Nutritional Ideas of Nutritional Culture

The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, or Neijing for short, is divided into two parts, the Suwen and the Lingshu, with the main part formed during the Warring States period. It comprehensively summarizes the medical achievements before the Qin and Han Dynasties, marking the development of Chinese medicine to the stage of theoretical summary, and is also the founding work of the theory of health maintenance. The Neijing is very rich in health care ideas, including the following:

The concept of holistic health. It is believed that the balance of yin and yang in the human body is the foundation of health, and once the balance is destroyed, health is also destroyed: "When yin is calm and yang is secret, the spirit is cured; when yin and yang are separated from each other, the essence is destroyed."

Conformity to the view of nature. Only by "harmonizing with yin and yang, adjusting to the four seasons" or "governing heaven and earth and going against yin and yang," can people achieve the status of supreme man, true man, saint, and sage, and realize a long and healthy life or even immortality.

The focus is on the preventive view. The Nei Jing suggests, "The sage does not treat the already sick and treats the not yet sick, and does not treat the already chaotic and treats the not yet chaotic." It is too late to wait until you are already sick to treat and nourish yourself. This is not only the basis of ancient health care, but also has important practical significance.

Recuperating the emotional view. The Neijing attaches importance to spiritual cultivation and believes that a happy spirit and stable complex are the key to good health. The "Su Wen - on the ancient theory of heavenly truth" cloud: "tranquil and empty, the true gas from the; spirit of the internal guard, the disease safe from".

The concept of "form and spirit". The Neijing believes that both the maintenance of the spirit, so that "the spirit of the internal guard", but also to exercise the body, so that "the form of labor and not tired", the combination of static and dynamic, so that "the form and the God," but the disease prolonged life.

"Neijing" advocates the use of a variety of methods to achieve the purpose of cultivation, in addition to pay attention to the four seasons of diet, emotional regulation, etc., but also emphasizes the use of guiding, vomiting and other methods. For example, the Nei Jing believes that living in a humid place is easy to get arthritis and advocates the use of guiding method of treatment. To "slow joints and soft tendons and the heart and regulator", you can let them practice the "guiding qi" technique. Tuna is an internal nourishment, "Nei Jing - Su Wen" in a number of references to the method of Tuna. For example, "kidney has a long illness, c time facing south, net God does not mess thinking, closed breath seven times, to lead the neck and swallowing gas to comply with, such as swallowing very hard things. After seven times of this kind, the bait under the tongue will make the Jin countless." These methods became the basis for the later development of qigong. The Spring and Autumn Annals of Lu Shi was compiled by the Prime Minister of Qin, Lu Buwei, who gathered his disciples and compiled the book collectively. Although the book mainly discussed the art of ruling the country and securing the state, many chapters discussed health maintenance, forming the characteristics of movement to health maintenance: movement is the essence of life, "movement and sprouting, sprouting and growing", and further put forward the basic principles of removing harm and knowing the origin, and movement to health maintenance. To remove the harm that is, "the appropriate detection of yin and yang, identify the benefits of all things" and go to the five flavors to fill the shape of the harm, the five feelings of the harm of the God, the seven obscenities to move the harm of the essence, and only in this way, can we achieve "the spirit of peace in the form, and longevity to get long." Knowing the origin means knowing the origin of the flow of essence: "Flowing water does not rot, and a door hinge does not become worm-eaten, so does movement. The same is true for form and qi. If the form does not move, the essence will not flow, and if the essence does not flow, the qi will be depressed." And "the retention of disease, the birth of evil, and the depletion of essence and qi."

But the Lüshi Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals of Lu Shi) does not specify how to "move". Hua Tuo interpreted "movement" as the movement of human labor, and explained the function of "movement" by saying that "the flow of blood and the circulation of blood", which is much more reasonable than Lu's theory of qi depression causing illness. The Huainanzi was written by Liu An, the king of Huainan in the early Han Dynasty, after the Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, and there are many health treatments in the book.

The essence of health care is to achieve the form, God, gas trinity: "The form, the birth of the house also; gas, the birth of the full also; God, the birth of the system also. A dislocation of the three injuries." The most important of the three is to nourish God, and it is only when the spirit is guarded internally that God can take its place, and it is only when God takes its place and the spirit is clear that it can give full play to the role of God. That is why the "Bian Zhen Xun" says: "When the spirit is clear, the desires cannot be disturbed." "Therefore, God is the abyss of wisdom, and when the abyss is clear, wisdom is clear."

The Huainanzi advocates moderate exercise: "The form of labor and not rest is prostrated, the essence of the use of the exhaustion." At the same time, also advocate abstinence: "ears and eyes obscene in the music of sound and color, then the five viscera shaking and uncertainty; five viscera shaking and uncertainty, then the blood and gas turbulence and not rest; blood and gas turbulence and not rest, then the spirit of the galloping outside and not guarded carry on! Spirit galloped outside and do not guard, then the evils and blessings to the Qiu Shan, but there is no way to recognize it."

"Huainanzi" also attaches great importance to maintaining a calm state of mind: "The great anger breaks the Yin, the great joy falls Yang." Advocates of "in order to the outside, all things will not be abolished. If the center can conquer, then the outside can absorb it. If you are able to obtain the center, your organs will be peaceful, your worries will be calm, your energy will be strong, and your eyes and ears will be smart. Spreading out without being rebellious, strong without being rebellious." This "in order to external", the idea of God to harness the form, showing a very obvious Taoist color .