enzymes or the derivation of chemical equationꎬ and the reaction of the heart itself can make it. I don't

know if this is Robert Lanzar's " biocentrism" which is based on the mainstream science and a reasonable ex ̄

tension of some great scientific ideas. The heart is an or ̄ gan of high - grade animals. In the eyes of an anatomistꎬ it is as big as a fistꎬ but in my eyesꎬ it leads to the boundaries of the universe.

Yang Qi in the Heart

" What a brilliant sunꎬ and how clear the sky is after 195


a storm!" . It is the lyrics in the famous Italian song: " My Sun" ꎬ sung by many famous singers. There is also a " Sun in the Heart" ꎬ a film starred by Sophia Roland.

In the filmꎬ professor Mayerꎬ with one foot in the graveꎬ has a heart attack lying on the sickbed. At that momentꎬ all his reputationꎬ moneyꎬ and status have no more sig ̄

nificance. Only the memory of his mother is the most

important... No matter how far the boundary isꎬ as long as it existsꎬ it will be a corner that can be touched or a place that can be experienced.

Yang Qi in heart corresponds to the sun in natureꎬ

which is called correspondence between man and uni ̄ verseꎬ linking man and nature closely together. We can ̄

not see Yang Qi in our heartsꎬ but we can experience the sunlight in nature. It is vivid and real to compare Heart Yang to the sun. Gao Shizong of the Qing Dynasty said in True Medicine: " Man corresponds to universe.

The universe has a sun and man also has Yang. Yang in

the heart fire is the sun in nature." According to the

theory of five elementsꎬ the heart is connected with fireꎬ and Tang Zonghai ' s A Treatise on Blood Troubles has this appropriate saying: " The heart is an organ of fire

that shines on everything." Heart Yang warms the bodyꎬ and if it is insufficientꎬ the function of the body will de ̄

cline. If Heart Yang is exhaustedꎬ life will come to an 196


end. We now seem to be emphasizing the role of " The heart dominating blood circulation and vessels" ꎬ which

is influenced by Harvey. In factꎬ the function of the heart is to dominate Yang Qi in the first place.

Before and behind the heartꎬ there are four acu ̄

puncture points related to " 神 (Spirit) " : Shenfengꎬ Shenzangꎬ Shendaoꎬ and Shentang. I don't know what inspired the ancients to give these names to these acu ̄

puncture pointsꎬ since the names are often related to

their functions. Could it be " The essence of Yang Qi is the Spirit in the Heart" ? [ Zeng Zi Tian Yuan in the Da

Dai Li Ji ( « 大戴礼记􀅰曾子天圆» ) ] . Howeverꎬ I know that in one part of the bodyꎬ there is a reflection point of " Heart Yang " . This point is the " breath of life" ꎬ which is Danzhong.

Lingshu 􀅰 Expansion Theories saidꎬ " Danzhong is

the center of the heart palace." Sun Simiaoꎬ a great scholar of health - care in the Tang dynastyꎬ called it

" chest" . Danzhong is located in the middle of the chestꎬ and below is the knot of heart aorta. According to the principle of mechanicsꎬ the heart should pump the blood straight to where it is neededꎬ but why does it

come across a vertical obstacle as soon as the blood is pumped out? Is the design of life so " shoddy" ?

Aside from those unclear theoriesꎬ there is a heart 197


disease called coronary heart disease (CHD) in Western Medicineꎬ which is caused by atherosclerosis of the cor ̄ onary arteries of the heartꎬ including myocardial ische ̄

mia caused by coronary artery spasm. CHD is equivalent

to chest discomfort or cardiodynia in traditional Chinese Medicine. The medical scientist Sun Simiao in the Tang

dynasty saidꎬ " Apply moxibustion often to Danzhongꎬ when chest stuffiness and pains occur" . Moxibustion on Danzhong can warm Heart Yang and remove obstacles from vessels of the heartꎬ and pain will be relieved with improved blood circulation. " Apply moxibustion on

Danzhong with 100 cones" is not only to treat coronary heart diseaseꎬ but also a method of maintaining Heart Yang with the lowest cost. " Bai Zhuang (100 cones) "

can also be understood as " often" in terms of health - careꎬ just like eatingꎬ a kind of lifestyle.

In factꎬ " Apply moxibustion often on Danzhongꎬ

when chest stuffiness and heart pains occur" can also be

deduced further: when you really have " heartache" ꎬ moxibustion can warm up your chest. Danzhong is " The palace of the heart" ꎬ which is the shelter of the spiritꎬ be ̄

longing to fire. Among five elementsꎬ only fire is infinite and has no shapeꎬ similar to our wandering spirit. Flames

flare upꎬ illuminating the world and warming themselves. But sometimes too much fire can destroy our bodies. 198


Bitterness in the Heart

Pungencyꎬ bitternessꎬ sweetnessꎬ sournessꎬ and

saltiness are five flavors of the tongueꎬ and also five fla ̄ vors in lifeꎬ bearing the entire world of a person. In tra ̄

ditional Chinese Medicineꎬ they are respectively in the

charge of different organs: Lungs are responsible for pungencyꎬ the heart for bitternessꎬ spleen for sweet ̄ nessꎬ the liver for sourness and kidneys for saltiness.

Perhaps our ancestors already experienced that life

is a bitter journey. Thereforeꎬ the heart is responsible for it. In Chinese characterꎬ " bitterness" sounds like " cry" . When babies are bornꎬ the first sound we can hear is their cry. It seems as if they know that the pain

of life is about to begin. Howeverꎬ with this first cryꎬ a smile appears on the doctor's face. According to the the ̄ ory of traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ the heart is also re ̄

sponsible for joy. The Inner Canon of Yellow Emperor states: " The heartꎬ in moodꎬ is joy" . Bitterness and joy are in the same heart. Is that the speculation of the theo ̄

ry of five elements or the confirmation of the law of unity

of opposites? In shortꎬ bitterness belongs to the heartꎬ not just in taste.

199


The Heart Opens at the Tongue

The saying " The heart opens at the tongue" in tradi ̄

tional Chinese Mmedicine means that tongue is closely related to the heart. In other wordsꎬ it can be under ̄

stood as " The tongue reflects the heart." We can't see the heart directlyꎬ but we can know the state of the heart through the expression of the tongue. For exam ̄

pleꎬ the red tip of the tongue may suggest too much

heart fireꎻ dark purple tongue or ecchymotic tongue may represent blood stasisꎻ and the thin tongue may possibly refer to insufficient blood.

The shape of the tongue resembles a flame that was

about to burst out. The heart belongs to fireꎬ and the tongue belongs to heart. The touch of the two tongues a ̄

rouses the spark in the heartꎬ and the touch of two lips is the catharsis of the same Qi of the spleen (spleen is associated with lips) ꎬ so tongue - kiss is much more passionate than lip - kissꎬ because it is the touch of two hearts.

According to Major Discussion on the Theory of Yin

and Yang and the Corresponding Relationship Among All

the Things in Natureꎬ " The Heart Opens at the Tongue" . The tongue can discern five flavors with

peaceful mental stateꎬ and Pulse in Lingshu has this saying that " Heart Qi reaches the tongueꎬ and the 200


tongue can perceive five flavors in peace of mind." In addition to identifying five flavorsꎬ the tongue is also re ̄

lated to speaking. As a saying goes: " Language is the note of the heart" ꎬ and it would be more appropriate to explain this sentence by " The tongue reflects the heart" . The sound of the heart spurts outꎬ accompanied

by heart Qiꎬ releasing energy both positive and negative from the heart. The positive energy comes from the heart and expresses its voice. Thereforeꎬ the persecution of the heart voice is the harm to the soul. The negative en ̄

ergy flatters and fakes the voice of the heartꎬ which is the function of the tongue instead of the tail since hu ̄ man beings have no tail.

Females love gossiping and naggingꎬ which is the

lowest realm of the tongue. These actions of the tongue cannot fill both the soul and the stomachꎬ but they can

exercise the tongue. Females ' nagging is mainly for nothing but exercising their tongues. It seems that

tongue is more important to femalesꎬ like this word in Chapman's play The Widow's Tears: It is his heart that finally stops beating when a man diesꎬ while it's the fe ̄

male's tongue that stops beating. What people are most

worried about is that the tongue can no longer moveꎬ which is called " stiff tongue cannot move or speak" in

traditional Chinese Medicine. It may be caused by 201


phlegm - heat or blood stasis blocking the heartꎬ which needs doctor's help.

Psalms of Bible says: " If the heart is covered with

fatty oilꎬ one will say proud words" . According to the theory of traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ oil and fat are classified as phlegm hygrosis. It is a sickness that

phlegm covers the heart. Thereforeꎬ people who are too

proud may suffer from cardiac functional insufficiencyꎬ which cannot be detected by Western medical instru ̄

mentsꎬ but traditional Chinese Medicine can treat it as phlegm dampness. This is a jokeꎬ but the words in the First Epistle of Peter in Bible are not a joke at all: " If one loves life and wants to be happyꎬ one must not

speak evil. Give all your worries to 'God'ꎬ because he

cares about you." " God" here might be your " heart" or " Jesus" .

Aristotle said: " The function serves purpose" ꎬ and

the function of the heart in TCM is designed for the pur ̄ pose of life.

It is said that when God designed the heartꎬ there

was also a constant of heart rate of 2. 5 billion timesꎬ the average number of heart beats in a person's life. If it

is trueꎬ then the first element of all health rules is to make the heart beat slower. Soꎬ let us have an easy heart. 202


Life is at duskꎬ and we all go too fast.

The Liver When spring willowsꎬ lush and greenꎬ sway with the

windꎬ it ' s the starting point for us to understand the " liver" . Sometimes looking at the human body from a humanistic perspective is like a lesson in life.

The Return of Spring

Before life was bornꎬ man experienced a long glacial

period. The Chinese calendar says: Winter covers the

Beginning of Winterꎬ the Light Snowꎬ the Heavy Snowꎬ the Winter Solsticeꎬ the Slight Cold and the Great Coldꎬ while spring covers the Beginning of Springꎬ the Rainꎬ the Wake - up of Insectsꎬ the Spring Equinoxꎬ the Pure Brightness and the Grain Rain. After the cold comes springꎬ which is the cycle of reversal of Yin and Yang.

It means that things will develop in the opposite direc ̄

tion when they go to extremes. When I wrote about springꎬ the poems I once recited in my childhood e ̄

merged in my mind: " Willows are swaying amid spring breeze with everything reviving nowꎬ millions of people in the Divine Land are saints like Shun and Yao " .

When growing upꎬ I realized that millions of people in 203


the Divine Land are not all saints like Yao and Shunꎬ but millions of willows are indeed eternal symbols of spring.

When spring returnsꎬ willows all turn greenꎬ with

their soft twigs swaying in the windꎬ growing willfully

and stretching gracefully amid spring breezeꎬ which is the character of willows and the starting point for us to understand " The liver" .

Willows represent the characteristics of the liverꎬ

which like to stretch their branches and hate to be re ̄

strained. The liver is like willows that germinate in the springꎬ whose catharsis brings about the adjustment of Qi. As recorded in Major Discussion on Regulation of

Spirit According to the Change of the Four Seasons in

Suwenꎬ " In the spring of Marchꎬ everything is bornꎬ thrivingꎬ and all things on the earth are glorious... going against it will hurt the liver."

Human life can ' t separate itself from green plants

from any perspectives. About 450 million years agoꎬ the first batch of trees appeared on the earth. Trees are

greenꎬ storing the energy of the sun. The sun rises from the east. Five - element Theory connects the liver with the eastꎬ so the liver is in charge of " growing and thri ̄ ving" . Another similar term is called " The liver gover ̄ ning growing and thriving" ꎬ which means the liver is re ̄ 204


lated to the regeneration of lifeꎬ connected with the rise

of Yang Qi. It is generated the in heart and starts from the liver. Yang Qi grows and everything recovers. Wil ̄ lows are a kind of treesꎬ but the liver is not. The Five -

element Theory classifies the liver as " wood" ꎬ which is a classification method. According to the method of a ̄

nalogyꎬ all things that can be attributed to " wood" are combined into a system whose commander is the " liver" .

The Liver Controlling Catharsis

In modern textbooks of traditional Chinese Medi ̄

cineꎬ it seems that " The liver governing growing and

thriving" is not so stressedꎬ but " The liver controlling catharsis" can be heard everywhere. " The liver control ̄

ling catharsis" was not found in The Inner Canon of

Yellow Emperorꎬ but there is a description of " spleen

and dispersion" . According to Major Discussion on the Administration of Five - Motions in Suwenꎬ " In time of thrivingꎬ it is time for cleaning. After the earth is

dredgedꎬ Wood Qi can go anywhere." This saying of our ancestors puzzled the following generation for a long time. Why doesn't the first medical monograph have the important description of " The liver controlling cathar ̄

sis" ? In the Tang Dynastyꎬ Wang Bing explained: Only 205


when the Qi of liver - wood was clearꎬ could spleen - soil

be drained. It seems that at least in the Tang Dynastyꎬ medical practitioners linked " catharsis" with " spleen" .

In the Yuan Dynastyꎬ Zhu Danxi said in Ge Zhi Yu

Lun: " Kidneys are responsible for storingꎬ while the liver is for catharsis." ꎬ which is the wordꎬ we literally seeꎬ most closely related with " The liver controlling ca ̄

tharsis" . Zhu Danxi believed that there was something called " Ministerial Fire hidden in the liver and kidneys.

Like Heart Yangꎬ Ministerial Fire is also the driving

motive power of life. Because the heart ranks firstꎬ it is called Sovereign Fire (monarch fire) ꎬ and the liverꎬ the secondꎬ so it is called Ministerial Fire. If Ministerial Fire is offside and moves erraticallyꎬ Yin will be dam ̄

aged and essence will be consumedꎬ which will cause many diseases. Ministerial Fire and essence for repro ̄

duction are regulated by kidneys and the liver. Kidneys are responsible for storingꎬ and the liver for dredging.

Thereforeꎬ liver function is also closely related to our reproduction and sex.

Zhu Danxi's " Ministerial Fire theory " has a long

historyꎬ just like the small river named " Danxi" in his

hometown. About 400 years laterꎬ in the forty - four years of Kangxi in the Qing dynasty (1705) ꎬ Chen Men ̄

glei completed The Complete Record of the Ancient and 206


Modern Books about Integrated Medical Science. He pro ̄

posed in the " Volume 96" that " The liver controls ca ̄ tharsisꎬ so it is called dispersion." This is a state - level

" Complete Record of Medical Science " ꎬ representing

the mainstream view at that time. The view of the liver controlling conveyance and dispersion was thus estab ̄ lished.

