Theory of zang-fu organs and meridians in traditional Chinese medicine-1 qi, blood, body fluid and qi

Qi, blood, body fluid are important material bases for maintaining human life activities. All kinds of physiological activities of zang-fu organs, meridians, tissues and organs are based on the movement of qi, blood and body fluid, so their generation, distribution, transformation and metabolism are not only related to the functional activities of zang-fu organs and meridians, but also to people's life and health. Therefore, the theory of qi, blood and body fluid is an important part of the basic theory of traditional Chinese medicine.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the meaning of qi covers a wide range. For example, the basic substance that constitutes and maintains human life activities is called dispersing "true qi". Qi representing the functions of various viscera is called lung qi, kidney qi, spleen qi, heart qi and liver qi. In nature, the climate beneficial to human body is called "six qi", and the climate harmful to human body is called "six yin qi" and "epidemic qi". Therefore, qi has many meanings in Chinese medicine. But as far as the "qi" in the human body is concerned, it can be summarized into two meanings.

First, it refers to a subtle substance that constitutes the human body and maintains human life activities, and has nutritional functions, such as breath and Shui Gu's breath.

Second, it refers to the physiological functions of viscera, tissues, organs and meridians, such as qi of viscera and qi of meridians.

Therefore, "Qi" is not only the material basis of human body, but also the expression of various functional activities of human body.

It plays an extremely important role in the human body and is "the foundation of human beings". The classification of Qi is different from their physiological functions, but to sum up, their * * * interaction has the following five aspects.

(1) the driving force of qi;

Driven by qi, the human body can transport nutrients to the viscera, meridians, tissues and organs of the whole body, so that they can be moistened and nourished, thus generating and maintaining their normal physiological activities. Promoting qi circulation can also improve blood function, promote blood circulation and nourish the body. The promotion of qi can also make the body fluid transport and excrete normally. In a word, Qi is the dependence of human growth and development, physiological activities of viscera and meridians, blood circulation and body fluid conduction. If the promotion of qi is weakened, it will easily lead to the slow development of human body, low reproductive capacity or premature aging.

(2) Warm effect of qi:

The human body is at constant temperature, but maintaining normal body temperature depends on the warmth of qi. Because qi belongs to yang, it has the effect of warming and tonifying. Clinically, patients' chills, chills and tepid limbs are caused by the dysfunction of warm qi, so there is a saying that "qi governs warm qi".

(3) The defensive function of Qi:

Qi has the functions of strengthening the muscle surface and defending the surface, so on the one hand, it has the function of preventing exogenous pathogens from invading the body, on the other hand, it also has the function of resisting exogenous pathogens. Su Wen's Comment on Fever says: "When pathogenic factors gather, their qi will be deficient." It shows that qi has a defensive effect. If the qi is insufficient, the defense function will be weakened, and evil spirits will easily invade the human body. Once the pathogens invade the human body, if the healthy qi is insufficient, it is impossible to fight the pathogens to drive them out of the body, and then introduce the pathogens into the body and aggravate the condition.

(4) Qi fixation:

Qi can capture blood, sweat, urine and semen in the body to ensure normal physiological activities of the body. If the fixation ability of qi is weakened, it will lead to various hemorrhagic diseases due to abnormal blood circulation. It can also lead to uncontrolled sweat and urine excretion, hyperhidrosis or frequent urination, and diabetes insipidus. It will also lead to the symptoms of spermatorrhea and spermatorrhea because of the unstable storage of semen. The fixation of qi and the rising of qi maintain the normal physiological activities of human body.

(5) Gasification of gas:

What is gasification? "Gasification" refers to the process in which a substance in the human body is differentiated into many substances, perhaps many substances are synthesized into one substance, or one substance is transformed into another substance, or the transformation between substance and energy. For example, the qi of Shui Gu is transformed into the qi of nourishing and guarding the zang-fu organs. The true qi is transformed into qi of zang-fu organs and meridians. In metabolism, the process of water-liquid hydration into gas and gasification into water. As well as the mutual transformation of essence and blood, and the transformation of blood into qi. , are all manifestations of "gasification", so gasification has two meanings. First, it refers to the mutual metaplasia between essence, qi, body fluid and blood. For example, if essence turns into qi, gasification leads to essence. Secondly, it refers to some functional activities of viscera. For example, the Secret Book of Su Wen Ling Lan said: "The bladder is the official of the state, and the body fluid is stored, which can be gasified and vented." The word "gasification" here refers to the urination function of the bladder. Therefore, the food that people eat every day changes into qi, blood and body fluid in the body, which is inseparable from gasification. With gasification, there are metabolic functions such as blood circulation, water-liquid circulation, respiratory circulation, digestion and absorption. Only in this way can the human body see, hear and speak. External manifestations of physical activities such as walking. Therefore, gasification provides the material basis and nutrients for human survival. At the same time, the functional activities of zang-fu organs are also manifestations of gasification.

