Thinking Methodology of Huangdi Neijing

Thinking methodology of Huangdi Neijing.

Research on China Traditional Culture

Thinking Methodology of Huangdi Neijing

? Methodology is a theory about the basic methods of understanding and transforming the world. There are philosophical scientific methodology, general scientific methodology and specific scientific methodology. Thinking methodology belongs to philosophy and scientific methodology, which refers to various ways to copy and reproduce research objects or phenomena in the process of thinking. Specifically, it is the thinking activity mode or mode that the thinking subject uses thinking tools to accept, reflect, understand and process objective objects or object information according to his own specific needs and purposes. It is a stable and stereotyped thinking structure, which essentially reflects the relationship among thinking subject, thinking object and thinking tools. Traditional way of thinking is the highest cohesion and core of traditional culture. The thinking methodology of traditional Chinese medicine is the fundamental method to study human life activities, form a medical theoretical system and apply it to clinical practice. Under the profound influence of China's traditional philosophy, Chinese medicine has formed a way of thinking different from Western medicine. This unique way of thinking is mainly manifested in holistic thinking, image thinking and changeable thinking.

First, the general idea.

(A) the meaning of holistic thinking

The so-called holistic thinking is the way of thinking about the world and everything from the viewpoint of universal connection and mutual restriction. This way of thinking not only regards the whole world as a big organic whole, everything in the world is continuous and inseparable, and things are interrelated and restricted, but also regards everything as a small organic whole, some of which are continuous and inseparable, and some of which are related to various factors and components. It is believed that heaven and man, things and things are homologous, isomorphic, in the same order and in the same way.

China's traditional philosophy, whether Confucian or Taoist, emphasizes holistic thinking. I ching put forward a preliminary model of holism. For example, from the structural form of the book, the most basic units of Zhouyi are Yin (-) and Yang (-). The trinity of yin and yang constitutes gossip, and Liuhe constitutes sixty-four hexagrams. All natural phenomena and personnel good or bad are brought into the system of eight diagrams and sixty-four hexagrams, presenting a holistic concept. Yi Zhuan interprets Zhouyi from the perspective of universal connection and mutual restriction. Sixty-four hexagrams and six hexagrams have the meanings of junior high school, late junior high school and heaven and earth, and they are an integral system in which time, space and man are integrated. Zhuangzi, a Taoist representative, said: "Heaven and earth coexist with me, and everything is one with me." (Zhuangzi's Theory of Everything) Heaven and earth are a whole, and man and the world are a whole. Any part embodies the whole. For example, Zhuangzi thinks that Tao is everywhere, even in Ant and Barnyard Grass.

"the unity of heaven and man" is the fundamental feature of this holistic thinking. The so-called unity of heaven and man means that heaven and man, nature and man are interlinked, similar and unified. In traditional thinking, both Confucianism and Taoism advocate "the unity of man and nature". Taoism tends to naturalize people, while Confucianism tends to naturalize and humanize nature, but both believe that man and nature are interlinked in one spirit and one principle. Laozi's "Four Great Thoughts" on Heaven, Earth and Man, and Yi Chuan's "Three Theories" on Heaven, Earth and Man are the early manifestations of this holism. Dong Zhongshu put forward a more complete overall model based on the theory of heaven-man induction of Yin-Yang and Five Elements. This thinking tendency of China's traditional philosophy directly gave birth to the holistic thinking mode of TCM. Of course, in the long-term medical practice, Neijing has made the holistic thinking of traditional philosophy concrete and scientific.

(B) The overall thinking of Neijing

Under the guidance of holistic thinking, Neijing has constructed a holistic medical model with three talents in one. For example, Su Wen's theory of Yin and Yang should be like: "Heaven is mysterious, humanity is humane, and it is transformed. There are five flavors of metamorphosis, Taoism is wise and metaphysics is god. " Taking three talents as classics and five behaviors as latitudes, this paper discusses the categories of heaven, earth and human beings and their relations. The whole idea of Neijing is mainly embodied in the following two aspects.

1, the human body itself is an organic whole. Neijing regards the human body itself as an organic whole, and all parts of the human body are continuous and inseparable, and they restrict and interact with each other. Neijing attributed the organic connection of all parts and elements (subsystems) of the whole system of human life activities to three modes: the unity of opposites of Yin and Yang, the interference of five elements and the rise and fall of Qi. Yin-Yang model shows that human life activities are composed of two physiological functional structures, which are interrelated, opposed, restricted and transformed. The five-element model shows that the functional activities of the five internal organs are an organic system with multi-level and multi-channel feedback. The ascending and descending pattern of Qi shows that people not only exchange material and energy with nature, but also transform material and energy inside the human body through exercise.

