Editor’s Note
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The yin and yang of heaven are divided into four parts, and humans should correspond to them—human yin and yang correspond to heavenly yin and yang. The exterior is yang, the interior is yin, the back is yang, the abdomen is yin, the house is yang, and the storage is yin. Each organ and each viscera, one yin and one yang, one interior and one exterior, cooperate with each other, and there are meridians that connect them, thus forming a close relationship between the organs. After the beginning of summer, the temperature gradually rises, but we still need to guard against the invasion of cold pathogens. Teacher Luo Dalun starts from the exterior and interior and yin and yang to tell everyone how to expel cold pathogens! |
Previously, we discussed the relationship between yin and yang and cold and heat, where cold and heat are the specific manifestations of yin and yang. As Zhang Jingyue said: “Cold and heat are the transformations of yin and yang.” However, TCM dialectics discusses the Eight Principles, which are yin and yang, cold and heat, exterior and interior, deficiency and excess. These are the four pairs of coordinates used in TCM to determine where the disease is and how strong it is, with yin and yang being the general principle, while the others are different angles for positioning.
Two Examples of Cold in the Feet
Next, let’s talk about the exterior and interior. Recently, there have been many cases of children falling ill, so I will give a few examples.
Recently, many children have developed rashes. A friend called me one day, saying that her one-year-old child had a fever for three days and asked what to do.
I asked over the phone, “What medicine has been taken?”
The answer was that they took the child to see a doctor, who prescribed acetaminophen to reduce the fever and also prescribed a children’s oral liquid for fever, but there was still no change after taking it.
I asked how the child’s blood test results were, and the answer was that the white blood cell count was normal. This indicates no bacterial infection. (In fact, if looked at closely, the total white blood cell count should be decreased while lymphocytes increased).
However, at this time, the child had no other symptoms, so I asked how the illness occurred. What happened before the onset?
It turned out that the child’s mother took the child to a playground while she was resting, and the child was playing barefoot.
I understood; I have seen many such cases.
In TCM, the exterior and interior of the human body are separated, with the exterior belonging to yang and the interior belonging to yin. In addition to this binary division, TCM has also established a ternary division to more accurately determine the location of the disease, dividing yang into Taiyang, Yangming, and Shaoyang, and yin into Taiyin, Shaoyin, and Jueyin, corresponding the organs and meridians to them, namely the Taiyang Bladder Meridian, Yangming Stomach Meridian, Shaoyang Gallbladder Meridian, Taiyin Spleen Meridian, Shaoyin Kidney Meridian, and Jueyin Liver Meridian.
Among them, the Taiyang Bladder Meridian is the outermost protective system, while the Shaoyin Kidney Meridian is the most important internal system. However, the Shaoyin Kidney Meridian starts at the Yongquan (Kidney 1) point on the sole of the foot, travels up the heel, and then ascends. It has a close relationship with the feet.
Therefore, protecting the feet is crucial. For example, we often massage our feet, which not only promotes the circulation of qi and blood in the Shaoyin Kidney Meridian but also nourishes other meridians that run through the feet.
Similarly, it is also critical to protect the feet from cold. I have seen many patients with nephritis due to inadequate foot protection. For instance, there was a young man who wore thin shoes in the winter and played on the frozen surface of a lake in the park, and afterward developed nephritis. I also saw an elderly woman who developed nephritis because she walked home in the rain with wet shoes in the cold, and she ended up with a fever and was diagnosed with nephritis.
For the child who called asking what to do about the fever, I judged that it was indeed due to playing barefoot on the ground. In April, the weather in Beijing is not very warm, so the cold affected the Shaoyin Kidney Meridian, causing a suppressed state, meaning that the pathogenic qi was hidden within the body’s yin meridian and could not manifest in the yang, thus the fever persisted.
So I told her to buy thirty grams of Su Ye (Perilla Leaf), and to use a small handful each time to brew water, mix it with boiling water, and soak the feet. This can protect the Shaoyin Kidney Meridian, keep the kidney meridian warm, invigorate the body’s functions, and expel the pathogenic qi outward.
As a result, the situation developed unexpectedly; the next day, the child suddenly broke out in rashes all over, and the fever immediately subsided.
What is this? I analyzed that this might be a case of roseola, indicating that the child’s righteous qi had become sufficient, allowing the rash toxins to be expelled. In other words, it manifested from within to the outside, from yin to yang.
Later, I prescribed detoxifying Chinese medicine for them, and to help the parents confirm the type of illness, I suggested they go to the Children’s Hospital. After they went, the doctor diagnosed it as roseola and prescribed a Chinese patent medicine, which was also detoxifying, but the doctor mentioned that the number of rashes was so many that it might be a drug allergy.
This diagnosis was somewhat confusing; roseola and allergies are two different diseases. You can tell by looking at the rash’s morphology whether it is an allergy or roseola. How could it possibly be an allergy? If it were an allergy, why not prescribe antihistamines?
The child’s roseola, once it manifests, will recover with slow detoxification and heat-clearing treatment.
In TCM, when treating diseases, we differentiate layers. When pathogenic qi is hidden within the body’s yin meridian, we need to use warming herbs (even foot soaks can work) to invigorate the body’s functions, allowing it to expel the pathogenic qi outward, then reach the surface, enter the yang meridian, and then detoxify. Many people think that this disease is just a warm pathogen; in fact, the virus itself does not have a distinction of cold or heat, but rather, it manifests cold or heat in different parts of the body and at different stages. We only need to adjust according to the symptoms, which is the flexible part of TCM.
