Using Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Creation of Naturing Life
Nature life is a beauty perfect in the eyes of people. In fact, Coco Chanel quoted the words, “A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous” (Armour 1). The pursuit of beauty is a topic always applicable to life among women, even to those who lived thousands of years ago. Thus, there is always the question on how women of long ago maintain their beautiful appearance, as reflected in the Chinese customs, which is apparently very different from the ways of the modern times that uses science and technology. Women of the olden times did not have access to these. However, there is the tradition of the naturing life in China called Yangsheng, which was one of the basics of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). In Yangsheng, beauty is not just in connection with the outside appearance but includes the inner body and its health. It uses the Traditional Chinese Medicine Theory as a guide, although with a shroud of mystery, under the perspective of Chinese history. This paper focuses on the influence of traditional Chinese medicine to people of the current generation through the Chinese Yangsheng, which continues to be applied in beauty and healthcare.
Coordination of Yin and Yang
Women are always being described as a blooming flower over the past generations. Thus, there is always the question on how to effectively preserve physical beauty. Based on traditional Chinese medicine, people’s facial features, as well as the attractiveness of their hair, are only a small fraction of their physical body. If women wanted to become perfectly beautiful, they should guarantee having a balanced Yin and Yang. It has been quoted,
Yin and Yang are distinctively Chinese in terms of perception of profound fundamental principles and as an expression of a unique way of viewing the world and the greater universe. (TCM World Foundation 1)
According to the TCM World Foundation, the health of people is directly related to Yin and Yang, and that these two are very important when it comes to women’s health, as it can affect their fertility. Sometime in 300 B.C., in the earliest existing book of traditional Chinese medicine, Huangdi Neijing wrote about Yin and Yang, and how they tend to affect people’s health (Unschuld, Tessenow and Zheng 31). Huangdi mentioned about the need to warn children against staying up late at night that, he says, is a bad habit because it takes away the balance between Yin and Yang. The night should belong to Yin, and in the same way, it also belongs to females and thus, staying up late has the tendency to lose balance, especially for the males, who belong to daytime. It is important therefore, to make sure that the body stays with a balance between Yin and Yang, to make sure the health of the body is in harmony with that of nature. A number of writers mentioned another fact that is:
The people of high antiquity, those who knew the Way, they modeled [their behavior] on yin and yang, and they compiled with the arts and their calculations. [Their] eating and drinking was moderate. [Their] rising and resting had regularity. They did not tax [themselves] with meaningless work. (Unschuld, Tessenow and Zheng 31)
This proves that even as early as 300 B.C., traditional Chinese medicine had been at its boom, in the sense that they were able to identify the naturing life, which stresses the importance of having a balanced Yin and Yang amidst everything. They proposed that a person’s daily life has much impact on his/her health and longevity. Therefore, women who wanted to maintain perfect beauty in their physical appearance had had to follow the law of life.
The Supply of Qi and Blood
Aside from Yin and Yang as the important source of beauty and balance found in the physical body, there is also the importance of Qi and the blood. Based on the Yin and Yang tradition, Qi is also regarded as the root of all things. In fact, people will not have the capacity to move and touch without the presence of Qi. Although everyone has the capacity to feel, they too can only infuse or saturate with the use of Qi. How can this be?
Based on traditional Chinese medicine, the efficacy of Qi can threat kidney, as reflected in one the chapters in the book of Unschuld, Tessenow and Zheng, entitled “Discourse on the True”. In that chapter, it was stated in the words of Huangdi the following:
With two times heaven, the heaven gui arrives, the controlling vessel is passable and the great thoroughfare vessel abounds [with qi]. The monthly affair moves down in due time and, hence, [a woman] may have children they grasped [the regularity of] yin and yang. They exhaled and inhaled essence qi. They stood for themselves and guarded their spirit.
(Unschuld, Tessenow and Zheng 39-42)
Diet and Physical Therapy
Meanwhile, it is commonly believed that the food for the body, which provides growth, health, and survival, needs a variety of nutrition elements. With this comes the important role of nutritional food in the lives of people. As the traditional Chinese medicine declared long ago, foods affect medicine in the way it affects nutrition, since food has the ability to cure diseases and illnesses. Over the years, this theory developed as people learned more about the kinds of food that is good for the health, such as health powder grains, cereals and porridges, herbs and many more. According to Huangdi Neijing, “Water is yin; fire is yang. Yang is qi; yin is flavor” (Unschuld, Tessenow and Zheng 98). From these lines, food comes to play an important function, as it becomes the basis of human body function. For this, a large fraction of people, such as those living in East Asia, were typically vegetarians. They tend to have slim figures and healthy bodies, partly as an effect of having adequate intake of fruits and vegetables, unlike those who eat high-calorie food, who has tendency to be obese and develop certain diseases or illnesses. From this comes the theory that a balanced diet appears to be the key of having better health and stronger body.
Yin and Yang can also be applied in Chinese diet therapy, wherein Yin comprises fruits, and Yang are those of meat. To retain balance and have a better health, Joerg Kastner wrote in his book, entitled “Chinese Nutrition Therapy: Dietetics in Traditional Chinese Medicine,” the words that, “Yang foods are recommended for disorders of a cool or cold nature Yin foods are important therapy for heat disorders” (Kastner 24). In fact, Kastner described the fruit “cherry” to be women’s treasure, as an effect of its warm thermal nature. It also “supplements the center buner, qi, and blood; supplements and moistens liver and spleen, disperses blood statis, dissipates cold, dispels wind dampness” (Kastner 131). The color of cherries is also the color of blood that symbolizes women and so, cherries are said to be the women’s treasure, and tend to harmonize Yin and Yang for a naturing life.
Conclusion
Diet has a long-term effect on the harmony and balance between Yin and Yang. This is seen in the everyday life, in which there is balance and harmony when maintaining a good, healthy sleep at night, and a good breakfast in the morning. At lunch and afternoon, there is also balance between work and rest to maintain a pleasant mood. With this, health has a lot to do with life itself, and how people manage to live a naturing life by making use of the Yin and Yang, and having a balanced ritual between the use of Yin and Yang. From this aspect comes the theory that health fuses with nature, and that health comes from nature. With this, it is important for people to remember the importance of maintaining balance between Yin and Yang, as there is some truth with the traditional Chinese theories of long ago. In this world, there is nothing better than having an inner beauty within the physical body. As Coco Chanel mentioned, “Elegance is when the inside is as beautiful as the outside” (Armour 1). This is theme of traditional Chinese medicine stated in the basic tradition of Yangsheng.
Works Cited:
Armour, Katie. “Top 20 Coco Chanel Quotes.” Matchbook Magazine. 29 April 2013. Web. 17 May 2016 <https://www.matchbookmag.com/daily/75-top-20-coco-chanel-quotes>.
Kastner, Jorg. Chinese Nutrition Therapy: Dietetics in Traditional Chinese Medicine (2nd ed.). Stuttgart: Thieme, 2009. Print.
TCM World Foundation. Yin and Yang Theory. N.d. Web. 17 May 2016 < http://www.tcmworld.org/what-is-tcm/yin-yang-theory/>.
Unschuld, Paul, Hermann Tessenow, and Jinsheng Zheng. Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen: An Annotated Translation of Huang Di’s Inner Classic—Basic Questions. Berkeley, CA: University of California, 2011. Print.
Other Source:
Kuriyama, Shigehisa. The Expressiveness of the Body and the Divergence of Greek and Chinese Medicine. New York, NY: Zone, 1999. Print.