In addition to reproduction and sexꎬ the liver is also

related to digestive function of spleen and stomach. I treated a patient with stomachache for 10 years. With

the method of dispersing the stagnated hepato Qiꎬ after acupuncture of 40 times at Danzhongꎬ Zhongwanꎬ Tai ̄ chongꎬ and Yanglingquan the patient was cured. To be ̄ gin with the liver for the treatment of spleen and stom ̄

ach disease may be the common experience of doctors in

ancient and modern times. The relationship between the liver and spleen and stomach has been ambiguous since the completion of The Inner Canon of Yellow Emperor.

Perhaps what the earliest ancient people wanted to say was: " When soil is dredgedꎬ Wood Qi can go any ̄

where" ꎬ but ancient medical practitioners found in practice that " Soil was dredged by wood that grows "

(By Zhang Jiebinꎬ a medical scientist of the Ming Dy ̄ nasty) . Accordinglyꎬ there was a process of develop ̄ ment from " dredging the soil" to " dredging the wood" . 207


In this processꎬ for the sake of the relationship between

compliance for the past and development for the futureꎬ liver - wood and spleen - soil became inextricably in ̄ volved. That disease in the liver might spread to the

spleenꎬ soꎬ to cure the disease in the spleenꎬ the liver should be cured firstꎬ hence becoming a normalcy of di ̄

alectics of illness of the digestive system in clinical medicine.

The liver's role of controlling catharsis is so exten ̄

sive that it is explained by " adjusting Qi of the whole body" in contemporary books. The abstract function of

" The liver controlling catharsis" can be understood as another expression of the word " unblocked" . Shuowen

Jiezi ( Paraphrasing Texts and Words ) interprets " dredging"

as

" unblocked" ꎬ

and " release" as " water" . The idea of " dredging water - courses" is the ideological legacy of Dayu taming floods. In the history of the struggle between the Chinese nation and nature in

the early daysꎬ Dayu taming the floods was a milestone event with deep influence on the world outlook of Chi ̄

nese peopleꎬ especially the " medical outlook " . Gao You of the Eastern Han Dynasty had an explanation of " releasing is like connecting" in Annotated Version of Huai Nan Ziꎬ a simple expression with which I agree.

Our body's meridiansꎬ Qi and bloodꎬ internal organsꎬ 208


etc. all need unblocking and connecting.

The Liver Storing Blood

When seeing a man with a pale faceꎬ we may specu ̄

late that he / she may have insufficient blood. Westerners used to believe that cowards did not have the courage

because they had no blood in the liverꎬ and if the liver was ischemicꎬ it will be white. Thereforeꎬ there is a

word in English consisting of white and the liver as " white - livered" meaning " timid" . Lily is also whiteꎬ and " lily - livered" has the same meaning. I don't know

where the inspiration of Westerners for linking the liver

to blood came from. It might be this thought of Galen: " The blood vessels that transport blood have their roots

in the liverꎬ and the blood is 'modulated' in the liverꎬ then flows out like a tide to organs through blood ves ̄ sels." (Baamera Debreu's Breathing Body: Physiologi ̄

cal Thoughts in Galen's Works) Apparentlyꎬ Galenꎬ the greatest doctor of ancient Romeꎬ was wrong. Today we know clearly that blood is not generated in the liverꎬ but

the blood supply for the liver is very rich receiving 25% of the blood - flow in total cardiac outputꎬ and 2 / 3 of the

liver blood - flow comes from the portal vein. Thereforeꎬ this physiological knowledge in Western Medicine be ̄

came the evidence for some people to decode " The liver 209


storing blood" in the Yellow Emperor's Cannon of Medi ̄ cine ꎬ although far - fetchedꎬ but widely cited.

In factꎬ " The liver storing blood " in Yellow

Emperor's Cannon of Medicine refers to " The soul" . In Benshen: Basic State of Spirit ( « 灵枢􀅰本神» ) ꎬ it read: " The liver stores bloodꎬ blood houses the soul... spleen stores nutrientsꎬ nutrients house consciousness...

The heart stores veinsꎬ veins houses the soul... lungs

store Qiꎬ Qi houses the soul... kidneys store essenceꎬ and essence houses will." The word " soul" consisting of the cloud and the ghost in Chineseꎬ purely imaginar ̄

yꎬ as a spirit subdivided from " God" . Though as a kind of spiritꎬ it also needs a place to stay. In Yellow Emper ̄

or's Cannon of Medicineꎬ it was put in the liverꎬ and

nurtured by the blood of the liver. Thereforeꎬ if liver blood is not deficientꎬ there will not be the state of

" The spirit leaving the body" . More than 2ꎬ 000 years agoꎬ the ancients gave spiritual functions to various or ̄

gans of the human bodyꎬ hoping to unite the material

with the spirit. This unified form may not be perfectꎬ but it is a great idea. " Things concrete are toolsꎬ and

things abstract are of proper ways." Only things staying with God can last forever.

After the Tang Dynastyꎬ the theory of " The liver

storing blood " was developed. It is believed that the 210


blood stored in the liver can not only house the soulꎬ but also generate and regulate itself. Zhu Xuemen in the Zhangshi Yitong says: " If Qi is not consumedꎬ it will be refined to kidneys as essence. If the essence is not leakedꎬ it will go to the liver and become clean blood."

The liver stores bloodꎬ and kidneys store essence. Be ̄

cause of essence and blood generating each otherꎬ the liver and kidneys are homologous. Medical scientist

Wang Bing of the Tang Dynasty associated " The liver storing blood" with female menstruationꎬ because of the

special use of blood for femalesꎬ in the wake of thatꎬ people would think of the liver first when treating many gynecological diseases including irregular menstruation.

Some people even argue that " The liver is the most im ̄ portant organ for females" . In the Sui and Tang dynas ̄ tiesꎬ Yang Shangshan simply regarded " The liver sto ̄

ring blood" as " Theliver controlling blood" . If the liver controls bloodꎬ then how do we explain the heart gover ̄

ning blood and vessels? Still the smart Wang Bing said: " The liver stores bloodꎬ and the heart makes it circu ̄

late. When people moveꎬ blood flows in veinsꎬ when

people stay stillꎬ blood returns to the liverꎬ why? This is because the liver controls blood." In " The liver sto ̄

ring blood " and " The liver controlling blood " ꎬ " storing" and " controlling" seem to be a literal game. 211


Actuallyꎬ they both tell us about the close relationship

among the liverꎬ the heart and blood. Blood links the heartꎬ the liver and woman closely together.

In lifeꎬ " The heart and the liver" ꎬ regarded as dar ̄

lingsꎬ are often used together to describe the person you love. In Shakespeare's comedy The Merry Wives of Wind ̄

sorꎬ Pistol said that Falstaff had fallen in love with Ford' s wife " with the liver burning hot" . In traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ the heart disease can be treated by regulating the liver. Dialectics states: " When one with palpitation

has emotional troubles or hears unpleasant wordsꎬ one will get furious and cannot control one's emotionsꎬ as if

irritatedꎬ but actually notꎬ or dizzyꎬ but actually notꎬ which is thought to be caused by heart deficiency. How ̄ everꎬ liver deficiency can cause heart deficiency. To in ̄ vigorate the heartꎬ the liver should be invigorated first."

In TV dramasꎬ it is often the case that patients with car ̄ diothoracic pain are treated by dispersing stagnated hep ̄

ato Qi. In clinical practiceꎬ it is also the method to treat coronary heart disease with medicine to disperse stagna ̄ ted hepato Qi such as Radix Bupleuri ( 柴胡) ꎬ Imma ̄ ture Bitter Orange ( 枳实) ꎬ Pericarpium Citri Reticula ̄

tae Viride ( 青 皮 ) ꎬ Cyperus Rotundus ( 香 附 ) ꎬ Toosendan Fructus ( 川 楝 子) ꎬ etc. The talk therapy and pharmacological treatmentsꎬ as long as they can 212


disperse stagnated hepato Qiꎬ can cure the heart dis ̄ ease.

Be Devoted to Each Other Like Liver and Gall ̄ bladder

The liver and the gallbladder are two organs in anat ̄

omyꎬ and a pair of viscera in traditional Chinese Medi ̄

cine. In addition to their closeness in positionꎬ they are also linked by meridians. The Liver Channel of Foot - Ju ̄

eyin belonging to the liver connects the gallbladderꎬ and the Gall Bladder Channel of Foot - Shaoyang that enters the chestꎬ goes through the diaphragm and connects the liverꎬ belonging to the gallbladder. The relationship be ̄

tween the liver and the gallbladder is called " The liver and the gallbladder reflect each other" in the terminolo ̄

gy of traditional Chinese Medicine. Adults secrete 800 ~ 1000 ml of bile dailyꎬ about 75% of which is pro ̄

duced by the liver. Bile originates from the liver and

hidden in the gallbladder. The gallbladder is responsible for the storage and excretion of bileꎬ and the liver's ca ̄ tharsis is responsible for mediation. Among five ele ̄

mentsꎬ the liver and the gallbladder are wood with green colour. The color of bile is dark green that can be distin ̄

guished by our naked eyes. Such a description is some ̄ how far - fetched logicallyꎬ but that ' s what makes the 213


Chinese and Western Medicine most closely related.

That the liver and the gallbladder reflecting each

other actually describes the close relationship between

them. Being devoted to each other like the liver and the

gallbladderꎬ and being loyal and faithful to each other are all described as the sincerityꎬ chivalryꎬ and loyalty

of a person. As recorded in Historical Records of the HuaiYin Hou Biography: " I'm willing to be loyalꎬ lay ̄

ing bare to you my liver and gallbladderꎬ offering you my adviceꎬ but I'm afraid that you won't trust me with the post." Wen Tianxiang wrote in the Letter to Supervi ̄

sor Chen Wenlong: " I rely on people who are my bosom friends devoted to each other like the liver and the gall ̄ bladderꎬ not afraid to use admiring words in letters."

Traditional Chinese Medicine not only emphasizes that man is an integral part of natureꎬ into which the concept

of close relationship between people and society is also fused. The " organ - oriented" culture of traditional Chi ̄ nese Medicine is like a social formationꎬ and the func ̄ tions of human organs represent different roles at work ̄

places. Discussion on the Secret Canons Stored in Royal

Library of Suwen has this description: " The heart is the

monarchꎬ from which God comes. Lungs are assistantsꎬ from which rules come. The liver is the generalꎬ from

which ideas come. The gallbladder is the fair judgeꎬ 214


from which decision comes. Danzhong is the executive officialꎬ from which joy comes. Spleen and stomach are

the barnsꎬ from which five flavors (sweetꎬ sourꎬ bitterꎬ pungentꎬ and salty) come. The large intestine is the teacherꎬ from which changes come. The small intestine

is the receiverꎬ from which refined food comes. Kidneys are the generator of energy and essenceꎬ from which wit

and keenness come. Sanjiao is the dredging toolꎬ by which waterways are made. The bladder is the state cap ̄ italꎬ where body fluid is stored and delivered after gasi ̄

fication. In Discussion on the Secret Canons Stored in Royal Library of Suwenꎬ spleen and stomach are treated

as one organꎬ which perhaps was caused by disorder or mistakes. Laterꎬ in Acupuncture Supplementꎬ it was cor ̄

rected and compiled as: " Spleen is the adviserꎬ from

whom wise consideration comes. Stomach is the barnꎬ from which five flavors (sweetꎬ sourꎬ bitterꎬ pungentꎬ and salty) come."

The liver is like a general with strategies around the

monarch (the heart) . Whether a general is resourceful

or not depends on the general's Qi (liver Qi) . Strategy is not enough for a qualified general. He should also

have courage. Romance of Three Kingdoms states: " Zilong is courageous" ꎬ Zhao Zilong 's fairnessꎬ deci ̄

sivenessꎬ and braveness are like the words in Discussion 215


on the Secret Canons Stored in Royal Library of Suwen.

" The gallbladder is the organ of fairnessꎬ from which decisions come." Ma Shi said in The Questions of the Su

Wen's Notes ( « 素问注证发微» ) : " The gallbladder

is the organ that has close relationship with the liverꎬ with impartial deliberationꎬ so it is the fair judge." Only when one is fair with justice will one be full of courage.

Only with " being devoted to each other like the liver and the gallbladder" will the heart have the spirit of wisdomꎬ which is the embodiment of humanistic con ̄ sciousness in traditional Chinese Medicine.

Howeverꎬ a general tends to get angry. The liver be ̄

longs to wood which is easy to be ignited. In Englishꎬ liver - heat is emitted by the gallbladder. No wonder the word " bile" means anger in addition to the gall. Anger

can burn itself (the liver) and sometimes the monarch (the heart) . There are so many such thought - provoking stories in history.

Anger Impairing the Liver

" Parted for ten yearsꎬ friends are still friends like

the liver and the gallbladderꎬ talking and laughing when meeting each other" ꎬ which is a state we look forward toꎬ but most oftenꎬ hardly has the plight of " if such

things can be toleratedꎬ what else is intolerable" comeꎬ 216


when most people get irritated.

Five internal organs match with five emotionsꎬ and

anger belongs to the liver. When a person is angryꎬ his

eyes are redꎬ and his anger seems to flow from the liver toeyes with billowing blood. According to Discussion on the Important Ideas in the Gloden Chamber in Suwen ( « 素问金匮真言论» ) : " The liver can be reflected

by eyes" ꎬ so when we look at the eyesꎬ we can tell the extent of heat. Anger easily hurts the liverꎬ because the spirit affects matter. People with poor liver function are

prone to lose their temperꎬ because the matter affects spirit. Anger hurts the liver at an invisible place. Mod ̄

ern medicine has done many researches on the changes in the body caused by anger: Anger can cause excite ̄

ment of the sympathetic nerve - adrenal medulla system and excitement of renin - angiotensin systemꎬ as well as excitation of hypothalamus - pituitary - adrenal cortex. If

you have difficulties in understanding these termsꎬ let's put it another way: anger can cause blood sugar and high blood pressureꎬ producing toxins. From those biological

perspectivesꎬ we see that the liver in traditional Chinese Medicine is not an isolated organꎬ which integrates neu ̄ ro - endocrine functions. Thereforeꎬ " The liver control ̄

ling conveyance and dispersion" is so widely applied in the practice of traditional Chinese Medicine.

217


The broader the range of the liver controlling con ̄

veyance and dispersion isꎬ the greater the impact of the liver losing conveyance and dispersion. Anger is the main cause of the liver losing conveyance and disper ̄

sion. During the period of war between the Chu and the Hanꎬ Fan Zengꎬ a well - known strategistꎬ was indignant because of the failure of the attempt to kill Liu Bang at the " Hongmen Banquetꎬ so finally he " died with gan ̄

grene on his back" . According to relevant researchꎬ Fan Zeng died of diabetes. There was a famous doctor in his ̄

tory called Shao Yu who told Huangdi Emperor: " People with weak internal organs are prone to thirst (diabetes) " . In ancient timesꎬ there was no instru ̄ ment inspectionꎬ so it was not known what the weak in ̄

ternal organs looked like. Huang Di Emperor asked: How can we know that all the internal organs are weak? Shao Yu replied: " A weak man must be featured by strong force which makes it easy for him to get angryꎬ so a weak person is easy to be hurt." That is to sayꎬ peo ̄

ple who are weak in five internal organs often look strong in appearanceꎬ but easily get irritatedꎬ being out ̄

wardly strong but inwardly weakꎬ appearing fierceꎬ but

weak inside. Furthermoreꎬ people who are calm and harmonious generally have sturdy internal organsꎬ and their livers are conveyable and dispersed. 218


The Liver Opens at the Eyes

When we really see somethingꎬ we believe it is true.

