Tag Archives: TCM

On regulating the spirit in accordance with the Qi of autumn

Grimshaw-John-Autumn-Sun

“The three months of autumn,

they denote taking in and balance

The Qi of heaven becomes tense *

The Qi of the earth becomes bright.

Go to rest early and rise early,

get up together with the chicken.

Let the mind be peaceful and tranquil, so as

to temper the punishment carried out in autumn**.

Collect the spirit Qi and

cause the autumn Qi to be balanced.

Do not direct your mind to the outside and

cause the lung Qi to be clear.

This is the correspondence with the Qi of autumn and

it is the way to nourish gathering.

Opposing it harms the lung.

In winter this causes outflow of undigested food and

there is little to support storage. ***”

*Wang Bing: Wind blows with a cutting sound

** Violent storms in autumn appeared like a punishment. This was also the season, in ancient China, to perform executions of criminals sentenced to capital punishment. Wang Bing: When the mental Qi is hectic, one is not careful in their activities. If one is not careful in their activities, one accentuate the severity of autumn punishments, goes along with killing, and destroys life. Hence, one establishes a peaceful and tranquil mind to soften the punishments carried out in autumn.

*** Wang Bing: It is to say: to carry out the orders of summer in contrast [to the requirements of autumn]. The lung corresponds to metal and flourishes in autumn. Hence, to carry out [in autumn] the orders of summer, this harms the Qi. In winter the water flourishes and the metal perishes. Hence, the disease develops in winter. If one opposes the [orders of] autumn and harms the lung, this results in diminished Qi [with a reduced ability] to receive the storage in winter.

Comprehensive discourse on regulating the spirit in accordance with the Qi of the four seasons,  in Huang Di nei jing su wen, annotated translation, by Paul U. Unschuld and Hermann Tessenow, University of California

Painting: John Grimshaw, Autumn Sun

Peace and Spring

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The I Ching hexagram associated to the month of February is hexagram 11, Tai – Harmony, Peace, Rejuvenation, Prosperity. It is composed of the trigram Qian -the Sky, the Creative- below, and the trigram Kun -Earth, the Receptive- on top. Qian’s energy is ascendant, Kun’s energy is descendant. In this configuration they meet and from their encounter the 10 000 things will be born. Spring is coming, “The small departs, the great approaches”.

There are 12 months in the Chinese calendar each divided into 2 parts. The first 15 days are called Jie Qi and the last 15 days Zhong Qi. The 24 sections of the year have their importance in agriculture, as well as in health and care, following the cycles of nature. The first weeks of February are called Li Chun, Beginning of Spring.

Narcissist1EgeneKoo

Painting Egene Koo

On regulating the Spirit [in accordance with] the Qi of the Four [Seasons] : Winter

“The three months of Winter

they denote securing and storing.

The water is frozen and the earth breaks open.

 

Do not disturb the yang [Qi].

Go rest early and rise late.

You must wait for the sun to shine.

 

Let the mind enter a state as if hidden,

{as if shut in}

as if you had secret intentions;

as if you already had made gains.

 

Avoid cold and seek warmth and

do not [allow sweat] to flow away through the skin

This would cause the Qi to be carried away quickly.

 

This is the correspondence with the Qi of Winter and

it is the Way of nourishing storage.

Opposing it harms the kidneys.

In Spring this causes limpness with receding Qi, and

there is little to support generation.

 

“Now,

the yin and yand [Qi] of the four seasons,

they constitute root and basis of the myriad beings.

 

Hence the sages

in spring and summer nourish the yang and

in autumn and winter nourish the yin, and

this way they follow their roots.

 

Hence,

they are in the depth or at the surface with the myriad beings at the gate to life and growth.

To oppose one’s root

is to attack one’s basis

and to spoil one’s true [Qi]”

 

From Comprehensive discourse on regulating the Spirit [in accordance with] the Qi of the four [seasons], chapter 2 of Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen, an annotated translation of Huang Di’s inner classic – basic questions, by Paul U. Unschuld and Hermann Tessenow.

 

Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen

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The Huang Di Nei Jing, a.k.a Yellow Emperor’s inner classic or canon, is considered a fundamental text of chinese medicine, going back approximately 2000 years. It exposes TCM principles and applications in the form of a Q&A between disciple and old master. The canon is divided into two sections both containing 81 chapters (where 8+1=9, 9 being the number for the sky in chinese metaphysics). The first section is Su Wen, or “Basic Questions” deploying the theories at the root of all diagnostics, and the second section is the less known Ling Shu, or Spiritual Pivot, which is more directly about applications and acupuncture.

HERE is an Annotated Translation of Huang Di’s Inner Classic – Basic Questions: 2 volumes, by Paul Unschuld (University of california Press). A complementary history and comparative literature of the Su Wen, also by Paul Unschuld, can be read HEREA chinese manuscript (Wang Bing’s version) can be found HERE on World Digital Library.

 

Capture d’écran 2014-10-21 à 16.44.50

Chinese Martial Arts Manuals translated

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Here is a generous selection of 19th century to mid 20th Chinese Martial Arts Manuals (notably Taiji Boxing manuals) all translated to english and made available by Paul Brennan on his site. Original chinese scriptures are still in the copy along with vintage photographies and images. Interesting for practice, the manuals are also windows on chinese metaphysics and the fundamentals of Traditional Chinese Medicine (which the “gymnastics” are part of), and on chinese (war) history…

“The ideal thing to do is unite in association with each other and rouse our spirits to strive, to study intensively in the triple aspects of education [i.e. ethical, intellectual, physical] and let us be common friends against a common foe. Without strength of literature, how will these things be spread far? A single page carried by the wind can delay a culture’s decay.” 

Liu Qian, foreword to the TAIJI MANUAL OF XU YUSHENG