Neijing holds that in people's life activities, people's physiology, psychology and body are organically linked, that is, there is a close relationship between life ability and body bones, and between mental psychology and body physiology, and puts forward the concepts of "unity of form and spirit" and "unity of body and mind". In terms of morphological structure, Chinese medicine believes that people combine six fu organs, five bodies, five colors, nine orifices and hundreds of limbs to pass through. Physiologically, Chinese medicine believes that all organs of the human body are coordinated with each other, and the activities of any organ, organ and organization are an inseparable part of the overall functional activities, and each organ and organization has different division of labor and close cooperation in this whole. In this system of human body, there is an overall regulation law of interaction among viscera, meridians, body official orifices, essence and spirit, and there are smaller subsystems in each subsystem of viscera, meridians and body official orifices, including yin and yang and qi and blood respectively. In terms of pathological changes, Chinese medicine focuses on analyzing the overall pathological state reflected by local lesions and the influence of local lesions on other parts and the whole, and regulating its pathological changes from the human-nature system, the five zang-organs meridian system in the human body and the subsystems in the five zang-organs meridian. In the diagnosis of diseases, because the physiology and pathology of various organs, tissues and organs are interrelated and influenced each other, it is decided that Chinese medicine can analyze and speculate the pathological changes of internal organs by observing and analyzing the external pathological manifestations of internal organs, body shape and color pulse, so as to make correct judgments and treat patients. Holographic diagnosis methods in Neijing, such as pulse diagnosis, eye diagnosis and face-to-face diagnosis, are all reflections of holistic thinking. When treating diseases, we should not only pay attention to the relationship between zang-fu organs, fu-organs, shape and orifices, but also pay attention to the relationship between the five internal organs. In terms of health care, it also reflects the overall concept. For example, in the dynamic-static relationship of health care, it emphasizes the combination of static and dynamic, dynamic and moderate.

2. People and the external environment form an organic whole. Neijing not only thinks that the human body itself is an organic whole, but also thinks that man and heaven are an organic whole. Neijing has the conclusion that "man is related to heaven and earth, and corresponds to the sun and the moon", emphasizing the close relationship between man and the external environment. Based on the overall relationship between man and natural environment and social environment, this paper investigates the physiological, psychological and pathological processes of human body, studies the laws of the exchange of substances, information and energy between human body and surrounding environment and the metabolic activities with the cosmic rhythm, and puts forward corresponding treatment and health preservation methods.

People live in the natural environment, and when the natural environment changes, the human body will change accordingly. For example, Chinese medicine divides a year into five seasons according to the theory of five elements, and holds that spring temperature, summer heat, summer humidity, autumn dryness and winter cold are the general laws of climate change throughout the year. Under the influence of the changes of the four seasons, people also show corresponding physiological adaptation processes such as spring birth, long summer, long summer, autumn harvest and winter storage. The ups and downs of yin and yang in nature also have a certain effect on people. "Ling Shu Shun Qi is divided into four hours a day" says: "A day is divided into four hours, morning is spring, day is summer, day is autumn, and midnight is winter." The functional activities of the human body produce changes similar to the circadian rhythm to adapt to the changes in the environment. For example, "Su Wen Anger at Heaven" said: "Therefore, those who are yang will prosper in a day, while the sun in Japan is strong and the sun in the west is weak, so close the valve." Geographical area is an important factor in the natural environment. In different regions, due to the differences in climate, soil quality and water quality, people's physiological functions and psychological activities will also be affected to some extent. For example, Jiangnan is low and humid, so the human body is loose and thin. Northwest China is mountainous, dry and cold, so the human body is dense and strong. Living in a accustomed environment, once moving to another place, many people will feel uncomfortable at first, but after a certain period of time, most people can gradually adapt.

People are social people, and the social environment will also affect people's functional activities, which is related to people's health and diseases. Neijing pointed out: "So, you are out of your depth. Although you are not possessed by evil spirits, you will suffer internal mental damage and your body will perish. When you are rich, you are poor. Although it does not hurt evil, it burns the skin, bends the muscles and is paralyzed. " It shows that the drastic change of social environment has a great influence on people's psychosomatic function. Neijing emphasizes that people have different constitutions due to different social, economic and political status, so the treatment of diseases should also vary from person to person.

