Questions for the ancients
I’m part of the student government association at NCNM in Portland, OR and I am currently working on creating a scholarship for Classical Chinese Medicine students at our institution. The SGA funded the scholarship and now I’m just working on logistics. Part of the scholarship application will involve students answering a question - with the best answer (as judged by a panel of students) getting the nod for the award. Anyway, as I was brainstorming potential questions I became lost in thought at my potential answer to one. I thought I would pose it to you, my readers.
If you could ask three questions of any ancient scholar of Chinese medicine, who would it be, why, and what would your three questions be?
For me, it would definitely be Zhang Zhong Jing. I know that in ten years time I will have much more insightful questions, but right now my questions would be:
1. To what extent did you base your work on the Neijing and Tang Ye Jing?
2. What’s up with Wu Zhu Yu Tang? I mean, seriously.
3. Are there any diseases you feel can’t be treated by what you present in the Shang Han Lun and Jin Gui? If so, what are they and why can’t they be treated by the formulas and procedures set out in those books?
As a bonus, I would ask him if he has an intact copy of the Tang Ye Jing and, if so, if I can have it. :D
Post your questions in the comments.
Eric
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Tags: ancient scholars, books, chinese-herbs, Classical Texts (general), classical-chinese-medicine, formulas, Learning, ncnm, Portland, scholar, scholarship application, shang-han-lun, student government association, tang-ye-jing, Zhang Zhong Jing
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8 Responses to “Questions for the ancients”
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To the Yellow Emperor:
What are your top 20 points and why?
How do you assess the qualities of food so that the food of the foreign devils can be easily included in your medicine?
Can I marry all those concubines too?
To Eric,
What the hell is the Tang Ye Jing?
Haha - good questions, Evan.
To M. Reynolds:
Tang Ye Jing (decoction classic) is a lost classic that comes from Shang dynasty. It is also known by the title Yi Yin Tang Ye (Yi Yin’s decoction). Yi Yin is credited with inventing the decoction method at the request of the Shang dynasty emperor he served under as prime minister. He is called the patriarch of preparing foods and the founder of the science of formulas according to my professor. He was a major contributor to Chinese herbalism. Also, some of the remaining material from this lost classic was presented to us at NCNM by our herbs professor. Apparently, he classified herbs using 2 elements instead of 1 for each. Not so sure on how this model works exactly, but I sure would like to learn the theory behind it.
Which leads me to Eric’s question. I was battling between asking Qi Bo, Li Shi Zhen, or Yi Yin the questions, but I decided Yi Yin because his work remains more of a mystery.
1) How did you come up with the idea for taking herbs internally with the very specific decoction method as opposed to just eating them with food or such?
2) Why did you decide to classify herbs with 2 elements instead of 1? For example, gui zhi is classified by him as being the the wood herb of the wood class, and fu zi as the water herb of the wood class.
3) How did you determine the mutual possessing qualities of herbs, or in other words, what signatures or characteristics were most emphasized in determining their classification?
Eric: If I win, can have an option of bypassing the scholarship offer, and instead actually have my wish granted of meeting Yi Yin and asking him the questions? That would be super sweet to meet a medical sage!
Michael,
Tang Ye Jing aka Yi Yin Tang Ye (I think) is the Decoction Classic. As far as I know it’s mostly lost, but many think that the Shang Han Lun was partly based on it. Arnaud Versluys, in teaching us herbal formulas, has referred to its wisdom often and has really helped us understand the deeper nature of the formulas.
My understanding is that it was written by the first person, allegedly, to put herbs together - mostly in the guise of cooking. There’s a particular story about this but I would screw it up in the telling without looking at my notes. Maybe I’ll write an article on the Tang Ye Jing sometime soon.
Delli!
You mystery delver, you. You must be working with the gemstones lately… Haha.
I love your questions. We should talk Tang Ye Jing sometime. I think it has become my life’s obsession to understand that. I almost want to get into archaeology so I can go dig for a complete copy. :D
Eric
I am woefully undereducated.
You’ll have to explain the Wu Zhu Yu Tang bit.
Shen Nong,
1) Did you meditate on the herbs and use some Kalninsy style method, or were you just born a genius, or better yet, are you an alien?
2) How did you figure out acupuncture, if you were out in the field figuring out all of the herbs? What exactly prompted the thought in you? Is it because you are a really smart alien?
3) Why do you look like you’re wearing sunglasses in your “picture?” Is that the real proof that you are an alien? I mean, I know you figured out the different foods, and the herbs, and the acupuncture, and the guqin — but seriously, SUNGLASSES? I don’t know how you ever put that together.
Thank you for the answers to these questions. I don’t believe in Santa Claus, but I do believe in you, so if you’d like, you can have all of the cookies and milk that I have failed to leave for that fat man in previous years, and we can make this an annual thing.