TCM Acupuncture and Massage

Chapter 2 Basic Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine (1)
With the vigorous development of productivity and the increase of life expectancy, the health problems of middle-aged and elderly people have attracted social attention, especially how middle-aged and elderly people can prevent diseases, take care of themselves, and improve their quality of life.

The medicine of the motherland is a summary of the rich experience of the working people in our country in fighting against diseases for thousands of years. Through long-term medical practice, it has formed and developed into a medical theory system with Chinese characteristics, and has made great contributions to the medical and health care of people all over the world. contribution.

Basic characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine

The theoretical system of traditional Chinese medicine is gradually formed by the working people through long-term clinical practice and under the guidance of ancient Chinese philosophy. It originates from clinical practice and in turn guides clinical practice.The basic characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine are holistic concept and syndrome differentiation and treatment.

[-]. Overall concept

The so-called overall concept means that things are a whole, that all parts of things are interrelated and inseparable, that things are also closely related, and that the entire universe is also a big whole.

Starting from this concept, Chinese medicine believes that the human body is an organic whole.

The structure of the human body is interconnected and inseparable; the various functions of the human body are coordinated and used for each other; when sick, the various parts of the body also affect each other.At the same time, Chinese medicine believes that people and the environment influence each other and are an inseparable whole.The overall concept is a way of thinking in TCM, which runs through all fields of TCM including physiology, pathology, diagnosis, syndrome differentiation, health preservation and treatment.

([-]) The human body is an organic whole
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the human body is an organic whole that is dominated by the heart and the five internal organs.The human body is composed of the liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys—the five internal organs, the stomach, small intestine, large intestine, triple burner, bladder, and gallbladder—the six fu organs, the skin, veins, meat, tendons, and bones—the five bodies, and the eyes, ears, and nose , mouth, tongue, anterior genital and anal orifices.Each of these components has its own unique function and becomes an independent organ.But all organs are connected with each other through the meridians of the whole body, and this connection has its own unique rules: that is, one viscera, one fu, one body, and one orifice form a system, such as the liver, gallbladder, tendons, and eyes. The liver system"; the heart, small intestine, pulse, and tongue constitute the "heart system" and so on.Every system is headed by viscera, among which the heart is the supreme commander, because the heart plays a dominant role in human life activities. "Suwen Linglan Secret Code": "The heart is the official of the monarch, and the gods come out."

Therefore, if the function of the heart is not normal, it will endanger the internal organs and the whole body. "Suwen Linglan Secret Code" says: "All the twelve officials must not lose each other. Therefore, if the master is clear, he will be safe and healthy, so as to maintain health If the master is not clear, the twelve officials will be in danger, and the way will be blocked and blocked, and the shape will be seriously injured. If you use this to preserve your health, you will suffer disaster."Therefore, Chinese medicine has always attached great importance to the maintenance and protection of the heart.It forms a whole with the heart as the main body, which is composed of viscera, fu organs, body and organs, with a strict structure and an orderly division of labor, so that normal physiological activities can be carried out in an orderly manner.

The part and the whole of the human body are dialectical unity.In each system, the viscera, fu organs, shapes, and orifices are closely related to each other. The vital energy metabolized by the viscera not only nourishes the viscera itself, but also nourishes the body and the orifices, so as to jointly complete the physiological activities of the human body.Therefore, pathological changes in a certain part are often related to the ups and downs of viscera, qi and blood, and yin and yang throughout the body.Due to the physiological and pathological interrelationships and influences of viscera, tissues, and organs, it is determined that when diagnosing and treating diseases, we can understand and judge visceral lesions through external changes such as facial features, body, color, and veins, so as to make a correct diagnosis and treatment.

1. Recognize diseases Pay attention to the impact of lesions in a certain part of the human body on other parts to predict the evolution of the disease.If the liver-fire spreads to the heart, the heart and liver-fire are exuberant, and you can see irritability and irritability; if the liver-fire spreads to the lungs, you can see hypochondriac pain and hemoptysis;

2. Diagnosis of diseases focuses on the whole, observing the outside and knowing the inside, such as tongue diagnosis and pulse diagnosis are diagnostic methods to detect visceral lesions through external inspection.

