Chapter 11 Section 3 Summary of Ancient Health Regimen
The ancients believed that human beings and nature are a unified and ever-moving whole, which is called "Qi Tian Tong Tian".Conforming to nature is one of the principles of health preservation, which is called "four qi regulating spirit".The ancients attached great importance to the adaptation of human beings to the different climates of the four seasons. They believed that the climate changes of warm spring, hot summer, cool autumn, and cold winter formed the natural law of spring growth, summer growth, autumn harvest, and winter storage.People live in this cycle of law, "if you go against it, you will suffer disasters, if you go with it, you will not be able to afford it."For example, it is said in "Suwen·Four Qi Adjustment Theory": "The response to spring qi is the way to keep in good health. If it is reversed, it will hurt the liver. Summer is a cold change, and few people serve the elders"; The way is also, if you go against it, you will be sad. In autumn, it is a malaria [jiejie], and there are few people who accept it.”; There are few people who serve Tibetans"; "The response to winter qi is the way to nourish Tibetans. If it goes against it, it will hurt the kidneys, and spring will cause impotence, and there will be few people who serve life."The general idea is that if it does not conform to the climate characteristics of the season, it will not only hurt the internal organs (according to the five elements, the corresponding organs), but also affect the normal physiological activities in the next season.
In addition to paying attention to daily life, clothing, diet, etc., the four-season adjustment should also pay attention to the adjustment of emotions and yin and yang.The adjustment method is also arranged according to the relationship between the five elements and various things.
Mental adjustment is called "rejuvenation", including the adjustment of thinking activities and psychological states.Chinese medicine believes that the heart governs the gods, and the heart is the master of the five internal organs. The so-called "heart injury will cause the spirit to go, and the spirit will die if the spirit goes away."Health preservation emphasizes "both body and spirit." Ji Kang, a health care expert, said: "Spirit is as important as body and bones, just like a country has a king. The spirit is restless in the middle and the body is lost on the outside." It shows that mental disorders will inevitably damage the body.
Mental adjustment should pay attention to the following aspects:
One is moral cultivation. "Great virtue must lead to longevity", although this idea comes from Confucianism, it has also been valued by health preservationists of various schools, so they all regard morality as the first task of health preservation.
The second is tranquility and emptiness.Tranquility means tranquility and indifference in thinking, abandoning distracting thoughts, and not being disturbed by desire for profit.Living in this world, one cannot be without desires, without desires there is no life, and life cannot be sustained.But you can't expect too much and go beyond the reality, if you have more than enough desires and can't satisfy them, it will disturb your spirit and become a burden on your mind.Taoism believes that it is necessary to reduce fame and wealth, suppress sensuality, cheap goods, spoil taste, get rid of sycophants, and get rid of jealousy.If you can pay attention to these six aspects and maintain an open-minded and optimistic mental state, it will certainly be beneficial to your physical and mental health.
The third is to take pleasure in ambition.Although health preservationists of all schools emphasize "there is nothing to chase outside", they also have their own persistent "homework" and classics that are endlessly recited.Explain that one's own beliefs and social responsibilities are not included in the list of "nothing to chase outside", but devote oneself wholeheartedly to this, and become a means to eliminate the interference of self-interest.Most health-preserving experts do not agree with the Taoist idea of "doing nothing" to avoid society. Instead, they believe that striving for one's own ambitions and enjoying it are beneficial to health preservation.Confucius once said: "Learning and practicing it from time to time, isn't it also said (pleasure)?"Sun Simiao devoted himself to medical research and wrote "Thousand Gold Prescriptions" at the age of 71, and he was over a hundred years old when his "Thousand Gold Wing Prescriptions" was completed.They are all well-known scholars and health preservers at home and abroad, but they are so persistent in their pursuit of ideals and beliefs.They enjoy their age but are quick in thinking, and their writings are as long as they are, but they still take pleasure in their ambitions. They are indeed role models for health preservers.
Ancient health preservers also had principled requirements for daily life and diet.That is to say, "eat moderately, live regularly, and don't work rashly."In addition to paying attention to restraint and regularity, there are also some specific contents that choose the best and suppress the disadvantages.
