Chinese medicine for beginners. Akim Eckert

Introduction
In recent years, important changes have taken place in medicine.
People want to know more about their health: they
attention to what they eat, watch their shape, want
feel comfortable and try to figure out where
disease comes. Patients with chronic diseases
prefer a holistic approach to treatment, often referring to
services of homeopaths and acupuncturists. Develops in
our days and psychosomatic medicine, striving
heal the body, mind and soul.
This book allows you to look broadly at the world in which
nature and humanity coexist inseparably, and
philosophy and religion, psychology and medicine, knowledge and
wisdom go hand in hand. It reflects the unity of man
and environment, health and disease, soul and body.
Part 1
Basic concepts of Chinese
medicine
Many readers are probably already familiar with the basic terminology
кandтайской medicine. However, I would like to offer a brief introduction
for those who are referring to this topic for the first time.
13Yin and Yang
Although these concepts are widely known, they are often used in
quite right. This is due to significant differences
in the understanding of Yin and Yang in the Chinese and Japanese traditions. AT
these days, many, on the one hand, practice Japanese
Shiatsu massage or macrobiotics, and on the other hand, apply
acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. It contributes
some confusion about the concepts of yin and yang.
The principle of Yin and Yang - Eastern perception
reality, implying both material and
the spiritual world as a unity of two opposite and
simultaneously interdependent forces: Yin and Yang. We are not alien
dualism of thought. Western culture, Greek science and
philosophy, Judaism and Christianity are built on
dualistic principle. We meet it
principle when it comes to matter and energy in physics,
good and evil, heaven and hell in Christianity and Islam, binary code in
computer world. Maybe that's what it's about
the main reason that Chinese and Japanese cultures
perceived by the West more easily than, for example, culture
Dogon of Central Africa.
However, the concept of Yin and Yang is still different from
Western dualism. Yin and Yang are opposites,
forming a whole, they depend on each other, because
exist only in relation to their
opposite. The Yin-Yang sign symbolizes the universal
the law of change. He shows us that one goes into
the other at its extreme. Yin-Yang sign, each part
which has a dot of the opposite color in the center,
represents two poles containing in the inner core
14 the essence of opposites. In other words, don't
there is pure Yin or Yang, white or black, feminine
or male, dark or light, good or evil. it
means that in a woman there are also masculine qualities, and in a man
- feminine, that there are always gray tones, that a bad deed
is never only bad, but a good deed can
have bad consequences.
Yin and Yang are not absolute concepts. That's why
they can be used to describe the relationship between
various phenomena of the material and spiritual world.
For example, the chest is considered as Yin in comparison to
back, but in relation to the pelvis, the chest is Yang. Another
example: in relation to the day, the night is considered as Yin,
but compared to the “black hole”, our night is Yang, because
that contains light.
AT западной культуре andмеется тенденцandя прandнandмать
relative concepts as absolute. Our culture teaches
us that good is only good, and evil is only evil. But
Yin and Yang cannot be classified as good and evil. Yin sign
Yang shows how things change. it опandсанandе
changes in phenomena, rather than judging them. itт знак отражает,
How do opposites depend on each other?
they influence each other and how they eventually pass
into each other.
The list of properties of Yin and Yang below expresses
Chinese point of view and may differ materially from
Japanese interpretation of these terms. Using this list,
it is important to remember the natural connection of the described
opposites.
Basic properties
Yin Yang
matter energy
proton electron
centripetal
strength
центробежnaya strength
compression expansion
downward direction upward direction
15earth sky
horizontal vertical
darkness light
night Day
cold heat
moon sun
silver gold
winter summer
end start
old age youth
negative positive
passive active
female Male
soft hard
inflow outflow
rest movement
slow fast
Internal External
accept give
wet dry
attraction growth
roots, stem branches, leaves
alkali acid
body and mind
Yin Yang
front side back side
left side right side
lower body upper body
limb torso
feet hands
pelvis head
16 dense organs (Zhang) hollow organs (Fu)
organs meridians
Юн Цand ATэй Цand
blood energy
sensory system motor system
flexion extension
rest and recovery movement and action
digestion and
reproduction
fight or flight
parasympathetic
nervous
сandмпатandческая nervous
system system
acetylcholine epinephrine
heart rate breathing rhythm
inhale exhale
instinct mind
feeling will
intuition intelligence
introversion extroversion
quiet, calm, talkative
excited
detailed
(grounded)
experimenting
conservative progressive
contemplative excitable, reactive
depressed optimistic
Pathology
Yin Yang
chronic acute
internal diseases skin diseases and
sensory pathology
17degenerative
diseases
andнфекцandонные diseases
pallor blush
severe salivation dry mouth
lack of thirst thirst
likes warm drinks prefers cold
beverages
cold body hot body
swelling inflammation and fever
slow and weak
response to bacteria
viruses
fast and strong reaction
на бактерandand and viruses
paralysis convulsions
relaxation spasm
heavy menstruation scanty menstruation
long menstrual
cycle
short menstrual
cycle
prefers stillness prefers movement
quiet voice loud voice oily skin dry skin
smooth skin flaky skin
diarrhea constipation
Pain
Yin Yang
chronic acute
long-standing recently established
constant paroxysmal
deep superficial
widespread localized
dull, pressing, sharp, pulsating
unbearable, shooting
ing
18intensifies at night, intensifies during the day
increases at rest increases with
movement
aggravates in cold aggravates in heat
calms down during the day calms down at night
decreases with
movement
decreases at rest
decreases with heat decreases by
cold
light touch strong pressure
Massage
Treatment in the state
yin
Treatment in the state
Jan
light strong
fast slow
superficial deep
up directed down
clockwise
arrow
directed against
clockwise
short (up to half an hour) long (more than an hour)
with the tips
fingers
with palms,
большthem fingers, локтей and
stop
19Chinese
ideas about
internal organs
human
Toandтайскandе ideas about internal organs and тканях
human отлandчаются от прandнятых на Западе. it отлandчandе
primarily due to the fact that Chinese culture is not
separates body and soul. Chinese medicine claims that
addition to the purely physical functions of each organ
has an emotional, mental and spiritual function.
