Extrapolations of the Su Wen
Chapter 2
On conforming with the
Energy of the Seasons
15
Dec
2024
Wendy
22
Sep
2022
Autumn Equinox Qi Node
When the Qi node Autumn Equinox arrives, Qiū Fēn, there is Yin and Yang equality, day and night are equal, but Yin is about to take charge. Autumn Equinox is one of four pivots that rectify the annual Qi. During this period the environment grows ever-more Yin and is characterized by cool, dry wind. Metal element flourishes, and there is satisfaction.
Storehouses are filling up and the work of harvest is nearly complete. There is a pleasant stillness. During this Qi node, Qi is best at 6pm-Neigong to be done indoors morning and evening in short sessions. It is best to eat food that has a higher Jing concentration. Breakfast can be eaten a little later than in spring and summer, and should be hearty. Do not eat at all after 7pm. All meals should be experienced in a quiet, undistracted setting. One needn’t be a hermit, but avoid being social at every meal.
It is auspicious to prune fruit trees. The only flaw would be to become aggressive. Things seem easy so it will be easy to take things for granted. Conversely, self-cultivation makes the days go beautifully, and boundaries create good fortune. Repair property, do not fast, do not start a long journey, do not gossip-even in jest. Consulting the oracle is auspicious, as are feng shui adjustments to the bedroom. Medical treatments that support lower jiao circulation, and also that tonify Yin are enhancing. Gem of this period is diamond; flower is chrysanthemum.
In the ninth lunar month wild geese migrate. Sparrows(yang) morph into crabs(yin cold). The yellow chrysanthemum, symbol of integrity among scholar-magistrates, blooms. Wolves, a kind of wild dog, easily catch small animals(lazy rabbits). This Qi image is the dog, or next moon–coming of winter, easily catching the rabbit that hasn’t closed up his burrow(the unprepared). The frost has come to stay, and craftsmen(ingenuity) retire. Leaves change color and fall with no rain to absorb and fading sun. Branches die back and are trimmed, and charcoal, slow-burning and long lasting heat [yang]) is made. Readiness for hibernation is complete. The Emperor holds court in the Northwestern chamber-a hidden place where altars of the spiritual protectors are placed. He rides a chariot drawn by white horses with black manes, with white banners, and he wears white jade pendants.
Tribute is housed, gifts are stored. Spirit grain is stored in temple storehouses(the guarantee of continued ritual and renewal). Imperial storehouses must be neatly filled-great care is taken and everything is meticulously itemized. The almanac, the ceremonial and agricultural calendar for the coming year, is printed and distributed to governors. Everyone reads and edits–suggestions are made. There is an parading of chariots and guards. A show of strength as winter closes in discourages invaders and bandits who may have an eye on the small and great storehouses of the kingdom. The Emperor performs a hunting ritual with great pomp and ceremony. The bagged game is used in the rites of seasonal transition. This hunting ritual is ancient and considered a form of divination (see Zhou Yi hexagram #17).
If the ordinances of the ninth moon are carried out, abundance is gathered in. If unseasonable ordinances are performed, floods will ruin the grain in store and respiratory disease of lung dryness will be epidemic. The kingdom will be at war and divide into several territories-fight over resources, steal. Weakness of character(lack of self-reflection) will lead to rebellion and breakdown.
At one time, this moon was year’s end. From a Northern Chinese, strictly agricultural standpoint, the year is over. The ninth day of the ninth moon (double nine) is still celebrated, not as year-end, but as a festival of renewal. In Northern China, it is associated with potted chrysanthemums. It is a time of self-reflection, resolution–the consideration of integrity, commitment, and authenticity of feeling. New and renewed alliances are celebrated with vow-taking (see Zhou Yi hexagrams #8+#32). On an individual level, the conduct model is self-reflection, gratitude, recommitment. The work is done; but in another sense, the work is never done. Upon self-reflection, that is acceptable, even glorious. As the winter comes to wrap its restraint around us, we do not complain, we comply though do not submit, with great and honorable dignity. Compliance with winter’s economy of Yang is welcome as it is a time for the refinement of spirit and rest.
If we are ready, good fortune will fill our lives. The Qi of autumn is in full swing. Rich harvests are joyously available. Generosity and gratitude are the best way to cope with abundance.