If you don't see itꎬ and if I say it does existꎬ you will

definitely think it is idealism. We only believe our eyesꎬ perhaps that's because they are the organs closest to the analytical center of our brain.

We can own gentle eyes to see clearly the colorful

world thanks to the harmony of liver Qi. Pulse in Ling ̄

shu says: " Liver Qi reaches the eyesꎬ and the eyes can

discern colors with harmonious liver Qi." Howeverꎬ sometimes having good eyesight might not necessarily be

goodꎬ because we only trust our eyesꎬ but some things

will become troubles when you see them. Thereforeꎬ sometimes opening one eye with the other closed seems to be an art of life.

80% of our information is obtained by eyes. In the

pastꎬ there was a saying: " The disease enters via the mouth." I once said in a book: " Fatigue enters via

eyes." People will become sick when tired to a certain extent. Eye - disease can be manifested in the eyes or other parts of the body. " Long - time watching will be harmful to the liver" ꎻ overworked eyes will consume liv ̄

er's Yin blood. Eyes will not only be apt to get dryꎬ but

will also become clumsy without the nourishment of liver wood. It is said that green plants are good for eyes. In 219


additionꎬ water nourishes the growth of woodꎬ and the

source of the liver wood comes from the kidney waterꎬ so the brightness of eyes is also related to the kidney

water. To protect eyesꎬ we must first nourish the liverꎬ and then the kidneys.

Eyes are like the " barometer" of the liverꎬ and its

acidityꎬ numbnessꎬ drynessꎬ astringencyꎬ and pain re ̄

flect the warmth and coldness of the liverꎬ which is the

full sense of " liver opening at eye" in Discussion on the Important Ideas in the Golden Chamber in Suwen.

The liver controls conveyance and dispersionꎬ the

liver stores bloodꎬ the liver and the gallbladder lay bare to each otherꎬ and eyes reflect the liver. To tell the story of the liverꎬ let's go back to the beginning of this sec ̄

tion of " The liver controlling growing and thriving" . In

the world that we can touchꎬ things representing life are lush green trees. A person is like a sapling who under ̄

goes growthꎬ and finally moves towards aging. During this processꎬ the liver generates Yang Qiꎬ letting the sun in the heart illuminate four limbs and all skeletons.

Thereforeꎬ we need to protect the liver and let it grow and thrive leisurely in the bright spring. In the story of

the heart and the liverꎬ sometimes we can look at the human body from a humanistic perspectiveꎬ like a les ̄ son of life. 220


The Spleen With the same dietꎬ some people become fatꎬ while

others become thinꎬ so life has never been fair. Some seemingly scientific and non - scientific arguments are actually a philosophical struggle.

Spleen Qi and Spleen Deficiency

According to the theory of traditional Chinese Medi ̄

cineꎬ spleen Qi refers to the physiological function of

spleenꎬ butꎬ in lifeꎬ spleen Qi in Chinese also refers to a person's temper. One with bad temper is easy to get angryꎬ and one with good temper is gentle and graceful.

In Englishꎬ “ 脾脏” is written as " spleen" which also means " bad temper or anger" . I don't know why the two

meanings share the same word in Englishꎬ but it seems that the word " spleen" both in Oriental and Western culture is related to temper.

Onceꎬ an old patient told me that he had always

been sleepy and prone to the cold in the past few months... I said you might have the deficiency of spleen

Qi. Then he asked me what he should do. I told him to take some yam and astragali to tonify the spleen. After a

period of timeꎬ he came to my office. I asked if he was better. He said: " I had been much betterꎬ but the toni ̄ 221


fied spleen Qi was leaked out for his being angry." Ac ̄

cording to the theory of traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ we can well understand: Anger is generated by liver - heatꎬ and too much of it will easily harm spleen Qi.

Thereforeꎬ it is very possible that the tonified spleen Qi

was leaked out because of anger. Why does liver - heat easily harm spleen Qi? The theory of five elements holds that things can be divided into five major systems: woodꎬ fireꎬ soilꎬ goldꎬ and wa ̄

terꎬ and the movement of things is also carried out in accordance with the relationship among the five ele ̄ ments. The spleen belongs to the soilꎬ and the liver be ̄

longs to the wood. In the system of wood and soilꎬ wood

restricts soil under normal circumstances. But if there is too much wood Qi which excessively restricts soilꎬ that

will be aggression. Many people's spleen Qi deficiency

are caused by liver wood being too strongꎬ which attacks spleen soil. Thereforeꎬ less anger is not only the best protection for the liverꎬ but also spleen. With sufficient

spleen Qiꎬ it is not easy to become sleepy or catch a cold...ꎬ and people with bad temper are prone to spleen

Qi deficiency. The principles of traditional Chinese Medicine are in line with Chinese culture.

222


Obesity and Spleen Governing Transportation and Transformation

More than 2ꎬ 000 years agoꎬ Hippocrates said:

" Sudden death often occurs more often among fat people

than among thin people." Howeverꎬ for a long timeꎬ due to the fear of hungerꎬ people have a complex psy ̄

chology about fat. The beauty of fullness often appears in classic works of art. Abundance in fat indicated

strong abilities to resist hunger and also implied strong

fertility. We were proud of having a fat boyꎬ which is the imprint of poverty left on people.

Howeverꎬ at a fashion show in London in 1908ꎬ

when Paul Poiretꎬ a French clothing designerꎬ dis ̄ played a highly influential garmentꎬ Europeans and A ̄ mericans had a new understanding of fat from an aes ̄

thetic perspective. Paul ' s fashion is made of soft silk

which clearly shows the curve of the human body. After thatꎬ people began to advocate losing weight.

In order to make the concept of obesity clearerꎬ in

1940ꎬ Louisꎬ the chief actuary of American Metropoli ̄

tan Insurance Companyꎬ used the height / weight ratio to measure the degree of obesity of a personꎬ which be ̄ came the predecessor of the body mass index that we de ̄

fine today [ Body mass indexꎬ or BMI for shortꎬ is the

square of weight / height (kg / m2 ) ] . For the first timeꎬ 223


people began to quantify obesity mathematically. Many

contemporary revolutions in important health concepts were not originate in the medical field. Although the for ̄ mula of body mass index proposed by insurance compa ̄ nies is for commercial purposesꎬ it has made an impor ̄ tant point in the history of obesity.

The development of productive forces has changed

people's lifestyles. Obesity has become a social problem and also a medical problem. Knowledgeꎬ theoriesꎬ and

research on obesity pop out one after another. Once there is more than one view of a thingꎬ it means that the core of it has not been really understood. In 1994ꎬ sci ̄ entists claimed that the obesity - related genes were foundꎬ which made people think that the obesity prob ̄

lem would be solvedꎬ but after a short period of cheerꎬ people found that this gene only confirmed the difficulty of human struggle against obesity. So far people are still exploring in confusionꎬ still reading plausible weight - loss booksꎬ and watching various weight - loss advertise ̄ ments.

No matter how many versions explaining the cause of

obesityꎬ it must be related to eating. When it comes to eatingꎬ it must be related to spleen. The Inner Canon of Yellow Emperor said: " The spleen is the barn." As re ̄

corded in Yueling in Liji: " The thing that contains grain 224


is called barnꎬ and the thing that contains rice is called granary." The function of spleen is governing transpor ̄ ting and transformingꎬ which has two meanings: diges ̄

ting food into nutrients that the body can useꎬ which is what the traditional Chinese Medicine calls " The es ̄

sence of water and grain" and transporting the essence of water and grain to the place where the body needs it.

Traditional Chinese Medicine also terms it " Spleen Qi

disperses essence" . According to Special Discussion on

Channels and Vessels in Suwenꎬ " After medicine is taken and digested in the stomachꎬ some of the over ̄

flowing essence Qi is transported upward into the spleen. The spleen Qi disperses essence. It is sent up ̄

ward to lungsꎻ dredged and regulatedꎬ downward into

the bladder. Water essence spreadsꎬ and five meridians function at the same time."

If you eat too muchꎬ the essence of water and grain

can't be transported and transformedꎬ but being stored as fat manifested by obesity. Traditional Chinese Medi ̄

cine claims that if you eat too muchꎬ you will suffer from sputum and dampness. Zhu Danxi said in Dan Zhi

Fa Xin Yao that " Fat and pale people often suffer phlegm dampness" caused by the body's essence of wa ̄ ter and grain that are not fully transported and trans ̄ formedꎬ attributed to spleen dysfunction. But people of ̄ 225


ten think that eating much is a good sign of spleen and stomach function. But it also depends on the amount you eat. A very good appetite may be a manifestation of spleen deficiencyꎬ which reflects that spleen does not

transport the essence of water and grain to where it is neededꎬ and thus self - regulation instinct of the spleen leads to overeating.

Diabetic patients often feel hungry and naturally

tends to eat moreꎬ which is typical of spleen deficiency.

In additionꎬ the food taken cannot be fully transported

and transformed. Besidesꎬ the unconsolidation resulting

from kidney Qi deficiency leads to the essence of water and grain excreting directly in urine. The energy is lost and the body is not nourishedꎬ which can only be sup ̄

plemented by reflective re - intakeꎬ suggesting that too much has taken without being transported and trans ̄ formedꎬ making it a vicious circle.

People who eat more tend to become fat. Then why

people who eat very little also gain weight? Li Dongyuan said in On Spleen and Stomach that " The spleen and stomach are both deficient... obesity with poor appe ̄

tite" . In factꎬ whether eating too much or too littleꎬ it is a problem with spleen ' s transporting and transforming function. If the best word in modern language is used to express the transporting and transforming function of the 226


spleen in traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ it will be " metabolism" . The metabolism of the spleen does not

have much to do with the spleen organ about of 180

grams in the upper left of the abdominal cavityꎬ because the " spleen" described in anatomy is an immune organ.

The function of the spleen in traditional Chinese Medi ̄

cine actually refers to a combination of functions that

covers most of the body's energy metabolismꎬ including energy metabolism in cells. For exampleꎬ in diabetesꎬ if blood sugar (the essence of water and grain) does not

enter the cellsꎬ mitochondria cannot use blood sugar to

generate energyꎬ without which people will be weak. A man may have no strength for a timeꎬ but not for a long time. Various complications will occur if people have no strength for a long time. The fatness and thinness of dia ̄

betic patients are all related to glucose metabolism in

cells. The number of " spleens" mean the same number of cellsꎬ which may be the concept of the spleen in tra ̄ ditional Chinese Medicine.

Most people have a very subjective view of food.

Some people take vegetarian diet to lose weight. The

problem is that there are many fat people who follow vegetarian diet in their lifetime. Thereforeꎬ vegetarian diet can only help us reduce energy - intakeꎬ not a de ̄

terminant of weight loss. Others take raw food to lose 227


weightꎬ such as eating fruit only. Among plantsꎬ fruit is the most attractive to animalsꎬ and later scientists dis ̄

covered that they are rich in nutrients. Howeverꎬ most of the nutrients in raw food are prepared for microorgan ̄

isms and parasites in the body. Compared with cooked

foodꎬ raw food transported and transformed by the spleen and stomach consumes more energy. With the same qualityꎬ raw food will provide much less energy

than cooked food. Some people have estimated that raw

food eaters in cities are usually underweight. Howeverꎬ another study showed that headachesꎬ insomniaꎬ and ir ̄

regular menstruation occurring in raw food eaters may be related to their eating habits. The amount of energy a person consumes can only last for a short period of time.

" Without grain - intakeꎬ people will suffer from Qi de ̄

cline half of a dayꎬ and less Qi for a whole day." Most of the timeꎬ the heat obtained by people is not con ̄

sumed in the gymꎬ but provides energy for the heartꎬ the digestive systemꎬ and especially the brain. It quietly supports molecular activity of hundreds of millions of cells in the body in a form invisible to naked eyes.

People need adequate energy. The transportation

and transformation of the spleen are the only source of energy for us. Thereforeꎬ according to traditional Chi ̄ nese Medicineꎬ " The spleen is the basis of nurture" . 228


Zhangshi Yitong saidꎬ " The source of Qi is spleen."

We must protect our acquired basis. The good transpor ̄

tation and transformation of spleen Qi acquired are the key to maintaining the body ' s metabolic balance and weight - loss. The most frustrating thing is thatꎬ with the same di ̄

etꎬ some people are fatꎬ others are thinꎬ and life never seems fair in that people 's genes have never been the sameꎬ let alone mutations sometimes. I have a friend with great perseverance who planned to run 1000 kilo ̄

meters in order to lose weight. He eats far fewer favorite food and experiences a lot of hardship that he doesn 't

want to sufferꎬ but his weight changes little. Obesity seems to have its destiny. There is a way to lose weight

with Bigu (eating no food) ꎬ which some deem as being scientificꎬ and some as not. Arguments seemingly scien ̄

tific or unscientific about food cooked and uncooked are actually a philosophical struggle.

Sweetness and spleen

There is a mood called five tastes mixed. The mix ̄

ture of sweetnessꎬ sournessꎬ bitternessꎬ pungencyꎬ and saltiness really makes people feel complicated. If they are separatedꎬ then sweetness is a concerted desire of human beings.

229


In the Stone Ageꎬ obtaining sweet food was not easy.

Sugar was something that humans had been lacking for most of the timeꎬ so people have had a desired taste for sweetness in the process of biological evolution. Choco ̄

late tastes sweetꎬ fruits taste sweetꎬ and cereals also taste sweet after being chewed. With the transportation

and transformation of spleen and stomachꎬ these sweet things eventually become a sweeter thing - - glucose which is the raw material for mitochondria to release en ̄

ergy in cells. Under normal circumstancesꎬ we can only

obtain it by eating. We now know that people longing for sweetness is a thirst for strengthꎬ because the taste of energy is sweet.

