The ancients said: "Ordinary people are not sick." What is a "flat person"? To put it simply, it is a person who balances yin and yang. There are two sides of yin and yang in the human body, and generally speaking, all characteristics such as hot, moving, excited, strong, above, and outside belong to yang; On the other hand, it belongs to yin. But this balance between yin and yang is not static, and diet, sleep, exercise, mood, illness, etc., will break this balance. Once broken, the person will face the challenge of disease. If you want to live a long and healthy life, you must constantly adjust your yin and yang conditions, so that it can be in this balance at any time.
Those who are sick with fever and chills are also in yang; Those who have no heat and cold will also be in the yin. ”
It is said that there were ten suns in the ancient world, and these ten suns perched on a large tree like a bird in the easternmost part of the world. Whenever dawn comes, a sun travels through the sky on a two-wheeled bicycle, and ten suns change every day, bringing light to all things on earth. At that time, the people of the earth lived very happily. But one day, when the ten suns were going to travel the sky together, they all climbed into the car, and everything on the earth was destroyed. The ten suns are like ten fires, scorching the earth with great heat, the forests are on fire, the rivers are dry, the seas are dry, and everything is difficult to survive. At this time, a young archer, Hou Yi, stepped forward and shot down nine of the suns. There was only one sun left in the sky, and the world was restored to its former happiness and tranquility.
Everything depends on the sun for growth, and it is impossible to do without the sun. The sun shines on the earth and bathes all things. But the more the sun is not better, there are too many of them, and everything cannot survive.
Everything between heaven and earth has yin and yang: the sun is yang and the moon is yin; The side where the sun shines is yang, the side that carries the sun on its back is yin, and so on. The human body, like the world, has the opposition and unity of yin and yang, and they are in a relationship of one and the other.
We can think of the human body as a "small world", and when there is a "sun" in the body, we can achieve a healthy state of yin and yang balance. There is qi and blood in the human body, qi belongs to yang, and blood belongs to yin. "If there is more qi, it is fire", and when the fire is large, it is like one sun becoming ten suns, thus causing heat-related diseases, which is yangsheng. On the other hand, if there is not enough qi, as if there is no sun, then it will be very cold, and this is the yin sheng.
The small world in the human body also follows the health rules of yin and yang balance, and no matter which side of yin and yang is out of balance, it will lead to disease. Because yin and yang grow and fall, there will be yang flourishing and yin decaying, or yin flourishing and yang decaying. And cold and heat are the manifestations of yin and yang, the yang is hot, and the yin is cold. Most of the symptoms we see as heat are manifestations of strong reaction to external evils, such as fever, irritability, spitting yellow phlegm, etc.; Most of the people with cold syndrome are manifestations of low adaptability to external evils, such as cold pain and warmth. Distinguishing whether the disease is cold or hot is a prerequisite for determining whether to use warm or cold medicines**. Traditional Chinese medicine says: "One asks about cold and heat and the other asks about sweat", the first thing to ask is cold and heat, and the most important question to ask about cold and heat is the hands and feet. Because the hands and feet are the ends of the human body, if the hands and feet are warm, it means that the circulation in the human body is very good, and the person is in a state of yin and yang balance. If the hands and feet are hot, it is mostly yang; If the hands and feet are cold, it is mostly yin.
At the same time, the nails on the hands can also reflect the cold and heat. There is a white crescent-shaped mark on the fingernail that we call it a nail mark. Not everyone has it on their fingernails, and some people don't have it on their hands, so what does this nail mark have to do with physical health? In fact, the nail seal is the new part of the nail root, and by looking at the nail seal, you can distinguish the cold, heat, and void of the human body.
Nail marks are crescent-shaped marks at the base of the nail, which can reflect the cold, heat, and void of the human body.
Generally speaking, people with a balance of yin and yang have nail marks except for the two little fingers, and the width of the thumb nail marks is about 2 mm, and the rest decrease in turn. At the same time, the edges of the nail mark are neat, clear, and full, which is a sign of health. Some people will find that they can't see the nail mark, and this condition is called the cold nail mark, which is usually related to the yin sheng in the body.
Some people have nail marks on one thumb, which also means that the body is full of yin and cold. On the contrary, there are also people who not only have nail marks, but also slightly larger or more nail marks, which is called hot type nail marks. If there is a nail mark on the little finger, or the nail mark is too large, it means that the body is yang and hot. The nail mark is slightly larger or more, indicating that the body is yang and hot.