With All Best Wishes
☯︎
31
Jan
2022
Happy Water Tiger Year
With All Beneficial Wishes for
A Happy Lunar New Year,
Tibetan Losar & Chinese New Year
of The Water Tiger!
The Water Tiger last appeared in 1962, and before that, in 1902. The confluence of water meeting the nature of the alert, competitive tiger breeds open-minded tiger energy, which is less characteristically rash and ablaze. Subduing impulsivity with the suffusion of the water element inclines this less temperamental tiger toward new ideas and experiences with gifts of objectivity and exceptional perceptiveness. A realistic type of tiger energy, with a pulse on the context of the environs, one who concentrates skillfully on long-term endeavors, seldom making errors in judgment.
Tigers are mostly solitary. They are elusive and hard to find, and their movements and behaviors are inherently mysterious. Tigers’ striped patterns are unique to each and serve as camouflage for stalking prey by sight. Tiger roams vast forests, jungle swamplands, and isolated mountain ranges. Tigers’ dens are positioned in secluded areas such as in caves, amongst dense vegetation, or in hollowed trees. Embrace the powerful attributes of the Water Tiger by returning to the solitary life of your jungle mountain cave. There, skillfully concentrating on long-term endeavors, adeptly, boldly, make deals as they come into view.
Please enjoy all benefit from this celebration of the Water Tiger! Encouraged and most welcome to use the share option. Request that all refrain from copy and circulating.
With All Very Best Wishes!
🐅🙏🐅
Wild tigers face ongoing challenges in modern world existence. Click to support their preservation with a donation.
10
Feb
2021
Happy 2021 – Year of the Metal Ox
In traditional East Asian cultures, Ox is the animal emblem of spring and of agriculture, as Lìchūn, beginning of spring influences, offers the ceremonial rite of plowing the ground and sowing the first seeds of the year. In China it was customary for a farmer to switch his Ox with a willow branch to enliven him from winter’s rest, stimulating and simulating Ox as the revival of spring itself.
Investing the substantial and sustained labors of Ox to draw the plow can promote an abundant season of growth and harvest, with potential for a bumper crop year. Ox symbolizes the attainment of prosperity through fortitude and hard work; being dependable, methodical, calm, patient, and a tireless worker. Furthermore, the Ox’s sturdy, muscular form makes it an unwieldy presence.
The elemental energy of Metal of this Ox cycle can lend to a formidable nature, exacting, and when necessary, one to force issues. Ox knows how to take orders and how to give them, and in his realm, his word is law. Ox energy is not the life of the party, but is certainly the backbone of society.
The able Ox. I took this picture in 1991 in Fùyáng, one of ten districts in Zhejiang Province, China. / Photo© ECOMA
May we be fortunate to harmonize with the down-to-earth, sterling qualities of the Metal Ox in 2021!
30
Oct
2020
Chrysanthemum, 菊花, The Emblematic Fall Flower
01
Aug
2019
Summertime Dietary Considerations
✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac.
According to traditional Chinese dietary practice, foods should aid in balancing and contributing to the health of the person, and what that requires varies throughout the seasonal shifts of the year. The daily diet in summertime should rely more on vegetables and fruits than in other seasons to stimulate the appetite, which can become sluggish due to seasonal heat and humidity. Due to environmental heat and subsequent loss of fluids through sweating, Yin fluids of the body can become depleted, leading to dehydration and taxation. Seasonal fruits and vegetables help to replenish Yin fluids, which in turn, keep the body temperature cooler. In the summertime, Qi and Blood move more vigorously than at other times of the year. Such physiological changes contribute to overfunctioning of the Heart, with the potential for Yang Qi to flow excessively to the exterior of the body.
According to the five-element theory, an over-functioning of Fire [Heart] restricts the functioning of Metal [Lung], and so it is advisable to eat a complement of moderately pungent flavor of corriander, chive, parsley, and the like; while reducing foods and drinks of a bitter taste including hops beverages, vinegar (both sour and bitter), coffee, and the like, because bitter is the flavor of the Fire element, and exherts control over the Metal element. The Lung maintains normal sweating, essential during the heat of summertime, to regulate inner heat and fluid moisture. Sweat is the humor of the Heart, and excessive sweating ‘scatters’ the Qi of the Heart, weakening the mind and causing symptoms such as restlessness, vexation, lackluster, and difficulty sleeping. So, the Heart should be in balance to maintain homeostasis, especially during the summer months.
