Essence, Qi, Blood and Body Fluid在线视频

Hello everyone

We have studied some basic theories of TCM

such as yin-yang theory

five-element theory and visceral manifestation theory

Today we’ll study four basic substances of TCM

This is chapter 4 essence qi blood and body fluid

Let’s try to answer the following question

how can a person keep alive

From the western medicine view

it should be protein vitamin glucose lipid etc

TCM has totally different answer for this question

It should be qi essence blood body fluid etc

Qi essence blood and body fluid

are the basic materials to form and sustain

the life activities of human body

They are the basic substances for conducting

the physiological activities of zang-fu organs

meridians tissues and orifices

Generally speaking qi has the functions of promoting

and warming while essence blood and body fluid

have the functions of nourishing and moistening

According to the yin-yang theory

qi belongs to yang since qi is invisible and active

while essence blood and body fluid belong to yin

because they are visible and inactive

Essence refers the marrow substance of living beings

derived from parents and acquired from food essence

which is the origin of life and the basic material

to form and sustain life activities of the human body

In terms of the source of generation essence is

divided into the innate essence

which comes from parents and acquired essence

which comes from food and water with function of spleen

Innate essence refers to the refined material before birth

mainly the reproductive essence from parents

and is the formation of the raw material of the embryo

The innate essence is the origin of life

and the basis for growth

development and reproduction of the human body

Acquired essence refers to the refined material after birth

mainly the essence from food

generated by the spleen and stomach

also it is known as food essence

The innate essence and acquired essence

can combine to form the essence

of the whole body to be stored in the viscera

Innate essence and acquired essence have different sources

but they are inter-dependent

The innate essence is the premise

for generation of acquired essence

while acquired essence can supply

and enrich the innate essence

The physiological functions of essence are mainly

reflected in the following four aspects

First the reproduction

The innate essence from parents is the material basis

for pregnancy and the origin of life

After birth innate essence stored in kidney is supplied

and nourished of acquired essence

In the process of reproduction

the living matter of parents

through reproductive essence is passed to their children

Therefore kidney essence is the material basis for reproduction

Second kidney essence can promote and sustain

the growth and development of the human body

The state of kidney essence affects the whole life process

Third essence stored in kidney can generate marrow

including bone marrow and brain

Essence can also generate blood and qi

The abundance of essence

in viscera can generate sufficient healthy qi

to maintain vigorous activities of life

Fourth food can be transformed into food essence

distributed to the whole body to nourish the viscera and constituents

so as to maintain the life activities

Qi is the energetic and primary promoting force

for life activities to promote and stimulate

the function of viscera and meridians

Let’s think about how qi works

Vital energy called Qi is the life force that drives all living things

Qi flows through meridians in the body

similar to water flowing in a river

We have twelve primary meridians

each associated with an organ system

Therefore qi works as providing energy

for all the viscera and meridians

as well as

all the tissues involved in the whole system

When we apply acupuncture

on an acupoint located the end of limb

the patient often has the feeling of qi flowing

which is the qi movement along the meridian

This is a miraculous phenomenon

but actual feeling of invisible qi

Disease may occur with imbalance

resulting in excessive or deficient amounts of Qi

in the organs or meridians

TCM works to alleviate this imbalance and restore harmony

Does qi always keep static

The answer absolutely is NO

Qi flows inside the body without any break

Qi has different forms of movement because of different functions

In general qi keeps moving in four forms

Ascending descending exiting and entering 

The physiological functions of qi are as follows

First qi has promoting function

to stimulate the activities of viscera and tissues

for example heart qi promotes blood circulation

spleen qi promotes digestion and so on

Second qi has warming function

to maintain constant body temperature

as well as sustain circulation of blood and body fluid

Third qi has defending function to defend

invasion of external pathogens by consolidating body surface

Fourth qi has consolidating function to consolidate

body fluid to avoid loss

and consolidate viscera to maintain a fixed location

Fifth qi has transforming function to promote

metabolism and inter-transformation among essence

qi blood and body fluid

For instance

food is transformed into qi blood and body fluid

body fluid is converted into sweat and urine by metabolizing

and the residues of food are turned into feces

to be discharged from the body

Blood is the fluid circulating inside blood vessels

with the function of nourishing

and also one of the basic materials

to form and sustain life activities

Blood mainly consists of nutrient qi and body fluid

Nutrient qi and body fluid

are all transformed from food essence

Nutrient qi is transported with body fluid

to heart and lung by spleen

In lung nutrient qi combines with clear qi inhaled by lung

perfusing vessels and transforming into red blood

through the warming function of heart yang

The main functions of blood include

First blood nourish and moisten the whole body

signified by ruddy complexion

strong muscles

lustrous skin and hair

as well as nimble and flexible sensation

Second blood is basic material of mental activities

signified by vigorous mental activities

clear consciousness agile thinking and sensitive feeling

Body fluid is the general term for

all normal liquids in the body

including the secretion from organs and tissues

such as gastric fluid

intestine fluid tears etc

Body fluid is generated from food

through physiological functions of spleen stomach

small intestine and large intestine

The generating process is similar to blood

According to TCM

body fluid and blood share the same source

which is food essence

The main functions of body fluid are as follows

First body fluid is distributed to viscera

orifices and joints to nourish and moisten the whole body

Second body fluid can enter vessels

to transform into blood combined with nutrient qi

nourishing and smoothing vessels

Third body fluid belongs to yin

and plays an important role

in regulating yin-yang balance of the human body

Fourth during metabolism of body fluid

it can discharge the body’s metabolic waste constantly

through sweat and urine to ensure normal physiological function

So far we have talked a lot about the four basic substances

which are quite important to maintain our physiological activities

Among them qi belongs to yang

while the other three substances belong to yin

It is important to keep the balance between yin and yang

for the health sake

Therefore in our clinical practice the four substances

as well as the relations among them are all need to be considered

OK that’s all for today

see you in next class