If there are few nail marks or only the thumb, it means that the body is full of yin and cold. We know that Chinese medicine is to adjust the balance of yin and yang to ** disease, as the so-called "cold is hot, hot is cold".
Liu Yuduo, the first good medical officer in Beijing, worked as an imperial doctor in the palace during the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, and the level of diagnosis and treatment was quite high. Once Emperor Qianlong's palate was dry, there was a hot feeling, Liu Yuduo and others gave a taste of children's tea, and let Emperor Qianlong apply it to the hair part or take it, and quickly cleared the floating fire in his mouth.
In fact, children's tea is not tea, it is a dry extract concentrated by the branches of the catechu tree or the branches and leaves of the Rubiaceae plant catechu hook vine with decoction juice, also known as catechu paste and black catechu. Children's tea has the effect of clearing heat and dissolving phlegm, and external use can reduce sores and stop bleeding, and has a certain effect on dry mouth, toothache, gum ulcers, etc. The dry palate is usually caused by the fire of the lungs and stomach, and the taste of children's tea is bitter and cool, bitter can relieve diarrhea, and cool can clear heat, so it can play a role in dissipating heat and removing fire, which is the best method of "hot people are cold".
On the contrary, if the patient has a cold syndrome and the body is full of yin, it is necessary to replenish yang qi and return to a "sun".
It is said that in the late Spring and Autumn Period, Qi Jinggong, the monarch of Qi State, suffered from water and gas internal cessation and never recovered. That night, Qi Jinggong suddenly dreamed that he was fighting with two suns, and he couldn't win it, and when he woke up, he was worried about whether this was a sign that his death was approaching. The next morning, Qi Jinggong said to the then minister of state, Yanzi: "Last night I dreamed that I was fighting with two suns and was defeated, I am probably dying!" Yan Zi thought for a while and said, "Please ask a dreamer to come and **." After Qi Jinggong agreed, Yan Zi sent someone to pick up the dreamer in a car, and he stood by the small door in the palace to greet him. After the dream teller arrived, Yan Zi told him: "Last night Qi Jinggong had a dream, he dreamed that he was fighting with two suns, and he was defeated, so I specially invite you to come and occupy the dream." The dreamteller said, "Let me first check the book of dreamers and see what it says." ”
Yan Zi said: "No need to check. Qi Jinggong suffers from water disease, which is the evidence of yin and prosperity, and the sun belongs to fire and yang; He can't beat the sun alone, it's the yang that grows and the yin retreats, and it's a sign that the disease will heal, you just say it! The dream teller acted according to Yanzi's arrangement, and Qi Jinggong was overjoyed when he heard it. After a few days, Qi Jinggong really died.
Qi Jinggong thinks that he can't beat the sun, and the yang energy is insufficient, which is the prosperity of yin and the decline of yang; However, Yan Zi taught the dreamer that this is because of "yang growth", that is, yang flourishes and yin declines, and yin evil is about to recede, indicating that the disease is about to be cured, which shows that these are two completely opposite ways of thinking. Qi Jinggong already has the yin evidence of water disease, if it worsens, he will definitely not live long, but thinking about it the other way, saying that this is with the help of the two suns, it also means that his yang energy is strong. According to the law of yin and yang growth, his yin energy will decrease, yang energy will grow, and the body will regain the balance of yin and yang, and then he will regain his health.
This shows that when people look at their patients, they should have confidence and think on the good side, so that they can improve their own ability, which is the same as the principle of medication. Then combined with the drug to treat the symptoms, it will achieve a significant ** effect.
Aphrodisiac yang energy can drive away cold evil, which is also relatively common in life. For example, some women have cold pain in their lower abdomen during menstruation, which is usually due to cold condensation. At this time, the ladies buy a warm water bag and put it on the abdomen, and when the abdomen is warm, they feel much more comfortable, which is also the "cold and hot" method.
In short, if you want to be healthy, you must understand the yin and yang conditions of your body, pay attention to the cold and warmth, and don't be negligent. It's like wearing more clothes when it's cold and less clothes when it's hot, you should adjust it from time to time through your own feelings, and don't let your body be hot or cold. Keep your body in a dynamic yin and yang balance to maintain long-term health.
The patient's body is very hot, and those who want to get clothes are hot in **, and cold in the bone marrow; The body is cold, but those who don't want to get close to the clothes, the cold is in the **, and the heat is in the bone marrow. "Nowadays, many things are difficult to distinguish between real and fake, food, drink, clothing, and use, all of which can be confused with falsehood, and even some people will adulterate love and family affection for money and interests. Therefore, there is a song that sings, "Lend me, lend me a pair of discerning eyes, so that I can see this distraction clearly, clearly, and truly."