In a word, the whole thinking of Neijing is an organic thinking, which is different from the west. Neijing emphasizes the function of human body, and regards real things as a self-organizing organic system, and the whole cannot be turned into parts. The western holistic view is mechanical determinism, which pays attention to entities and elements, and regards real things as a complex composed of countless small parts, and the whole can be reduced to parts. This kind of organic holistic thinking has a vision that can't be achieved by western sophisticated reductive analysis thinking, and it can find some properties and characteristics of objects that can't be achieved by decomposition methods. Therefore, the holistic thinking of traditional Chinese medicine has become its advantage and characteristic, and has become one of the indispensable cornerstones of the world medical forest for thousands of years. However, we should be soberly aware that the holistic thinking of TCM emphasizes the understanding of the integrity and unity of human body, human beings and natural society, but lacks the ability to understand the details of this whole, so the understanding of integrity and unity is also incomplete. Although this kind of thinking lacks one-sidedness, it is not one-sidedness based on vagueness and intuition. The holistic view of TCM theory has primitive, simple, intuitive and imaginative components. This is what we should pay attention to when grasping the overall thinking of traditional Chinese medicine. The holistic thinking in Neijing is similar to the modern systematic thinking, but it cannot be equated. The holistic thinking in Neijing is the original form of systematic thinking and has the basic characteristics of systematic thinking. In a sense, the two are in the same strain. But we should see that there is a big difference between the two. As a scientific methodology in a strict sense, modern system theory is the achievement of human scientific research since the twentieth century, and it is based on the high development of science and technology. Holism of traditional Chinese medicine is not on the same level as modern system theory, so we should actively absorb new ideas and methods of modern system theory to make holism of traditional Chinese medicine leap to a new level.

Second, thinking in images.

(A) the meaning of thinking in images

The so-called thinking in images refers to the way of thinking that uses concepts and symbols with sensibility, image and intuition to express the abstract meaning of the object world and grasp the connection of the object world through analogy and symbols. As one of the important contents of China's traditional way of thinking, thinking in images is in sharp contrast with the tendency of westerners to attach importance to abstract thinking.

The thinking in images of the Chinese nation was particularly developed and precocious in ancient times. The Book of Changes says: "The same is true of changers. Elephants like it, too. " "The husband sees the world like a saint, but he intends to describe it in an appropriate way, so it is called an image." "I saw the image." The word "image" has three meanings: first, it refers to the phenomenon that things can be perceived, including objects visible to the naked eye and objects that can be perceived although invisible to the naked eye; Second, it refers to the symbolic symbols of imitation, such as hexagrams and mysterious images; Three fingers take images and symbols, which means verbs. "Meaning" is the characteristic and law of things * * * contained in "image". "Yi Chuan Jie" said: "Set an image with all your heart, and set a false one." The so-called "image" is a concept or meaning symbol with perceptual image refined through artificial abstraction and understanding. As far as the relationship between "image" and "meaning" is concerned, meaning is the basis of image, and image is the application of meaning; The image is arbitrary, meaning the main image. The significance of thinking in images lies in: on the one hand, it understands the abstract meaning of the object world through visual concepts and symbols; On the other hand, it grasps and understands the connection of the object world through intuitive analogical reasoning. The thinking in images of traditional philosophy has penetrated into Neijing and become one of the main contents of the thinking mode of traditional Chinese medicine.

Image thinking is mainly reflected in the thinking method of taking images and comparing classes. Image-taking thinking is a method in the process of thinking, which takes "image" as a tool and aims at understanding, understanding and simulating objects. "Xiang" is used to classify or compare classes, that is, according to the similarity or similarity between the studied object and the known object in some aspects, it is considered that they may be similar or similar in other aspects, and the logical method of the shape of the studied object in some aspects is deduced from this. The scope of taking images is not limited to the physical images and events of specific things, as long as the functional relationship and dynamic attributes are the same, it can be infinitely analogized and analogized.