According to Discussion on the Elucidation of Five -

Qi in Suwenꎬ " Acid goes into the liverꎬ pungency into

lungsꎬ bitterness into the heartꎬ saltiness into kidneysꎬ and sweetness into the spleen." It seems that five inter ̄

nal organs had their taste two thousand years ago. The taste of the spleen is 甘 (gan) meaning sweet. Five Fla ̄

vors in Lingshu said: " Five flavors go their own favorite wayꎬ and grain tastes sweetꎬ going into the spleen

first." Sweetness goes into the spleen because " The spleen desires for sweetness" (Discussion on Various Re ̄ lationships Concerning the Five Zang - Organs in Su ̄

wen) . The spleen enjoys sweetnessꎬ because the spleen 230


must transport and transform sweet essence of water and grain to nourish the body. Another reason is that the lic ̄

orice jujube decoction can nourish Qi in the spleen and stomach. That phenomenon is called " Sweetness genera ̄

ting the spleen" in Major Discussion on the Theory of Yin and Yang and the Corresponding Relationship A ̄ mong All the Things in Nature .

The sayings of sweetness entering into the spleenꎬ

sweetness going to the spleenꎬ and sweetness generating the spleen are all word games. In factꎬ they share the same meaning: sweetness contains the Qi of spleen and stomach. According to this statementꎬ the ancients used it for health - care. For exampleꎬ as recorded in Internal

Rules in the Book of Rites: Eat more sweet things in the long summer to nourish the spleen. Howeverꎬ Sun Simi ̄

ao didn't approve of it. He said in Valuable Prescriptions for Emergency that sweetness should be reduced and salt

should be added in the long summer. The two statements are completely differentꎬ and the same case is the health - care knowledge now flooded in the media. There

are as many health - care methods as health experts. We are unable to decide which is rightꎬ which has long been discussed since time immemorial. We often regard health - care knowledge as health -

care truth. All truths are relatively trueꎬ not to mention 231


knowledge. The Discussion on the Most Important and

Abstruse Theory in Su Wen has a good saying: " Time can increase Qiꎬ which is common transportation and transformation. Howeverꎬ if Qi is added too longꎬ it will cause diseases." Sweetness can nourish the spleenꎬ but

also can do harm. If spleen Qi is not enoughꎬ sweet food and medicine should be added. Taking particular food and medicine to nourish spleen Qi is commonꎬ as it

says: " Time can increase Qi" ꎬ which can be done in

four seasonsꎬ especially in long summer. If someone 's spleen Qi is at normal levelꎬ and he is still partial to sweetnessꎬ " Qi added too long will cause diseases" .

The Yellow Emperor consulted Qibo and asked what

disease it was with sweet taste in the mouth and how it

was caused. Qibo replied: This disease is called Pidan

(early diabetes) . The five flavors (sweetnessꎬ sournessꎬ bitternessꎬ pungencyꎬ and saltiness) enter into the

mouthꎬ and are stored in the stomach. If the spleen does not fully transport and transform its essence of water and

grainꎬ people will have sweet taste in their mouth. Qibo went on: " This is because of fatnessꎬ and the person must have eaten a lot of sweet food and become fat. Fat

people are prone to have internal heatꎬ and sweetness leads to abdominal fullness and distentionꎬ causing spleen Qi overflowing upwardꎬ hence causing thirst." 232


(Discussion on Special Diseases in Suwen « 素问􀅰奇病 论» ) This is a typical exampleꎬ telling us " Qi added too long will cause diseases" . That is also a wonderful exampleꎬ admonishing us to withstand the lure of sweet food.

Sweetness in the mouth is a taste. After tasting itꎬ

we know spleen Qi (the temper) .

The Spleen and its Control over Blood

Strictly speakingꎬ the spleen is an anatomical term.

Its color is dark redꎬ located at the upper left of the ab ̄

dominal cavity in the human bodyꎬ opposite to the ribs

from the 9th to the 11thꎬ weighing 150 to 200 gramsꎬ which is obviously completely different from the spleen mentioned by traditional Chinese Medicine. The color of spleen in traditional Chinese Medicine is yellow and it is located in the middle burner (a part of the body hous ̄

ing the stomach and spleen) ꎬ and no one knows its weight.

A long time agoꎬ the spleen was mysterious to peo ̄

ple. People cannot survive without it. " Given by par ̄ entsꎬ if it is damagedꎬ then people will die" is a com ̄

mon simple idea of the early ancients. After the advent

of surgeryꎬ the mystery of spleen was broken. In 1892ꎬ a doctor rescued a construction worker with internal 233


bleeding due to abdominal trauma by removing his spleen. As a resultꎬ the patient survived. Surgery leads people to conclude that spleen is not an essential organ of life. Since thenꎬ spleen has been arbitrarily removed for 100 years. With further understanding of the spleen in modern medicineꎬ the spleen can no longer be re ̄ moved arbitrarilyꎬ because it is the largest immune or ̄

gan in the human bodyꎬ accounting for 25% of the total

lymphatic tissue in the bodyꎬ containing a large number of lymphocytes and macrophagesꎬ as the center of cellu ̄

lar and humoral immunity. In additionꎬ the spleen also has hemofiltration and blood storage functions. In the early stages of embryonic developmentꎬ the spleen can still produce blood. Although the hematopoietic function of the spleen will be degraded after the baby is bornꎬ it can stimulate the body to restore this function when peo ̄

ple have severe hematopoietic disordersꎬ suggesting that the body is so magical.

If the spleen in traditional Chinese Medicine and

Western Medicine is forced to be pulled togetherꎬ " The spleen governing blood" mentioned in traditional Chi ̄

nese Medicine and the spleen filtering and storing blood

both seem to be connected by " blood" . In factꎬ this comparison is meaningless. There is not such a saying

as " The spleen governing blood" in the Yellow Emperor 234


's Cannon of Medicine. According to The Forty - second

Difficult Issue in the Classic of Difficult Issuesꎬ " (The spleen) holding blood" refers to spleen ' s function to command the blood - flow in the meridians to prevent it from escaping from veins. Why did spleen command bloodꎬ and how did the ancients come to that conclu ̄

sion? The bleeding person might have spleen deficiency or the person with spleen deficiency might be bleeding.

The theory comes when you have the experience of the phenomenon. The relationship between bleeding and spleen deficiency is stated in Discussion on How to Di ̄

agnose Diseases in Suwen: " One with flaccidity of limbs who suffers from pantingꎬ coughing and hemafecia...

suffers from tspleen Qi leaking." The ancients often used a method when constructing theoriesꎬ called

" Testing with medicine" . Traditional Chinese Medicine for strengthening the spleen can treat bleeding syn ̄ dromes. Inverse reasoning is that bleeding may be relat ̄ ed to spleen deficiency. Meridian in the Jingyue's Com ̄

plete Works has more exposition on menstrual disorder and bleeding than the following: " The reforeꎬ if any ev ̄ idence of blood - loss shows upꎬ sweet medicine should

be used first to nourish the spleen and stomach in order to benefit the growing Qi because sweetness can produce blood and strengthen the spleen and stomach with nour ̄ 235


ishmentꎬ so Yin and Yang will share balanced growthꎬ and blood will return to where it should beꎬ which is called spleen commanding blood." The Secret Book of

Medical Classics also has a similar record: " The spleen enjoys drynessꎬ and if hurt by cold dampnessꎬ it cannot

digest and absorb water and grain. It is advisable to warm and dry it. If grain cannot be digested due to spleen Yin deficiencyꎬ it can't be treated with warmth and drynessꎬ because worries hurt the spleen whose de ̄ ficiency leads to the loss of blood."

The Lungs Some people can hold back sorrow because of suffi ̄

cient lung Qiꎬ which is not only our guardian against diseasesꎬ but also the source of our power to turn grief into power.

When human ancestors crawled from the sea to the

landꎬ the swimming bladder of a kind of aquatic crea ̄

ture called " lung fish" evolved into human " lungs" . It

is said that this process took 100 million years. Humans have evolved from " lung fish" ꎬ which was concluded from the comparison of genetic sequences. Just put it a ̄ side first whether or not this method is reliable. Swim ̄

ming bladder is indeed a respiratory organꎬ and it also

has the function of maintaining balance. Human lungs 236


are also a respiratory organ. According to the theory of traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ lungs also have an impor ̄ tant function of balance regulation.

Lungs Dominating Qi

" Air ( 天气) passes through lungs" ꎬ which is the

most realistic saying in The Inner Canon of Yellow Em ̄

peror. Air here does not refer to the climateꎬ but to the clean Qi (oxygen) in the air. Discussion on Twelve Inte ̄ rior Organs in Key Link of Medicine has a very vivid de ̄

scription of the respiratory function of lungs: " Under

the throat are lungsꎬ and the two leaves are whiteꎬ called the canopyꎬ covering all things storedꎬ like a

beehive with a closed bottom. Thereforeꎬ it is full when one inhalesꎬ but empty when one exhales. Inhaling and exhaling have their sourcesꎬ but no limits. It is the in ̄

terchange between pureness and impurenessꎬ which is the bellow of the human bodyꎬ an evidence of lungs dominating Qi."

In the Inner Canon of Yellow Emperor (« 黄 帝 内

经» ) ꎬ there are important sayings about " lungs" and " Qi" : " Lungs are the origin of Qi." (Discussion of Six - Plus - Six System and the Manifestation of the Viscera in Suwenꎬ " All kinds of Qi belong to lungs" (Discussion on Various Relationships Concerning the Five Zang - Or ̄ 237


gans in Suwen) . Laterꎬ there was a saying that " lungs dominate Qi in all human bodies" . What is Qi in all hu ̄

man bodies? Pectoral Qiꎬ Defensive Qi and Nutrient Qi

all have their references. Pectoral Qi is generated by a combination of the clean air inhaled by lungs and the water and Pectoral Qi generated by the spleen. Pectoral Qi gathers in the chestꎬ Danzhongꎬ rising upward out of

the lungs and flowing through the respiratory tract by the throatꎻ it goes horizontallyꎬ running through the heart

veinsꎬ helping the heart to circulate bloodꎻ it goes

downꎬ accumulating at Dantian and regulating the water - course. The Method of Distinguishing in Medical Law states: " Pectoral Qi of Danzhong dominates upper ener ̄

gizer breathing tractꎬ always connected with lungs and

stomach." Jing He Shuo Yi days: " It is Danzhong where the main Qi liesꎬ also called pectoral Qi." In

Western medical termsꎬ pectoral Qi is related to the physiology of breathingꎬ heart and blood vessels and water metabolism. The Forty - second Difficult Issue in

the Classic of Difficult Issues states: " lungs weigh three

Jin and three Liangꎬ with six leaves and two piecesꎬ and eight in total." But that's not enough. Howeverꎬ " it is among internal organsꎬ lungs are the covers" in Shi ̄ chuan: Instructions of the Teacher ( « 灵枢􀅰师传» )

is more to the point. " Cover" means " canopy" descri ̄ 238


bing not only the high positionꎬ but also the high status.

Although the theory of five internal organs in traditional Chinese Medicine has the hierarchical idea that the heart is the kingꎬ in medical practiceꎬ a holistic sense of diversity is revealed in the core of the traditional Chi ̄ nese Medicine - - the importance of each internal organ in five internal organs is irreplaceable: the heart gover ̄

ning blood and vesselsꎬ the liver controlling conveyance and dispersionꎬ the spleen governing transportation and transformationꎬ kidneys storing essence and lung domi ̄

nating Qiꎬ all describing the laws of life from different angles.

Lungs dominating Qi is the same as the function of

the diffusionꎬ purifying and descending of lungs. In

Taiping Holy Prescriptions for Universal Relief ( « 太平 圣惠方» ) edited by Wang Huaiyin of the Song Dynas ̄

tyꎬ the relationship between the lungs and the diffusion

is clearly defined: " Lungs are the upper cover of four internal organsꎬ through which the essence of internal organs passes... regulating the grain of skin and the tex ̄ ture of subcutaneous fleshꎬ and all Qi is under the con ̄

trol of lungs." Since thenꎬ dispersion has become a

form of movement for lung functionꎬ whose effect is manifested in three aspects: Firstꎬ it spreads essence of

water and grain transferred from the spleen to the whole 239


body and to the body surface to nourish skin and hairꎬ as Jueqi: Differentiation of Qi ( 灵枢􀅰决气) put itꎬ " Shang jiao ( Upper Energizer) initiates to spread the nutrients of food to warm the skinꎬ nourish the body and moisten the hair like irrigation of dew and fog..." ꎻ sec ̄

ondꎬ it diffuses defensive Qiꎬ " to warm the musclesꎬ moisten the skinꎬ fill in the Couli ( muscular inter ̄

stices ) and control the sweat poresꎬ cited from Benzang: The Viscera as the Foundation of Human Be ̄

ings ( « 灵枢􀅰本藏» ) ." (Lingshu 􀅰 Benzang) to protect the bodyꎻ thirdꎬ it discharges the turbid air and waste liquid from the body to regulate human metabo ̄ lism.

There must be rise and fallꎬ diffusion and purifica ̄

tionꎬ the balance law of movement. In the Qing Dynas ̄

tyꎬ Ye Tianshi specified another form of lung movement in Lung Bi - Syndromein Medical Cases and Syndrome Guidance ( « 临证指南医案 􀅰 肺痹» ) : " Lungs are the bellows of breath whose position is the highestꎬ in ̄

haling fresh air from the upper organs and purging the body. It dominates the rise and fall of Qi." Impairment

of purifying and descending function of lungsꎬ firstlyꎬ will make lung Qi riseꎬ resulting in cough and asthmaꎬ and secondlyꎬ it makes it a failure to regulate water channelsꎬ causing water and fluid metabolic disturb ̄ 240


anceꎻ thirdlyꎬ the conduction disorder of the large in ̄ testine will cause constipation.

One rises and the other falls is the law of balance in

traditional Chinese Medicine. The diffusion (rise) and purification and descending (fall) of lungs are the func ̄

tional manifestations of lungs dominating Qiꎬ and the way lungs maintain the stability of organism and regulate the body.

Lungs Governing Skin and Hair

Skin that wraps the body is the physical boundary

between man and Nature. The role of bordersꎬ first and foremostꎬ is defense. For an adultꎬ 1 / 20 of the body - weight is the weight of the " city wall" of skinꎬ about 2 square meters with the thickness of 0. 5 to 4 mm if spread out. It is a very thin barrierꎬ yet with a magical defensive function. Its magic is related to a kind of " Qi" functionꎬ simply called " defensive Qi" in The In ̄

ner Canon of Yellow Emperor. Defensive Qi is a kind of swift and smooth energy formed with the participation of

lung Qiꎬ flowing in the skin amid musclesꎬ forming an invisible battlefront. As summarized by Benzang in Lingshu: " Defensive Qi warms the interval between musclesꎬ and nourishes the skin and subcutaneous tis ̄ suesꎬ which is called opening and closing."

241


Howeverꎬ no matter how powerful your defensive Qi

isꎬ it cannot completely protect us against wounds of swords and germs. Why doesn't God let the skin be stur ̄

dier? What our skin looks like today is a compromised evolutionary designꎬ because our body is closely related to the outside worldꎬ and we cannot close the doors and windows tightly. Skin needs nutrients from Natureꎬ and expels toxins from the body. Marcus Stuckerꎬ a German

dermatologistꎬ said in his research report in 2002ꎬ the oxygen demand of the skin is much more than what pre ̄

vious scientists have reckonedꎬ 10 times as much as what has previously been estimatedꎬ which means that

skin tissues need to be nourished by oxygen from the air. The respiratory function of skin is an extension of lungs dominating respiration.

