Part 1
An Introduction to Chinese Medicine
1
Yin Yang
These two words no longer sound strange to us. Their diffusion in the West has been astounding, even to the point of being used to brand various products. Along with the modern Tai Chi symbol (
), yin and yang have spread throughout the West, and there are probably more people who have heard these words than those who havenāt.
This mass diffusion is quite new. In ancient times, knowledge that allowed access to wisdom and traditional sciences was transmitted to just a few people or groups and in a rather restricted manner. Large-scale diffusion of knowledge necessarily simplifies its contents, so with that in mind, letās dedicate some time to get to know more about this exciting view of the universe.
The sages of ancient times, like Laozi and Zhuang Zhu, tell us of the impenetrable origin of the universe: Dao. They revealed to us that it is a unity of two aspects.
One aspect transcends, unmanifest, that of nonbeing, the origin of all things that also sustains and nourishes all things. It is the primordial void, mentioned in texts as Wuji, out of which the manifest world is generated. This is a state of nondifferentiation in which original universal Energy is full and complete, with no distinction between one thing and another, with no thing having emerged as an individual separate from unity.
The other aspect is imminent, manifest, the multiplicity of things. It is said that it arises after the birth of Heaven and Earth.
We must remember that even though we are talking about them separately, these two facets form part of a unity. The Dao transcends this explicatory duality.
In the process of manifestation, Energy takes on two differentiated aspects, yin and yang. Yang is the active pole, and yin is the static pole. Form and shape are produced out of the interaction of these two poles.
The ancient sages drew on yin and yang to describe the nature of things and the changes of Heaven and Earth. This conception of the universe is the root and base of all the traditional Chinese sciences from art to engineering.
Like in other areas of knowledge in China, yin and yang build a fundamental pillar in the practice of medicine, both in theory and practice.
Yin and yang were linked to the Sun and the Moon and their characteristics. Their meaning naturally expanded until it applied to the shadow side and the sunny side of a mountain. They could literally be translated as shadow and light, respectively, or better yet, light and no light. In written Chinese, the character that corresponds to yin refers to that side of a mountain or hill that does not receive light, and the character corresponding to yang describes the side that is illuminated.
Going upon what the characters reveal to us about yin and yang, we can begin to understand which sorts of things could be attributed to yin and which others to yang. Try to evoke the feeling and appearance of a shadowed side of a hill. It is darker, cooler, less shiny, and the eyes can rest a bit, less damaged by brightness.
On the other hand, on the side with full sun, everything is in plain view and details that are difficult to see in the shadow are visible here. More Heat can be felt and everything tends to be more active.
Continuing with the characters, they both, in part, mean āhill, mound, or mountain.ā The character related to yang also shows us the Sun sending its rays of light from the horizon, denoting activity, Movement, Heat, projection. The character related to yin, along with the part representing āmountain,ā includes the characters ānow and clouds.ā These two words refer to a moment in which there is less light as a cloud places itself between the Sun and Earth. The cloud also carries water, Dampness. The load that the cloud carries is heavier than the pure light of the Sunās rays.
We have been mentioning some attributes related to what the characters for yin and yang insinuate; the notions of a sunny side and shadowed side of a mountain help us to deduce these attributes. So, that which is related to Heat, light, daytime, activity, and lightness are manifestations of the yang condition. Cold, dark, night, stillness, and heaviness are expressions of the yin condition.
With this, we begin to have some parameters for classifying objects and phenomena according to the yin-yang criteria, just as they were viewed in the classical texts of Chinese culture, and, of course, in the most important Chinese Medicine texts.
Nothing escapes classification in yin and yang. In the manifest world, we find in every object or phenomenon a āsunnyā or ācloudyā aspectāthe two opposing sides whose emblematic representatives are yin and yang. These opposing aspects are in conflict but are also interdependent.
Yin yang invites us to notice a union of opposites, which certainly modifies the usual Western point of view where opposites would not appear to have any relationship with each other, as if they were two separate things.
Out of unity, duality arises. We can, then, view duality as something that reminds us of unity and carries us toward unity. This becomes a less arduous task when we understand that opposites are not disconnected, that they are mutually influential, and that together they generate the development of events, complete each other, and explain each other.
Since ancient times, yin and yang were used to understand and explain changes in nature. Continuous transformation, or change, is, as itās been said many times, the only constant. If we think in terms of absolute and relative, Movement, growth, and decline are absolute; they are permanently happening. Immobility and balance are relative.
The Huang Di Nei Jing says āYin Yang is a universal law, the key for analyzing and synthesizing the many objective things, the source of all change and the internal grounds for birth, evolution and extinction. Despite the existence of endless secrets in the world, they are without exception born of Yin and Yang. Thus, diagnosis and treatment of illness must be based on the essential problem of Yin and Yangā (Lu, A Complete Translation of The Yellow Emperorās Classic of Internal Medicine and the Difficult Classic).
TABLE 1.1. SOME YIN-YANG RELATIONSHIPS |
| Yin | | Yang | |
| Darkness | | Light | |
| Moon | | Sun | |
| Square | | Circle | |
| Space | | Time | |
| North | | South | |
| West | | East | |
| Right | | Left | |
| Shadow | | Clarity | |
| Cold | | Heat | |
| Internal | | External | |
| Matter | | Energy | |
| Substantial | | Insubstantial | |
| Tangible | | Intangible | |
| Contraction | | Expansion | |
| Depression | | Excitement | |
| Stillness | | Movement | |
| Rest | | Activity | |
| Water | | Fire | |
| Body | | Spirit | |
| Feminine | | Masculine | |
| Receive | | Emit | |
| Internal genitals | | External genitals | |
| Night | | Day | |
| Below | | Above | |
| Dampness | | Dryness | |
| Emptiness | | Fullness | |
| Hypersomnia | | Insomnia | |
| Lack of appetite | | Appetite | |
| Hypothermia | | Fever | |
| Chronic illnesses | | Acute illnesses | |
| Congestion | | Inflammation | |
| Heavy | | Light | |
Ever-Present Yin and Yang
Once something comes to be in the manifest world, yin and yang are always there. No matter what it is that we may be looking at, considering in theory, or perceiving in any of the ways that humans can perceive, we are in the presence of these two aspects.
If we are able to take this constant into account, we will be capable of contacting both sides of any situation from a perspective of the whole. It is habitual to perceive only one aspect of a thing or a situation, leaving us ignorant about inherent ...