3. Focus on the whole in the treatment of diseases, that is, pay attention to the relationship between viscera, fu-organs, shapes, and orifices. For example, clinically, tongue erosion is treated with the method of clearing heart and purging small intestine fire. This is because the heart opens to the tongue, and the meridians of the heart and the small intestine are interconnected. genus, there is a relationship between the outside and the inside.At the same time, Chinese medicine also pays attention to the connection between the five viscera systems, such as the relationship between the five viscera and the law of transmission and change. "Nan Jing · 77 Difficulties" says:

"The so-called curing the disease, seeing the disease of the liver, you know that the liver should be transmitted to the spleen, so the spleen should be strengthened first, so as not to receive the evil of the liver, so the disease will be cured daily."

4. Traditional Chinese medicine also pays attention to the overall concept, such as opposing excessive comfort and emphasizing proper exercise of the limbs.Because the spleen governs the limbs, the movement of the limbs can speed up the transportation and transformation of the spleen, so that the essence of water and grain can be well absorbed, and then transform into qi and blood to nourish the whole body.

([-]) There is a close relationship between people and the environment

Man lives between heaven and earth, within the natural environment, and is a part of the entire material world, that is to say, man and the natural environment are a whole.

Ancient medical scientists recognized that nature is the source of human life in their daily life practice.There is a very close relationship between man and nature.Movement changes in nature directly or indirectly affect the human body, and the impact of the human body on these effects will inevitably reflect various physiological activities or pathological changes.For example, "Lingshu·Suilu Chapter": "Man and the heaven and the earth are connected, and they correspond to the sun and the moon."

1. The impact of natural changes on human physiology
(1) Climate changes in four seasons: The ancients believed that spring belongs to wood and its air temperature; summer belongs to fire and its air is hot; long summer belongs to earth and its air is humid; autumn belongs to gold and its air is dry; winter belongs to water and its air cold.Therefore, warm in spring, hot in summer, wet in long summer, dry in autumn, and cold in winter are the normal laws of climate change throughout the year.Under the influence of this climate change, organisms have corresponding adaptive changes such as spring growth, summer growth, long summer transformation, autumn harvest, and winter storage.

The influence of seasons on the human body is very obvious, and the human body is also corresponding to it. "Lingshu·Wulong Body Fluid Bie Pian" states: "In the summer heat, when the clothes are thick, the interstitial joints will open, so sweating will occur. In the cold weather, the interstitial joints will be closed, and the qi will not be astringent. If it remains underwater in the bladder, it will be drowning and qi." Explanation: In spring and summer when yang qi is vented, qi and blood tend to tend to the surface, so the skin is loose and sweaty; in autumn and winter when yang qi is stored, qi and blood tend to tend to the inside, so the skin is dense, less sweating and more drowning.In the same way, the ups and downs of pulse conditions in the four seasons also correspond to the seasons, such as: spring and summer pulses are more floating and large, autumn and winter pulses are more sinking and thin.

(2) Changes in day and night, morning and evening: "Lingshu · Shunqi Divides a Day into Four Hours" says: "A day is divided into four o'clock, and the morning is spring, the middle of the day is summer, the day is autumn, and the middle of the night is winter. It is pointed out that the phenomenon that the human body's yang energy tends to surface during the day and tends to inward at night is the adaptability of the human body's physiological activities to nature.

(3) Differences in regional climate: differences in geographical environment and living habits also affect the physiological activities of the human body to a certain extent.For example: the climate in the south of the Yangtze River is humid, and the interstitial tissues of the human body are more loose; the climate in the northern area is cold and dry, and the interstitial interstitial tissues of the human body are more dense.

2. The relationship between natural change and disease
The ability of the human body to adapt to changes in the natural climate to maintain normal physiological activities, but there is a certain limit.If the climate change is too sharp, beyond a certain limit of the human body's regulating function, or the human body's regulating function is out of order, and cannot adapt to the change of the external environment, diseases will occur.The formation of diseases is related to both nature and people.

The ancients called this natural change beyond the adaptability of the human body and other external factors that can cause human disease "evil", and the human body's regulating function and disease resistance function as "positive".Whether the disease occurs or not depends on the growth and decline of the forces of evil and good.

(1) Characteristics of climate change and diseases in four seasons: four seasons have different characteristics, therefore, in addition to general diseases, some seasonal frequently-occurring diseases or seasonal epidemics often occur.Such as: more diarrhea in summer, more malaria in autumn.Some chronic chronic diseases often break out or intensify when the climate changes drastically or the seasons change.