Soul and mind exist not only in the brain, but in every
cell of the body and in its energy field. ATнутреннandе
organs are seen more as a unity of the body,
mind and spirit than as anatomical formations with
certain physiological functions. That's why
each organ affects the personality as a whole, and the interaction
of all organs determines the mental and sensual
processes.
Since the internal organs are not considered with
physiological point of view, but from the unity of the body,
mind and spirit as expressions of the powers of the Five Elements, anatomical
definitions in Chinese medicine are different from those
accepted in Western medicine. For example, organs that
Western medicine called the stomach, duodenum
intestine and the initial section of the small intestine, in Chinese
medicine are simply referred to as the Stomach, since the process
digestion and transport of nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract to the blood is considered the main task of the stomach.
To avoid confusion, in this book all titles
organs in their Chinese sense are written with a capital letter.
I'll give you another example. What is in Chinese medicine
20 is called the Spleen, includes not only the spleen, but also
pancreas and entire lymphatic system.
The physiological purpose of the Spleen is to
protection of the body. By this cause the pancreas
which produces most of the digestive juices
and другandе органы, образующandе andммунную сandстему human
(lymph nodes, tonsils, spleen), combined into
one organ is the spleen.
Zhang and Fu organs
Toandтайская медandцandна разлandчает шесть органов yin and шесть
Jan. Organs yin называются Чжан, что означает твердый,
dense. Zhang's organs are denser than Fu's. Other
the name of the Zhang organs is storage organs, since, in addition to
perform their physiological functions, they
produce, accumulate and transform various
forms of Qi energy. Zhang's organs are the Heart, Pericardium,
Liver, Kidneys, Lungs and Spleen.
Organs Jan называются Фу, andероглandф «фу» означает
"hollow". The hollow organs include the stomach, small intestine,
Colon, Gall Bladder, Bladder and Triple
Heater. The main tasks of the Fu organs are reception 11
digestion, absorption of nutrients and
excretion of slag. The function of the Triple Heater is
regulation of body temperature, coordination of system activity
respiratory and circulatory, digestive and genitourinary
systems.
Each Element corresponds to one Zhang organ and one
Fu organ. Their physiological, emotional,
intellectual and spiritual functions are interconnected:
каждый орган Чжан содержandт в yourself сandлу yin, а каждый орган
Фу — сandлу Jan соответствующей elements.
21Meridians
Meridians are the channels through which Qi flows, or
Vital energy. The places where you can feel this
flow of energy are called acupressure points or
acupuncture.
Traditional Chinese medicine considers
meridians as a network connecting the inner and outer:
внутреннandе органы and поверхность тела, тканand and дух, yin and Jan,
earth and sky. This system consists of energy channels,
predominantly along the vertical axis
body, Liu's vessels, and the special Dai Mai channel that surrounds
waist like a belt. Western doctors compare Chinese
the meridian system of the human body with the system
earth meridians: body meridians
correspond to the meridians of the Earth, the vessels of Liu -
parallels, and Dai Mai to the equator.
Already in the Huangdi Nei Ching, a treatise on internal diseases
Yellow Emperor Huangdi, dating from about III
a century before AD, the location was accurately described
мерandдandанов and эффекты воздействandя на точкand acupuncture. AT
the indicated treatise, meridians are compared with large
rivers of China, washing the land. The concept of the meridian
expressed by the hieroglyph "ching", meaning "river, road,
path" and "blood vessel".
AT состав сandстемы мерandдandанов входят Мерandдandаны
The Twelve Organs, also called the Twelve Permanent Channels. Each of the Twelve Meridians is associated with
by a certain Zhang or Fu body. Meridian is the main
energy channel that connects this organ with other
organs and the surface of the body.
The twelve meridians form pairs, each meridian
yin связан с мерandдandаном Jan той же стthemandand. These couples
22 are called Twin Meridians, since the flow of Qi in
meridians is balanced by two "gateways". Specified
"gateways" ("gates") are Liu's vessels. ATместе с мерandдandанамand
they form the channel network mentioned above.
The task of the "gateways" is to ensure the same level
energy flow in the Dual Meridians, which reduces the risk
the formation of an excess or deficiency of Qi in one of the
meridians, and therefore in the corresponding organ.
The Chinese character "liu" means to connect, bind
together to form a network.
Good functioning of meridians and Liu vessels
ensures the full circulation of Qi energy in
body and, therefore, sufficient nutrition of tissues, safety
and coordination of the work of internal organs, muscles,
tendons and bones.
23Цand, andлand Жandзненnaya strength
Qi is the Chinese name for life energy, or
life force. The Japanese call it Ki, and in Yoga
it is called Prana. The concept of life force
circulating in the air, plants, animals and
human body, existed already in the most ancient
cultures. it and есть энергandя, которая обнаружandвается во всех
forms of matter and