When faced with the dilemma of treating cold with heat or heat with cold, and when the treatment is ineffective or not appropriate, meaning the illness does not present as purely cold or purely hot, the prescribed herbs cannot solely be cold or hot. Therefore, we must combine cold and hot herbs, which is known … Read more
▲Lu Zhizheng (1920.12-2023.1.20), the first Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chief Physician at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences Although the common cold is a minor illness, it should not be underestimated. While the cold is considered a mild ailment, due to individual differences in constitution and the nature of the pathogenic factors, as … Read more
The Core of TCM Pulse Diagnosis – You Can Also Derive 27 Types of Pulses [What is the Core Behind the Pulse?] There are too many types of pulses in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and there is a saying that they are numerous yet useless. Therefore, many experienced TCM practitioners summarize them into six words: … Read more
Diagnosis in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) refers to the method of querying patients and their informants about the occurrence, development, current symptoms, and treatment history of diseases through dialogue. It is one of the four diagnostic methods. This includes the patient’s constitution, lifestyle habits, causes of onset, course of the disease and treatment, current symptoms, … Read more
The Six Excesses (Liù Yín) is a term in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that refers to the six types of external pathogenic factors: Wind, Cold, Heat, Dampness, Dryness, and Fire. Below are their concepts and pathogenic characteristics: Concept The Six Excesses originally refer to six different climatic changes in nature, which under normal circumstances are … Read more
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the causes of disease are discussed in the “Shang Han Lun” (Treatise on Cold Damage), which identifies three categories: internal causes, external causes, and causes that are neither internal nor external. External causes include the Six Excesses (Liuxin) and pestilential qi. The Six Excesses are wind (feng), cold (han), summer … Read more
1. Dryness is the predominant qi of autumn. Excessive dryness leads to the pathogenic factor known as “dryness evil” (zao xie). There are two types of dryness evil: warm dryness and cool dryness. Early autumn often sees residual summer heat, leading to warm dryness, while late autumn, approaching winter, tends to exhibit cool dryness. Internal … Read more
Among the following options, which does not belong to the characteristics of the Six Excesses causing disease? A. Seasonal B. Regional C. Coexisting D. Infectious The Six Qi: The so-called Six Qi, also known as the Six Elements, refers to the six types of normal climatic conditions in nature: Wind, Cold, Heat, Dampness, Dryness, and … Read more
Introduction: This article is a compilation of the WeChat lecture notes from Teacher Zhou Shuijin’s “Learn TCM Easily” course. “Liu Yin” refers to external pathogenic factors in TCM etiology. Let’s explore how they harm our bodies and what symptoms arise when we are affected by them. Teacher Zhou discusses the foundational theories of TCM Lecture … Read more
1. Wind (1) Natural Characteristics: Wind has the properties of lightness, dispersion, and movement, making it the primary qi of spring. Among the twenty-four solar terms, the four terms of Major Cold, Beginning of Spring, Rain Water, and Awakening of Insects are dominated by wind qi. Since wind is associated with wood qi and connects … Read more