When we talk about traditional Chinese medicine here, I will tell you about such a disease, and it sometimes plays such a trick on you: it was originally a cold syndrome, but it was disguised as a heat syndrome; Or it was originally a hot evidence, but it appeared as a cold image.
When encountering such a situation, we need to have a pair of sharp eyes to distinguish the true from the false, to see the truth of the cold and heat clearly, and to distinguish whether it is really cold or really hot. To figure out what the essence of the disease is, you must not be confused by appearances, otherwise the ** will go in the opposite direction, and the more you treat people, the more sick you will be.
How can you tell if it's true or not? The most direct and effective way to do this is to look at the tongue. You can look at your own tongue in the mirror, and you can ask him to stretch out your tongue to show you, and you can understand it at a glance, which is simple and convenient.
Many friends who study Chinese medicine health care, when they are sick or their friends and family members are sick, they look at their complexion, sweating, and whether their bodies are cold or feverish, but they don't look at their tongues. For ordinary people, the pulse is not easy to grasp, and the tongue is not understood, and after the two rulers that best reflect the nature of the disease are forgotten, it may lead people astray.
Generally speaking, if the tongue coating is white, it means that the person has cold in his body, and most of his illnesses are related to cold. Even if it is feverish, it is also a false heat, because the body is too cold, and the little yang energy left in the body is too cold to stay there, so it floats to the top, and at this time you should give him warm yang to dispel the cold.
If the person's tongue coating is a thick layer of yellow, it means that the person must have heat in his body, and his illness is a heat syndrome. In addition, defecation and defecation are often an effective way to distinguish between cold and heat.
If it is a hot syndrome, the stool must be dry and dry, and if it is worse, the pulled out is like sheep dung and eggs. If the stool is not dry, you can't use those cold laxatives indiscriminately, and it is easy to hurt the righteousness. This point has been repeatedly emphasized by Zhang Zhongjing in "Treatise on Typhoid Fever". The same is true for urine, which can be observed at any time when you go to the toilet. If the urine is very yellow and smells great, it means that there is a fire in the body, and sometimes there will be fewer toilet visits, or it is difficult and painful to pee. On the contrary, if it is cold, the urine must be lighter and more abundant.
True cold and false heat, real heat and false cold, these true and false diseases, sometimes not only ordinary people can't see clearly, but also famous doctors, often blinded by the illusion in them.
Xu Xiaopu was a famous pediatrician in Shanghai in the 30s of the 20th century. One summer, his youngest son fell ill with typhoid fever and developed a high fever. Xu Xiaopu thinks that children, "Yang is often excessive, Yin is often insufficient", the child has a fever, it must be a heat certificate, so he prescribes some cold medicine to the child**. However, after the child took the medicine, the fever did not subside, but became more and more sick. Xu Xiaopu tried his best, but it didn't work. In desperation, under the persuasion of his family, he invited Zhu Weiju.
Who is this Zhu Weiju? Known as "Zhu Aconite", he is a representative of warm disease, especially good at using aconite to cure diseases, and nine out of ten diseases will use aconite. After Zhu Weiju came, there was indeed aconite in the medicine prescribed for the child. Xu Xiaopu was very angry when he saw it. The child was obviously burned like that, but he actually gave such a hot aconite, and ran to his bedroom in a rage.
Zhu Weiju guarded the child, decocted and fed the child, and observed the child's condition. Unexpectedly, the next morning, the child's fever slowly subsided, and he began to drink rice soup. This is good news, Mrs. Xu hurriedly ran to Xu Xiaopu's room to report the good news.
Xu Xiaopu rushed over when he heard the news, and looked at the child back and forth, up and down, left and right. The child is really much better, compared to the previous few days, it is like two people. At this time, Xu Xiaopu was completely convinced of Zhu Weiju, and took off the "pediatric expert" plaque on the lintel at that time, feeling that his skills were inferior to others, and he was called "expert" in vain, and tried his best to worship Zhu Weiju as a teacher. In the end, Zhu Weiju promised to take his child under the door.
