Chapter 27 The fifth section extends to health preservation

Health preservation is a science that explores the best state of material exchange and spiritual coordination between the human body and the outside world, so as to achieve the purpose of health care and longevity, also known as health science.It occupies an important position in preventive medicine. China is the originator of preventive medicine. As early as in the "Huangdi Neijing", the importance of "preventive treatment of diseases" has been emphasized. Regarding nutrition and health care, it has been quite high in the late Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. When it comes to the purpose of eating, Mo Zhai, a thinker in the late Spring and Autumn Period, said: "It is food, it is enough to increase Qi and fill the deficiency, and it is enough to strengthen the body and fit the abdomen." ("Mozi Ci Guo Pian") in modern times Based on the analysis of medical principles: "increasing qi" is to supplement calories, so that the heat energy of food can be transformed into physical energy, that is, to have strength; Nutrients to enhance physical fitness: "Appropriate abdomen" means to satisfy the taste and appetite, so that the cerebral cortex can get benign stimulation from suitable taste, stimulate the sense of taste, so as to ensure appetite and enhance the absorption function.The ancients have been able to understand the principle of physiological nutrition from personal experience.

As early as more than 2,000 years ago, a systematic theory of health preservation and a balanced diet theory appeared in the "Huangdi Neijing". The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine is the crystallization of medicine in the Xia, Shang, and Shang dynasties. It is the earliest medical canon in my country and an outstanding monograph on intuitive medicine in the ancient world. The "Huangdi Neijing" summarizes the three major ways of health care: the first one is: "The four seasons of yin and yang are the beginning and end of all things, and the root of death and life. If you go against it, you will suffer from disasters, and if you go along with it, you will not be able to get rid of strange diseases. Dao." The second said: "The five grains are for nourishment, the five fruits are for help, the five animals are for the benefit, and the five vegetables are for the feeding (compartment)...to nourish the essence and qi"; The qi goes up, joy makes the qi slow down, sadness makes the qi disappear, fear makes the qi go down, cold makes the qi gather, Jiong [guigui] (hot also) makes the interstitial [cou] Li (body surface) open and vent the qi, worry The qi is disordered, the qi is exhausted when you are tired, and the qi is stagnant when you think about it. The nine qi are different (depressed), so what disease arises?" The meaning of these three passages is to first make the body adapt to the natural changes of the biosphere; Balance (this is the earliest theory of dietary balance in the world, and our country's dietary tradition of dietary balance fully conforms to the principles of nutrition and hygiene); third, keep yourself in a harmonious interpersonal relationship, and keep your emotions calm and optimistic.These three are the fundamental ways of keeping in good health, which is to maintain the material balance between the body and the external material exchange and spiritual life, and regard the human body, the natural environment and the social environment as an intricate and contradictory unity. It is a great contribution to the world's medical and health care to mention the overall theory to summarize.

Diet therapy, herbal medicine and qigong are the three pillars of Chinese health preservation, and all three are reflected in the "Huangdi Neijing".Dietetics is a specialized discipline based on the theory of nutrition and health in traditional Chinese medicine; herbal medicine is the crystallization of traditional Chinese medicine to explore medicinal food (mainly plants, but also some animals and minerals); Unique health care system. Dietotherapy occupies an important position in Chinese medicine. Dietotherapy includes not only basic physiological and pathological knowledge, but also the performance of dietotherapeutic items, which includes knowledge of many biology, chemistry, physics and other disciplines.In this regard, the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties already had a high level of understanding: "All medicines nourish bones with acid, tendons with acridity, pulse with saltiness, qi with bitterness, flesh with sweetness, and orifices with smoothness." ("Zhou Li Tianguan Zhongzai Ulcer Doctor").Modern medicine tells us: acid can help dissolve calcium in food to supplement the calcium needed by bones, so acid can "nourishing bones"; pungent things can excite the nervous system and increase blood pressure, so it is good for the weak and low blood pressure. People who eat it can "raise tendons"; salty can supplement the normal concentration of salt in the blood, especially in summer, it can stabilize the pulse of people who suffer from heat stroke and sweat too much and are in a state of collapse, so salty can "nourish the pulse"; Many of the things in the diet are cooling agents. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that cooling agents can remove damp heat and clear lung qi. Some bitter things, such as almonds, tangerine peel, and fritillary, can eliminate phlegm and relieve cough, so bitterness can "nourish qi"; sweet things are mainly Sugars are mostly found in cereals and miscellaneous grains. Eating more can make people fat, so sweetness can "nourish meat"; slippery things such as honey and fruit pulp can moisten the intestines and diuresis, so slippery can "nourish the orifices".

