Every day, what wakes you up is not the alarm clock, but your posture.
Winter diseases
Summer nourishment
The brief spring is about to pass, and the consecutive days of over thirty degrees remind us that summer is coming. Every summer, just like the winter supplementation, “winter diseases summer nourishment” will be the hottest topic.
But how exactly should we nourish during “winter diseases summer nourishment”? What is the exact meaning of supporting the Zheng? How can we reasonably support and nourish the Zheng? Today, let’s discuss this.
Supporting the Zheng, as the name suggests, is to assist the Zheng Qi (正气), which is a general treatment principle aimed at addressing the deficiency of Zheng Qi in the body, corresponding to expelling pathogenic factors. When the body experiences a deficiency of Zheng Qi, various forms of TCM treatments such as herbal decoctions, medicinal pastes, acupuncture, and tuina (Chinese therapeutic massage) can be used to support the insufficient Zheng Qi, thereby treating various weakness-related diseases caused by Zheng Qi deficiency, as well as various mixed conditions of deficiency and excess caused by the invasion of pathogenic factors due to insufficient Zheng Qi.
It may sound a bit abstract, so let’s illustrate with examples.
In TCM, it is believed that various unwholesome Qi in the universe can cause diseases, collectively referred to as pathogenic Qi. For example, the wind evil caused by strong winds in spring, the summer heat causing summer evil, the dryness in autumn causing dryness evil, and the cold in winter causing cold evil, all represent the unwholesome Qi of the four seasons that can lead to epidemics.
“When the Zheng Qi is present, the evil cannot invade; where the evil gathers, its Qi must be deficient.”
————《Huangdi Neijing》
The reason people do not get sick is that there is Zheng Qi in the body that can resist pathogenic external evils, and many external diseases are related to Zheng Qi deficiency.
On the other hand, when an external disease occurs, Zheng Qi also plays a role in resisting external evils and fighting against pathogenic Qi, thus promoting recovery from illness. If Zheng Qi is insufficient, it becomes difficult to expel the pathogenic Qi, leading to recurrent illnesses. In the struggle between Zheng and evil, Zheng Qi is continuously consumed. If the body is so weak that it cannot produce enough Zheng Qi, it will lead to a gradual decline of Zheng Qi, while the pathogenic Qi becomes increasingly rampant, resulting in mild illnesses worsening, and ultimately, due to the exhaustion of Zheng Qi, death may occur. Therefore, for external diseases, the significance of supporting the Zheng lies in assisting Zheng Qi and expelling evil.
If a person is weak (due to excessive fatigue, staying up late, high stress, etc.) but has not yet fallen ill, it is necessary to actively strengthen the foundation and replenish the deficiency. By supporting the Zheng and strengthening the body, the body will not be weak, and there will be no conditions for evil to invade, thus reducing the occurrence of external diseases (making health and longevity possible).
For those who are already ill, supporting the Zheng can also enhance the body’s ability to fight against the pathogenic factors, making it easier to expel the external evils and promote recovery from illness (this is a unique treatment method that distinguishes TCM from Western medicine).
Moreover, even if some diseases are temporarily cured, it is still necessary to pay attention to protecting the body’s Zheng Qi on the basis of preventing external evils, so that the Zheng Qi becomes strong, and many chronic diseases will not recur (for example: chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, chronic allergic rhinitis, etc.). This reflects the TCM philosophy of “preventing disease before it occurs,” “preventing changes in existing diseases,” and “preventing recurrence of diseases,” highlighting that supporting the Zheng is an important distinction of TCM from Western medicine and a vital concept in TCM health preservation and disease prevention!
Body
Weakness
Supporting the Zheng, in addition to preventing and treating pathogenic Qi and “preventing disease before it occurs,” can also directly treat internal injuries and weakness-related diseases. Individuals with weak Zheng Qi are prone to various symptoms of weakness, such as fatigue, tiredness, insomnia, poor appetite, weight loss, weakness in the waist and legs, and a pale complexion. Many recurrent diseases are also related to Zheng Qi deficiency, such as recurrent oral ulcers, excessive sweating, frequent colds, recurrent cough and wheezing, dizziness, palpitations, constipation, or diarrhea, etc. These deficiency syndromes mostly belong to functional disorders and sub-health states, which Western medicine cannot identify specific causes for, and thus lacks specific treatment plans. However, TCM can use supporting the Zheng to enhance Qi and blood, and improve organ function, thereby alleviating various sufferings of patients. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that supporting the Zheng is one of the most distinctive and advantageous therapies in TCM.
Seeing this, some readers may wonder: “What exactly is Zheng Qi?” Don’t worry, we will continue to discuss this in the next article.
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