The movement of qi mainly has four forms: ascending, descending, exiting and entering. All zang-fu organs, tissues, meridians and collaterals have the movement of qi ascending, descending, exiting and entering, so there is a saying of "ascending, descending, exiting and entering, and there is no device".

Ascending and descending refer to the upward and downward movements of qi. It is the basic form of the movement of viscera and qi. For example, the lungs control exhalation and the kidneys control inhalation. The rise and fall of lung and kidney qi is the rise and fall of human vitality. Liver qi governs ascending, lung governs clearing, and the ascending and descending of liver and lung qi is the ascending and descending movement of human qi and blood. The spleen qi dominates the ascending, the stomach qi dominates the descending, and the ascending and descending of the spleen and stomach qi is the ascending and descending movement of the human body. Heart fire returns to the kidney, kidney water returns to the heart, and the rise and fall of heart and kidney is the rise and fall of human fire and water, and so on. Due to the ascending and descending movements of viscera and qi, the human body has different life stages of growth, development and decline.

In and out refers to the internal and external movement forms of qi. It is a basic form of maintaining human metabolic movement. For example, breathing in the lungs and sweating in the skin are all movements of qi coming in and out. Shui Gu in the stomach, feces in the large intestine and urination in the bladder are all movements of Shui Gu. These metabolic movements make the nutrients needed by the human body be supplemented, the waste be excreted, the various substances in the body be relatively balanced, and life activities can be carried out normally. If there is "in" but not "out", metabolic waste can not be excreted, stagnated in the body and become evil, which is harmful to people's health. If education "goes out" without "going in", the body will not get the nutrition it needs, leading to the cessation of life activities. Therefore, the movement of qi in and out, like the movement of qi up and down, is the basic form of movement to maintain human life activities.

Qi refers to the tiny, invisible, endless and ubiquitous nutrients flowing in the human body. It also refers to the activity ability of various parts of the human body. Because the source, distribution and function of qi are different, the name is different. If you gather in the upper chest, it is called "Zongqi". What gathers in the middle coke is called "middle gas". What gathers in the lower jiao is called "vitality" or "true qi". What should be sent to the muscle surface is called "Wei Qi". What runs in the pulse is called "Qi Ying" and so on. Their generation and functional activities are described as follows.

"primordial qi" is the true qi, which is the fundamental qi of the human body, also known as "primordial qi". How is vitality produced? It mainly comes from innate essence, but it needs to be nourished by acquired qi. The nourishing of primordial qi obtained is the combination of the clear qi inhaled by the lung, the Shui Gu essence decomposed by the spleen and stomach, and the kidney essence, and then the kidney yang evaporates to form "primordial qi", which is used to supplement and nourish the continuous consumption of innate qi. Therefore, there are "people who are really angry, and they are also influenced by the combination of heaven and valley." The function of primordial qi is mainly manifested in that it is the motive force to stimulate and promote the physiological activities of various organs, tissues, organs and meridians in the whole body. Because the primordial qi is rooted in the kidney and spreads the viscera through the triple energizer and the outer skin, it is the fundamental driving force of human life activities. In addition, vitality is also a generous expression of qi in the human body. If the vitality is in the heart, it is called the heart. The qi in the liver is called liver qi. Therefore, when the vitality is full, the viscera will be strong, and the body will be strong and will not get sick. Deficiency of vitality leads to weakness of viscera, physical weakness and illness. In a word, primordial qi is the foundation of all qi and the most important qi of human body.