There are countless mysterious valves on the skinꎬ

which we cannot see with our naked eyesꎬ and lungs control their opening and closing. Just like lungs that

breathe in and outꎬ the valves of the skin are also open

and close rhythmically. Along with this natural rhythmꎬ airꎬ waterꎬ sunlightꎬ and other nutrients required by human beings enter the bodyꎬ while metabolic waste in the body is also discharged. We live in this world and

actuallyꎬ the world is in our body. Our body is closely related to Nature. Skin is the channel for their communi ̄ 242


cation. Hair is an important language of skin. For exam ̄ pleꎬ hair loss tells you the deficiency of your blood Qi.

Among all parts of skinꎬ civilized people are likely

to care most for the faceꎬ and even the less civilized

people also want to make their face look betterꎬ so the beauty industry is always hot. We can make the skin

bright and radiant with thick foundationꎻ we can also use the method of strengthening lungsꎬ and let defensive Qi warm the interval between muscles and nourish the

skin like dew irrigationꎬ which is the best strategy for beauty. According to the theory of traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ lungs and large intestine can coordinate in ̄

ternally and externally with each other. When the large intestine is blocked upꎬ it will affect the function of dif ̄

fusion and the rise and fall of lung Qi. Thereforeꎬ an

easy way to beautify skin is to keep bowels open. The Classic of Mountains and Seas records more than a dozen

of traditional Chinese Medicine with cosmetic effectsꎬ most of which enter lungs and is absorbed by the large intestine. Cosmetology in traditional Chinese Medicine has a long history.

Sad Lungs

Chinese characters keep a lot of ancient ecological

information. " Irritating sensation in nose" is a physio ̄ 243


logical experience of the nose. When you have irritating sensation in the noseꎬ you will always feel sad. Tradi ̄ tional Chinese Medicine says: " The lungs are associat ̄ ed with the nose" and also says " Lungs governing sad ̄ ness" . Does the physiological reaction of irritating sen ̄ sation in nose cause sadnessꎬ or sadness causes irritat ̄

ing sensation in nose? The cultural and physiological causal relationship is often difficult to be accurately dis ̄

tinguished. That's an encounter of the twoꎬ and thus we have another " evidence" for the saying of lung gover ̄ ning sadness.

Some music touches our heart strings because it tou ̄

ches a certain nerve of ours and causes some physiologi ̄

cal reactions. The five notes of traditional Chinese music

--- Gongꎬ Shangꎬ Jueꎬ Zhiꎬ Yuꎬ correspond to 1ꎬ 2ꎬ

3ꎬ 5ꎬ 6 (doꎬ reꎬ miꎬ solꎬ la) . Although there are only five notesꎬ it is enough to express the sound of Nature.

The Jiangsu folk song: " A Jasmine Flower" is a master ̄

piece using five notes of traditional Chinese music. No wonder it was selected as the theme song of China's bid

for the Olympic Games. Among the five notesꎬ which is the most touching? Tao Qian of the Jin Dynasty wrote in Ode to Jing Keꎬ " The low - pitch notes moved heroes in ̄ to tearsꎻ the high - pitch notes freed warriors out of fear.

(tr. by Wang Rongpei) " . It turns out that re (the note 244


of Shang) is so plaintive and heartbreaking. The funeral

music we are familiar with at the memorial service is composed of 78 notesꎬ of which 1 / 3 are " 2" ꎬ the notes of Shang. When it is playedꎬ we can 't help but weep sadlyꎬ and to be more traditionalꎬ the atmosphere will be foiled by whiteꎬ - the standard color for funeral rites. It will flow with the tears through the nose and the hus ̄

ky voiceꎬ piercing straight into lungs. This is a kind of feeling with culture and physiology blended together.

The biochemical reaction in the feeling can be interpre ̄

ted by traditional Chinese Medicine as: the nose is the outlet of lungsꎬ and when five emotions are sadꎬ they will turn into tearsꎻ when the five notes belong to Shangꎬ five colors will turn into white. The string of

noseꎬ sadnessꎬ tearsꎬ Shang and white makes a sad lung.

During the Ming and Qing Dynastiesꎬ a traditional

Chinese Medicine got a name of diseaseꎬ called

" pulmonary tuberculosis" which is a contagious chronic wasting disease caused by weak lung Qi. Lin Daiyu in

The Dream of Red Mansionsꎬ a sad image suffering from cough and hemoptysisꎬ finally contracted pulmonary tu ̄

berculosisꎬ incurable at that timeꎬ so she died at a very young ageꎬ leaving a grieving story. In some masterpiec ̄

esꎬ why are those beauties with a sorrowful personality 245


easily infected with pulmonary tuberculosis? Becauseꎬ it

spread the sadness of lungs to the society and provided readers of that era with a cultural symbol -- social crisis and national tragedy. Pulmonary tuberculosis is not en ̄

tirely a pathological conceptꎬ but also a sad cultural

metaphor. The " lung" in traditional Chinese Medicine is vast and profound. As long as there is a main line of " five elements" ꎬ it will penetrate all boundaries.

Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that lungs are delicate. They are neither cold - resistant nor heat - re ̄ sistant and vulnerable to sorrow if hurt. It is caused by lung deficiency. Be it the deficiency of lung Qi or the deficiency of lung Yinꎬ they are both tragedies. Some people can hold back sorrow because of sufficient lung Qiꎬ which is not only the guardian against diseaseꎬ but also the source of turning grief into power.

Lungs and Spirit

The proverb " Thesoul no longer stays in the body"

means that the spirit has left its home. A typical feature of traditional Chinese Medicine theory is that the physi ̄ cal and the spiritual are closely linkedꎬ and our spiritu ̄

al wills should have their homes. According to Discus ̄ sion on the Elucidation of Five - Qi in Suwenꎬ " That the

heart stores the spiritꎬ lungs store mindꎬ the liver stores 246


the soulꎬ the spleen stores will and kidneys storing aspi ̄ ration means the storing functions of five internal or ̄ gans." Five internal organs are the home of the spirit.

No matter whether " The soul flies away and the spirit disappears" or " The soul and spirit are out of the body" are all the result of not being " home" .

In the minds of Chinese peopleꎬ the soul and spirit

are very important. Even if a person diesꎬ his spirit is still there. Nobody ' s death is lighter than featherꎬ as long as he / she comes to the real worldꎬ even though he is not a great man. The ancients called the spirit off the body " The soul" ꎬ and " The mind" when one was alive. " Soul" is a " cloud" plus a " ghost" ꎬ and the " ghost"

in the mist and cloud is very elusiveꎻ " Mind" is a " white" plus a " ghost" . White color can be seen and

touchedꎬ and together with the diffusionꎬ purgation and pathos of lungsꎬ it belongs to the " gold" of five ele ̄ ments. Thereforeꎬ a person's courage and resolution de ̄

pend on the function of lung Qi. According to Discussion of Six - Plus - Six System and the Manifestation of the Vis ̄

cera in Suwenꎬ " Lungs are the root of Qiꎬ and the home of spirit."

We are used to patting ourselves on the chest to

strengthen our courage and resolutionꎬ but why not pat

ourselves on the forehead? That ' s because there is a 247


place under the chest called Danzhong where pectoral Qi converges. We have previously mentioned thatꎬ im ̄

posinglyꎬ pectoral Qi rises upward and flows through the respiratory tract by the throat. It goes downꎬ accumula ̄

ting at Dantianꎬ running horizontally through the heart and lungs. If lung Qi is insufficientꎬ both pectoral Qi

and courage with resolution are affected. According to The Continued Flame of the Medical Lampꎬ " If Jin

(gold) is impededꎬ lung Qi will be injuredꎬ leading to the spirit being homeless" ꎬ which is the pathology of

courage and resolution. Injury to the lung Qi can be caused by many reasonsꎬ such as pathogenic wind inva ̄ ding lungsꎬ dry - heat impairing the lungsꎬ phlegm - damp obstructing the lungsꎬ asthenic Yin causing exces ̄

sive pyrexiaꎬ and the earth failing to generate gold and

so on. There are two things that everyone can't avoid: firstꎬ sadness: it can hurt lungsꎬ which is inevitableꎬ and a little sadness does no harmꎬ but excessive sadness can cause the deficiency of lung Qiꎬ so we should hold

back sadness. Secondꎬ aging: with the increase of ageꎬ lung Qi will naturally decrease. Tiannian in Lingshu says: " At the age of 80ꎬ the soul leave the body when lung Qi is deficientꎬ one is easy to make mistakes in

talk." It is only after the age of 80 that lung Qi begins to become deficient. It's lucky enough for anyone to be 248


80 years oldꎬ so what we have to do is to keep the suffi ̄ cient Qi before 80.

Continued Medical Case records a strange disease:

" A person gets drowsyꎬ seemingly with fever but actual ̄

ly notꎬ seemingly with a cold but actually not. He wants to sleep but cannot." That may be treated as making a fuss about an imaginary illness in the eyes of Western Medicineꎬ and diagnosed as neurosis only. What is neu ̄

rosis? Like the syndromeꎬ it is a term with no practical

meaningꎬ totally useless. Butꎬ Wei Zhixiuꎬ a clinician

of traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ believed " Lungs store the spirit. If it is lostꎬ this kind of disease will occur."

Wei precisely diagnosed and treated this kind of disease with the lung theory.

Sensory symptoms may be " virtual" to outsidersꎬ

but true to themselves. The reason why traditional Chi ̄ nese Medicine emphasizes " treating the spirit" and suc ̄

ceeds in the treatment is that the spirit has its own " home" to return to.

There is a kind of insomnia called " lungs failing to

store the spirit" with the characteristic of very light and

shallow sleepꎬ a manifestation of the spirit too eager to leave lungsꎬ or lungs too deficient to hold the spirit. On

the backꎬ under the 3rd thoracic spinous processꎬ there

is an acupoint called " Pohu" ꎬ which is located 3 inches 249


aside. As the name suggestsꎬ it is the portal for the spir ̄

it to go into and out of the body. 1. 3 inches beside it is the place where lung Qi is perfused on the backꎬ called " Feishu" . These two acupoints are often used to treat

coughꎬ asthmaꎬ pulmonary tuberculosisꎬ stiff neckꎬ shoulder and back pain and insomnia caused by " The failure of lungs to store the spirit" . They can also be treated with these two acupoints.

Lungs not only dominate Qi all over the human

bodyꎬ but also the surface which is the " wall" for the body to contact the outside world. In this wallꎬ there are numerous doors that can be opened and closed. Western

Medicine calls them sweat holes and pores. There is a term in traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ called " The spirit door" . The biggest spirit door is anus—the terminal of the large intestineꎬ controlled by the spirit which is not

only a state of mindꎬ but also a function. The door opens and closes appropriately. It opens when it should and closes when it should. That is called " courage and resolution" .

The Kidneys Kidney deficiency may be an illness of national con ̄

ceptsꎬ sometimes it actually means guilty conscience. 250


Kidneys Storing Essence

Many things are difficult to be preciseꎬ just like the

word " essence" itself which comes from an erratic phil ̄

osophical concept. A large part of the " essence" hidden in the kidneys is a kind of thought deeply embedded with the specific character of waterꎬ storage and dor ̄

mancy as well as the winter sceneꎬ followed by eggs and sperms that we can see. According to Discussion of Six - Plus - Six System and the Manifestation of the Viscera in

Suwenꎬ " Kidneys control hibernationꎬ responsible for storingꎬ as the home of essence." In the ancient world - outlookꎬ the concept of es ̄

sence is similar to Qiꎬ which refers to things that can be seen or imagined. Laozi ( 老 子 ) said that both

" objects" and " images" contained essence which was real. " Tao (truth) is an unusual object which is illuso ̄ ry. Illusory objects seem to have their imagesꎬ while il ̄ lusory images seem to have their objects. Dim and un ̄

fathomable truth contains vital essence that can promote

growthꎬ which has its source and law." Zhuangzi ( 庄 子) also said: " Spirit is born of Taoꎬ and the form comes from the essence." The difference between es ̄

sence and Qi was clearly interpreted by " The essence

refers to Qi essence" remarked by Guanzi. Thereforeꎬ the essence is the incubator of our world. To human be ̄ 251


ingsꎬ we are all born from the essence. " Man is essence at the very beginning and from essence comes the brain

pith. Bones are stemsꎬ veins are vesselsꎬ tendons are steel and flesh is wall. Hair grows on tough skin." - - Meridian in Lingshu. According to the classification of

Yin and Yangꎬ essence belongs to Yinꎬ and water is the symbol of Yin. Before the appearance of traditional Chi ̄

nese Medicineꎬ Guanzi said: " What is water? It is the source and imperial clan of all things" -- Waterland in Guan. Obviouslyꎬ besides essenceꎬ water is also en ̄ dowed with bio - chemical significance of life and

growth. Guanzi was a philosopher. Medical scientists hold that these abstract ideas must be reflected by or ̄

gans that can be easily imagined. Thereforeꎬ God in Lingshu has the claim of " Kidneys store essence" ꎬ and

Ancient Ideas on How to Preserve Natural Healthy Energy in Lingshu has the claim of " Kidneys control water" .

Kidney essence can be understood as the material

basis for kidneys. Kidney essence generates kidney Qi which can be understood as the function of kidneys.

Kidney Qi writes the history of the rise and fall of the

human bodyꎬ which is detailed in Ancient Ideas on How

to Preserve Natural Healthy Energy in Lingshu: (female) " When a female is 7 years oldꎬ she has strong kidney Qiꎬ with dental transition and hair growing. At 252


the age of 14ꎬ menstruation comesꎬ conception vessel is unobstructedꎬ and Taichong channel is cleared. With the advent of menstruationꎬ she is able to produce off ̄

spring. At 21ꎬ she keeps average kidney Qiꎬ with her wisdom teeth growing to the fullꎻ At 28ꎬ she is strong with solid muscles and bones and full - grown hair. At

35ꎬ with the decline of Yangming meridianꎬ her face looks darkꎬ suffering hair loss. At 42ꎬ with the decline of ShaoYangꎬ Tai Yangꎬ Yangming meridianꎬ her whole face withers with the hair turning grey. At 49ꎬ with con ̄ ception vessel getting weakꎬ Taichong channel decli ̄

ningꎬ menstruation exhaustedꎬ and veins blockedꎬ her uterus is disabled in pregnancy." (male) " When a

male is 8 years oldꎬ he has solid kidney Qiꎬ with hair growing and dental transition. Qt the age of 16ꎬ with strong kidney Qiꎬ he begins to have Tiangui (sexual function) ꎬ overflowing essence Qiꎬ and the balance of

Yin and Yangꎬ being able to breed offspringꎻ At 24ꎬ he

keeps kidney Qiꎬ with solid muscles and bones and his wisdom teeth growing to the full. At 32ꎬ he has the strongest bones and muscles. At 40ꎬ with the decline of

kidney Qiꎬ he suffers hair loss and dental loose. At 48ꎬ with the decline and exhaustion of Yang Qiꎬ he has dry complexion and gray hair. At 56ꎬ his liver Qi decrea ̄ sesꎬ bones and tendons cannot move flexiblyꎬ and men ̄ 253


struation exhaustsꎬ with less essence and weaker kid ̄

neysꎬ and the whole body is exhausted. At 64ꎬ his teeth and hair are gone." Menstruation is a kind of Yin es ̄ sence which is born from the accumulation of kidney es ̄

sence. It is accompanied by the rise and fall of kidney Qiꎬ affecting the whole process of human growthꎬ devel ̄ opmentꎬ reproduction and agingꎬ as the most outstand ̄

ing contribution made by the Chinese in the history of geratology.