Yin: During summertime, the most Yang time of the year, Chinese medicine emphasizes mostly Yin foods in the daily diet, which are foods that naturally ripen to fruition in the brightness of the Yang growing months, and counteract the excesses of the summer season. Generally, vegetables have the overall tendency of Yin, and contain inherent moistening, Yin energy.
Preparation: Cooking methods affect the energy that is contained within food. In summertime, steaming is favored as it enhances Yin. A person who is Yin deficient benefits from eating foods that are steam-cooked throughout the seasons.
Summer foods that cool and accentuate Yin: Fresh bamboo shoots, lotus root, water chestnuts, tofu, soy beans and mung beans, cucumber, celery, string beans, bitter melon, watermelon, strawberries, plums, peaches, jicama, bok choy, enoki mushrooms, spinach, lettuce, radish, cantaloupe, peppermint, aloe vera, wild rice, aromatic herbs, green and herbal teas with mint added, and chrysanthemum tea. To name a variety.
Avoid iced drinks and desserts, and an abundance of chilled foods, in general.
The tendencies and symptoms that an individual develops are consistent with their constitution and way of life, and therefore, there is no one-size-fits-all diet. The basic outline drawn here lends a sense of how foods are utilized for their flavors and properties that have respective effects on the organs and humors, differentiated from season to season, and highlighting summer. Chinese medicine has long taught that acupuncture points, herbal medicines, and foods are to be utilized seasonally, integral in keeping the individual in balance and harmony with nature and universal flow. This overview is not intended to advise or manage any illness.
Well-Wishes to You · Please Enjoy & Share
19
Oct
2018
Wei Qi: How the Body Prevents Colds and Flu According to TCM
✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac.
As a microcosm of the rhythms and fluctuations of the seasons and their elemental factors to which we are inextricably linked, Chinese medicine would consider the result of our health in one season as being a marker of our lifestyle preparations in the previous seasons as well as in the present. With regard to colds and flus, the ability of the immune system to resist external pathogens, be they bacterial, viral, or allergen toxins that result in immune suppression that leaves us ailing and struggling to recover, exists in the strength of ‘Wei Qi.’
A patient texted me asking how my flu kung fu is: i.e. my thoughts on flu shots. I put together the following from the TCM perspective to share in response. Collage by W.Brown, Lic. Ac.
In Chinese medical theory, Wei Qi is fierce, useful, combative energy from nutrition, says the Lingshu, a medical text compiled in the 1st century BCE, one of two parts of a larger work known as the Huangdi Neijing, the Yellow Emporer’s Divine Classic. Wei Qi is lively and agitated and circulates in superficial tissues, skin, connective tissue, muscles and peritoneum. It radiates to the chest and abdomen. According to the classics, it does not circulate through the meridians but rather flows through the face, trunk, and limbs during the day, and at night through the viscera. Wei Qi protects the body from external perverse energies by opening and closing pores and warming connective tissues. It concentrates at the sites of acupuncture points, the “Holes of Qi,” per se. Wei Qi represents the whole immune system, from leukocytes to anti-bodies, histamine, bradykinin and serotonin.
In Chinese medicine it is an intrinsic reference to discuss “wind gates” and “wind invasion or wind penetration.” The neck, sides of the head, forehead, and upper back according to TCM are conduits whereby externally contracted pathogenic wind can gain entry to the body. Fierce Wei Qi is the primary way the body resists an invasion. Nutritional status, inadequate rest, excessive consumption of alcohol, among other lifestyle factors may lead to the impairment of Wei Qi. It is always advisable to adequately keep wind gates covered, interestingly, in every season to varying degrees. The migration of wind inside the superficial levels of the body can lead to cold and flu symptoms exhibited as chills, body aches, headache, runny nose, congestion, cough and fever. Vulnerability in externally contracting wind is increased by damp hair. We are far more empowered than we may realize in the ways to govern our health and be master of our own unfolding. The timeless ways of Traditional Chinese medicine can be an invaluable guide to reeducating our modern misconceptions and to show us the way.
