05-Apr-18 Nurturing Life Classical Chinese Medicine and Yangsheng in Reproduction Sydney, Australia April 7, 2018 Outline for this class 1. Intro to Classical Chinese Medicine 2. key classical texts and concepts 3. Sun Simiao and his work 4. Yangsheng 5. Reproduction in classical CM 1 05-Apr-18 Plan for this morning class from 9-12:30, then lunch break until 2 9-10: intro to the instructor, the course, and the question: what is classical chinese medicine? 10-11:30: the key classical texts and their main content: Shennong bencaojing 神農本草經 (Divine farmer’s classic of materia medica) Huangdi neijing 黃帝內經 (Inner classic of the yellow emperor): suwen 素問 (Plain questions) and lingshu 靈樞 (divine pivot) Nanjing 難經 (Classic of difficult issues) zhang zhongjing 張仲景’s shanghanlun 傷寒論 (treatise on cold damage) and jingui yaolüe 金 匱要略 (essentials from the golden cabinet) 11:30-12:30: Sun Simiao and his work, the Beiji qianjin yaofang 備急千金要方 (essential formulas worth a thousand in gold to prepare for emergencies) intro to the topic classics, yangsheng, reproduction: where to even start??? my journey to my current life: academic (EAS and med. anthro), mom, biodynamic goat farmer, professor at a college of classical Chinese medicine, writer on a quiet island in the puget sound why i do what i do… 2 05-Apr-18 Introductions: My practice of medicine AND YOURS??? QJF, vol. 26 “Zhang Zhongjing said: ‘When a person’s body is balanced and harmonious, you must merely nurture it well.’ Do not recklessly take drugs, because the strength of drugs assists only partially and causes the persons’ visceral qi to be imbalanced, so that they easily contract external trouble. All things that contain qi provide food and thereby preserve life. Nevertheless, eating them unawares has the opposite effect (effect of creating loss). The common people use them daily without awareness, and so they hardly recognize when water and fire draw near... 3 05-Apr-18 The classical texts of Chinese medicine Shennong bencaojing 神農本草經 (Divine farmer’s classic of materia medica) Huangdi neijing 黃帝內經 (Inner classic of the yellow emperor): suwen 素問 (Plain questions) and lingshu 靈樞 (divine pivot) Nanjing 難經 (Classic of difficult issues) zhang zhongjing 張仲景’s shanghanlun 傷寒論 (treatise on cold damage) and jingui yaolüe 金匱要略 (essentials from the golden cabinet) Shen nong bencao jing 神農本草經 “Divine farmer’s classic” jing 經 (warp) > importance of the text bencao 本草 “roots and grasses” > materia medica compiled from oral teachings in the late Han dynasty originally in three volumes, divided into upper, middle, and lower substances. edited, expanded, and restructured by Tao Hongjing 陶弘景, a famous daoist hermit (452-536 CE), with information by “famous physicians” 名醫。 organized substances by their natural origin into “precious stones” (yù shí 玉石), “herbs and trees” (cǎo mù 草木), “insects and wild animals” (chóng shòu 蟲獸) and “fruits, vegetables, rice, and grains” (guǒ cài mǐ gǔ 果菜米穀). 4 05-Apr-18 preface • 上藥一百二十種，為君，主養命，以應天。無毒，多服、久服不傷人 。欲輕身益氣不老延年者本上經。 “Sovereigns”: Nurture “destiny,” resonate with Heaven, are non-toxic and are to be taken over in large quantities for a long time, to lighten the body, boost qi, avoid aging, and prolong life. • 中藥一百二十種，為臣，主養性，以應人。無毒、有毒，斟酌其宜。 欲遏病補羸者本中經。 “Ministers”: Nurture [inner] nature, resonate with humanity, are partly toxic partly non-toxic, and are used to escape illness and supplement emaciation. • 下藥一百二十五種，為左、使，主治病以應地。多毒，不可久服。欲 除寒熱邪氣，破積聚，愈疾者，本下經。 “Assistants” and “couriers”: Treat disease, resonate with earth, are mostly toxic, may not be taken over a long period of time, and are used to “expel the evil qi of cold or heat, break up accumulations, and cure disease.” Example 1: Dang Gui 當歸 dāng guī (Root of Angelica polimorpha) Vol. 2 (Middle Grade) 味甘,溫,無毒。主咳逆上氣,溫瘧、寒熱洒洒 在皮 膚中,婦人漏下,絕子,諸惡創瘍、金創。 煮飲之。 生川谷。 Flavor: Sweet. Nature: Warm. Toxicity: Non-toxic. Alt. names: 干歸 Actions and Indications: Indicated for cough with counterflow and ascent of qì, warm malaria, cold and heat with shivering inside the skin, for women’s vaginal leaking and interruption of childbearing in women, for all malign sores and festering ulcers, and for incised wounds. Additional Information: Boil and then drink it. Grows in valleys with streams. 