From this example, we can see that Xu Xiaopu's child's illness is actually a real cold and false fever. On the surface, the high fever does not go away, and the heat is terrible, but it is reluctant to get close to the quilt, so it is actually a sign of cold. The cold inside is already suffering, and if you use cold medicine to fight again, it will only make the cold heavier and the yang qi deficiency worse, so Xu Xiaopu's medicine did not work. On the contrary, aconite is warm, and the use of aconite is the principle of "cold is hot" in traditional Chinese medicine, and after the balance of yin and yang, the disease will naturally be cured.
Another situation that corresponds to true cold and false heat is true heat and false cold. You may think he's cold, but he's actually hot, and it's very hot inside. I've had such a patient myself. It was a very hot day in July, and many people were sweating in tank tops and shorts, but my patient came to see the doctor in a sweater, hunched his waist and shoulders, and said that he was cold. She said that this "cold disease" has been bothering her for several years, and she has not been optimistic about it after looking for many doctors. I looked at the prescriptions she had taken before, and they were all medicines to warm the yang and dispel the cold. At that time, I wondered, these are the best medicines for cold syndrome, there is no problem, why has it been so long, and the patient's illness has not improved at all?
When she spoke, I occasionally felt her tone heavier, and I suddenly opened my mouth, and the word "cold bag fire" immediately popped out of my head. Looking at her tongue coating again, it is not white as it should be in the cold syndrome, but it is yellow and relatively thick and turbid, which is an obvious heat syndrome. So, I quickly prescribed her a few cold medicines such as raw gypsum, talc, and buffalo horn, and asked her to go back and take them. As a result, after taking one dose, I am not so afraid of cold. After taking a few more doses, the clothes are almost the same as those of a normal person. Later, the disease slowly got better. Now that I think about it, I guess the doctors she looked for before were just like me at the beginning, and they were all blinded by this cold image on her surface. Therefore, it is a very important thing for a doctor to distinguish the true from the false and clear the fog. Of course, not everyone can be a doctor, and it doesn't need to be a doctor. More of us just want ourselves and our families to live a long and healthy life, but even so, we need to know more about the disease, and then we will have more health protection. Gestures, revealing the secret of the body's yang energy, "If the benefit stops, the cold and lie down, and the hands and feet are warm, it can be cured." ”
We usually judge a person's character, quality, and level of cultivation through some subtle movements between their gestures. Have you ever thought about it, in fact, through his gestures, we can also judge whether he is a person with strong yang energy, whether this person can be entrusted with important tasks and go through difficulties together. Whether a person's yang energy is sufficient or insufficient, we don't need to look elsewhere, just look at the hands and feet. A person with warm hands and feet must have enough yang energy, strong resistance, and is not very sick; On the contrary, regardless of spring, summer, autumn and winter, people whose hands and feet are often cold will have yang qi deficiency, weak resistance, and love to get sick.
The hands and feet are located at the ends of the limbs of the body, and if the body is compared to a country, the subtle yang energy in the body is the treasury of the state, and the hands and feet are the remote mountainous areas far from the capital. Will this fiscal spend more on? Needless to say, if the expenditure is made to the most developed cities, then the remote mountainous areas often become impoverished mountainous areas.
So, if you want to see how developed this country is, don't look at its capital, and don't look at those model cities, which have been built with a lot of energy and investment, and you can't really understand the reality of this country from there. The best way to do this is to go to the backwoods. If the people here live happily and well-being, then the strength of the country should not be underestimated, and if the people here are ragged and hungry, then the country's economic strength needs to be strengthened.
In the same way, if you want to see if the yang energy in your body is strong, don't look elsewhere, look at the hands and feet first. If the temperature of the hands and feet is not low, it means that the yang energy of the person's entire body is vigorous and the physical condition is good; If his hands and feet are not warm or always cold, then his yang energy is not strong enough and his health is poor.
Hand diagnosis is a very good diagnostic method in our Chinese medicine. Although it may be less useful to see a doctor now, we should still know some knowledge of hand diagnosis, which can help us understand our health status in a timely and accurate manner, which is very practical. I don't know if you have paid attention to the half-moon mark at the base of your fingernails, everyone is different. Some people have a lot of thumbs, middle fingers, index fingers, and even ring fingers on both hands, and some people only have them on their thumbs. The more half-moon marks, the better your health, generally 6 or 8 are considered normal. As we just said, some people have very few half-moon marks, just a little bit on their thumbs; And some people don't even have a thumb, so what does that mean? The yang energy in the body is insufficient, and the health index needs to be improved urgently.