"Huangdi Neijing" also provides several specific prescriptions for dietotherapy, and also lists nearly a hundred items that are considered to have therapeutic value. The earliest pharmacopoeia in my country reflects the level of pharmacy from the three generations to the Qin and Han Dynasties. The book collects 365 kinds of medicines. Now commonly used nourishing medicines such as ginseng, antler, dog whip, skink, ganoderma lucidum, astragalus, Eucommia, Morinda officinalis, fritillaria , Dendrobium, Angelica, etc.; valuable medicines for anti-inflammatory and dredging stasis, such as musk, bezoar, bear bile, rhino horn, etc. are available.Common condiments such as licorice, honey, plum, tangerine peel, perilla, ginger, Polygonum, spring onion, buckwheat, etc. have been used as medicines in Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties.Donkey-hide gelatin and gelatin (deer horn glue) have been listed. It can be seen that the processing of these two kinds of patent medicines has a history of more than 2,000 years.

China is the kingdom of natural medicines. Materia Medica has condensed the rich achievements of our ancestors in treating diseases and testing medicines for thousands of years. The "Chinese Medicine Sea" published in 1993 contains a total of 8,488 kinds of traditional Chinese medicines. It is by far the largest book on Chinese herbal medicine with the largest number of medicines, and it is an outstanding contribution of the Chinese medical field to the world. China's health science can be connected with modern human body science. Human body science is an emerging marginal subject, a comprehensive research field of physiology, nutrition, kinesiology, environmental science, bioengineering and other disciplines. , optimal living conditions and longevity and other topics of a health care system engineering.Ancient Chinese health preservation can be said to be the origin of this systematic engineering [shang shang].Zhuang Zhou said: "Blowing and breathing, exhaling the old and accepting the new, bear the scriptures and birds to recite, it is only for longevity. This way guides people, cultivates people, and Peng Zu's longevity testers are also good." ("Zhuangzi·Deliberate Chapter") .He also said: "Exercising without rest will lead to disadvantages, and using it intensively will cause fatigue, and fatigue will lead to exhaustion." It can be seen that the Warring States period has realized the significance of breathing fresh air, sports and combining work and rest for longevity.Zhuang Zhou also said: "If it is easy and peaceful, then worries cannot enter, and evil spirits cannot attack... The nature of water is not mixed, then it is clear, if it does not move, it is flat, and if it is closed and does not flow, it cannot be clear." That is to say: People are like flowing water. If the water is free of impurities, it will be clear, if it is not stirred, it will flow smoothly, and if it is stagnant, it will not be clear.If you don't have distracting thoughts and don't compete with the secular world for self-interest, you can feel at ease, but you can't close yourself off from the changes in the world.It can be seen that the thinkers in the Warring States Period have realized that to expect longevity, one must not only have a clean natural environment to learn from the old and take in the new and have proper exercise, but also have a suitable environment for oneself in interpersonal relationships.From the health care theory of "Huangdi Neijing" and Zhuang Zhou's words, we can already see the initial understanding of Chinese people on nutrition, environment and kinesiology.

After the Qin and Han Dynasties, for more than two thousand years, Chinese classics related to diet therapy, herbal medicine, qigong and health preservation are very rich. Today, collecting and sorting out these classics, scientifically identify and screen the complicated content in this field, and select the essence. To get rid of the dross will make a greater contribution to the world's health care.