(B) The thinking in images in Neijing

The thinking in images of traditional Chinese medicine is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

1. Construct the theory of Tibetan image by analogy. For the formation of the theory of Tibetan images, Su Wen's theory of five zang-organs formation puts forward the principle that "five zang-organs images can be compared". Bing Wang's note: "Elephants mean the weather. Although the five internal organs are hidden and invisible, their meteorological use can be analogized. " Zhang Jiebin said: "Like also. Hidden inside, the shape is seen outside, so it is called Tibetan elephant. " According to the images of the five elements, Su Wenjin Kui Yan-array divided nature and human body into five categories according to the principle of the same or similar functions and behaviors, and then explored the deep theory of Tibetan images contained in the images.

2. Explain physiological and pathological phenomena by comparing numbers. The comparison of numbers is a method of expressing abstract meaning with easy numbers and deducing the changing law of things through easy numbers. Variables mainly include the number of hexagrams, the number of branches, the number of five elements (the number of river maps) and the number of nine palaces (the number of Luo books). "Su Wenjin Kui Yan Zhen" uses five, six, seven, eight and nine to illustrate the overall relationship that "the five internal organs should respond to the four seasons, and each receives something". Su Wenliu and Jacky's Collections explain the changing law of the five movements and six qi with the theory that "those who overstep, their scores become, those who don't, their scores grow, and the soil often wins with five" and the theory that numbers grow to win. Su Wen's "Seven Lucks" uses the number of dry branches, and infers the law of climate change in the past 60 years and its relationship with human diseases by comparing the numbers. There are seven women and eight men in the base of human development and reproduction in Su Wen's On Ancient Innocence, that is, the number of yin and yang advancing and retreating; Su Wenjin should count the five internal organs at four o'clock, that is, the number generated by the five elements.

It is worth noting that image analogy, as a way for human beings to grasp the objective world, has always had very important epistemological and scientific value. Through analogy, we can enlighten people's thinking, help people spread their wings of imagination, and thus push others to draw inferences and discover new things. Doctors use this way of thinking in medical practice and have invented many new diagnostic methods. However, the shortcomings of this way of thinking are also obvious. That is to pay too much attention to the essence and similarities and differences of things or phenomena, while ignoring the characteristics and differences of different things. If the attribute to be deduced happens to be their difference, then the conclusion is wrong.

Third, changeable thinking.

(A) the meaning of changeable thinking

The so-called changeable thinking is the way of thinking that examines everything from the perspective of movement change. Variational thinking emphasizes the movement and change of things and pays attention to grasping the dialectical unity of things in bipolar opposition, so it has the characteristics of dialectics. Changing thinking is subordinate to dialectical thinking. Dialectical thinking includes holistic thinking, complementary thinking and changeable thinking. Complementary thinking regards everything as the unity of opposites, interdependence, mutual transformation and mutual tolerance. It can be said that complementary thinking is the basis of changeable thinking, emphasizing the interaction between opposing sides to promote the development and change of things.

In the history of China's philosophy, changeable thinking has a long history. First of all, Taoism contains rich dialectical thoughts. Laozi, the founder of Taoism, believes that "Tao gives birth to one, life gives birth to two, life gives birth to three, and life gives birth to everything." Everything is negative and positive, and it is harmonious. " (Chapter 42 of Laozi) Explain that Tao, as the origin of the universe, always contains two opposing forces of Yin and Yang. It is these two opposing forces that push everything, and the process from "one" to "two" to "three" to "everything" is the process of humanizing everything. Laozi also put forward the famous proposition of "the movement against the Tao", which shows that the development of things is the process of transforming to its opposite. Zhuangzi also emphasized the change of things, and regarded the ups and downs of things as a continuous and integral torrent. Confucianism also regards the universe as a process of change. Confucius once said, "When everything goes at four o'clock, everything is born." (The Analects of Confucius, Yang Huo) regards the change of nature as a process in which water keeps flowing like a river: "Zi said on the Chuanjiang River: The deceased is like a husband, never giving up day and night." (The Analects of Confucius Zi Han). Put forward "Knocking at both ends is exhausting" (The Analects of Confucius, Zi Han), and stressed that we should examine two aspects of the problem. As a master of pre-Qin philosophy, Yi Zhuan shows more obvious changeable thinking characteristics. If the Book of Changes itself is a book about "change", then the Book of Changes, as an explanatory work of the Book of Changes, clearly defines the universe as a big process of movement and change. The Book of Changes in the Biography of Cohesion says: "Books can't be far away from books, because the Tao moves repeatedly, changes don't live, and there are six shortcomings in the week, which are impermanent and changeable. It can't be Canon, it can only be change. " "One yin and one yang is the Tao." "The combination of rigidity and softness changes each other." It is believed that the essence of the universe is constant, and everything in the world is in a state of movement and change, on the contrary, they complement each other. Opposites and opposites (yin and yang, rigidity and softness) are the fundamental reasons for things to change. This thought directly influenced the formation of the medical system of Huangdi Neijing.