Many of our cultural genes come from offering sacri ̄

fices. Why do the directions of five elements of kidneys correspond to the north? This is due to the position of

five internal organs of a cow used as sacrificeꎬ facing

the south during the rite of sacrifice in the early daysꎬ with kidneys facing the north. " The north belongs to

coldnessꎬ and coldness generates waterꎬ water generates saltꎬ and salt generates kidneys" says the Major Discus ̄ sion on the Theory of Yin and Yang and the Correspond ̄ ing Relationship Among All the Things in Nature. Kid ̄ neys belong to Yin which is symbolized by water. Kid ̄

ney water is like the sweet spring in the bodyꎬ the " root

of Yin" for the whole body. With kidney waterꎬ fire and heat can be balanced in the human body. With different amounts of kidney waterꎬ the body will generate two dif ̄

ferent types of heat (fire) : one is excessive heat (fire) ꎬ 254


called substantive heat (fire) ꎬ with sufficient kidney waterꎬ commonly seen among the youngꎬ which should

be balanced by purging the heat. The other is insuffi ̄ ciency of kidney waterꎬ called deficiency - heat (fire) ꎬ opposite to sufficient heat (fire) ꎬ which should be trea ̄

ted by tonifying the kidney Yin. In shortꎬ water and heat should be able to restrict each otherꎬ and if Yin and Yang are balancedꎬ people will be free from disea ̄ ses.

The most intuitive understanding of kidney storing

essence and controlling reproduction is life created by the combination of sperms and eggs. The Book of Chan ̄

ges says: " Coitus and fertilization of men and women

generate all things on the earth." Lingshu says: " The combination of the Yin and Yang essence generates the body and spirit." The clinical significance of kidney controlling reproduction lies in the regulation of kidney

essence and kidney Qi which can regulate menstruationꎬ assist pregnancyꎬ prevent miscarriage and give men more energy.

Kidneys and Ears

Ears are sensitive organs because they can touch

your kidney Qi.

" Kidney Qi passes through the ears" and " Kidneys 255


are associated with ears" have the same sense. There

are many statements in traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ the reasons of which we dare not ask about. Perhapsꎬ it 's too simple or too advancedꎬ so they have all been well put at one go.

If you understand the reasons aboveꎬ then you will

understand that essence is stored in kidneys and they surely control reproduction. Reproduction has a lot to do with the uterusꎬ DNAꎬ genitals and sex. The shape of ears is like a fetus upside down inthe wombꎬ and that

way of our stay in the womb before birth is for better production. In the 1950sꎬ Nogierꎬ a French medical

doctorꎬ by treating sciatica on the earsꎬ found that the

outer ear is not a simple curved cartilage and it has some association with internal organs. Laterꎬ we saw a picture of inverted embryo reflected in the auricle. An ear bears all life information.

The relation between ears and uterus may come from

God. A beam of sunlight from heaven penetrated into the ears of Virgin Maryꎬ and then she conceived and gave birth to Jesus Christꎬ the Sonꎬ which is a story in the Bible. Ears have great significance in God's ikonꎬ where

Virgin Mary was conceived. Why did God choose ears as Mary's " uterus" ? You may think it is a ridiculous joke unless you believe that life evolved from shells. Both 256


ears and conchs have a helical structureꎬ also the struc ̄

ture of DNA. Kirkꎬ a British scientistꎬ said: " The helix is the curve of life." Probablyꎬ the evolution of mankind

was carried out according to God's arrangement. In God 's eyesꎬ ears are an expression of kidneys controlling re ̄ production.

Kidney Qi is about sexꎬ and thus ears become sensi ̄

tive organsꎬ because they touch your kidney Qi. Ears were sacred long ago. Howeverꎬ many passionate plays were performed by ears later on. The whispers beside ears and the impassioned ear kisses touched the essence Qi that should be stored in kidneysꎬ so ears developed

with more likeness to the genitals. In the 19th centuryꎬ there was a slang that simply referred to the vulva as " The ear between the legs" . Lombroso even believed that " The clue of depravity can be found by ears."

John Miltonꎬ an English poet and politicianꎬ wrote

in Paradise Lost: The viper sizzled beside Eve's earsꎬ inducing her to defectꎬ while the angel whispered in

Adam's earsꎬ instilling metaphysics into him. Both the devil and the angel try to enter the human body through

ears. The ear is an entranceꎬ which passes through the heart and leads to kidneys. Many timesꎬ angels can ' t

defeat devils. Soꎬ in the pastꎬ females were asked to cover their earsꎬ but now female ears have become bra ̄ 257


ver and braver and more activeꎬ probably because kid ̄

ney essence is becoming more and more unwilling to be stored.

God gave us two ears and one mouthꎬ meaning that

we should listen more and talk lessꎬ but if we can't hear clearly or understandꎬ we will not live up to God's good

intentions. People have a perception that big ears are good for receiving sound information. Big ears are con ̄

sidered to be a blessing in Chinese culture. Laozi's ears were seven inches long and Liu Bei had unusual big

ears. Ears erected seemed to make them look biggerꎬ but unfortunatelyꎬ this function has long been degraded

in the human body. Kidney Qi ensures ears to hear clearlyꎬ as stated in the traditional Chinese Medicine.

" Kidneys are the basis of hearing." Pulse in Lingshu

says: " Kidney Qi passes through earsꎬ and Five Tones can be heard only when kidney Qi is harmonious." Kid ̄ ney deficiency is the most common cause of kidney dis ̄

harmonyꎬ so it can cause hearing impairment of three kinds: the light one is hearing lossꎬ the more severe one is deafness and tinnitusꎬ and the most serious one is the inability to understand human words. The first two are relatively easy to treatꎬ but the latter one enters the me ̄

dullary brain. Not only kidneys need to be tonifiedꎬ but

also the brain needs to be nourished. Luckilyꎬ " kidneys 258


control the brainꎬ generating marrow" .

The Fortieth Difficult Issue in the Classic of Difficult

Issues also said: changes in kidneys can be reflected by the observation of ears. Benzang in Lingshu describes: " People with plump ears have high kidneysꎬ while those with sunken post aurem have low kidneys. Those with strong ears have strong kidneysꎬ and those with thin ears have fragile kidneys." Ears of Medical Inspira ̄ tion in Introduction to Syndrome Differentiation also says that the dark or bright color of ears shows the rise or fall of the kidney Qi. " Ears are associated with kidneys" is not a storyꎬ but a deliberate arrangement by Godꎬ allowing us to pro ̄ tect our kidneys in the simplest and most economical way derived from the instinct of human self - careꎬ but it be ̄ comes more artistic and effective by health -care experts. In 2011ꎬ Guo Chengjieꎬ a master of traditional Chi ̄ nese Medicineꎬ demonstrated his " One - pat - three - rub Method" in the Health Maintenance Lectureꎬ a program of Beijing Satellite TV. One of the kneading methods was rubbing his earsꎬ which has been done by him for decades. At the age of 96ꎬ he can still hear and see well.

259


Kidneys and Hair

Hair color is a manifestation of evolutionary differ ̄

ences. Unlike Caucasians with blond or red hairꎬ Asians should like bright black hair because black is the true color of Asian hair and also the true color of kidneys. According to the five - element theoryꎬ a series of tangi ̄

ble or intangible thingsꎬ such as hair and kidneysꎬ can be strung together according to color. Kidneys are hid ̄ den deeply and we can't see themꎬ but hair is the win ̄

dow through which we can see kidneys. Discussion of Six - Plus - Six System and the Manifestation of the Viscera in Suwen says: " Kidneys are the foundation of sealing and

storingꎬ and the home for the essenceꎬ whose luster is shown by hair."

When Kidney Qi is sufficientꎬ the hair looks lush

and black. Ancient Ideas on How to Preserve Natural Healthy Energy in Lingshu has this statement: On aver ̄ ageꎬ when a female is 7 years oldꎬ she has strong kid ̄

ney Qiꎬ with dental transition and hair growing. Her hair - quality is at its best at 28. She starts to lose hair at

35 and her hair turns gray at 42. When a male is 8 years oldꎬ he has solid kidney Qiꎬ with hair growing and dental transition. His hair - quality is at its best at 32. At

40ꎬ with the decline of kidney Qiꎬ he suffers from hair loss and at 48ꎬ he has gray hair. The Inner Canon of 260


Yellow Emperor claims that the quality of hair is deter ̄ mined by kidney Qi. Howeverꎬ modern medicine be ̄

lieves that hair is determined by genes. We can ' t tell

which one decides the fate of hairꎬ but sometimes the fate of a person is determined by hair.

In the Western Han Dynastyꎬ there was a lady

named Wei Zifu with matchlessly beautiful hair. She was the first in history to be favored by her hair. Wei Zi ̄

fu originally came from humble origin and was a servant

of a rich and influential family. Hanwu Story records: " Seeing her beautiful hairꎬ Emperor (Emperor Wu) was pleasedꎬ and accepted her as a concubine." Later she

was neglected. One dayꎬ Emperor Wu had a dreamꎬ dreaming that a Catalpa ovata (the ancients used Catal ̄

pa ovata to symbolize the heir) grew in Wei Zifu ' s courtyardꎬ so he slept with Wei Zifu as his beloved that day. Laterꎬ she got pregnantꎬ and was favored for dec ̄

ades. Someone said that if it weren 't for the sufficient kidney Qiꎬ how could she get that “ 孕气 / pregnancy Qi

( " good luck " in Chinese homophony) ” ? Zhang Hengꎬ an astronomer in the Eastern Han dynastyꎬ sum ̄

marized in Xi Jing Fuꎬ " Queen Wei is prosperous in

the beauty of hairꎬ and Zhao Feiyan is favored by her lightness with graceful posture."

Henry Wordsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882) ꎬ a ro ̄ 261


mantic American poetꎬ said in The Selection of King O ̄

lafꎬ " Even 20 bulls won't let me moveꎬ but a piece of hair of a beauty can."

People in modern times have more worriesꎬ stress

and strong desires. It is difficult for them to preserve

kidney Qi. Thereforeꎬ their hair is prone to various problems. Fortunatelyꎬ there are many solutions. The easiest solution is to dye your hairꎬ which can show per ̄ sonalitiesꎬ but cannot change the darkness of kidneys.

The best way to keep the hair beautiful is to abide by the " storage and dormancy" of kidneys. A folk legend that has profoundly affected our life suggests taking Po ̄

lygonum multiflorum to treat hair loss and gray hair. In the legendꎬ a man named Tian ' erꎬ 58 years old still

with no childrenꎬ took the advice of an elderꎬ ground a kind of peculiar plant into fine powder and took it with a small cup of liquor. After a few monthsꎬ he became strongꎬ and all his old diseases were cured. His hair al ̄

so became blackꎬ and within a decadeꎬ he had several children. After thatꎬ Tian ' er was renamed " Neng Si

(being able to have offspring) " . Laterꎬ he let his son Yanxiu take this plant and Yanxiu gave birth to Shouwu

who lived up to 160 years old. After taking the same plantꎬ Shouwu also gave birth to several children. At

130ꎬ his hair was still black and bright. Laterꎬ people 262


named this magic medicine -- polygonum multiflorum af ̄ ter Neng Si's grandson. This legend obviously exagger ̄ ates the role of Polygonum multiflorum. Howeverꎬ Com ̄

pendium of Materia Medica records: This medicine tastes warm and bitter. Bitterness tonifies kidneys and

warmth nourishes the liverꎬ which can converge essence Qi. Thereforeꎬ it can not only nourish blood and benefit the liverꎬ but also strengthen essence and benefit kid ̄

neys. As a nourishing medicineꎬ it can also strengthen

tendons and bones and blacken the hair. It is neither cold nor dryꎬ more effective than medicines like Reh ̄ mannia glutinosa and radix asparagi.

No matter how deep the kidney essence is storedꎬ

hair often reflects its depth.

Kidney Deficiency

The bone is the hardest thing in the bodyꎬ support ̄

ing our bodyꎬ enabling us to stand upꎬ and making us

sturdy and straightꎬ which is the feature of bonesꎬ or bone Qi. Bones are the densest tissues that gather kid ̄ ney Qi. Traditional Chinese Medicine stresses that kid ̄

neys control bones and the popular understanding is that

weak bones may cause kidney deficiency. Ju Dahongꎬ a researcher of the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Scienceꎬ observed the effect of tonifying kidneys on os ̄ 263


teoblast cyclooxygenase (COX - 2) and mRNA expres ̄

sion and discovered a mechanism by which tonifying kidneys treats osteoporosis. Thus the effect of kidney de ̄ ficiency on bones can be explained from a scientific per ̄

spective. According to this discoveryꎬ research on the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer ' s disease (de ̄ mentia) by tonifying kidneys is also in full swingꎬ be ̄

cause kidneys not only control bones but also produce marrows in accordance with traditional Chinese Medi ̄

cine. Hailun in Lingshu says: " The brain is the sea for marrows" . Thereforeꎬ Traditional Chinese Medicine be ̄

lieves that tonifying kidneys is equal to nourishing the

brain. Of courseꎬ both Traditional Chinese Medicine or Western Medicine cannot cure Alzheimer ' s disease which is essentially an irresistible aging illness. Howev ̄

erꎬ according to the statement of the aging principle of

kidney Qi and age in Ancient Ideas on How to Preserve Natural Healthy Energy in Lingshuꎬ tonifying kidneys can delay agingꎬ and the claim that tonifying kidneys can delay Alzheimer's disease can be justified.

Kidneys always seem to be weakꎬ and very few

times to be sufficient. Many conditions lead to kidney deficiencyꎬ and being frightened may be one of them.

