Yin-Yang Theory在线视频

Hello everyone

Today we’ll study the second section of chapter 2

We have talked about TCM is

not only a kind of medicine

it is a kind of culture

Philosophical thought is

one important element of Chinese culture

The formation and development of TCM

was deeply influenced not only by qi monism

but also by yin-yang theory and five-element theory

For today’s class

let’s explore the philosophical basis of TCM

Let’s get start from Yin-yang theory

Yin-yang theory is a plain dialectical thought

based on materialism as well as a unique worldview

and methodology to understand and explain the origin

and changes of the universe

Yin-yang theory states that the world

is a material unity which continuously develops

and changes under the interaction of

yin qi and yang qi

The early meaning of yin and yang were quite simple

The side facing the sun is yang

and the reverse side is yin

Since the yang side is always warm bright and more plants

while the yin side cold dim and less plants

Then the meaning of yin and yang are gradually extended

Yang is defined as locating in the south of the mountain

and north of the river

While yin is defined as locating

in the north of the mountain and south of the river

Our city which is called Xianyang

means double yang

The reason for the special name is that

our city is located in the south of Jiuzong mountain

and north of Wei river

Therefore it belongs to yang

whatever from the mountain view or from the river view

The TCM classical book suwen says

that water and fire are the symbols of Yīn and Yáng

From here we can see that yin and yang

has been used as symbols

Generally speaking

yin is used to describe the things

or phenomena which are

cold static dark interior downward etc

while yang is used to describe things

or phenomena which are

warm active bright exterior upward etc

For example the sun and the moon

the sun is much brighter and warmer

while the moon is much darker and cooler

Therefore the sun belongs to yang

while the moon belongs to yin

Since that yin is used to describe the things or phenomena

which are cold static dark interior downward etc

while yang is used to describe things

or phenomena which are

warm active bright exterior upward etc

then how to define the yin yang characters

for the following things

such as car vs house

such as star vs table

such as flower vs bird

No matter which one you will pick up

as yang and which as yin

the answer would be wrong

Actually this is a trick

The couple things here

have no relationship each other

so we can’t defined their yin yang characters

Because we can’t define things

or phenomena the yin yang characters

which are unrelated each other

Only the opposite aspects of mutually related things

or phenomena can be attributed to Yin or Yang

During the applying and developing of yin and yang

the ancient Chinese people realized

that everything in the universe

has two opposite aspects

whose interactions promoted development and change

So the two words were given some philosophical meanings

Yi Jing another classical book says

Alternating between Yīn and Yáng is called Tao

Tao means the basic law of the universe

Follow the thought of Taoism

we should obey the rules in the nature

With the applying of yin and yang in people’s daily life

Yīn and Yáng theory was gradually developed

to refer to the opposite aspects of mutually related things

or phenomena in the natural world

The theory of yin-yang

as a dialectical way of thinking

was applied to the TCM field to be

one of the philosophical bases

As the yin-yang theory was introduced into TCM

this theory was used to explain

the organic structure of the human body

explain the physiological functions

and the pathological changes of the human body

as well as guide the diagnosis and treatment

When the yin-yang theory is used to

explain the body structure

the upper part belongs to yang

while the lower part belongs to yin

The exterior part belongs to yang

while the interior part belongs to yin

Because the upper part and exterior part

are all exposed to much more sunlight

compare to the other part

For the back and abdomen

back belongs to yang

that is due to the back facing the sun

during the ancient farmer’s working

Head and foot are easy to be classified

similar with the upper and lower part

For explaining the physiological functions

of the human body

according to the yin-yang theory

our human body includes

qi essence blood and body fluid

Among all the four basic materials

qi belongs to yang because it is invisible and active

much more energy

while essence blood and body fluid belong to yin

because they are visible and inactive

less energy

From the view of TCM and yin-yang theory

our body will be healthy when yin and yang

stay in a balance condition

while be unhealthy when the balance of

yin and yang was broken

So we need to obey the rules of nature

obey the principle of yin and yang

in order to keep the balance between yin and yang

In our clinical practice

one of the questions concerned

by most patients is why we got sick

A simple way to answer the question

is tell the patient that a lot of pathological factors

could injure yin or/and yang

then induced an imbalance of

yin and yang which means disease

Here are examples how to explain

the pathological changes by using yin-yang theory

Generally speaking yang represents energy

It can be induced excessive heat

if there are excessive yang in our body

For this kind of condition

we call it heat excess syndrome

Excessive yin can induce excessive cold

which is called cold excess syndrome

In some different conditions

yang or yin may be deficient

Deficient yang would induce a relative cold syndrome

and deficient yin

would induce a relative heat syndrome

Because balance means health

according to the TCM theory

So regulating yin and yang is the best way

to restore its balance

In TCM prevention is more important than treatment

Because the balance can be easily achieved

by regulating the yin and yang

when they are in a slight imbalance

instead of severe imbalance

One of the advantages of TCM is regulation

To avoid further development of diseases

Slight imbalance can be improved

by tiny TCM treatments

The yin-yang theory is used

in not only determining diagnostic principles

but summarizing the nature

flavor and action of medicinal herbs

Therefore providing a theoretical basis

for the clinical application of herbs

According to the yin-yang theory

Chinese herbs with cold nature

belong to yin while Chinese herbs

with warm and hot nature belong to yang

We just talk about the syndromes

according to the yin and yang theory

and for treating these syndromes

the treatment can be selected

according to the yin-yang theory

For example

for treating the heat-excess syndrome

the cold-natured herbs can be selected

Because cold-natured herbs

remove the excessive heat from the body

to help the body recovering

from the imbalance of yin and yang

Ok we talked about the meaning of yin and yang

and the developing and forming of yin-yang theory

as well as the application of yin-yang theory in TCM

That’s all for today

See you in next class