Still Night Considerations
Posted on | June 5, 2009 | No Comments
I am, by no means, adept at translating Classical Chinese literature - much less classical Chinese poetry. However, I can’t help but try anyway. I was thinking about Li Bo the other day, and a poem that I read in my undergrad Mandarin classes with Jonathan Pease. I couldn’t remember the exact name of the poem, only that it was four lines long and he talked about the moon in every one of them. I saw the poem as simplistic after reading it, but Professor Pease talked for over an hour about the use of the moon to represent the woman that Li Bo was admiring in the poem. While 靜夜思 is not the poem that we read back then, it is still beautiful, and I had some fun trying to translate it this week.
In Chinese medicine, we talk often about Yin and Yang, the moon and the earth, etc… and I think that one of the best ways we can understand what these concepts mean is through reading classical Chinese poetry.
靜夜思
床前明月光。
疑是地上霜。
舉頭望明月。
低頭思故鄉。Jìng yè sī
Chuáng qián míng yuè guāng.
Yí shì dì shang shuāng.
Jǔ tóu wàng míng yuè.
Dī tóu sī gù xiāng.Still Night Considerations
Before the bed shine the beams of the moon.
Doubtfully is there frost atop the earth.
Raising my head to gaze longingly upon the moon.
Lowering my head in consideration of my homeland.
The way I have translated this poem makes it seem so completely simplistic that I don’t know what to do. Even so, I went to bed thinking about this, and in the only way that I know how - I started to think about the moon as a woman. This character, 前, shows the foot radical over the character for ‘boat,’ and can be thought of as someone standing at the prow of a boat. It does mean “in front,” “ahead,” “formerly,” “preceeding,” etc. And I can see so many meanings in this, one of which could actually point towards something like, “before I took the moon to bed,” or, from a vantage point of the bed, he is looking at the moon.
明月 means not only the moon, but a beautiful type of pearl. I don’t doubt that it could also serve as a name, or pet name. 光 has the meaning of “brightness,” but can also denote nakedness or smoothness. It was originally made from the fire radical 火 over the person radical 人. Given this, another way to translate the line might be: “Before bed Luna with fiery nakedness,” or something like that… :)
In the second line, 疑 tells us something about “suspect,” or “doubt.” This could be taken as a verb or noun (or maybe even something else). 是 is the Read more
Trying to Resolve the Resolution Times
Posted on | June 3, 2009 | No Comments
One of the questions that’s been puzzling me this week is the idea of the resolution times in the Shang Han Lun. The picture above shows the times of resolution for the 6 conformations overlayed on the high tides for the bodies channel system.
太 陽 病 ， 欲 解 時 ， 從 巳 至 未 上 。
Taiyang disease desires to separate at the time from 巳 until 未. (9am - 3pm, May (summer solstice) - July)
陽 明 病 ， 欲 解 時 ， 從 申 至 戍 上 。
Yangming disease desires to separate at the time from 申 until 戍. (3pm - 9pm, August - (fall equinox) October)
少 陽 病 ， 欲 解 時 ， 從 寅 至 辰 上 。
Shaoyang disease desires to separate at the time from 寅until 辰. (3am - 9am, February - April)
太 陰 病 ， 欲 解 時 ， 從 亥 至 丑 上 。
Taiyin disease desires to separate at the time from 亥 until 丑. (9pm - 3am, November - January)
少 陰 病 ， 欲 解 時 ， 從 子 至 寅 上 。
Shaoyin disease desires to separate at the time from 子 until 寅. (11pm - 5am, November (winter solstice) - February)
厥 陰 病 ， 欲 解 時 ， 從 丑 至 卯 上 。
Jueyin disease desires to separate at the time from 丑 until 卯. (1am - 9am, January - April (vernal equinox))
In Craig Mitchell’s translation of the SHL, they say that it is possible for these times to have been added from a different source than Zhong Zhangjing, when the book was being recompiled. However, considering the possibility that they were part of the original text, do they actually mean that the diseases clear up at these times? Probably not, as that doesn’t seem to be clinically relevant (from what I’ve heard, since I’m not in clinic yet.)