Further reading on Wind
With all best wishes for a healthy cold weather season!
01
Sep
2018
The Auspicious Gingko, Past and Present
Gingko tree in my neighborhood. Photo© Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac.
Until the Song dynasty [960-1279 AD] the Chinese name for Ginkgo was ‘duck foot’ 鴨腳, referring to the shape of its leaves. The kernel was called ‘duck foot seed’ 鴨腳子, which was changed to ‘Silver Apricot’ 銀杏 for the purpose of its presentation to the Imperial ruler. It was determined that ‘Silver’ was auspicious and that ‘Duck Foot’ was not. During the Ming period [1368-1644] the term for the shell-like sclerotesta and inner parts was ‘Silver Fruit’ 銀果 or Yin Guo, and White Fruit 白果, Bai Guo, which remains Ginkgo’s name in China and in Chinese medicine today.
Gingko Seeds • Photo© Wendy Brown
Pictured, are a few fetid-smelling, squishy, picture-perfect Ginkgo berries I collected from a female tree during the second week of December of 2014. The nuts have a slightly poisonous quality and thus, should not be taken in large quantities or for prolonged periods of time. The medicinal nature of Bai Guo astringes, stabilizes and binds, treating Lung and Kidney with sweet, bitter, astringent, and neutral properties. In Chinese medicine, Ginkgo is helpful in nourishing cognitive and nervous system disorders, while calming Shen and nourishing Jing.
Wellness and Best Wishes to All
12
Jul
2018
The Great Learning • Da Xue 大學 Confucian Teaching
The way of great learning lies in illuminating bright virtue;
Holding people dear and stopping only at utmost goodness.
©Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. – All image rights reserved.
To illuminate brightest virtue under Heaven, ancients governed their states first. To govern their states, they first put their families in order. To put their families in order, they first cultivated their body. To cultivate their body, they first rectified their Heart. To rectify their Heart, they first made their intentions sincere.
From: Sìshū Wŭ Chīng 四書五經
The Four Books, written before 300 BC
大學之道在明明德，在親民，在止於至善 • 知止而后有定；定而后能靜 • 靜而后能安；安而后能慮；慮而后能得 • 物有本末，事有終始，知所先後，則近道矣。• 古之欲明明德於天下者，先治其國 • 欲治其國者，先齊其家 • 欲齊其家者，先修其身 • 欲修其身者，先正其心 • 欲正其心者，先誠其意 • 欲誠其意者，先致其知 • 致知在格物 • 物格而後知至 • 知至而後意誠 • 意誠而後心正 • 心正而後身修 • 身修而後家齊 • 家齊而後國治 • 國治而後天下平 • 自天子以至於庶人，壹是皆以修身為本 • 其本亂而末治者, 否矣 • 其所厚者薄，而其所薄者厚，未之有也
15
Jun
2018
Historical Chinese Medicine Museum
Kam Wah Chung & Company is a time capsule of early Chinese medicine history and culture in the US, established during the gold mining days of the Wild West. The building, which stands today, was built in 1860 and was purchased in 1877 by Chinese immigrants, husband and wife, Ing Hay and Lung On. The building was their residence, a general store that purveyed Chinese medicines, and it served as a community center.
Gold rush activity in 1862 generated an influx of Chinese immigrants to the region of Eastern Oregon. The Chinese population in the vicinity of John Day, Oregon was about 2,000, making it the third largest enclave of Chinese in the United States, only slightly smaller than those of Portland and San Francisco at that time.
Both Ing Hay and Lung On operated Kam Wah Chung which filled the important niche of apothecary and doctor’s services. Patients would come from near and far to seek the care and traditional Chinese medicines that ‘Doc’ Hay stocked and prescribed. When Doc fell ill in 1948 the business closed its doors after more than 70 years. The stocked formulas and supplies in their apothecary have withstood time and happen to be ones we still commonly use today. The original site and its contents are preserved as a museum at 519 W. Main Street in John Day, Oregon, 97845.
Take a 360 tour using this link
A precious piece of Chinese Medicine history