http://slateandshellpdx.com Just Talking and Talking. Sometimes About Chinese Medicine. Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:49:21 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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 ... http://slateandshellpdx.com/2009/still-night-considerations/                         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 ... http://slateandshellpdx.com/2009/trying-to-resolve-the-resolution-times/ 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 ... http://slateandshellpdx.com/2009/wu-mei-into-wan/ 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 ... http://slateandshellpdx.com/2009/qi-farming/ 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 ... http://slateandshellpdx.com/2008/oil-and-water-physics-and-the-five-phases/ 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 ... http://slateandshellpdx.com/2008/thoughts-on-zang-fu-theory-the-tai-ji-symbol-and-nature/ 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 ... http://slateandshellpdx.com/2008/methods-for-memorization/ [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Josiah McElheny: Modernity, Mirrored and Reflected"][/caption] 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. ... http://slateandshellpdx.com/2008/mirrors-and-windows/ Certainly, meditation is important for all of us - in terms of centering and clearing the energies of our all too busy American lives. That said, when do we do it? When do our patients do it? Meditation is clearly part of the lifestyle change that is so much more ... http://slateandshellpdx.com/2008/meditation-in-the-metropolis/ Starting in mid-August, we began receiving baskets of blueberries from our CSA. I wanted to know how to put these berries are put to use - from a Chinese medicine perspective. However, there's not much written anywhere that I can find. Because the blueberry (Vaccinium Cyanococcus) is a native American ... http://slateandshellpdx.com/2008/baskets-of-blueberries/