In fact, the most revealing signal of the hand in your body is the temperature of the Yang Qi we mentioned at the beginning. Normally, our hands should be warm, but some people, their hands are very cold, and whenever you go to shake their hands, they are cold. Sometimes, we joke that he is a cold-blooded animal. In fact, this is the lack of yang energy in his body. This situation mostly appears in some elderly people, women, or people who are relatively weak, and you will also find that they wear thicker and more clothes, speak softly and softly, whether it is work or playing together, they are not very energetic, and they are easy to get tired early. People like these people with cold hands, in addition to our general diet and nourishment, when you have nothing to do, you just shake your hands more and do more hand exercises. Traditional Chinese medicine says that "movement generates yang", and exercise can also make your hands warmer. Speaking of hands, let's also talk about feet. There is a proverb called "the cold starts from the feet", which is meant to tell people to pay attention to the warmth of their feet. Here's a question, why doesn't the cold start from somewhere else, but from the foot?
You see, the two feet are at the lowest end of our body, that is, at the very end, in the most remote mountainous area of a country, and it is not well fed, and it receives the least yang energy there, so it is also the most afraid of cold.
This external evil and the righteous qi in the human body are also like two fighting troops, and the external evil is particularly cunning, and it is specifically looking for the weakest place of the righteous qi in the human body to attack. Therefore, for the cold evil, they will often covet the feet with the weakest yang energy. As long as you don't pay attention to keeping warm here, it will take the opportunity to invade your body from here and cause you all kinds of trouble.
When it comes to keeping your feet warm, you must remember not to go to the rain in summer, which is a mistake that many young people love to make in modern times. In addition, the ancestors also left us a particularly good health regimen, which is to soak our feet.
There are many acupuncture points on the soles of the feet, which can be activated when you soak your feet. For example, the Yongquan point at the bottom of the foot, it is the first acupoint of the Kidney Sutra, and the "Yellow Emperor's Neijing" says that "the kidney comes out of the spring". Activating it, you will activate the kidney meridian, which can play a role in strengthening the kidney and strengthening yang.
Foot soaking is a traditional Chinese health preservation method, which stimulates the abundant acupuncture points on the feet through the action of hot water and medicine, and plays a role in strengthening the kidneys and aphrodisiac and prolonging life. When soaking your feet, it's best to take a longer time. How long? You don't have to say half an hour or an hour, it varies from person to person. Just soak your whole body and start sweating slightly. We also pay attention to massage in traditional Chinese medicine, especially foot massage, and I believe many people are very familiar with this word. Therefore, you can also massage and knead the soles of your feet while soaking, which is better than just soaking your feet.
Due to the wide spread of Chinese medicine culture, moxibustion is now also popular. Some friends who are keen on health care often buy some moxa sticks for self-conditioning. I suggest that when you buy moxa sticks, you might as well buy some moxa wool by the way, and add some moxa wool to the water for foot soaking, which can enhance the effect of the Wentong meridians.
In ancient times, in an agrarian society, it was more convenient for people to obtain mugwort leaves, and those who paid attention to health preservation would boil some mugwort leaf water to soak their feet, which could not only warm the sun, dispel cold and dampness, but also improve foot diseases such as foot odor. This is the same as our foot soaking in mugwort. Zhang Zhongjing said: "Those with warm hands and feet can be treated." "Siblings are not only a messenger to reveal the strength of the body's yang energy, but also a "judge" to judge life and death. When a person is so sick and weak that he does not know whether he can be saved, how can he be judged? Touch his hands and feet. If there is still temperature in his hands and feet, it means that the yang energy in his body is still okay. If it is cold when you touch his hand, and the temperature is not at all, then it is over, the yang energy in the body has been exhausted, and it is futile to use medicine, "those who have no yang energy die", this person is considered to have finished his life. Regarding this point, Zhang Zhongjing has talked about it many times in "Treatise on Typhoid Fever", and he uses whether his hands and feet are warm or not as a ruler to distinguish between life and death. Seeing this, some friends may be anxious. My hands are very cold in winter, is this also yang deficiency? Do you need to make up for it? It depends. In winter, whether it is nature or our human body, it is in a state of "yang lying inside", and it is normal for the hands to be a little cooler. As long as it's not cool on a warm day or in a warm environment, it's out of the way.
Everyone has a pair of hands and feet, but not everyone has the ability to recognize hands and feet and distinguish health. "Teach it to fish, it is better to teach it to fish", no matter how good the prescription is, it is not as good as not making people sick, what is introduced to you here is just to borrow some knowledge from Zhang Zhongjing's "Treatise on Typhoid Fever" to teach you some knowledge of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, as well as health care skills.