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(Yellow Emperor) asked Shi Tian: "I heard that ancient people were 100 years old in the Spring and Autumn Period, and their actions remained unchanged; Nowadays, people are over 500 years old and have failed in sports. Times are different, right? Will people miss it? 」
We claim to be descendants of the Chinese people, but in fact, most of us are black sheep.
What does corruption mean? The ancients said that "Xiao" meant something similar. For example, if we draw a portrait, it is called "lifelike" if it is more vivid. But now, apart from looking like our ancestors, our values, beliefs, lifestyles and clothes are far from them. Therefore, there is a tendency to gradually return to nature and tradition.
Now let's take the first article of Huangdi Neijing, The Theory of Ancient Naivety, as a clue to see how our ancestors knew nature, human body and how to preserve health, protect health and treat diseases in ancient times.
Health care is first to find the right direction.
The way to preserve one's health is to understand the nature of man or nature first, so as to make clear the direction and know where to work hard. We can't keep in good health according to our own mood, but we should follow the laws of nature.
What is health preservation? To raise a potted flower, we must first understand what its nature is, and we can't raise it according to our own mood. Water it if you think it is thirsty, fertilize it if you think it is hungry, and finally all the plants die and the flowerpots pile up. So the basic requirement of keeping in good health is that you should understand its nature.
The "Tao" of "the way of keeping in good health" refers to the direction. The word "Tao" has the word "first" above it, representing a person's head, and the word "ambition" below it, representing the direction. The way we talk about keeping in good health is to master the nature of man or nature and know where to work hard. The Yellow Emperor realized the existing problems and asked his teacher Zeebe for advice.
He said: "I heard that in ancient times, people were 100 years old, but their actions never stopped." It means that I heard that in ancient times, our ancestors could live 100 years old, and their movements did not appear weak at all.
The words used by the ancients are not the same as those used by us. We are all talking about action now. What is "moving" and what is "doing"? The "move" in traditional Chinese characters is written like this: move, the left side is heavy, and the right side is strong. It means to use your feet. Add a "foot" to the left of "heavy", which means "heel". There is also a Taoist saying called "heel breathing", which means that the heel can also breathe. As we all know, when practicing martial arts and picking your toes, all the strength of the heel will spread to the whole body. When we practice some internal skills, such as Tai Ji Chuan, there is a requirement that "strength should start from the soles of the feet". When the heel hits the ground, strength can spread all over the body through the spine. So, moving means moving your feet. And when you do it, your fingers are open, which means doing it. "Homework", "work" and "workshop" all refer to hands-on.
The Yellow Emperor observed that when people are under 50 years old, their hands and feet are not so flexible. That is to say, the frequency, amplitude and intensity of the action are very weak.
"Decline" is a word used by the ancients to describe people's strength, qi and color. We mean this feeling when we say that people are getting old and looking pale. Why are people less flexible when they are old? Lizards and scorpions will change color when they are in danger, and they will break their small tails and run away. This is the ultimate reminder to give up protecting your body. So do people. When qi and blood are insufficient, he will first ensure the supply of qi and blood to the body. At the same time, the blood flow to the limbs is weakened. People get old before they get old, which is a phenomenon observed by the Yellow Emperor.
This leads to two more words: body and body. Body refers to the trunk, body refers to the limbs. We often say that some people are "four bodies are not diligent, regardless of grain." Four bodies are not diligent, that is, the arms and legs are not moving. Who is more important, body or body? There is no doubt that it is the body.
This leads to another problem: modern people often go to the gym. Is it really to "keep fit"?
"Fitness" is different from "fitness"
Modern people often go to the gym. Do they go to the gym or work out? Is it in line with the way of keeping in good health or at the expense of seeking the end?
Now we find that there are many people who die suddenly around the age of 50. Why? The Yellow Emperor mentioned that when people reach the age of 50, there is no other way but to recover their qi and blood, replenish their bodies and give up their bodies. Now we have the means, a gym, to exercise when our hands and feet are not flexible, forcing blood to flow from our body to our limbs. Their movements look vigorous, but where are their weaknesses? A guilty conscience leads to insufficient blood supply to the heart and brain. Therefore, people nowadays are either "unable to move" or prone to sudden death, showing two extremes.
So the gym should be called the fitness room.
Why do we move our arms and legs easily? Because it is a voluntary muscle, it can follow the conscious movement at will. But can the internal organs work according to your wishes? You said my heart beat faster and my stomach peristalsis faster. Does it listen to you? This is not what you want. So what's next? Taoism is natural. It has another system controller. After you deliberately give up and reach a state of ecstasy, it begins to work.
Our traditional fitness method in China is not the treadmill in the gym, but standing on a pile. Standing like a stake, hands and feet motionless. But at this time, all the gastrointestinal tract began to creep, which is called fitness.
Why don't modern people know about fitness? Because he lived too deliberately. He doesn't want to give up the set of things he got the day after tomorrow, so Tao and nature can't come back. This is also an important theory that we should emphasize: returning to nature.
With the beat of nature
The yellow emperor asked: I found that people are now "half a century old, and they can't move." Why? He then asked, "Times are different, and people will lose." ? "This time is the time. Not hours, but seasons. " Good rain knows the season, and when spring comes, "this" season "refers to the season.
Chinese medicine talks about the four seasons of yin and yang, which is the four seasons. Why does Huangdi Neijing say that the four seasons are different? Let's look at the previous sentence again: "I heard that ancient people are 100 years old in the Spring and Autumn Period." "This shows that there are several seasons at the age of one? In ancient times, the Central Plains, including Sichuan, was a very warm and humid place.
We call history Spring and Autumn because in ancient times, there were only two seasons, which were called Spring and Autumn. Later, climate change has four seasons. So the yellow emperor said, is it because we have four seasons now, which is different from ancient times, so we are now 500 years old and our sports are declining? Temperate and tropical plants are different. Tropical plants are precocious. People living in tropical areas eat different things from those in temperate areas. Different climates lead to physiological changes.
What does "the world" mean? We often talk about the world, the world and the world. The word "world" is a ten and a twenty (20), which add up to thirty. Life is thirty years. Huangdi Neijing holds that a man is at his best when he is about 30 years old, and it is best to have children at this time. So we say that a world is just 30 years apart, and the so-called generation gap is also derived from here. In the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin used "generation" instead of "world". In order to have grandchildren early, some people let their children get married and have children before the age of 20, and their life time is gradually shortened. So this "different times" is about the change of the weather and the change of the world.
Is it the change of the weather and the world that has this effect, or have we lost the ability to adapt to the changes of the times?
The problem of the Yellow Emperor is very profound, and it is also worthy of our secular people to think and discuss.