Recently, a female patient from another province contacted me via WeChat. She had been suffering from a persistent cough for about half a month due to an external invasion of wind-cold and consumption of cold foods. Despite taking numerous cough medications, the results were not significant, especially at night when her cough worsened to the point where she could not lie down and experienced shortness of breath. I advised her that after coughing for so long, her vital energy (正气, zheng qi) must be deficient. I recommended she brew 15g of Hong Shen (Red Ginseng) in water to drink instead of tea. As a result, her symptoms significantly improved that night. The next day, I instructed her to continue using 15g of Hong Shen (Red Ginseng) to brew hot water and mix it with eggs for two consecutive days. Sure enough, her cough, which had lasted for over ten days, was resolved. What is the reason for this? In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), this patient’s prolonged cough is classified as “Xu Ke” (Deficient Cough), characterized by a weak cough and shortness of breath when lying down, indicating severe deficiency of vital energy (气虚, qi xu)! Hong Shen (Red Ginseng) is an excellent remedy for tonifying qi; it not only replenishes qi quickly but also does not cause dryness and heat like Huang Qi (Astragalus). Furthermore, Hong Shen (Red Ginseng) can be consumed in various ways, such as brewing in water or chewing. I suggested mixing it with eggs because, from a TCM perspective, eggs are considered “blood and flesh with feelings”, which can nourish the lungs and enrich the blood. Thus, supporting the vital energy leads to the resolution of various symptoms!
In TCM, the treatment of diseases has always emphasized: “Supporting the Right and Expelling the Evil!” What is vital energy (正气, zheng qi)? Vital energy is the original force that maintains the balance of yin and yang in the body, harmonizes the organs, ensures the fullness of qi and blood, and keeps the meridians unobstructed. In simple terms, vital energy is life force. Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to diseases as evil pathogens, which are caused by factors such as wind, cold, heat, dampness, dryness, and fire! I believe that “Supporting the Right and Expelling the Evil” encompasses two aspects: first, supporting the right, and second, expelling the evil. Supporting the right means to cultivate and replenish the body’s vital energy to cure diseases or enhance physical constitution and improve the body’s ability to resist evil pathogens, thereby achieving the goal of overcoming diseases and restoring health. Expelling the evil means to eliminate the pathogenic factors that harm the body’s health to cure diseases or remove the evil, thus achieving the goal of expelling the evil and restoring health. Supporting the right is for the purpose of expelling the evil, which is known as “When the Right is Strong, the Evil is Naturally Expelled”; expelling the evil is for the purpose of supporting the right, which is known as “When the Evil is Expelled, the Right is Naturally Settled”!
Generally speaking, individuals with strong vital energy are not easily disturbed by evil pathogens and do not easily fall ill. Even if they occasionally encounter evil, they can recover quickly. However, when vital energy is weak, the body becomes vulnerable to the invasion of evil pathogens, and if one only focuses on attacking the evil without supporting the right, the vital energy will become more deficient, and the illness will worsen. For example, a person with deficient vital energy may feel cold with minimal clothing, feel hot with excessive clothing, sweat easily, and may catch a cold leading to clear nasal discharge, joint pain, diarrhea, etc. This indicates a state of vital energy deficiency, where evil pathogens can invade at any time. Therefore, maintaining health is about nurturing this vital energy; the key to treating diseases lies in supporting the right. As long as the vital energy within the body is sufficient, how can the evil pathogens prevail? The Qing dynasty scholar Liu Hengrui stated in “Jing Li Za Lun”: “Those who are good at warfare must first stockpile provisions; those who are good at treating evil must first nourish the right.” Expelling the evil cannot come at the cost of harming the right; harming the right is equivalent to harming life, and harming the right is detrimental to recovery. As long as the vital energy does not fail, the fire of life will not extinguish.
The TCM classic “Huang Di Nei Jing” states: “This must be due to the wind of deficiency, and when it combines with the body, both deficiencies interact, thus invading the body.” This reveals that when vital energy is strong, evil pathogens cannot disturb the body; conversely, when vital energy is weak, it is easy to be invaded by evil pathogens, which is known as “Where the Evil is Present, There is Insufficiency”. Furthermore, it can be said that all diseases begin with deficiency of the right. The strength and weakness of vital energy influence the entire process of disease occurrence and development. As long as the body has “vital energy stored within”, no matter how severe the disease is, the prognosis will be better; conversely, if vital energy declines, the prognosis will be poor. There is a saying that a person generally goes through four stages in life: birth, aging, illness, and death. From birth to old age, as people age, they become more susceptible to illness, and after severe illness, they may not be able to endure and pass away. Of course, many people also leave this world prematurely due to severe illness, which is very regrettable. This outcome may be their fate or the result of incorrect treatment, but most of the time, it is due to their own actions, and thus they cannot blame anyone else. I have observed that many people’s illnesses are prolonged; initially, when evil pathogens enter the body, there may be mild symptoms, but they do not pay attention. As the evil pathogens accumulate within the body, eventually, the right cannot withstand the evil, and it is too late to regret. We often say “Evil cannot suppress the Right”; as long as you have “vital energy stored within”, you will have enough strength to resist the evil! If the evil prevails, the vital energy must be deficient, and the illness will worsen. Ultimately, if the evil prevails, the person will be lost. Therefore, there is a saying: “A person’s life is a constant struggle against disease!” If vital energy is insufficient, one often first supports the vital energy, supplemented by attacking the evil, or may choose to only tonify; if vital energy is still sufficient, then focus on attacking the evil.