Urinary excretion is controlled by kidneys. Child bed ̄ wetting and adult enuresis are all manifestations of kid ̄ 264


ney deficiency. Traditional Chinese Medicine says: " Fright hurts kidneys" ꎬ so there is a saying of " being frightened to piss in one's pants." There is a traditional

concept that kidney deficiency of a man is caused by women. In the Qing Dynastyꎬ Shen Jiashu had a lot of wivesꎬ and he was oversexedꎬ which brought him impo ̄

tence and lazy stay in bed. In his later yearsꎬ he wrote a book called A Simple Remark on Convalescence to tell

men that when men love women's bodiesꎬ they should

not forget to take care of their own body. The deficiency of men is often caused by womenꎬ and vice versa.

Women belong to Yin and waterꎬ and men belong to Yang and fire. If Yin and water are not nourished by Yang and fireꎬ they will fade much earlier.

To the Chineseꎬ kidney deficiency is always associ ̄

ated with impotence which originated from Huangdi Nei ̄

jingꎬ and was later vividly depicted by Sun Simiaoꎬ Zhang Jingyueꎬ etc. In factꎬ the earliest Chinese medi ̄ cal book Mawangdui Silk Texts had an accurate descrip ̄ tion of impotenceꎬ which is of great reference value e ̄

ven today. In this bookꎬ " not big" ꎬ " not strong" and

" not hot" were used to describe impotenceꎬ believing that the reason for not being big lies in " muscles" ꎬ the reason for not being strong lies in " tendons" ꎬ and the reason for not being hot lies in " Qi" . In the era of the 265


Mawangdui Silk Textsꎬ westerners also talk about

" Qi" ꎬ thinking that sexual excitement is related to breathꎬ and the retrograde inflation of penis changes it from being small to being large. Of courseꎬ the concept of Qi understood by Westerners and people in the Orient is differentꎬ even in the same era. According to Formu ̄ lary from the Heart of Medicineꎬ the " Qi" of " not hot"

refers to the Qi of the heart. If there is a problem with heart Qiꎬ there will be " not hot" . In accordance with the theory of traditional Chinese Medicineꎬ " muscles"

are controlled by spleenꎬ and a healthy spleen makes the muscles strongꎻ " tendons" are controlled by the liv ̄

erꎬ and the smooth flow of liver Qi makes tendons and

muscles solid. Obviouslyꎬ impotence is related to the heartꎬ liver and spleen. Papyrusꎬ written

1ꎬ 000

years

earlier

than

Mawangdui Silk Textsꎬ saysꎬ if there are ghosts in the

human bodyꎬ it will cause impotence. 3500 years agoꎬ people only knew that there were ghostsꎬ but didn ' t know what ghosts were. Now we have some knowledge a ̄

bout ghosts. Psychologicallyꎬ they might be uneasinessꎬ nervousnessꎬ anxiety or guilt. Likelyꎬ there really exist " ghosts" . According to Godꎬ impotence is a punishment for guilty men. Just like giving birth to a child was origi ̄

nally a matter for both men and womenꎬ but to punish 266


Eve for stealing the forbidden fruit of the Garden of E ̄

denꎬ God gave women the pain of giving birth. King Abimelech took possession of Sarahꎬ the wife of the Prophet Abrahamꎬ and sinnedꎬ but King Abimelech

was conscientiousꎬ with awe and veneration for God. He wanted to have Sarah only because of the wrong informa ̄

tionꎬ so God did not want him to dieꎬ and just made him impotent. Myths and God's stories express a kind of God's will from another angle.

Tonifying Kidneys and Strengthening Yang

This is an era of the rise of Yin and the fall of

Yangꎬ and the decline in reproductive capacity explains the social biological characteristics of kidney deficiency.

Men need to strengthen their Yang Qi in order to regain their self - confidenceꎬ so some old sayings always at ̄ tract people's attentionꎬ like " Your organ will be nour ̄

ished by what you eat" . It is said that eating something

like penis can strengthen Yang Qi. Thereforeꎬ kidneys

and genitals of animals have become a delicious food for tonifying kidneysꎬ satisfying both the appetite and sexu ̄ al desire of Chinese people. Howeverꎬ it is an embar ̄ rassing behavior abroadꎬ which is unacceptable both e ̄

motionally and rationallyꎬ even though they may also

know that there will be more testosterone in the animal's 267


penisꎬ which not only plays a role in men's sexual func ̄

tionꎬ but also affect politicsꎬ pornography and violenceꎬ and many nerve reflexes are regulated by it. Believe it or notꎬ the traditional food might strengthen Yang Qi.

Principles of Correct Diet records: Under Yanhu reignꎬ emperor Renzong of the Yuan Dynasty defeated the Tsar 's armyꎬ but became impotent after many years of wars.

Hu Sihuiꎬ an imperial physicianꎬ used " leek porridge mixed with goat kidneys" and cured his atrophy. In Chi ̄

naꎬ kidneys are not only physiological organsꎬ but also cultural organsꎬ a kind of symbol and desire.

There exists desire in kidney culture. A large num ̄

ber of animal kidneys are consumed at the dining tableꎬ and elixir made by Taoist priests is also used totonify kidneys and strengthen Yang Qi. Many people in history have been superstitious about " alchemy" ꎬ but accord ̄

ing to the recordsꎬ some dignitaries and noblesꎬ who had been taking these elixirs for a long timeꎬ not only failed to tonify their kidneysꎬ but died of kidney defi ̄ ciency.

Shennong' s Classic of Materia Medica first records

the effects of dozens of traditional Chinese Medicine in

tonifying kidneys and strengthening Yang Qiꎬ such as White

Dendrobiumꎬ Cistancheꎬ Schisandraꎬ Fructus Cnidiiꎬ Mantis Egg - 268

Quartzꎬ

Morinda

officinalisꎬ


caseꎬ Actinoliteꎬ Epimediumꎬ etc. The most interesting one is " Epimedium" . It is said that in the northwestern part of Sichuan provinceꎬ Chinaꎬ goats have frequent

copulationꎬ whose reason has never been known. Tao Hongjingꎬ who wrote Collective Notes to the Canon of

Materia medicaꎬ found the reason that after the goats had eaten a kind of local plantꎬ called " huo" ꎬ looking like bean leavesꎬ frequent mating occurred. Laterꎬ a

scientific name was given to this plant: pimedium. Now some scientific research on Epimedium shows that it has a certain effect on tonifying kidneys and strengthening Yang Qi. Howeverꎬ not all impotence is caused by kid ̄

ney deficiency. Za Bing Yuan Liu Xi Zhu writes that people often with bad lucks are liable to liver dysfunc ̄

tionꎬ leading to impotence. A doctor named Lin Peiqin in the Qing Dynasty wanted to enter politics at firstꎬ but failed after many attempts. Laterꎬ he became an out ̄

standing doctor. When talking about impotenceꎬ he said that the person who worried a lot would have pent - up heart and spleenꎬ leading to impotence. It seems that kidneys cannot bear so much for the power of sex.

We have tonified kidneys for two thousand years so

far. But that seems to be more and more deficient. How ̄ everꎬ there is a drug for treating the heart diseaseꎬ i.

e. Viagra that can settle man's " kidney deficiency" . Vi ̄ 269


agra was originally used to treat cardiovascular disease.

But it was unexpectedly found in the experiment that it

can tonify kidneysꎬ and its effect can be described as Prince Charming Priapus returned to the world. That is a surprise of " kidneys" gained at the cost of " the heart" . In the pastꎬ people only found that sexual dys ̄

function was an early sign of the heart diseaseꎬ and modern medicine has confirmed that animal models with cardiovascular diseaseꎬ aging with low testosterone lev ̄

elsꎬ all lack a matter called nitrous oxide synthase. This kind of decrease of substance activity is considered to

be a mechanism for the development of impotenceꎬ which is what we know about the biological characteris ̄

tics of impotence. Though we have some understanding

of the biological characteristics of impotenceꎬ howeverꎬ since the 19th centuryꎬ the view that impotence is a psychological disease has influenced people's views on

impotenceꎬ and at least a part of impotence may be the result of the contradiction between the spirit and materi ̄ al.

Spirit has changed chemicals. From another perspec ̄

tiveꎬ kidney deficiency may be a disease of national

concepts. Some kinds of kidney deficiency are actually " heart deficiency" .

270


Chapter 6

Three -thousand -year Bloodletting Therapy

Bloodletting therapy isn't strange to Chinese peopleꎬ

because it is part of acupuncture and moxibustion. In factꎬ bloodletting therapy is part of world medicineꎬ too.

Who Invented the Blood - letting Therapy?

Blood comes out of the blood vessels like rivers on

the earth. The places where the rivers flow through have nurtured civilization and become the origination of blood - letting.

From Ancient Egypt to Ancient Greece

Blood comes out of the blood vessels like rivers on

the earth. The places where the rivers flow through have nurtured civilization and become the origination of blood - letting. Around 3500 BCꎬ blood - letting therapy ap ̄ peared at places where there was a big river with civili ̄

zationꎬ such as the Nile River in Egyptꎬ the Tigris and 271


Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamiaꎬ and the Indus River in Indiaꎬ let alone the Yellow River in China. They are the " Galaxies" on the earth with the brilliance of the u ̄ niverse.

According to the decipher of the symbolic text that

the ancient Egyptian doctors called " holy hieroglyph" ꎬ " swnw" means using something like arrows to cure peo ̄ pleꎬ and blood - letting was one of themꎬ which is the earliest written record of prehistoric civilization. Why was blood - letting chosen to cure people? There is a ver ̄ y materialistic explanation for this: For exampleꎬ after a part of the body of the ancient people was stabbed occa ̄

sionallyꎬ the blood would bleed out. When people got scaredꎬ some physical pain would be relieved. There ̄

foreꎬ in addition to scareꎬ there is another experience that can relieve pain. Unlike releasing the despair by slitting the wristsꎬ blood - letting really played a healing role in that era.

The common feature of all early human medicine is

the worship of witchcraft. Wizards believe that a man's disease is due to his body possessed by the devil. Before philosophy and medicine were separatedꎬ wizard was a

noble profession. If we judge the wizards of that era from the modern perspectiveꎬ they are all " liars" ꎬ but they are all actually using the " implication technique" as the 272


last resort to help people.

Compared with a variety of witchcraftsꎬ blood - let ̄

ting on the Mesopotamian plains is a step towards " rationality" . They believe that blood - letting can drive away the devil in the body. Howeverꎬ the devil is be ̄

lieved to be in the heart. To eliminate the devil in the heartꎬ if " heart - cutting" is appliedꎬ I am afraidꎬ when the devil is removedꎬ so is the man.

There is a saying about human physiology in ancient Indian medicineꎬ which seems to make blood - letting sound more reasonable: Human health is maintained by the balance of three kinds of fluidꎬ Qiꎬ bile and spu ̄

tumꎬ and the imbalance between them will cause blood disordersꎬ so blood - letting is considered an effective

method. Besides using an edge tool to let bloodꎬ the In ̄ dians also inherited the method of blood - letting from leeches in Egypt and Syria. They believed that leeches

can " distinguish" bad blood from good blood. In factꎬ what the Indians say about the distinguishing ability of the leech refers to the hemolytic and vasodilatory effect

of the anti - hemagglutinin released through the mouth during the blood sucking process.

Blood - letting therapy gradually developed into a

fashionable medicine with its spread from the Nile and Tigris rivers to ancient Greece and Romeꎬ and it has al ̄ 273


so become the most popular health - care medicine. Its great prosperity was no less than that of the mung - bean soup we Chinese drank in 2010.

If we want to trace the founder of modern Western Medicineꎬ Hippocrate (approximately 460 BC - 360 BC)

is undoubtedly the one. Although he was criticized for burning a medical library on the island of Kohꎬ his works left behind still become the cornerstone of West ̄

ern Medicine. In his viewꎬ the disease is not a local phenomenonꎬ but the disorder of four kinds of body - flu ̄

ids in the whole bodyꎬ namelyꎬ bloodꎬ mucusꎬ black bileꎬ and yellow bile. The body can be naturally healed through blood - lettingꎬ purgationꎬ and diet adjustment. As the Father of Medicineꎬ he had this motto for prac ̄

tice: " If medicine cannot treat a diseaseꎬ use a knifeꎻ if the knife failsꎬ use fireꎻ if the fire failsꎬ that is an in ̄

curable disease." One of those uses of knifes includes

cutting a vein to bleed. After thatꎬ this Western " father of medicine" also became an advocate of blood - letting therapy.

From Galen to God

The popularity of blood - letting therapy in the West

is also related to Galenꎬ another great medical scientist.

He was a man who worked ecstatically. His achieve ̄ 274


ments in anatomyꎬ physiologyꎬ and therapy were un ̄ matched before the 16th century. When most doctors be ̄

lieved that anatomy was used to guide surgery and deal with traumaꎬ Galen had used it to solve big philosophi ̄

cal problems. For exampleꎬ he proved that the sound

was controlled by larynx nerves and that thought was the root of the brain. If the Creator was perfectꎬ then every

structure of the human body had its proper functionꎬ which was the belief of Galen's research and the way he expressed his respect for " God" . It was for this reason that Galen became the medieval " Medical Pope" . Galen 's admiration for blood - letting therapy was clarified in

such works as The Cure Method: Blood - letting therapy is applicable to almost all diseasesꎬ including bleeding and body frailty. Blood - letting therapy is not only the preferred treatment for goutꎬ arthritisꎬ vertigoꎬ epilep ̄

syꎬ depressionꎬ eye disease and other serious diseasesꎬ but also the main way for preventing diseases. Galen was very keen on bleed - letting. In certain circum ̄ stancesꎬ he recommended blood - letting twice a day.

Women's advantages in healthꎬ in Galen's opinionꎬ are that they can discharge excess blood through menstrua ̄ tionꎬ which is the favor of " God" for women. Accord ̄ inglyꎬ will some moderate nose - bleeding and hemor ̄ rhoids also have the effect of health protection?

275


Bloodletting on " Saint's Day" advocated by Christi ̄

anity is a beneficial thing. I don't know where the inspi ̄

ration for bloodletting on a special day came from. Does God mean to make the Christian ritual sacredꎬ or to show the health - care effect of bloodletting? Perhaps it is related to the holy blood when Jesus was crucified.

Jesus is the Son of God. His blood is holyꎬ so it can

save common people. The blood of ordinary people is vulgarꎬ so it can only save ordinary people. Anyhowꎬ in the matter of bloodlettingꎬ religious humanistic care and

medical doctors in history are different in approaches but similar in result.

Not only Christianityꎬ but believers in Islam also ad ̄

vocate bloodletting when fever occurs. In Mayaꎬ South Americaꎬ there is a kind of acupuncture method called " Tok" ꎬ which is blood - letting. It is a collective action in coincidence in the early human civilization.