What else could this mean? Well, the earthly branches that define the times, and are often translated as such, have more far reaching meanings. For example, 巳 is not only the 4th double-hour, but also the 4th month: May and 未 is not only the Read more
Wu Mei Into Wan
Posted on | May 24, 2009 | 4 Comments
I was recently prescribed a formula from the Shang Han Lun: Wu Mei Wan (烏 梅 丸). The indications for this formula can be found in Line 338 of the SHL.
It consists of Wu Mei, Asarum, Dried Ginger, Coptis, Dang Gui, Aconite, Szechwan Peppers, Cinnamon twig, Ginseng and Phellodendron. We know Mume as the Ume Plum, Japanese Apricot or Plum, and the Umeboshi Plum, and the blossoms of the plum tree are what we know as plum blossom. The unripened plums are dried in a fire oven until about they are about 60% dehydrated. They remain quite sour with a bit of a smoky flavor.
I am making only 1/3 of the recipe listed in the SHL. That amounts to 100 plums. I soaked the plums in vinegar over night as directed.
Most of the herbs had already been ground at the clinic, so while the plums were soaking, all I had to do was Read more
Qi Farming
Posted on | January 7, 2009 | 2 Comments
My grandfather was a farmer of corn, barley and soybeans. He had dairy cows and I remember that he drove a dusty saffron-colored tractor. Farming is in my blood, even though I am now a child of this small city. I think of my grandfather and his land every time I go to my Qi Gong class. I know that small farmers in the midwestern United States aren’t the image that usually comes to mind when we talk about cultivating Qi - and they certainly don’t fit into the serene photographs of the terraced hills that are home to domesticated rice. This is the story of farming that lays Read more
Tags: cultivation > exercise > jin jing gong > Qi Gong > tractor > yoga
Oil and Water - Physics and the Five Phases?
Posted on | December 20, 2008 | No Comments
The Chinese symbol of Earth can be used to direct our minds towards the meaning of the Spleen/Stomach organ network in the body. If we use the Tai Ji symbol as a representation of the five phase processes at work, the Earth “phase” is the axis upon which the whole process turns. The axis of the turning wheel is what offers it stability in space. The axis of this wheel is what allows the upwards energy to turn and flow downward and then to be lifted again. The entire cyclical nature of the process is based upon the axis of the wheel, for without the axis, there would be chaos and no repeating cycle.
We can think of this axis as having two parts: half of the axis corresponds to an upward movement and half of the axis corresponds to a downward movement. It is somewhat silly to divide an axis in this way, since the upwards movement cannot function without the downwards movement, but we have already divided the outside of our Tai Ji symbol in this fashion, and as all things are holographic, the same rules can be applied to the axis itself.
It is also important to note that the movements of the axis do not come from the axis. The axis just denotes the point that is central to the rotational movement. From Newton’s Principia, we know that any mass following the circular path around the axis will be subject to a centripetal force pointed inwards towards the axis. The mass itself will exert an equal force in the opposite direction (hence, directly away from the axis); the reactive centrifugal force. Read more
Tags: axis > centripetal > newton > principia > Spleen > Stomach > tai ji
Thoughts on Zang Fu Theory, the Tai Ji symbol and Nature
Posted on | December 12, 2008 | 1 Comment
In Daoism, in the beginning of time, there existed the Wu Ji (無極), which could be considered the state of existence before any creation - it was the Primordial Qi (氣). Wu Ji literally means “lacking in extremes,” and represents a time without any differentiation. At some point along this Path of Qi (the Dao 道), the Tai Ji (太極) emerged. Tai Ji has the meaning of “great extremes,” and in the West, we recognize this concept by what we call the “Yin Yang symbol.”
In the Tai Ji symbol, we can see the interplay of extremes, which, even though they are opposites, when the apex of each is reached, the beginning of the next is born. We call these two extremes “Yin” and “Yang.”
Because of the complexities that are created from the interplay of the two extremes, the Chinese divided the pie of possibilities into five categories. Each category was named after a natural symbol, which could be used to point at the various occurrences born from the interplay between Heaven and Earth (or Yin and Yang). Fire represented the apex of Yang and Water represented the apex of Yin. Wood represented the birth and rising of the Yang after the Yin had reached it’s apex, and Metal represented the death and decay that builds after the height of the Yang. Earth represented the central core that held the entire process together - for if it were not held together, the extremes would separate and the Qi would return to it’s Wu Ji state. Read more
A Sick Kid on the Couch and a New President
Posted on | November 5, 2008 | 1 Comment
The Little One was sent home from school yesterday with a fever - so we spent the night watching the Sound of Music, rather than any of the election news. This was probably in our best interest, considering that it kept the anxiety at bay so we could wake up this morning to the wonderful news. I’ve never had the outcome of a political race bring tears of joy to my eyes, but it certainly happened this morning. I am filled with hope that some change may come to this country, but as Tim Wise wrote on Racialicious this morning, there is still a lot of work to do, and as citizens, we are responsible for being the leaders of that work - while Obama follows.