5 05-Apr-18 Toxicity and efficacy in the SNBCJ shíliúhuáng 石硫黃 (sulfur) and Máfén (hemp seed; both from middle category) categorized as “toxic” but Dānshā (cinnabar, a.k.a. mercuric sulfide) and Féngzǐ (wasp, both in the highest category) as “non-toxic”! information on long-term consumption with goals like “avoiding aging,” lightening the body 輕身, 通神明 facilitating the breakthrough of spirit illumination > what does this mean??? makes you a spirit immortal 神仙 Yellow Emperor: Facts or Fiction? reigned 2697 - 2597 BCE one of the mythological founders of Chinese civilization (the so-called “Three sovereigns and Five Emperors”: Fuxi 伏羲, Nüwa 女媧, Shennong 神農, AND the Yellow Emperor 黃帝, Zhuanxu 顓頊, Emperor Ku 嚳, Emperor Yao 堯, and Emperor Shun 舜) Shamanic rainmaking deity transformed by the zhou people into a historical figure? Granet “historicized legends.” Association of 黃(yellow) with 皇 (“sovereign”, composed of 王 and originally 自 “beginning” on top, according Shuowen) and 尪 wang “rainmaking shaman) Sarah Allen: subterranean equivalent of the shang ancestors in the sky (association of yellow with the underworld?) Roel Sterckx: “legendary culture hero” Associated with yellow, earth, dragon, center, etc. > cycle of dynasties. Or with the underworld (黃泉) 6 05-Apr-18 History of the Neijing collection of writings from the final centuries BCE (early Han, AFTER Mawangdui 馬王堆), compiled in later Han Resulted in four books: Suwen 素問 (plain Questions > theoretical foundations, diagnosis) Lingshu 靈樞 (Divine Pivot > acupuncture) nanjing 難經 (classic of Difficulties) Taisu 太素 (Great Plainness) Suwen and Lingshu together make up the Neijing in originally 81 chapters each. Textual History Ideas and language formed between 400 BCE and 260 CE. Suwen rearranged, added to, and edited in subsequent centuries, esp. Wang Bing 王冰 in 8th century (Tang). Unschuld claims 1/3 of the text is added by Wang Bing! collated and printed on woodblock by the Song court under Lin Yi 林 億, Gao Baoheng 高保衡, Su Song 蘇頌 etc. in 11th century > existing modern editions. Lingshu also printed but with no major editing. Suwen first mentioned by Zhang Zhongjing in his preface. 7 05-Apr-18 Content Dialogues of Huang Di with advisors, especially Qi Bo 岐伯 (60) and Lei Gong 雷公(7) > used as rhetorical device to link originally separate texts? Different textual layers. Basic theories: Yinyang 陰陽, Five Phases 五行, Zang and fu organs 臟 腑, blood and qi (營衛), vessels. pathogenic agents and diseases diagnosis: inspection, questioning, pulses, etc. Therapies: bloodletting, piercing, and manipulating qi AND Pharmaceutical treatments, dietetics, and heat Suwen 2 四氣調身大論 • As such, yīn and yáng and the four seasons are the beginning and end of the ten thousand things, and the foundation of life and death. If you go against them, disaster and harm will be born. If you accord with them, severe illness will not arise. This is what is called “obtaining the Dào.” This Dào! Sages practice it, but fools adorn themselves with it. According with yīn and yáng results in life, going against it results in death. • For this reason, the sages do not treat what is already diseased but treat what is not yet diseased, and do not put in order what is already in chaos, but put in order what is not yet in chaos. This is what I am talking about.Now to have an illness that has already formed and only afterwards treat it with medication, to have chaos that has already formed and only afterwards put it in order, this is just like being thirsty and then digging a well, or to be in the middle of combat and then forging sharp weapons. Isn’t it too late indeed at this point? 8 05-Apr-18 some gems from suwen 5 “Great Treatise on the resonant manifestations of yin and yang” 陰陽應象大論 Yīn and Yáng! They are the Dào of Heaven and Earth! They are the guide ropes and connecting threads of the Myriad Things, the father and mother of Alterations and Transformations, the foundation and beginning of giving birth and taking life, and the Palace of the shén míng. To treat disease, you must seek it in the basics. Thus, accumulated Yáng becomes Heaven; accumulated Yīn becomes Earth. Yīn stills and Yáng agitates; Yáng gives life and Yīn promotes growth; Yáng takes life and Yīn withdraws into storage. Yáng creates Qì; Yīn completes the Form. Water is Yīn; Fire is Yáng. Yáng is Qì; Yīn is Flavor… Yīn Flavor exits from the lower apertures; Yáng Qì exits from the upper apertures. Flavor, when concentrated, is Yīn, but when diluted, is the Yáng aspect of Yīn. Qì, when concentrated, is Yáng, but when diluted, is the Yīn aspect of Yáng. Flavor, when concentrated, results in drainage, but when diluted, in open passage. Qì, when diluted, results in drainage through the surface, but when concentrated, in heat effusion…. In Heaven, there are the Four Seasons and Five Dynamic Agents. By means of these, birth, growth, harvest, and storage take place. By means of these, Cold, Summerheat, Parching, Dampness, and Wind are engendered. In humans, there are the Five Zàng Organs, which transform the Five Qì and by means of these engender happiness, anger, grief, mourning, and fear… Yīn, being on the inside, is the safe-keeper of Yáng. Yáng, being on the outside, is the executor for Yīn. 9 05-Apr-18 難經 (classic of difficulties) 1-22: On diagnosing the channels by taking the pulse 23-29: The jingluo 經絡; 30-47: zangfu 臟腑; 48-61: on diseases 62-68: on the points (穴, cavities, “transportation holes”) 69-81: explain needling advice from Neijing.