There are many such cases. I will give another example. Young people in Beijing often drive to the suburbs for leisure, which is a trend. Every weekend, the roads to the suburbs are congested. A couple took their child to the suburbs, to a place in Mentougou with mountains and water, and saw a clear stream in the mountains. The family was very happy, and the child played barefoot in the water for a long time, enjoying the day.
However, after returning, the child quickly developed a high fever and was lethargic, and medication at the hospital was ineffective.
Later, they called me for advice, as they were friends and called me numerous times in one day. I told them that the child had been harmed by the cold water, affecting the kidney meridian. In TCM, this is called Tai Shao Liang Gan, meaning that the exterior Taiyang meridian is affected, while the innermost Shaoyin meridian is also affected, both invaded by external pathogens. In fact, if external pathogens invade the body normally, they must pass through the three yang meridians before entering the yin meridian, going through Taiyin before reaching Shaoyin. However, because the child’s feet were in the icy mountain stream, the pathogenic qi directly affected the Shaoyin, which was self-inflicted.
So what to do at this time? We can only expel from the inside out, enhancing the body’s resistance to push the pathogenic qi from the yin meridian to the yang meridian. The prescription used was Zhang Zhongjing’s Ma Huang Fu Zi Xi Xin Tang, which contains Fu Zi (Aconite) and Xi Xin (Asarum), both of which warm the kidney meridian. As a result, the child quickly recovered.
This is also an example of expelling pathogenic factors from within to the outside, from the yin meridian to the yang meridian, and then manifesting at the body surface. This is a procedure in TCM for treating such diseases.
Pathogenic Qi Hidden in the Yin Meridian
Because the Shaoyin Kidney Meridian is closely related to the feet, I have discussed two examples of cold in the feet. Of course, there are other examples that do not involve cold in the feet.
Some children do not have cold feet, but pathogenic qi can also hide in the yin meridian. For example, a parent reported that many children in the school had a condition called “wind lumps,” where red, swollen lumps appeared on their bodies. This is generally considered similar to urticaria and is not contagious, but the children indeed had outbreaks one after another, indicating that this disease might have a contagious possibility. However, regardless of the disease, just when this mother was relieved that her child was fine, her child also fell ill, so she sought my help.
At that time, I thought the skin lesions were red, swollen, hot, and painful, which should belong to heat, but the child’s tongue color was somewhat pale, indicating that the yang qi was still somewhat insufficient, which would allow some external pathogens to hide in the yin meridian. Therefore, I did not first prescribe heat-clearing and detoxifying herbs, but rather warming herbs, hoping to invigorate the child’s yang qi.
As a result, after just two doses, the child’s skin lesions began to increase significantly, indicating that the child’s righteous qi had started to become sufficient, allowing the external pathogens to be expelled. This type of rash disease, if it manifests outwardly, is smooth; if it is closed internally, it will leave future problems.
At this point, I analyzed that it should be almost time to expel, so I began to use detoxifying Chinese medicine, and the skin lesions began to gradually recede.
This is my common method, which is to avoid leaving pathogens in the yin meridian as much as possible, always trying to expel the pathogenic qi to the body surface, to the yang meridian, as this is the proper treatment.
Of course, there are more complex issues regarding the body’s exterior and interior. Sometimes, the Eight Principles of TCM may combine, such as internal heat, internal cold, internal excess, internal deficiency, etc., but it always revolves around the changes of yin and yang. Traditionally, it is believed that yin and yang can continue to be divided infinitely, such as yin within yin, yang within yin, and so on.
Moreover, I am currently discussing externally contracted diseases. If it is an internally injured disease, the complex situations will also be numerous, which we will discuss later.
In summary, the exterior and interior also correspond to yin and yang, and we must consider this when regulating the body.
》》Editor’s Note
“Cold qi” refers to the substances produced when the body is exposed to cold. We often hear elders teach us that cold starts from the feet, and illness enters through the mouth, which is the essence of this principle. Although cold qi is not considered a serious illness in TCM, its effects can be profound and far-reaching. Therefore, parents should be vigilant as the weather gradually warms up and not allow their children to be exposed to the cold.
︱Author Biography︱
Luo Dalun, born in 1968, from Shenyang, Liaoning, is a PhD in TCM Diagnosis from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, a health manager, and former chief editor of the “Health Hall” program at Beijing Television. Dr. Luo Dalun has been dedicated to introducing ancient TCM culture to modern people, widely disseminating TCM knowledge through the internet, television, newspapers, and other media. He has published over 800,000 words of popular science works on TCM, including “Great Doctors of the Hundred Schools” and “Ancient TCM—Legends of the Seven Great Doctors.” He has long written column articles in publications such as “Health Times” and has been recognized as one of the “Top Ten Fashion Figures in Healthy China 2012.” Dr. Luo teaches courses on “Positive Energy—The Path of Body and Mind Cultivation in Traditional Culture” at many business schools in China, including Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, China Europe International Business School, Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, and Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.
Source: Luo Dalun’s Blog, images from the internet/Edited and organized by: Xiao You
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