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The Essence of Herbal Medicine

11/14/2014

2 Comments

 
The cold of winter draws on the body’s reserve energy, called “jing” in Chinese medicine (which is translated as “essence”).  The diet, lifestyle, and herbal supplementation of people living through cold winters, if it is to be harmonious and health-producing, must nourish warmth and essence in the body.

There are two major forms of herbal therapy: nourishing and cleansing.  Many one-sided and over-simplified theories will focus on one of the two and attribute disease to either buildup of toxic excess in the body (which requires cleansing) or to nutritional deficiencies (which require nourishing therapies).  In truth, every person could be seen to have some deficiencies and some excesses.  This is why even in this moment you breath in and out (nourishing and cleansing with each complete cycle of the breath), why everyday you eat and eliminate (through urination, bowel movement, etc.).  Many patterns of nourishing and cleansing are found throughout any individual’s life – one of which are the seasons.  In the autumn and winter it is generally best to focus on nourishing.  In the spring, cleansing.

Jing, or essence, is one of the Three Treasures of Chinese medicine.  The other two are chi (vital energy) and shen (spirit).  In Chinese medicine essence is associated with the Kidneys.  While this is deep, somewhat complicated, and a foreign idea to most Westerners, I will attempt to explain it simply in two ways.  First, the Kidneys are also associated with the reproductive organs and functions, and essence is believed to originate at the moment of conception.  It is therefore, hereditary – a sort of ancient parallel to modern genetics.  Second, Chinese medicine is built upon a system of correspondences that relate to five organs.  The five primary organs (kidneys, liver, heart, spleen, and lungs) are associated with all of the other organs and bodily functions.  They kidneys are where essence is stored.  

Chi is nourished easily through daily breathing and eating, et cetera.  Its cycles are more transient than the cycles of essence, which govern growth, development, maturation, and aging.  In women, essence follows 7 year cycles.  In men, essence follows 8 year cycles.  For women the first stage of life is over at age 7 and menstruation begins at 14 (formerly, at least – today the exposure to synthetic hormones is shortening the cycle).  At 21 women fully enter adulthood…  For boys to become men, as anyone can see, the cycle is a bit slower: 8, 16, 24, etc.

Because of the depth and speed of essence, it is difficult to nourish and it is wise to also live in a way that conserves jing.  Certain foods and herbs, however, can be used to help nourish essence in the body, particularly seeds and other deeply nourishing foods.  Beans, especially black beans, adzuki, and kidney beans are good.  Seeds such as sesame, hemp, and lotus are good.  Green “superfoods” like spirulina, chorella, and wheatgrass are good.  Pollens, such as bee pollen (collected by bees, of course, not produced by them), pine pollen, or cattail pollen.  Reishi mushroom nourishes essence as do probably some other medicinal mushrooms.  Herbal remedies for nourishing essence include American Ginseng and He Shou Wu. 
2 Comments
Nathaniel link
1/24/2015 11:31:42 pm

Here is a great version of the story of He Shou Wu (and an interesting article besides). An internet search will reveal several versions of the legend. I like it also in that it shows (in some versions) the old folk reverence for the Doctrine of Signatures.

http://www.itmonline.org/arts/hoshouwu.htm

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The Legend:
1/24/2015 11:33:14 pm

The Buddhist priest Wenxiang was devoted to the art of nourishing life [this refers to the Taoist immortality practices]. On the 18th day of the 3rd month in the 7th year of the governmental period yun he [thus, in 812 A.D.], he was on Maoshan early in the morning, and there, in the vicinity of Huayang cave, he met an old man who said to him: "You have the appearance of an immortal. I will reveal to you a secret formula [as suggested by the following story].

An ancestor of He Shouwu, who lived in the district of Nanhe in Xunzhou, was originally named He Tianer and was later called Nengzi. He was born impotent [meaning, he couldn't bear children] and had turned to drinking wine. At the age of 58, he returned home drunk one night and was overcome by sleep while still outside. When he awoke again, he noticed on the field two shoots of climbing plants, which stood about 3 feet apart. The sprouts of these shoots were twisted around each other [thus, the original name of the plant, jiaoteng] and then separated, three or four times.

Tiener considered this to be strange and, therefore, dug out the root of the plant and asked all the people in the village and the wilderness, but no one was able to tell him its name. Thereupon he dried the plant in the sun. A man living nearby was an excellent jester and said to Tiener: "You are impotent, you are old and childless. This climbing plant struck you as peculiar, now surely it is supposed to serve you as a divine drug. Why don't you take it?"

Thereupon, Tiener sifted out a fine powder of the drug and took it with wine. After 7 days, he suddenly recognized clearly the principles of human life. After several tens of days had passed, he felt unburdened and strong, and he could barely control his sexual desire. He married a widow named Cen and continued to take the drug regularly after that. He then increased the individual dose to 2 qian [about 6.2 grams]. After over 700 days, all of his previous complaints had disappeared, he regained his youthful appearance and begot a son. The people in the neighborhood were very astonished at this. During the following 10 years, Tiener became the father of several sons. He ascribed all this to the drug and said: "This was caused by the climbing plant. When one takes it, one can live to be 160 years old, and yet it is neither listed in the old prescriptions nor in the materia medicas [bencao].

I [the old man at the beginning of this story] have received this from my teacher [the Buddhist priest] who was told about it in Nanhe. Taking it helped me, also, to father children. Originally, I preferred peace of mind, and under no circumstances did I want to take this drug, because it is harmful to peace of mind [this refers to its stimulation of sexual desire]. My spouse took it accidentally and we attained the greatest happiness. Subsequently, I recorded all the effects of the drug for Tiener, and I changed his name to Nengzi [capable of begetting]. He died at the age of 160 and left 19 sons and daughters. His son He Yen, who also took the drug, reached the age of 160 as well, and left 30 sons and daughters. Yen's son, He Shouwu lived to the age of 130 by means of this drug, and fathered 21 children.

An Qi [a legendary herbalist from the Qin Dynasty who specialized in miraculous herbs] reports the following about this climbing plant: It has a sweet taste, warm nature, and belongs to the category of herbs without markedly curative power [that is, it has a slow and moderate action]. It masters the five hemorrhoidal complaints as well as all hidden illnesses and emaciating influences in the loins and abdomen. It expands the muscles and helps people to have many children because it increases one's semen [jing]. Taken as a food, this substance supplements the body's influences [qi] and strength, nourishes the skin, and prolongs life. Other names of the plant are yemiao [wild sprout], jiaojing [joining stalks; same basic meaning as jiaoteng], yehe [meeting at night], dijing [earth essence], and daoliu [peach and willow, meaning sexual joy; see also, below, the relation to the shape of the trees]. This climbing plant grows on the fields of Xunzhou, in the district of Nanhe. It is also frequently found in all regions of Lingnan. The sprouts of the plant are of the same size as those of mugao [the identity of this herb is not certain] and have a moist shimmer. They resemble the shape of peach and willow trees. The leaves are bent, grow individually with their backs facing, and are not opposite. There are male and female types of the plant. The sprouts of the male plant are yellow-white, those of the female are yellow-red. They grow at a distance from each other and unite at night. Some then become invisible. The female and male specimens should be gathered on cloudless days at the end of spring, in midsummer, or at the beginning of fall, and they should be dried in the hot sun. The herb is taken pulverized, together with wine. When gathering, one

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