(2) The influence of diurnal changes on diseases: Most common diseases are mild in the morning and gradually worsen in the afternoon. "Lingshu Shunqi is divided into four seasons in a day": "During the morning, the popularity begins to grow, and the sickness declines, so Danhui; the popularity grows in the middle of the day, and when it grows, it overcomes evil, so it is safe; at night, the popularity begins to decline, so it is added. In the middle of the night, the qi enters the viscera, and the evil qi lives alone in the body, so that’s why.” This changes with the morning, noon, dusk, and night. The yang energy of the human body has the law of growth, growth, harvest, and storage, so the disease also changes accordingly. Hui, An, Jia, and even changes.

(3) The influence of local environment on diseases: The occurrence of many diseases is related to the regional environment. For example, the diseases in the south of the Yangtze River are more humid, and the diseases in the north are more cold.

3. The relationship between natural environment and treatment
Due to the close relationship between people and the external environment, it has become an important principle in TCM therapeutics to adapt measures to time, place, and individual conditions.

Adapt measures to the time: people's physiological activities change with the change of climate in the four seasons.Treatment should also be tailored according to different seasons.For example, in spring and summer, the climate is warmer and hotter, and Yang Qi rises. When exogenous wind and cold, products that radiate heat and heat should be used with caution, so as not to vent too much and damage Qi and Yin.

Adjust measures according to local conditions: in high and cold areas, the qi is mainly restrained, and the interstices of people are less open and more closed, so the patient is often cold on the outside and hot on the inside. The treatment should be to dispel the external cold and clear the internal heat; In hot areas, the qi is mainly dredging and venting, and the interstices of people are more open and less closed, so the patient's qi is vented outside, and the cold prevails in the middle. The treatment should restrain the qi and warm the inside.

Adapt measures to individual conditions: The human body has different endowments, different ages, and gender differences. According to the different characteristics of the patient's age, gender, physique, and living habits, the principle of treatment and medication should be considered, that is, adapt measures to individual conditions.

[-]. Syndrome Differentiation and Treatment

Syndrome differentiation and treatment is one of the main means of TCM diagnosis and treatment of diseases.Disease is a general term for diseases, a complete process with specific etiology, onset form, pathogenesis, development law and outcome.Such as colds, dysentery, asthma, stroke, etc.Syndrome is the symptom, which is the specific clinical manifestation of the disease, such as fever, cough, headache, etc.Syndrome is the pathological summary of the body at a certain stage in the development of the disease, which includes: etiology (such as wind-cold, wind-heat, phlegm-retention, etc.), disease location (such as exterior, interior, a certain organ, a certain organ, a certain meridian, etc.) ), the nature of the disease (such as cold, heat, etc.), the relationship between evil and good (such as deficiency, excess, etc.).

Since the disease refers to the whole process of the disease, and the syndrome reflects the essence of the pathological changes in a certain stage of the disease, the syndrome is more specific, more appropriate and more operable than the disease.As for the syndrome, it is only the external manifestation of the disease, and the reflection of the disease is not as profound and accurate as the syndrome, so the syndrome can better reflect the essence of the disease.

Syndrome differentiation refers to analyzing and synthesizing the data, symptoms and signs collected by the four diagnostic methods (look, smell, ask, and feel) to distinguish the cause, nature, location, and relationship between evil and right of the disease, and to summarize and judge it as a certain kind of disease. Evidence of nature.Treatment, also known as treatment, is to determine the corresponding treatment method based on the results of syndrome differentiation.

Syndrome differentiation and treatment is the principle of determining the treatment according to the disease after the diagnosis of the disease is established.Syndrome differentiation is the premise and basis for determining treatment, and treatment is the means and method for treating diseases.The correctness of syndrome differentiation can be tested through the effect of treatment.For relatively simple diseases, it is relatively easy to treat by distinguishing the disease. For example, ascariasis should be treated with anthelmintics.However, most diseases are a relatively long process, and the pathological changes in each stage are different, so it is difficult to determine a unified treatment method.Therefore, the treatment method can only be determined according to the syndrome.This is the reason why traditional Chinese medicine uses syndrome differentiation more than disease differentiation.