Food hygiene.Three aspects are required, one is to have a moderate diet. "Su Wen Bi Lun" said: "If you eat twice as much, you will hurt your stomach." "Su Wen·Theory on the Formation of the Five Viscera" says: "Harmony with the five flavors, the bones are straightened and the tendons are soft, the qi and blood flow, and the interstitial [cou] is dense." The five flavors enter the five internal organs and nourish the five internal organs.If there is a partiality, it will hurt the five internal organs and form a disease.The third is eating hygiene.If you are not angry, chew slowly, rinse your mouth after eating, take a walk, etc.During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty (1662-1722 A.D.), Chen Deqiu wrote in "Medical Biography Lamp Spleen and Stomach": "The daily meal should only be eight minutes, not as much as possible... You must bite and chew carefully... After eating, walk a hundred steps slowly. "The analysis of "Thousand Gold Prescriptions" is more detailed: "Those who are good at nourishing their nature (health preservation) eat first when they are hungry, and drink before they are thirsty. The appetite is small (multiple times), and it is difficult to eliminate it if you don't want to eat more. Often desire If you are hungry when you are full, and your ears are full when you are hungry. If you are full, you will hurt your lungs, if you are hungry, you will hurt your Qi, if you are salty, you will hurt your tendons, and if you eat vinegar, you will hurt your bones. Wine and fat enter the intestines. People should eat it, and they must get rid of their troubles. It is like eating five flavors, and they must not be angry. Eat rice, and less spinach [zu rent] vegetables (pickles), and do not eat lettuce, raw rice, small beans, old smelly things, do not drink dirty wine... Do not eat raw meat, it will hurt the stomach, all meat must be boiled, Stop eating it cold. Rinse your mouth for a few times after eating, it will make your teeth invincible, and your mouth will smell good...When you eat hot food, don’t sweat it, it will cause cramps and headaches, and make you sleepy. After each meal, rub your face and abdomen with your hands , so that the body fluids circulate. After eating, one should hesitate to walk, and plan to make it several miles (several miles away). After walking, make people rub the powder on the abdomen hundreds of times, and the food will be easily digested, which will benefit people and make people able to eat , there is no all kinds of diseases...you can lie down when you are full, and you will have all kinds of diseases, and you don't need to accumulate...people are not allowed to eat at night, and don't get drunk and full at night." And "Baosheng Yaolu" said: "For all food, eat hot first, then Eat warm food before eating cold food. If you eat too hot, you will hurt your stomach, and if you eat too cold, you will hurt your tendons. Even if it is hot, it will not burn your lips; even if it is cold, it will not freeze your teeth."
The reason why health preservation attaches great importance to food is that the ancients believed that: the body is governed by the spirit, the spirit is nourished by the essence, the essence is nourished by the qi, and the endowment is eaten by the qi.Therefore, it is called food as the heaven of living people and the foundation of living people.
Dietary supplements. The "Nei Jing" puts forward: "Grains, meat, fruits, and vegetables should be nourished by food." .” Our ancestors have paid attention to the combination of a variety of foods more than two thousand years ago, which is the responsibility of the “food doctor” in the Zhou Dynasty.In ancient times, food matching was mainly explained by following the theory of "five flavors" and "five elements", which is called "five flavors are suitable". "Lingshu Five Flavors" says: "Five grains: japonica rice (japonica rice) is sweet, sesame (sesame) is sour, soybean is salty, wheat is bitter, yellow millet (yellow rice) is pungent. Five fruits: jujube sweet, plum sour , chestnut salty, apricot bitter, peach pungent. Five animals: beef sweet, dog sour, pig salty, sheep bitter, chicken pungent. Five vegetables: sunflower (mallow) sweet, leek acid, Huo (bean leaves) salty, scallions [ xiexie〕(wild garlic) is bitter, scallion is pungent.” It is obviously a demonstration of classification.Then it is emphasized that "all of these five are suitable for each": "The liver is green, and it is suitable to eat sweet (the liver is suffering and anxious, so eat sweet to relieve it), steamed rice, beef, sunflower, and jujube are all sweet; the heart is red, It is suitable to eat sour (the heart is bitter and slow, eat sour quickly to harvest it), dog meat, hemp, plum, and leek are all sour; Prescription), soybeans, pig meat, chestnut, and Huo are all salty; the lungs are white, and it is advisable to eat bitter (the lungs are bitter and the qi is reversed, eat bitterness quickly to vent it), wheat, mutton, apricot, and scallions are all bitter; the kidneys are black, It is advisable to eat pungent (kidneys are bitter and dry, eat pungent quickly