"Zong" means "Lord". It accumulates in the chest, also called the atmosphere, and is the starting point of the gas that permeates the whole body. How is the clan spirit formed? It is produced by combining subtle qi dissolved in food and Shui Gu with natural clear qi inhaled by the lungs and accumulated in the chest. The function of clan spirit has three aspects. First, Zuling can promote lung breathing, so it is related to the situation of breathing and sound. If you are full of breath, you will breathe normally and have a loud voice. Lack of clan spirit leads to shortness of breath and low voice. Secondly, Zuling can penetrate the heart pulse, promote blood circulation and nourish the whole body. So the blood circulation is normal, the blood circulation is weak, and the blood circulation is easy to stagnate. Thirdly, under the influence of the clan spirit, walking in the Qi Street and returning to the kidney are the main substances for the formation of vitality after birth. Because the ancestral qi accumulates in the chest and has not yet returned to the kidney, it is the ancestral qi in the chest. The vitality returns to the kidney and forms vitality. Arrogance can replenish vitality. If the ancestral qi is weak, the tonic of vitality will be insufficient, which will lead to the disease of deficiency syndrome of Yuan Qi. In a word, the spirit of ancestors dominates breathing, promotes blood circulation and has the function of forming vitality. Under the left chest, his hands are the pulse of zong qi, that is, the apex beats. If the pulsation here is abnormal, such as pulsating clothes, it is a reflection of ethnic gas leakage. If the pulse doesn't come, people will die. Therefore, clan spirit is extremely important in human life activities.

"Camp" and "glory" are interlinked. It means "nutrition" and "operation". Nourishing qi refers to nourishing qi that can run the whole body. How are nutrient gases produced? It is produced by the spleen and stomach of middle energizer. When the diet enters the stomach, the nutrients in Shui Gu are transformed into the essence through the decomposition of the stomach and the digestion and absorption of the spleen, and the purest part is Qi Ying. Qi Ying runs in the meridians, and its function has two aspects. First, invigorating qi has the function of transforming blood. Nutrient gas is injected into the vein and turns into red blood. Therefore, invigorating qi is an integral part of metaplasia blood, which goes with blood in meridians and is a valuable substance for nourishing the whole body. Secondly, Qi Ying circulates in the the twelve meridians of the human body, day and night throughout the body, so that its nutrition can be obtained from the internal organs, limbs, inside and outside. If the nutrient gas is sufficient, the blood will be full of metaplasia, and all parts of the body will be supplemented with nutrients. If the nutrient qi is insufficient, it will not only lead to blood deficiency, but also the internal organs will not get the necessary nutrition, and various weak diseases will appear.

"defend" and "resist" Defending qi refers to the qi that can reach the body surface, defend the body surface and defend the internal organs. It is a part of human yang. How is it produced? It is produced by the fierce gas absorbed by the middle coke. The middle coke first enters the lower coke to get the evaporation of kidney yang, so the defensive gas is produced in the lower coke. However, it must rely on Shui Gu's subtle supplement, which is the metaplasia of the spleen and stomach. Its distribution must depend on the spread of lung qi. Therefore, Wei Qi is a Shui Gu essence rooted in the lower jiao, nourished in the middle jiao and propagated in the upper jiao. Wei Qi is the lean spirit of Shui Gu in essence. Its heat is fierce, and its vessels can't restrain its operation, so it goes outside the pulse. Because Wei Qi spreads outward between the skin of the body surface and inward at the chest, abdomen and pleura, it spreads all over the body, and its function is to warm and nourish the five internal organs. Defend the body surface against external evils. It also has the functions of moistening skin, caring skin, warming muscles, smoothing and dividing meat. At the same time, it can also control the opening and closing of sweat gland pores and regulate the excretion of sweat to adapt to the change of external climate and play a role in regulating body temperature. There is a saying in "Lingshu Ben Zang pian" that "those who defend qi, therefore, those who warm meat, mend skin, fatten and manage opening and closing are also". Sufficient defensive qi will make the human body dense and have strong ability to resist external evils. Deficiency of Wei-qi leads to loose mechanism and low disease resistance. The most common exogenous wind-cold syndrome is caused by insufficient defensive qi.

In recent years, using modern scientific knowledge and methods, the changes of immune function caused by physical weakness in patients with exogenous diseases were observed. The results show that the average values of lgG and IgM are significantly lower than those of normal people, which explains this problem. In addition, insufficient defensive qi can also lead to abnormal sweating. What is the relationship between Wei Qi and Qi Ying? Both Wei Qi and Qiying are produced by Shui Gu essence which is metaplasia of spleen and stomach in middle energizer. It is transported by subtle qi through the spleen, which is hot and soft, so it runs in the pulse and belongs to yin. Wei Qi is Shui Gu's fierce spirit, which is vigorous and vigorous, that is, slippery, so it walks outside the pulse and becomes the sun. Although they follow different routes, they meet in the lungs. Therefore, Wei Qi and Qi Ying are interdependent and influential. The normal operation of Wei Ying -2 gas is a necessary condition to maintain health.