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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
? Chrysanthemum is an emblem of fall, blooming in the cold days of late autumn and early winter when other flowers have faded from the landscape. Chrysanthemum represents nobility and elegance, and like a hermit exhibiting perseverance and humility in the face of hardship, the combination of beauty, strength and bearing that chrysanthemum displays are […]
According to traditional Chinese dietary practice, foods should help to balance the body, therefore, daily diet in summer should contain more vegetables and fruits so as to stimulate the appetite and replenish Yin fluids and thereby keep the body cooler. In summertime, Qi and Blood move more vigorously than in other times of the year. […]
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 […]
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. The name was changed to ‘silver apricot’ 銀杏 for the purpose of presentation to the imperial ruler, having been determined that ‘silver’ was auspicious […]
The way of great learning lies in illuminating bright virtue; Holding people dear and stopping only at utmost goodness. 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, […]
In the day-to-day, it may not enter one’s mind to consider the people and other sentient beings who live in states of suffering. Suffering is an ageless facet of living. Sickness, torment, and deep pain are moment-to-moment states of existence which isolate. In their isolation, we are unlikely to encounter those who are in suffering […]
真 When the sage embraces her/his divine heart, her voice can move and transform the world. One who lacks purity and sincerity cannot move others. When a person has the truth within, the shen-spirit may move amongst the external world with highest degree of sincerity. One who forces himself to lament, though may sound sad, […]