Reflections on Internal Injury and External Pathogenic Diseases
In studying the ancient Chinese medicine of circular motion, I have gained new insights and understanding regarding internal injury (内伤病, nèi shāng bìng) and external pathogenic diseases (外感病, wài gǎn bìng).
Internal injury diseases of the five elements are typically caused by insufficient congenital endowment, prolonged depletion, poor lifestyle habits, or environmental factors, leading to a sluggish or obstructed circular motion of the body’s five elements.
This is akin to a vehicle that has been driven for a long time without maintenance, resulting in rusted and malfunctioning parts.
Therefore, the focus of internal injury diseases lies in regulation (调理, tiáo lǐ), adjusting according to the prevailing conditions of the five elements and seasonal changes, much like performing maintenance on the body.
External pathogenic diseases, such as wind-cold (外感伤寒, wài gǎn shāng hán), are illnesses that arise from the body’s response to atmospheric changes.
Although they arise from changes in the atmosphere, they ultimately lead to internal disturbances within the body, indicating that the essence of the problem still lies within the body itself, necessitating adjustments to the body’s defensive (荣, róng) and nutritive (卫, wèi) functions.
Here, the concept of defensive and nutritive qi (荣卫, róng wèi) is introduced.
In the cosmic atmosphere, dispersal (疏泄, shū xiè) corresponds to nutritive qi (荣, róng), while convergence (收敛, shōu liǎn) corresponds to defensive qi (卫, wèi), with the atmosphere constantly undergoing changes between these two states.
On the surface of the body and outside the organs, there exists a corresponding defensive and nutritive qi that aligns with the cosmic atmosphere.
The dispersal of wood qi (木气, mù qì) in the body belongs to nutritive qi, while the convergence of the pores (腠理, cè lǐ) belongs to defensive qi.
When the body senses the dispersal and convergence of the cosmic atmosphere, if it cannot adjust in time and synchronize, disturbances will occur, leading to illness.
The first to be tested is the defensive and nutritive qi; if it is imbalanced and not regulated, it will affect the organs.
The fu organs (腑, fǔ) are yang organs, and diseases of the fu organs often present with heat symptoms; the zang organs (脏, zàng) are yin organs, and diseases of the zang organs often present with cold symptoms.
If the disease is neither in the defensive and nutritive qi nor in the organs, it may be in a state of half-exterior and half-interior, known as lesser yang syndrome (少阳经证, shǎo yáng jīng zhèng).
External pathogenic diseases primarily refer to disturbances in the body’s functions caused by external factors such as the cosmic atmosphere.
Regarding bacterial and viral infections as described in Western medicine, even if such infections exist, they arise because the internal environment of the body has changed due to the influence of the cosmic atmosphere, making it conducive for bacteria and viruses to proliferate. If the internal environment of the body is stable, bacteria and viruses find it difficult to reproduce, thus preventing disease.
The premise for bacterial and viral infections in the body is inevitably the disturbance of the internal environment.
Therefore, the core of the body’s self-disease lies in properly regulating the internal environment, reducing external influences, and thus maintaining health.