to moisten it), yellow millet, chicken, peaches, and green onions are all pungent." "Zhou Li" said: "Fanhe (diet preparation), spring is more sour, summer is more bitter, Autumn is more pungent, winter is more salty, and it is mixed with sweetness (sweet dominates the four seasons)." "Cows are suitable for rice [tu Tu] (japonica rice), sheep are suitable for millet, hogs are suitable for millet (millet, sorghum), and dogs are suitable for grain (fine millet), geese are suitable for wheat, and fish are suitable for 苽〔gugu〕(the fruit of wild rice stem).” He also pointed out the principle of matching the five flavors of the four seasons and meat and staple food.It can be seen that the seasoning method of the ancient diet is very complicated.In addition, the combination of medicine and food, that is, diet therapy, was also very popular in ancient times. There are countless types and formulas of diet therapy (including treatment and body tonic) in ancient medical books, among which are simple and easy to implement, and can be accepted by everyone There is nothing better than "porridge".Lu You, a patriotic poet in the Song Dynasty, once wrote a poem: Everyone in the world has studied for a long time, but they don’t realize that the long years are in the present.Wanqiu is Zhang Lei, a poet of the Northern Song Dynasty.Cao Cishan collected a hundred kinds of "porridge spectrum" in "Lao Lao Heng Yan", and cited more than a hundred kinds of literature. peace too".
Daily life is regular.Sun Simiao said: "For those who are good at keeping in good health, there are four o'clock in the morning and evening when they lie down, and there are four o'clock in the morning and evening when they are up and down." There are four o'clock in the morning and evening. It means that the work and rest time should be arranged reasonably.The circadian rhythm has a significant impact on the life activities of the human body. In ancient times, it was explained by the principles of yin and yang, the five elements, the sun, the moon and the stars. The modern "biological clock" theory and some experimental results have also proved the existence of this rhythm.In addition, work and rest should be moderate. The "Internal Classics" pointed out the harm of the "five labors": long-term vision damages the blood, long-term lying damages the qi, long-term sitting damages the flesh, long-term standing damages the bones, and long-term walking damages the tendons.But on the contrary, excessive relaxation will cause qi and blood stagnation.Liu Wansu listed "Yi" as one of the eight evils in "Treatise on Febrile Diseases", and believed that "Yi Yu is lazy and sick", which is exactly the meaning of "flowing water does not rot, and household hinges do not moth". "Lao Lao Heng Yan" discusses the dialectical relationship between movement and stillness. Also. The Taoist saying: Don’t be afraid of thinking, but be afraid of being late. As for using time and avoiding miscellaneous, miscellaneous, it will be divided, and divided will be laborious. But special means that although it is used, it will not be laborious. It’s also because the mind is concentrated.” This analysis is not only applicable to “intention”. , also applies to "labour".
Rational use of traditional Chinese medicine that strengthens the body and delays aging is also one of the contents of health preservation.For more than two thousand years, the doctors of the past dynasties have left us with rich experience in medicine and health care, especially the secret recipes of palace health care in the past dynasties are favored by people, such as Guilingji, Baoyuan Yishou Dan, Songling Taipingchun Wine, etc. It is a commonly used health care prescription for empresses of the Qing court.
There are many interesting legends about health-preserving medicines. Although the contents are exaggerated, the effects of the medicines on body building and life-prolonging leave a deep impression on people.For example, there is a story about the origin of the name of the traditional Chinese medicine "polygonum multiflorum": in the Tang Dynasty, there was a man surnamed He who was born weak (chan cicada) and had no sexual desire. He was not married at the age of 58.A medicine was dug in the mountains by chance.An old man told him that taking one qian a day with wine on an empty stomach can make a person have heirs.So he took it every day, and after a few months, his body was really strong, his white hair turned black, and he looked much younger.Several boys were born within 10 years after he got married, and he changed his name to "Neng Si" from then on.Afterwards, the whole family insisted on taking the medicine, and both father and son lived to be more than 160 years old.One of his grandsons is called "Shouwu". His hair is still black and his face is not old when he is over 130 years old. When people ask him why, he can tell the whole story of the three generations of his grandfather and grandson taking medicine.Later, people called this medicine "polygonum multiflorum", and it is still used to nourish the kidney and blood, and black hair keeps the face.
