Let's not talk about ups and downs, let's focus on the two numbers "seven" and "eight" here, because in Neijing, these two numbers are closely related to people's life stages and life cycles. More specifically, women's life stages and life cycles are related to "seven"; Correspondingly, men's is related to "eight".
In the scripture, Zeebe said: "The woman is seven years old, full of kidney qi and has longer teeth; On the 27 th, when the sky comes, the pulse is too strong, and the moon is in the present, so there is a son; Sanqi, the average kidney qi, so the real teeth are born and long; 47. Strong bones and muscles, extremely long hair and strong physique; On may 7, Yangming's pulse failed, the face began to burn and the hair began to fall; Sixty-seven, Sanyang pulse declines in the upper, the face is burnt, and the hair begins to be white; On July 7, the pulse was weak, the pulse was too weak, the sky was exhausted, and the tunnel was impassable, so the shape was bad and there was no child. " When a woman reaches the age of seven, her kidney qi begins to flourish; Explain that the deciduous teeth were replaced and the hair began to flourish. By 27 14, "Tiangui" was born in time, and the pulse was smooth and too strong; The performance is that women have menstrual cramps on time and have fertility. Here, we should emphasize "Tiangui", that is, Yuanyin and Shenjing; Refers to substances that can promote human reproductive function. Gui, the five elements belong to yin water, and the word "Tiangui" first appeared in the article "Su Wen-Gu Naive" in Huangdi Neijing, which originally refers to a subtle substance produced when the essence in human kidney is filled to a certain age; The ancients called this tiny substance "invisible water", which is related to the growth, development and reproduction of the human body. In myths and legends, "Tiangui" is the third pseudonym born after WU GANG's wife had an affair with others. When the woman is 372 1 year old, her kidney is full of "average"; The development of the human body shows that the real teeth "wisdom teeth" are born and the teeth are full. By the age of 47 or 28, the human body is strong and strong, and the growth of hair has reached the most flourishing stage. At this time, women are the strongest. At the age of five, seven, and thirty-five, the blood of Yangming meridian gradually weakened, showing that women's head and face began to languish and their hair began to fall off. At the age of 6742, the qi and blood of the Sanyang meridian began to weaken, but in the female body, her face was haggard and her hair began to turn white. When you reach the age of 49, the human body will be weak in qi and blood, and too impulsive qi and blood will also decline. At this time, "Tiangui" will dry up! The performance is that women's menstruation is cut off from now on; It shows that women are aging and losing their fertility.
The scripture also says: "The husband is eight years old, with strong kidneys and long teeth; Twenty-eight, the kidney is full of qi, the sky is full, the essence is overflowing, and the yin and yang are harmonious, so you can have children; On March 38, the kidney qi was general and the bones and muscles were strong, so the real teeth were born and long; Forty-eight, the bones and muscles are prosperous and the muscles are full; 58, kidney qi failure, tooth decay; Sixty-eight, the body's yang is exhausted, the face is burnt and white; Seventy-eight, liver qi failure, tendons can not move, exhaustion of the sky, less sperm, kidney failure, excellent health; Eight or eight, and then the teeth will be sent. " When a man is eight years old, his kidney qi begins to enrich. In terms of growth and development, hair began to flourish and deciduous teeth were replaced. 28 16 years old, male kidney qi is full, and tiangui is produced; At this time, the essence is overflowing, and it can be diarrhea, and sexual intercourse can give birth to children. 3824-year-old, male full of kidney qi; The performance is that the bones and muscles are strong and the real teeth (wisdom teeth) grow well. The man is 4832 years old, showing abundant bones and muscles, and his muscles are plump and strong. At the age of 50, 80 and 40, men's kidney qi gradually began to decline; Explain that the hair began to fall off, gradually thinning, and the teeth began to wither. At the age of 6848, the human body's yang gradually declined; It is characterized by gaunt face, gray hair and gray temples. By the age of 7856, due to the weakness of liver qi, the activities of tendons and veins could not be flexible. By the age of 8864, the human body was exhausted, and there was little essence left, and renal failure; At this time, the human body shows that teeth and hair fall off and the body is weak. ...