Different treatments for the same disease: A disease has different pathological changes at different stages of development, that is, different syndromes and different treatments.Such as colds, colds in summer, use aromatizing turbidity medicines to dispel summer heat and dampness, which is different from the treatment of colds in other seasons; another example is measles, if the measles is not cleared in the early stage, it is better to release the rash; in the middle stage, the lung heat is obvious, and it is often necessary to clear the lungs ; in the later stage, the remaining heat is not exhausted, and the lung and stomach are injured, so it is necessary to nourish yin and clear away heat.

Same treatment for different diseases: Different diseases can be treated with the same method because of the same pathogenesis in the course of development.For example: chronic dysentery, prolapse of the anus, prolapse of the uterus, etc. are different diseases, but if they all manifest as the syndrome of depression of the central qi, they can all be treated with the method of raising the central qi.

It can be seen that TCM treatment does not focus on the similarities and differences of "diseases", but on the differences in pathogenesis.

Yin Yang and Five Elements
The theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements is the collective name of Yin-Yang Theory and Five-Element Theory. It is a simple materialism and natural dialectic thinking in ancient China. It believes that the world is material, and the material world occurs, develops and changes under the influence of Yin and Yang. and believes that the five most basic substances of wood, fire, earth, gold, and water are indispensable elements that constitute the world.These five kinds of substances support each other, restrict each other, and are in constant motion and change.This theory had a profound influence on the later ancient materialist philosophy, such as ancient astronomy, meteorology, chemistry, arithmetic, music and medicine, all developed with the assistance of the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements.

On the basis of long-term medical practice, ancient Chinese medical scientists widely applied the theory of yin-yang and five elements to the medical field to explain the origin of human life, physiological phenomena, and pathological changes, and to guide clinical diagnosis and prevention. It has a profound impact on the formation and development of the theoretical system of traditional Chinese medicine.

[-]. The theory of yin and yang

([-]) The basic concept of yin and yang
Yin and Yang are two attributes of things, which are reflected in various specific things.The theory of yin and yang believes that the world is a material whole, and the world itself is the result of the unity of opposites and unity of yin and yang.The changes of things in nature have two aspects of the unity of opposites and unity of yin and yang.The inner connection, interaction and constant movement of these two aspects are the root of the growth, change and death of things.

For example, "Suwen·Yin and Yang Yingxiang Dalun" says: "Clear yang is the sky, turbid yin is the earth; the earth's atmosphere is cloud, and the sky is rain."Everything in the universe contains two opposing aspects of yin and yang, such as day and night, sunny and rainy weather, heat and cold, restlessness and stillness in motion, and so on.

Yin and Yang represent the opposite and interrelated attributes of things. "Su Wen·Yin and Yang Yingxiang Dalun" said: "Heaven and earth are above and below all things; yin and yang are the male and female of blood; Those who are yin and yang are the signs of yin and yang; those who are yin and yang are the beginning of the energy of all things."Therefore: everything that is vigorously moving, outgoing, rising, warm, and bright belongs to yang; while anything that is relatively still, inwardly guarded, descending, cold, and dark belongs to yin.

Introducing the relative properties of yin and yang into the field of medicine means that the substances and functions that promote, warm, and excite the human body belong to yang; .

The yin and yang attributes of things are not absolute, but relative.This relativity, on the one hand, is manifested in the mutual transformation between Yin and Yang under certain conditions, that is, Yin can be transformed into Yang, and Yang can also be transformed into Yin; on the other hand, it is reflected in the infinite divisibility of things. sex.

([-]) The basic content of the theory of yin and yang
1. The opposite of yin and yang

There are two opposing aspects of yin and yang that restrict everything or phenomena in nature, such as up and down, left and right, heaven and earth, movement and stillness, coming out and people, rising and falling, day and night, light and darkness, and cold and heat, water and fire, and so on.Yin and Yang are both opposites and unified, and unity is the result of opposites.The mutual opposition of yin and yang is mainly manifested in the mutual restriction and mutual growth and decline between them.As a result, Yin and Yang achieve a dynamic balance, which is called "Yin Ping Yang Mi", such as the change of climate in the four seasons.The reason why the human body can carry out normal life activities is the result of yin and yang mutually restricting each other and achieving unity (dynamic balance) of mutual growth and decline.Only when yin and yang restrict each other and grow and lose each other, can things develop and change, and the natural world can be endless.If this dynamic balance is disrupted, it is the formation of disease.

"Suwen·Yin and Yang Yingxiang Dalun" says: "When yin is strong, yang is diseased, and when yang is strong, yin is diseased."

(End of this chapter)