There is even a legend about wolfberry [gougou], which is quite bizarre.According to "Huainan Pillow Records", one person was on an envoy to Xihe, and he met a woman about fifteen or sixteen years old beating an old man in his 180s or 90s.The envoy was very surprised and asked who the old man was and why did he beat him?The woman replied: "This is my great-grandson. My family has life-prolonging medicine. He refused to take it, which made him so old. So I beat him." Asked the woman's age, she replied that she was 372 years old.Ask again: "How many kinds of medicines are there?" The woman replied: "There is only one kind of medicine, but there are five names. Spring is called Tianjing, summer is called wolfberry, autumn is called Digu, winter is called Xianrenzhang, and it is also called West Queen Mother's Stick. According to the four o'clock Gather and wear, and live as long as the heavens and the earth."
Judging from the above two legends, our country has a very long history of family medicine for the purpose of fitness and anti-aging.However, tonic should not be abused.Take ginseng, which invigorates qi, soothes the nerves and improves intelligence, as an example, which is called "sacred grass" and "king of hundreds of medicines" among the people.Emperor Qianlong, who lived the longest in the Qing Dynasty, and Cixi, who was more than a few years old, both used ginseng for a penny a day in their later years, which really achieved the purpose of health care.But if ginseng is abused, there will be the opposite result. The ancients once said: robbers rob money but do not kill;It can be seen that the abuse of tonic is more harmful than theft, and even the best tonic should be taken reasonably, and it should be adjusted according to the person, place and time.Medicines for health maintenance are not limited to tonics. Any medicine that can unblock qi, activate blood and unblock collaterals, reduce turbidity and unblock the internal organs, and harmonize the five internal organs can be selected according to the situation. The key is to target the target.
Qigong has a long history as a method of health preservation.The early years of the Warring States Period is the earliest qigong literature in existence.The jade pendant is engraved with 45 characters, describing the essentials of qi cultivation.Zhuangzi called health-care qigong "explaining the old and absorbing the new". In Jin Dynasty's "Jingming Lu of Religion", there was a theory of "explaining the subtleties of Qigong", and then it was named "Qigong".Taoism's breathing, inner alchemy, moving qi, eating qi, and fetal breath, Buddhism's meditation, meditation, Confucianism's self-cultivation, and medical doctors' guidance (also originated from Taoism) and qiyin are all qigong categories.
Taoism regards the return of babies as the most precious thing.Lao Tzu said: "Specializing Qi to make it soft can return to the baby." Therefore, Taoism created the "fetal breath" exercise, that is, the mind is like a baby in the mother's womb, not breathing through the mouth and nose, but taking the internal Qi.In fact, in a highly quiet state, breathe independently and evenly.Then there is "preserving thinking", that is, "preserving my spirit and thinking about my body". After reaching the state of tranquility, use the mind to guide the movement of qi.Taoist qigong has the greatest influence on refining "inner alchemy" and "small and big heaven".Inner alchemy is mainly to cultivate essence, qi, and spirit. It is believed that there are three dantians in the human body: the lower dantian stores the essence, which is stored in the navel and abdomen, where the intention is kept to refine and transform qi; the middle dantian gathers qi, which is between the breasts, where the intention is kept , Refining qi to transform the spirit; go to the pubic region to focus on the mind, between the eyebrows, keep your mind here, and refine the spirit to return the emptiness.Taoist explanations often use hidden language to make it mystical.Someone pointed out: "The theory of inner alchemy is nothing more than the intersection of the heart and the kidney, the transfer of essence and energy, keeping the mind and closing the breath, exhaling the old and absorbing the new." The big and small circles are two routes to guide qi and luck when practicing inner alchemy.The small Zhoutian is the stage of refining and transforming qi, and the internal energy runs through the two channels of Du and Ren (the Du vessel runs along the back, and the Ren vessel runs along the midline of the chest and abdomen, both starting from the perineum and ascending to the head and face); the Great Zhoutian is an advanced exercise. The internal meridian runs through the eight extraordinary meridians (including Ren, Du, Chong, Dai, Yinqiao, Yangqiao, Yinwei and Yangwei), and flows throughout the body.