Obviously, the growth and development of the human body is closely related to the kidney. Chinese medicine believes that the kidney is actually the master of the growth and development of the human body! Just after the above-mentioned record of "seven women and eight men", the scripture said: "The kidney controls water and is hidden by the essence of the five internal organs, so the five internal organs are full and can be written. Today, all the five Tibetans are failing, and all their bones and muscles are failing, and heaven is exhausted. So my hair is white, my body is heavy, my steps are not straight, and my ears are gone. " This means that the kidneys control water and receive the essence of other internal organs and store it. Therefore, if the reserve is strong, the functions of the five internal organs of the human body can be actively exerted. When the reserves are exhausted, the supply of the five internal organs will of course decline; Tiangui is exhausted, which is manifested in the functions of the five internal organs, that is, the bones and muscles are slack, the temples are white, the body is heavy, the pace is unstable, and it is impossible to have children.
Finally, the Yellow Emperor asked two "special cases". The first situation is: "Who has children when they are old?" It is said that some people are old, but they can still live. What is the truth? Qi Bo said, "Life is more than enough, the qi pulse is always open, and the kidney qi is more than enough. Although there are children, men are only eight or eight, women are only seven or seven, and the essence of heaven and earth is exhausted. " The reason why people can still have children when they are old, Qi Bo thinks, is because this kind of people have more natural energy than ordinary people, and their qi and blood meridians can always be kept open, and their kidneys are more than enough. However, Qi Bo also believes that although such people have fertility, men are generally no more than 64 years old and women are generally no more than 49 years old; After all, after these two times, the essence of the human body has dried up. The second kind of "special case" is that the Yellow Emperor asked: "Those who are husband and Taoist are all 100 years old. Can they have children? " It means that those sages who have mastered the way of keeping in good health from ancient times to the present can be over 100 years old. Can they still have children? Qi Bo replied: "A Taoist can be old and full-featured, and even if he is old, he can have children." Qi Bo believes that sages who have mastered the way of health preservation since ancient times can protect themselves from old age, so they can have children even when they are old.
After the above long speech, there is a big question that we need to answer immediately, that is, the life stages and life cycles of human beings. Why are women related to the number "seven" and men related to the number "eight"? Or to put it another way, why is the kidney that dominates human growth and development closely related to the numbers "seven" and "eight"? Neijing does not tell us the answers to these questions, and it is difficult for us to get a clear and satisfactory explanation after curiously searching all the information. So, I personally tried to collect a series of words about "seven, eight", trying to find some rules from them. For example, "too many cooks" describes people with mixed hands and chaotic movements; "Seven feet and eight hands" describes being in a hurry, just like "seven feet and eight hands"; "crooked, the description is incorrect ... see? These words are still regular! The so-called law is that these words all mean "disorder" and "uncertainty". No wonder "six" is yin and "nine" is yang in the Book of Changes, then the numbers "seven" and "eight" between yin and yang are of course the full embodiment of all the changes in the universe and life! At first glance, of course, it is miscellaneous, chaotic and uncertain; But careful analysis is actually regular, and the laws of the Universe Avenue are all in this "seven ups and downs" law. In the stage of human growth and development: women are yin, and their growth and development should be based on the "seven" of yang number, and yin and yang cancai should be integrated; The male belongs to Yang, and the growth and development take the number of "eight" of Yin, and there is harmony between Yin and Yang. As for "seven ups and eight downs", it can be interpreted as: seven is the number of yang, and eight is the number of yin; The meaning of "horizontal position is yin, and the number of seven yang means harmony between yin and yang;" The vertical position is yang, and the number is yin eight, which also indicates the harmony of yin and yang.