From Barbers to Surgeons

When blood - letting became a health - care method

for the publicꎬ it was no longer doctors' private method. In 1163ꎬ Pope Alexander III spread blood - letting thera ̄

py among ordinary people. Thereforeꎬ the barber shop became the main place for blood - letting therapy. The

knives used by barbers and people's fanatical need for 276


blood - letting turned barbers into the most famous surgi ̄

cal expertsꎬ writing an interesting history of Western

Medicine. Among themꎬ the iconic figure was a French barber called Paré (1510 - 1590) in the 16th - centuryꎬ who was later known as " The father of surgeons" .

Surgery originated from the barber shops. Here we

have two examples: One is the blood - letting tool. In or ̄

der to standardize bloodletting therapyꎬ barbers have developed a complete set of blood - letting procedures and tools. The double - edged knife for blood - letting therapy is named " Lancet" . The well - known British medical journal Lancet (" Lancet" ) is the name of the knife used for blood - letting. The other is the traditional barber shop logo. Todayꎬ from the columnar marker with

redꎬ blue and white stripes of the barber shopꎬ we can feel how the barber liked blood - letting. Red represents flowing arterial bloodꎬ blue represents flowing venous bloodꎬ and white represents bandages for hemostasis.

The round column is the thing that the patient should hold when receiving blood - letting therapy. This is a viv ̄

id advertisement for blood - letting therapyꎬ which stands in front of every barber shop. After the rise of new medi ̄

cineꎬ blood - letting therapy disappearedꎬ but the pillars with redꎬ blue and white stripes stand there all the time and became the symbol of the barber shops. Writing 277


hereꎬ I suddenly think of the acupuncture craze nowa ̄

days. Although people no longer go to the barber shop to let out bloodꎬ cupping and scraping in the barber shop

and beauty salon have thrived. Is it a reincarnation? The development of blood - letting therapy in the

15th century was an " Integration of man and Nature" . In 1408ꎬ on a map of blood - letting therapyꎬ the rela ̄

tionship between each part of the body and the zodiac is marked. The combination of blood - letting therapy and astrology has made the original simple blood - letting del ̄ icate and mysterious. Blood - letting should be carried

out according to the constellation corresponding to the body part with a specific time and a specific part cho ̄ sen. This interpretation has the characteristics of hu ̄ manity and the yearning for supernatural power.

Precisely speakingꎬ until the beginning of the 20th

centuryꎬ in nearly 800 yearsꎬ from the French King

Louis XV to the civilian populationꎬ almost all of them had regarded blood - letting therapy as a symbol of medi ̄ cine and health care. Many healthy people also regularly had their blood discharged several times a year. The blood - letting utensils used by ordinary people could be

passed on to future generations as heirlooms. Leeches raised by merchants could bring wealth.

278


Is Blood - letting Therapy Really Effective?

No medicine of any age is perfect. Before the 20th centuryꎬ if blood - letting therapy had no curative effectꎬ what was the curative medicine?

The Death of Washington

On December 12ꎬ 1799ꎬ 68 - year - old George

Washingtonꎬ the first president of the United Statesꎬ re ̄ turned from a horse - riding tour of the plantation. He felt

a sore throat which became worse on the third dayꎬ with

difficulty in breathing. Washington firmly believed the effect of blood - letting therapyꎬ so did his personal doc ̄ tor. With several times of blood - letting in successionꎬ a total of 2ꎬ 500 milliliters of blood flew out of Washing ̄

ton ' s blood vessels. Washington raised his hand and

took his own pulse. Finallyꎬ he stopped breathing. The death of Washington put a question mark on blood - let ̄ ting therapy.

Why did the president allow successive blood - let ̄

ting in such great amount? Because the doctor who let

Washington' s blood was a student of Benjamin Rushꎬ " The Father of Medicine" in USA. Benjamin graduated from New Jersey Collegeꎬ the predecessor of Princeton University at the age of 14. He founded the medical ed ̄ 279


ucation system in the United States. At that timeꎬ three - quarters of American doctors were his students. The only doctor who left a name on the Declaration of Inde ̄ pendence of the United States was Benjamin who vigor ̄ ously promoted blood - letting therapy.

In the 18th centuryꎬ due to the close relationship

between Philadelphia and the prosperous slave trade in the West Indiesꎬ yellow fever frequently visited this port city. Benjaminꎬ the blood - letterꎬ was involved in a law ̄ suit because of the yellow fever that prevailed in Phila ̄

delphia in 1794 and 1797. The yellow fever epidemic was so severe that hundreds of people queued up every day to wait for Benjamin to perform blood - letting thera ̄ py for themꎬ so a spectacular scene of " blood flowing like a river" appeared. A British journalist was suspi ̄

cious of it and tracked the incident. He found that the mortality rate of patients treated by Benjamin was high.

Soꎬ he published an article saying that Benjamin and his students made outstanding contributions to the re ̄

duction of human population. Benjamin's authority was questionedꎬ so he took the reporter to courtꎬ and even ̄ tually the law issued a high fine on the reporter. Benja ̄ min was still a hero in fighting infectious diseases.

280


Questions about Blood - letting Therapy

After the reporter ' s incidentꎬ there was another

British doctor named Alexander Hamilton who took a more scientific method to study blood - letting therapy.

He divided 366 sick soldiers into 3 groups on averageꎬ one group for blood - letting therapyꎬ the other 2 groups for other methods of treatmentꎬ and the remaining con ̄ ditions of the 3 groups were basically the same. The re ̄

sults showed that 2 and 4 patients died respectively in the two groups without blood - lettingꎬ while 35 patients died in the group having receiving blood - letting thera ̄ py. For some reasonsꎬ this courageous study was com ̄ pletedꎬ but the paper has never been published.

The two incidents questioned on the part of the

British ended with no conclusion. But laterꎬ the French

made their statements. In the early 19th centuryꎬ French doctors issued a statement saying that blood - let ̄ ting therapy was completely ineffective in treating pneu ̄

monia and febrile diseases. Besides the ineffectivenessꎬ a doctor named Pierre Louis published his 7 - year clini ̄ cal observation of nearly 2ꎬ 000 patients and found that blood - letting therapy also significantly increased the pa ̄ tient's mortality rate.

People's faith in blood - letting therapy began to wa ̄ verꎬ but blood - letting therapy was still popular in the 281


19th century and reached its peak. In 1833 aloneꎬ France imported 41. 5 million leeches for blood - letting. From thisꎬ we can fully understand why European doc ̄ tors used to have the nickname " Leech" ꎬ it is the Eng ̄ lish spelling of leeches.

No medicine of any age is perfect. Before the 20th centuryꎬ since blood - letting therapy had no effect and increased the mortality rateꎬ thenꎬ what was the effec ̄

tive medicine? Consequentlyꎬ Pierre Louis failed to stop the prevalence of blood - letting therapy. It was not until the emergence of a group of medical microbiologists such as Robert Koch that this therapy popular for thou ̄

sands of years finally stepped out of the mainstream of

European and American medicineꎬ because people have found a better treatment. Howeverꎬ blood - letting therapy still remains.

Blood - letting and Blood - letting Puncture Therapy Galen said that blood was produced by the human

body and was often " exc essive" . Qi Bo ( 岐 伯) said that blood was very preciousꎬ since it was human life.

282


Alan Gordon's Story

In factꎬ as early as 1628ꎬ Harvey strongly ques ̄ tioned blood - letting therapy. The reason why blood - let ̄

ting therapy has tenacious vitality mainly comes from its practical value. Although blood - letting therapy has stepped out of the mainstream of Western Medicine to ̄

dayꎬ it is still active on the stage of " comp lementary medicine" ꎬ playing a role in certain diseases or for spe ̄ cific needs.

Research on blood - letting therapy has confirmed

that it has a certain effect of eliminating inflammationꎬ lowering down body temperatureꎬ reducing heart bur ̄

denꎬ and stimulating immunity. It is too absolute to sim ̄ ply attribute the role of blood - letting therapy to " stress

response" and to deny blood - letting therapy completely. Alan Gordonꎬ a long - distance runnerꎬ suffered from fatigue and knee pain before preparing to participate in the " Trans - Sahara Desert Marathon" ꎬ and he was diag ̄ nosed with " hemochromatosis" which was caused by ex ̄

cessive iron content in the blood. Excessive iron heaps up in the bodyꎬ causing damage to joints and organs. In severe casesꎬ patients will die from heart failure.

The easiest way to treat this disease is to let blood

regularly. It is under this method of treatment that Gor ̄ don reached a new body balance. In April 2006ꎬ he fin ̄ 283


ished the " Desert Marathon" . Gordon ' s insistence on blood - letting treatment was based on the fact that scien ̄ tists found the gene for the disease in 1996. The gene on chromosome 6 is named HFEꎬ and the protein corre ̄

sponding to this gene can be combined with the ferritin

receptor on the surface of human cellsꎬ thereby affecting the normal metabolism of iron in the body.

There may be another reason why Europeans have been superstitious for blood - letting for so long. About

one - eighth of Europeans carry the HFE geneꎬ and this percentage is even more than 25% in pure Western Eu ̄

ropean races. According to statisticsꎬ about one in 200 Europeans has " he mochromatosis " . Further research

has also shown that females with hemochromatosis have a relatively later onset. The monthly menstruation ex ̄ plains why their symptoms often emerge after meno ̄ pause.

Similar examples make scientists pay attention to the

role of iron in the resistance to bacteria. Bacteria cannot survive without iron which is the food for bacteria to re ̄

produce. Thereforeꎬ how to cut off the food source for bacteria is the strategy of " taking away the firewood un ̄ der the cooking pot" to prevent infection. In the evolu ̄ tionary process of organismꎬ this strategy has been de ̄

signed. For exampleꎬ nostrilsꎬ mouthꎬ genital and other 284


places that lack skin protection will have a lot of chelate compound which prevents iron from being used by bac ̄ teria.

The reason why people are unwilling to give up blood - letting completely is that in addition to being able to resist some bacterial infections to a certain extentꎬ it has considerable help to improve blood viscosity and in ̄

crease the speed of blood passing through capillariesꎬ as well as some kinds of high blood pressure and postoper ̄

ative feverꎬ etc. Howeverꎬ for traditional Chinese Medi ̄ cineꎬ using a three - edged needle acupuncture for blood

- letting instead of using a knife to open a vein for

bloodletting is a more beneficial option.

The Difference between Galen and Qibo

Most of the human medical practice is basically the

same in terms of content and methods. About two thou ̄ sand years agoꎬ due to the influence of different cul ̄

turesꎬ the development of medicine diverged. Western

medical pope Galen said that blood was produced by the human body and was often " excessive" . Blood - letting was suitable for any patientꎬ including bleeding and

body frailty. Galen's point of view deeply influenced the style of Western blood - letting therapyꎬ thereby the bar ̄ ber's razor became blood - letting knifeꎬ and the blood - 285


letting therapy of cutting along the vein was named as

" venous breathing" . Since it is breathingꎬ naturallyꎬ the larger the cut and the more amount of bloodꎬ the better.

At the time of the medical divisionꎬ fortunatelyꎬ Qi ̄

boꎬ the Chinese medical sageꎬ said that blood was very preciousꎬ and blood Qi was the life of human beings.

Since it is preciousꎬ there should be no massive lossꎬ let alone discharge. Thereforeꎬ according to The Inner Canon of Yellow Emperorꎬ " Blood - letting puncture means puncturing the veins" ꎬ which is actually a blood ̄

letting therapy of Chinese style. That is " removal of old stasis by letting bad blood" -- Explanation of Acupunc ̄ ture in Suwenꎬ and " When there is more blood than u ̄ sualꎬ then the abundant blood should be drained away...

The blood vessel should be observed and puncturing should be applied to prevent bad blood from getting into the veinsꎬ which can cause diseases" . -- Discussion on the Regulation of Channels in Suwen. " As for the long - time pain or numbnessꎬ the blood vessel should be ob ̄

served and blood should be let" -- Shoutian Gangrou in Lingshu. In shortꎬ blood - letting puncture should be ap ̄ plied with targets.

From " puncturing the blood vessels of small collat ̄

erals" ꎬ it can be seen that Qibo ( 岐伯) 's bloodletting 286


therapy is not exactly the same as Galen's. The differ ̄

ence not only lies in the amount of blood letꎬ but also in the guidance with a complete set of meridian and acu ̄

point theoryꎬ the theory of syndrome differentiation and treatment of Qibo 's blood - lettingꎬ with strict contrain ̄ dications and indications.

Conclusion Blood - letting therapy was once highly praisedꎬ but

today it has stepped out of the mainstream medicine. In

future centuriesꎬ will people look at the mainstream medicine today as they do with blood - letting therapy? Bervilleꎬ the dean of Harvard Medical Schoolꎬ once said to his students: " In ten yearsꎬ half of what you are learning will prove to be wrongꎬ and worseꎬ we cannot know which half is wrong." Maybe this is the fate of medicine.

287



--中医的脚印.pdf 1 2021/10/12 9:18:05

Introduction

About the Author Dr. Wang Hongcai, a well-known traditional Chinese medicine scholar and

integrates originality, readability and knowledge. Based on his years of

clinical expert, born in a family of traditional Chinese medicine, has

TCM study, the author vividly illustrates the elements of TCM like

studied under the guidance of two masters of Chinese medicine,

FOOTSTEPS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE

This excellent book narrating the culture of traditional Chinese medicine

meridians, acupoints, acupuncture and moxibustion, qi and the five zang viscera, both familiar and strange to us, as well as their stories throughout the ages, as if unfolding an extraordinary journey of TMC culture for readers. Engaged in the clinical practice and research on acupuncture over 30 years, Dr. Wang, experienced in both TCM theories and practice, has been invited to more than 50 countries for medical treatment or academic exchanges, and sent by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs or State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine to offer medical service for foreign leaders many times. With strong humanistic feelings, Dr. Wang does researches on both medicine and humanity, adept at applying multi-thinking paradigm in interpreting the logic of life and health. Therefore, this book of his is surely a feast of eyes to our readers.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Professor Guo Chengjie and Academician Cheng Shennong. Dr. Wang is the chief physician of the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a doctoral supervisor, the deputy director of the World Health Organization’s Traditional Medicine Cooperation Center (CHN-32), the deputy secretary-general of the World Federation of AcupunctureMoxibustion Societies (WFAS), and the senior consultant of the American Federation of TCM acupuncturists.

FOOTSTEPS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE Author: Wang Hongcai Translator: Cheng Jiahui Gao Wanwan Liu Hanlu

Toronto Education Press

Cheng Jiahui, a professor of English at Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities and an expert member of the Translators Association of China, has two translations published: Dictionary of Best Quotes for English Basic Words (Bilingual), and English Translation for 100 Selected Chinese Ancient Classic Poems (Bilingual) and Eternal China: 99 Essential Poems on Chinese culture (Bilingual). Gao Wanwan, a teacher at Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, has participated in many translation research projects. Liu Hanlu, an English teacher of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, presiding over the provincial Medical English Interpretation project, is now dean of the English Department of YMUN.

ISBN 978-1-894534-31-4

Price:C$23

About the Translators

Toronto Education Press


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