(B) The changes of thinking in Neijing

1. Explain the changing process of human life movement with variational thinking. Neijing holds that human life is a process of movement and change, and the qi and blood of zang-fu organs and meridians have the mechanism and law of ups and downs. "On the Jade Edition" said: "Counting pottery ... God can't turn back, and when he turns back, he loses the opportunity." He believes that orderly movement and change are the basic forms of life. Neijing also believes that the key to maintain the normal operation of human life is to maintain a dynamic balance, which is embodied in the unity of opposites of Yin and Yang, the complementarity of Qi and blood, the rise and fall of Qi, and the endless circulation of camp and health.

2. Explain pathological phenomena and their changes and development laws with variational thinking. Neijing discusses the pathogenesis of diseases from the opposing struggle between pathogenic factors and disease resistance, and the relationship between victory and defeat, which leads to the mutual growth and decline of both sides of diseases, so it is relative, so it puts forward the concept of "disease begins with overuse" (Su Wen, meridian syndrome differentiation theory). Another example is Neijing's understanding of pathological changes from dysfunction at all levels to failure and separation. If the harmonious balance of yin and yang in human body is destroyed, such as imbalance of yin and yang and imbalance of qi, it will cause diseases. Judging from the rise and fall of the state of Qi, Su Wen's six comments said: "If you don't advance, you will get out, and you can't grow old;" Without promotion, there is no growing collection. Just up and down, nothing. " It shows that without rising and falling, there is no life process of growing up and aging, and there is no biochemical process of natural growth and collection. Abnormal lifting can lead to disease.

3. Using variational thinking to guide clinical diagnosis and treatment of traditional Chinese medicine. Neijing holds that yin and yang must be examined first in diagnosis and treatment. According to the different nature of the unity of opposites between Yin and Yang, cold and heat, deficiency and excess, exterior and interior, qi and blood, fire and water, specimens and the law of mutual transformation under certain conditions, the law of syndrome differentiation and treatment of different diseases is established. As far as treatment is concerned, according to the dialectical relationship between essence and phenomenon, Neijing puts forward some treatment principles, such as seeking the root, reinforcing and reducing, and guiding according to the situation. Specific treatment methods have been formed, such as reverse treatment, similarities and differences between diseases and treatments, and methods following the focus. Neijing also puts forward the principles of syndrome differentiation and treatment, the priority of treatment, and the treatment methods of making use of the situation, tonifying deficiency and purging excess.

4. Using variational thinking to guide disease prevention and health care. Neijing holds that disease should be mainly prevented. If the human body can coordinate Yin and Yang and cooperate with the changes of Yin and Yang in heaven and earth, it can nip in the bud and achieve the purpose of prolonging life. Therefore, "The Theory of Heaven" says: "Sages and Yang, meridians are combined, bone marrow is consolidated, and qi and blood are born. If so, the inside and outside are harmonious, the evil can't be harmed, the eyes and ears are smart, and the gas is the same. "

To sum up, in the process of studying human physiology, pathology and disease diagnosis and treatment, Neijing has made extensive use of the principle of changeable thinking to make subjective understanding conform to the objective process of changeable life movements. From the essence of changeable thinking itself, it is very close to some principles of modern system science. They all advocate that things should be regarded as an organic whole, emphasizing the understanding of the essence and development law of things from the interrelation and interaction among the elements that make up the whole. Everyone emphasizes that the change of things is a "repeated" transformation process. However, the thought of variation in Neijing lacks a clear scientific basis for the interrelation and interaction among the elements that make up the whole. It can only be said that it is a simple view of systematic variation, and its understanding of the whole is general and vague. It is often emphasized that the change of things is a closed process of repeated cycles, rather than an open change process in which system science constantly develops to a higher level. From the perspective of realizing the modernization of traditional medicine, the changeable thinking has both the positive side of advocating diversity and thinking about change if you are poor, and the negative side of being conservative and content with the status quo.