On another note, the Gui Zhi Jia Ge Gen Tang that my son had been drinking all night finally resulted in some sweating this morning, and a big change in his mood and energy level. (I think a little Ge Gen Tang would have been better, but I couldn’t get my hands on that, dammit). He’s still a little sick, and so we’re hanging out with some more movies today. I had to miss a couple of classes, but I am so happy to have some time to hang out with him, and to take care of him - since those times are so few and far between with the stress of school.
Xiao Chang
Posted on | October 30, 2008 | No Comments
In an attempt to learn the names of some of the acupuncture points, I am going to try a strategy that one of my classmates is using. As often as I can, I will create stories for each of the meridian channels. This is the first of the stories, created for the Small Intestine Channel.
Xiao Chang was hungry and felt empty inside. Her family was so hungry that she had finally wandered farther than usual looking for food to bring home. She had walked past the Little Marsh (Shao Ze) and Early in the day had come to the Valley (Qian Gu). After the valley was a Streambed (Hou Xi) but it had dried long ago and pressing her Wrists into it, she felt that it was as dry as Bone (Wan Gu). Here she slept and upon waking, she found herself in a Sunny Valley (Yang Gu) filled with Elderly people who seemed to be Nourished by it’s light (Yang Lao). In the middle of the valley was a huge tree, kept in an Upright position not by it’s own roots, but by the Foot of a huge god (Zhi Zheng). This god leaned back and became a mountain, and where his stomach would have been was a Small Sea (Xiao Hai). Up near his head was a giant phoenix, who had nested on his Shoulder and was Correcting the edges of her home (Jian Zhen). Her children, who were half gods, cracked from their eggs and crawled from the nest into a Harbor at the Soft spot in the Shoulder (Nao Shu). Here they rode a golden boat to commune with their Ancestors in Heaven (Tian Zong) where Xiao Chang watched them learn to Catch the Wind (Bing Feng). They came back to their mother by crawling over the Crooked Wall (Qu Yuan) that separated their ancestors from the earth. One child then settled at the Harbor outside the Shoulder (Jian Wai Shu) while the other settled at the Harbor inside the middle of the Shoulder (Jian Zhong shu). From here they acted as the Windows through which others could access the Heavens (Tian Chuang). Xiao Chang now saw her chance to beg the gods for food for her family. She crawled upon the god until she reached the top part of his body and entered, the House of Heaven (Tian Rong). She sat down on the edge of his Cheek Bone (Quan Liao) and looked towards the Palace of Listening (Ting Gong). She heard the gods tell her to go home, for the trees were again bearing fruits.
Methods for Memorization
Posted on | October 15, 2008 | 1 Comment
Now that I have reached the point of at-least-three-tests-per-week, I’m really trying to figure out how to memorize all of these acupuncture points and herbs. I’ve got the flashcard making thing down, but that’s just helping me to pass the tests. I don’t feel like I’ve got the greatest handle on things, since the information seems to get farther and farther away as the test is completed. I’ve read the sight/sound/taste, etc… information, but it just doesn’t seem all that real, and it honestly doesn’t seem all that concrete. I’m searching for some really specific methods to help.
Some methods I’ve found so far:
Flashcards: I originally started by going through these in order (so HT 9, HT 8, HT 7, etc) and I found that I organized the information based on which card came next. It took me a couple of channels to learn that I really needed to shuffle the cards throroughly each time I went through them. This is the same for herbs, I am actually memorizing herbs based on the other herbs they are listed by, or the herb that they follow in my flashcards. This is not something I’m doing on purpose, but something that seems to be happening pretty spontaneously - and while it works for the test, it doesn’t last and I can’t see it working in clinic. The pre-made flashcards are sitting in the corner, cause they just don’t work for me. Part of the learning is making the cards, and I’ve got specific information that I’m focusing on and the only way I can get that is to make the card myself. I have also enjoyed using this online flashcard creator.