Buddhist monks pay attention to meditation.Take a sitting posture when practicing Zen, breathe naturally, and use "no sound, no knots, no roughness, continuous in and out, as if it exists" as the standard, and at the same time maintain a peaceful demeanor.It is necessary to adjust both the breath and the mind. To adjust the mind is to enter the state of tranquility. The purpose of entering the tranquility is to eliminate all distracting thoughts, and then make the mind free of thoughts and reach a state of tranquility.What the Shi family zazen pursues is spiritual liberation, but objectively it has the effect of health preservation and fitness, which enriches the content of qigong.
Su Shi has a poem that says: "Knowledge of bitterness and sincerity is everywhere, so why not sit in danger and learn Xinzhai." Xinzhai is the Confucian practice.Confucianism pays attention to straightening the mind, keeping the mind, and nourishing the mind. Confucius once explained Xin Zhai to Yan Hui, which means that the will is single-minded, deaf ears, the heart keeps the spirit, and the breathing is natural, without the need to control it with thoughts.This is different from Taoism and interpretation of exercises.
Physicians also attach great importance to the cultivation of qi. It is mentioned in the "Internal Classics" that "breathe the essence, keep the spirit independently, and keep the muscles like one".Physicians especially advocate the principle of appropriate movement and stillness. Gao Lian, a health-preserving expert in the Ming Dynasty, said in "Eight Notes on Health Preservation": "The body is smooth, and all the Qi is in circulation. The flow of air is harmonious, and the stagnation of Qi is sick." Therefore, physicians attach great importance to it. Guidance, massage and other methods.This kind of health care method is often recorded in ancient medical books, and some of them have absorbed their feasible methods from Taoism and Buddhism.Because doctors gather the essence of various schools of exercises and emphasize the combination of movement and stillness, they often combine Qi adjustment with exercise and massage.Another advantage of the exercises contained in medical books is that they avoid mystification as much as possible, so they are simple and easy to implement, and they are guided by medical theories, so they are easy to popularize. For example, the "Five Animals" we introduced earlier is mainly about exercising the limbs. practice.Other popular ones are "Ba Duan Jin", the most simplified one: "Hold the sky with both hands to manage the triple burner, open the bow left and right like shooting a vulture, raise the hand with one hand to regulate the spleen and stomach, look back after five labors and seven injuries, shake the head and tail to get rid of the anger, behind the back Sickness disappears, gather fists and glaring eyes to increase strength, clasp the feet with both hands to strengthen the kidneys and waist." There are many methods of Baduanjin, most of which are sitting postures.In addition, there are Lishi Ba Duan Jin, Twelve Duan Jin, Sixteen Duan Jin and so on.Twelve Duanjin is massage-based, once in the morning and before going to sleep, each on the bed, followed by tapping the teeth, swallowing, bathing, ringing the drum, transporting the Gaohuang (Huanghuang) point, holding the sky, opening the bow left and right, rubbing Twelve postures including Dantian, Mo Nei Shen, Chayongquan, Moheiji, and Sa.In the Ming Dynasty physician Li Wei (Chan Zhuo) advocated in "Introduction to Medicine" that Daoyin does not need to be stylized, but should take what is appropriate: "Dafa Daoyin is designed for the deficiency of qi and blood. If there is fire, the eyes will be opened, and if there is fire, the eyes will be opened. Fire closes the eyes; those without sweat should hold their breath to the extreme, and those with sweat do not need to hold their breath; if you want the qi to go up to cure the diseases of your ears, eyes, and teeth, you should bend your body to do it; If you want the qi to reach the limbs, do it sideways; if you want to attract the sickness of the head, raise your head; if you want to draw the sickness in the waist and feet, raise your ten fingers; if you want to draw the sickness in the chest, put your fingers together; If you want to get rid of the cold and heat accumulated in the abdomen, as well as the cold and body heat, you should close your breath and fill your abdomen. It is also possible to lie down, but if the disease is in the head and chest, the height of the pillow should be seven inches; if the disease is in the heart, the height should be four inches; For those below the navel, go to the pillow." Making the best use of the situation is indeed a principle that cannot be ignored in fitness exercises.
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