Just like other important theoretical concepts such as "Yin-Yang" and "Five Elements" in China's health culture, the appearance of vitality is closely related to traditional philosophy. Guan believes that everything is made up of essence. They "live on the essence of all things, compare with it (change), produce grains, rank above the stars, and flow between heaven and earth, which is called ghosts and gods; Hidden in the chest, it is called a saint. Therefore, it is as if you are in the sky, as if you are in the Yu Garden, as if you are in the sea, and as if you are yourself (as a "mountain"). " In Guan Zi's theory, essence is not only the material source of the objective world including people, but also the essence, qi and spirit, which are the three elements of human life activities, have the characteristics of mutual transformation. It is on this basis that later generations of health care scientists gradually endowed the three elements of life activities, namely essence, qi and spirit, with unique theoretical insights.
The basic meaning of essence
In the theory of health preservation in the motherland, "essence" is a subtle substance that constitutes the human body and maintains life activities. According to the source, function and function of essence, it can be divided into congenital essence and acquired essence. Among them, "innate essence", also known as "meta-essence", is the basis of human growth and development, mainly from the blood of parents, and is regarded as the original microscopic substance of human life activities. Huangdi Neijing said: "When a person is born, he becomes refined first." Refers to this innate nature; "Acquired essence", also known as "essence of viscera", mainly comes from the nutrition of the acquired five-grain diet, which is formed by transforming the subtle part of nutrition into human viscera through the respiratory regulation of the lungs and the digestion and absorption of the spleen and stomach. Although "essence" is different from "innate" and "acquired", they are complementary and interdependent. The innate essence depends on the continuous supplement of the acquired essence, and the acquired essence must rely on the vitality of the innate essence, which is also stored in people's two kidneys to form the so-called kidney essence. According to the theory of motherland health, kidney essence, as one of the important material elements of human life activities, mainly plays the following three physiological functions:
Promote human growth and development. If a person's kidney is full of essence, his growth and development will be normal; On the contrary, there will be abnormal phenomena such as dysplasia or premature aging.
Participate in human reproduction. Whether it is the development of sexual characteristics, the maturity of sexual function or the acquisition of reproductive ability, it is closely related to the rise and fall of kidney essence.
Nourish human organs and organs. When human kidney essence is full, it can be excreted through normal physiological channels, forming male ejaculation and female menstruation, and when necessary, it can also be transformed into other forms, such as qi, blood and body fluid. , and transported to the viscera, play a nourishing role.
In view of the above-mentioned important physiological functions of essence, the traditional health-preserving theory has always attached great importance to the health-preserving functions of nourishing essence, storing essence and refining essence. Huangdi Neijing puts forward: "The essence is also a husband, and the body is also the foundation, so those who hide essence are not ill in spring." ("A Brief Speech in the Golden Chamber of Su Wen"). In practice, China ancient health experts also explored a set of effective methods to nourish the "acquired essence" by increasing diet nutrition, and to control sexual intercourse and maintain the "innate essence".
The basic meaning of qi
In the traditional culture of China, all life phenomena are regarded as the result of "Qi" activity. This is what Ge Hong of Jin Dynasty said in Bao Pu Zi: "Man is in Qi, Qi is in man, and everything in the world depends on it." As an important part of China's traditional culture, the motherland's health preservation holds a similar view, holding that "Qi" is a tiny and subtle substance in an active state, which constitutes and maintains the whole process of human life activities.
According to China's health preserving theory, the generation of "Qi" is closely related to organs such as kidney, spleen and stomach, and lung. Among them, kidney storage comes from the innate essence of parents; Spleen and stomach absorb Shui Gu's essence from various dietary nutrients; The lungs breathe the air of nature. The existence of "Qi" is manifested through certain physiological functions, mainly in the following five aspects:
Promotion. "Qi" can promote the activity of viscera and blood circulation.
Warm effect. "Qi" has the function of maintaining the normal temperature of human body and keeping the body in harmony with the external environment.
Defense effect. "Qi" has the ability to protect the muscle surface and prevent the invasion of foreign pathogens.
Fixation. "Qi" has the function of controlling blood, sweat, urine and essence from leaking out.
Gasification. "Qi" has the function of maintaining normal activities of viscera and smooth metabolism of essence, blood and body fluid.
As can be seen from the above physiological functions, Qi, like essence, is also an important material basis for human life activities. The so-called "life is full of qi and death is full of essence" only emphasizes that "qi" and "essence" belong to the material elements that constitute life activities. The health preserving theory of the motherland emphasizes "nourishing qi", "invigorating qi" and qigong exercise, and this is the key point.
The basic meaning of God
In China's health preserving theory, "spirit" usually appears as a basic concept of human life activities, which includes mental and conscious thinking activities in the brain, as well as all physical activities and external manifestations of viscera, meridians, Wei Ying, qi and blood, body fluid and so on. The generation of "God" is mainly based on innate essence and nourished by acquired essence. Therefore, the rise and fall of "God" is inseparable from the gains and losses of essence. Only when the essence as the material element of life is sufficient can the "God" as the external expression of the function of life activities flourish. As for the physiological function of "God", Chinese medicine believes that it is mainly reflected in its dominant role in human life activities. The whole human body, from the brain to the internal organs, from the five senses and seven orifices to the meridians, qi and blood, essence, body fluid, and even the activities of limbs, all rely on "God" as the internal vitality to maintain its normal movement. It is precisely because "God" occupies such an important position in human life activities that Huangdi Neijing clearly draws an important conclusion that "those who gain God prosper and those who lose God die". It is under the influence of this concept that the health culture of the motherland has gradually formed a distinctive national characteristic of "having both form and spirit, and nourishing the spirit first".
As can be seen from the following analysis, in the traditional health preserving theory, essence, qi and spirit are the three basic elements of human life activities. Among them, essence and harmony are the material basis of life activities, while god is the external expression of life activities, or as the overall functional information of life structure. There is an internal relationship between the three: the essence is full of vitality, and the uneasiness is harmful to the essence and qi; If the essence is insufficient, God will be impetuous and restless. Only when the essence, qi and spirit are full can the life activities of the body run in a healthy state.
From the perspective of health preservation, normal life activities not only depend on the filling of essence as the material basis of life, but also strive to keep the essence in a regular cycle. The article "Lu Chunqiu Dayu" points out: "Blood desires communicate ... and the essence wants to do it. If this is the case, the disease will have nowhere to live, and evil will be born for no reason. " Traditional health preserving methods, such as Qigong, Tai Ji Chuan, Wuqinxi, Baduanjin, massage and acupuncture, etc. All of them have the main mechanism to promote the operation of essence and make the sick body recover. As one of the guiding principles of traditional health preservation theory, the essence of essence and qi circulation is nothing more than coordinating yin and yang, qi and blood, so as to keep the body in the best state, which is conducive to health preservation and longevity.