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Chinese Medicine From The Classics: The Kidneys
94 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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November 14, 2018
This is a fantastic book on translations from the text of the Huang Di NeiJing which was written about 200BC or around there. But that is when it was collected and written down. The knowledge is thousands of years older than that.
Father Larre and Elisabeth Rochat focus there translations on text and passages having to do with the amazing Kidneys in the body. These pair are the foundations of Yin and Yang. They are all about opposite. There is the hardness of bone and yet the softness of marrow. The hardness of teeth and the softness of hair. All these opposites are correspondences of the Kidney.
I appreciated the text talking about salt. There is salt in the sea, but the characters point to the salt from the Earth as being so important. When water dives down into the Earth, this is the time salt picks up these dual qualities.
There is a wonderful relationship between the Heart and Kidneys and the fire that is in Kidneys and how the two intertwine. I am now beginning to think of the Heart and Kidneys are two sides of one coin. They have so many similarities.
I find these books so helpful in my study of Chinese medicine. They are powerful and it really brings life to the medicine in a shocking new way. It brings clarity and understanding. Our ancient ancestors knew and understood so much. They really did.
I underlined a ton here, but I'm going to put only a few paragraphs here.
"The salty taste has the characteristic of softening, and too much injures the blood and leads to a dryness. We know very well that if you eat too much of the salty taste it makes you thirsty, this is said in the Ling Shu Chapter 63 and is a sign of the diminution of bodily liquids. According to Ling Shu chapter 63 the salty taste goes to the blood by affinity, and as a result there is stagnation and congealing of the blood. The same thing happens to the juices of the Stomach. But the sweet taste has the ability to increase the fluids in the body, particularly the Jin and the clear liquids produced by the Spleen."
Very well stated and it makes sense to me. Another
"One must also understand the function of the Kidneys at every level of activity of the organism: mastering water, keeping the liquids in the right proportion, retaining and drawing downwards, all the while guarding against the exaggeration of this movement that is so natural to them."
That seems important to know. Edema in the legs is too much exaggeration and water accumulates and that relationship with the heart is important here.
Last one:
"When you are afraid either you yourself move away from the situation or things move downwards in you. The descending movement, which is proper to the kidneys, is exaggerated as an effect of fear, and continues to the point of losing essences. Fear also attacks the relationship between the Kidneys and the Heart. Injury to the spirits from fear and fright you can lose possession of yourself. The answer is reflective thought prevails over fear. This is the best way to overcome fear. "
This last piece of it helps explain the above:
"When there is fear the essences withdraw and as a result the upper heater completely closes which means that the Qi returns below and there is a swelling in the lower heater. For this reason the Qi can no longer circulate. What this means is that fear realizes the separation of Yin and Yang of the upper and lower heaters, of bottom and top and so on."
I need to spend more time reading these gems. They are wonderful. I need more time. It took too long. They are worth the time though. I feel like I understand so much more about the body with this.
Father Larre and Elisabeth Rochat focus there translations on text and passages having to do with the amazing Kidneys in the body. These pair are the foundations of Yin and Yang. They are all about opposite. There is the hardness of bone and yet the softness of marrow. The hardness of teeth and the softness of hair. All these opposites are correspondences of the Kidney.
I appreciated the text talking about salt. There is salt in the sea, but the characters point to the salt from the Earth as being so important. When water dives down into the Earth, this is the time salt picks up these dual qualities.
There is a wonderful relationship between the Heart and Kidneys and the fire that is in Kidneys and how the two intertwine. I am now beginning to think of the Heart and Kidneys are two sides of one coin. They have so many similarities.
I find these books so helpful in my study of Chinese medicine. They are powerful and it really brings life to the medicine in a shocking new way. It brings clarity and understanding. Our ancient ancestors knew and understood so much. They really did.
I underlined a ton here, but I'm going to put only a few paragraphs here.
"The salty taste has the characteristic of softening, and too much injures the blood and leads to a dryness. We know very well that if you eat too much of the salty taste it makes you thirsty, this is said in the Ling Shu Chapter 63 and is a sign of the diminution of bodily liquids. According to Ling Shu chapter 63 the salty taste goes to the blood by affinity, and as a result there is stagnation and congealing of the blood. The same thing happens to the juices of the Stomach. But the sweet taste has the ability to increase the fluids in the body, particularly the Jin and the clear liquids produced by the Spleen."
Very well stated and it makes sense to me. Another
"One must also understand the function of the Kidneys at every level of activity of the organism: mastering water, keeping the liquids in the right proportion, retaining and drawing downwards, all the while guarding against the exaggeration of this movement that is so natural to them."
That seems important to know. Edema in the legs is too much exaggeration and water accumulates and that relationship with the heart is important here.
Last one:
"When you are afraid either you yourself move away from the situation or things move downwards in you. The descending movement, which is proper to the kidneys, is exaggerated as an effect of fear, and continues to the point of losing essences. Fear also attacks the relationship between the Kidneys and the Heart. Injury to the spirits from fear and fright you can lose possession of yourself. The answer is reflective thought prevails over fear. This is the best way to overcome fear. "
This last piece of it helps explain the above:
"When there is fear the essences withdraw and as a result the upper heater completely closes which means that the Qi returns below and there is a swelling in the lower heater. For this reason the Qi can no longer circulate. What this means is that fear realizes the separation of Yin and Yang of the upper and lower heaters, of bottom and top and so on."
I need to spend more time reading these gems. They are wonderful. I need more time. It took too long. They are worth the time though. I feel like I understand so much more about the body with this.
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