Joe Curcio: Okay, holy Golden Dragon, Batman. This guy rocks. I found these great CD’s called Tunes on Tangs and Songs on Sans, and these are fantastic. He’s got songs on almost 60 formulas. You can click on the link to listen to 12 of the songs and decide if you want to pay the 40 bucks to buy it. I’m not in formulas yet, but I’m definitely grabbing this (while the financial aid is still flowing). If you’ve ever had a tune get stuck in your head, this should work for you.
I’m using my herb samples to make a binder with flashcards and samples side by side and I’ve been printing off pictures of the live herb. That’s definitely been helpful for remembering, but not fullproof.
Any other ideas? Thank you so much!
Tags: acupuncture > acupuncture points > learning > memorization > memorize > memorizing > points
Mirrors and Windows
Posted on | September 12, 2008 | 1 Comment
Josiah McElheny: Modernity, Mirrored and Reflected
I’m getting a little anxious to start school next week. I’ve got to do some shopping over the weekend for the minor supplies like pencils and paper - the major ones have to wait until I cash that financial aid check. I don’t know how prepared I am for this next year. It’s going to require a greater degree of memorization than the previous year did (which while challenging was in a more philosophical manner than an academic one).
I was reminded of a quote by Sydney J. Harris: “The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” I can’t think of a better way to describe the growth process that we are all going through.
It’s interesting to notice the classification scenarios we had started to use last year as we learned about the five phases and the possibility of constitutional types. We began to put ourselves into boxes based on these ideas and when we thought we had figured it out for ourselves, we started putting the other students in those boxes. Lo and behold, a teacher finally hauled each one of us up to the front of the class and had us read an excerpt from a sales catalogue. Based on the energy in our voice reading, he determined the phase energy that we most emobodied. I embodied wood. Another student fire. Still another earth - and that was fine tuned even more until she became “A Stomach.”
During the last year I have been pegged as A Heart, A Pericardium, A Triple Warmer (San Jiao), A Spleen and A Gall Bladder. When things have seemed a bit foggier, I’ve just gotten stuck with, “she’s a wood,” or, “I can see how you’d be a fire.” I even called myself these things. Based on our classifcation of each other, we are not only treated in certain ways, but we begin to take those roles on in the group. If you classify me as A Gall Bladder and treat me as a champion with an anger control problem, I will certainly become that…and that’s where I have started to see this as a real learning experience in our education - one that is going on under the scenes and we aren’t receiving any credit for.
We all come into this school with projectors on our foreheads - and we’re playing movies of ourselves on our classmates foreheads. OUR illnesses, OUR habits, OUR energies - they’re all playing out on our classmates foreheads, so how do we break those mirrors and start enabling ourselves to see through the windows? How do we stop projecting?
I can’t help but wonder: if I’m sitting next to a classmate and I am judging them as Fire - is it because they “are” really Fire? Is it because I “am” Fire and I’m feeling too much heat? Is it because I “am” Wood out-of-control and I am hypersensitive to your balanced Fire because of it? Is it because I am Metal out-of-balance and sitting next to you is making me feel warm and whole, but it’s just because I am so Fire deficient that your healthy amount of it is causing a change in me? Or is any of this constitutional stuff even real???
What happens to a patient when they come into my office for the first time and I do something like this? I listen to a passionate account of their bike ride to my office, and then use this information and tell them that they are a particular phase type and describe that phase type to them. Most certainly they will take on whichever characteristics of that phase type that are lacking in their personality, and I would even expect that they would go out of their way to play that role for me when they came back to my office.
Bill Frazier says that as individuals, we play certain roles within certain groups - but those roles are by no means the same everytime. I “am not” a Lung, but in THIS group at THIS time, I have taken on the Lung’s role of Prime Minister. I think this is a much better way to identify what’s happening, as it has a spacial and temporal quality to it that allows the person some ambiguity, and that ambiguity leaves lots of room for change and growth.
As it is right now, I’m still seeing mirrors everywhere and hoping that at some point I can get to know and recognize myself so well that I can see when I’m looking at myself, move the mirror out of the way and start enjoying the view out the window!
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