Introduction to
Chinese Medicine, Ten
Four Building Blocks
continued…
3) QI
There is a famous axiom: “Qi is the Commander of Blood, and
Blood is the Mother of Qi.” Qi is Yang in relationship to Yin Blood. Qi is our energy that flows through the
meridians and Organs.
Qi is denser than Shen on a continuum from immaterial to
material. Qi is “coarser” and more immediately felt than Shen.
Qi relies on Blood
for a place to “live.” I imagine Blood as the “body of Qi.” Without Blood,
Qi has no place to land, no substance to keep it firmly held, no form. Qi moves the Blood through the vessels
and meridians. Qi is spoken of as the force of the Blood – want could that
mean? Think of the power of the heart contraction to move the blood. What is
the “power?” it is Qi. Qi enlivens us, keeps us warm, stimulates all functions
in the body.
4) Blood
Consider again the famous axiom: “Qi is the Commander of
Blood, and Blood is the mother of Qi?” This is an important concept to
understand. Blood is material, Yin, nourishing,
and essential to life. Qi is energetic, Yang, moving, and essential to
life. Thinking along the continuum of material to immaterial, we can conceive
of Blood as the material aspect of Qi, or Qi as the immaterial aspect of Blood.
Blood is liquid, lubricating, moist. These Yin qualities of
Blood ensure the flexibility and ease of movement of our bones, muscles,
tendons, and ligaments. The interdependency of these two is the central message
of the axiom.
Notice that Blood is capitalized here to signify that in
this context Blood includes what we know as blood and more – just like with
Organ and organ. Blood includes
nurturing, lubricating, energetic quality of the physical manifestation.
The Blood provides
the material, the vessel, for the Qi to “swim” in. Without Blood, Qi has no
place to reside and will drift away. Feel the similarity here to the Spirit
(Yang) needing the Body (Yin) to reside in.
The Blood will not stay in the vessels, nor can it move,
without the presence of Qi. Qi is the force that moves Blood. Think of the
Heart pumping the blood, the Qi is the “pump” of the blood. Without Qi and
Blood there is no life.
Although there is constant reference to Qi, we must always
keep in mind the essential substance of Blood.
Blood is created from
Essence combined with Qi. The Spleen is an essential player in the quality
and quantity of Blood as it must absorb Qi and nutrients from the food we eat.
The Heart governs the Blood and the blood vessels. The Liver stores the Blood
at night. The Blood is Yin compared to Qi. At night, the Blood nourishes us and
provides the resting place for Qi and the Mind. If the Blood is not plentiful,
our sleep is restless; our Mind has no place to rest.
Women naturally have more Blood than men, who naturally have
more Qi than women. This reflects the Yin nature of women and Yang nature of
men. It does not say that women have no Qi or that men have no Blood, it speaks
to relative balance. Indeed, balance for
everyone includes the individual’s balance of Yin and Yang, masculine and
feminine, Blood and Qi, etc.
These four are one…although treated as separate “things,” Shen, Essence, Qi, and Blood are all
manifestations of the same “thing.” This singular “thing” is a thread of the
Mysterious Source of Nature from which everything arises.
From immaterial to material…Shen – Qi – Blood – Essence
These four aspects are also Yang and Yin as shown below…
Yang
Shen, Qi
Yin
Essence, Blood
Meridian Massage,
Cindy Black
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