Archive for September 2019
Eucommia trees (杜仲 Du Zhong) and a healthy looking Clove plant (丁香 Ding Xiang)
Afternoon sun setting amidst the Eucommia trees (杜仲Du Zhong) and a healthy looking Clove plant (丁香 Ding Xiang) at the Temple of Earth (地壇 Di Tan). Once processed, both these herbal medicines have a warming nature, and both are often used in various kinds of Kidney system pathologies in Chinese medicine – very useful in…
Read MoreLotus Seed 蓮子
As Beijing enters autumn, we also enter the season for fresh Lotus seeds蓮子! A medicinal food, according to Chinese medical theory its mild sweetness, astringency and bitterness can help improve ones digestive system and calm the mind. After greedily finishing a box to myself in an afternoon, I noticed myself taking deeper breaths and…
Read More性命功 Inner Nature & Life-Destiny Gong
性命功 Inner Nature & Life-Destiny Gong ______________________________________________ 古人云 : 世有性记足，而命记亏。 -大成捷要·动静无偏 The ancients said: The world possesses Innate Nature Gong sufficiently, yet Life-Destiny Gong is lacking. -《Essential of the Shortcut to the Great Achievement》 chapter Movement and Stillness Without Deviation ______________________________________________ First of all it is warranted to define the two terms Inner Nature and…
Read MoreExplanations of Channels and Points 經穴解 (c. 1692) by Yuè Hánzhēn
Purple Cloud Institute and Purple Cloud Press proudly announce the next release of a Chinese Medicine and acupuncture book by Michael Brown; a translation of Explanations of Channels and Points 經穴解 (c. 1692) by Yuè Hánzhēn. The full work will be published at the end of October. If you are interested you can read full…
Read More輔助功 Trademark Skill Gong
輔助功 Trademark Skill Gong _________________________________________________ 不怕你一万个功炼一遍， 就怕你一个功炼一万遍。 Do not be afraid of someone refining Ten Thousand skills one time, but be afraid of a person perfecting one skill Ten Thousand times. _________________________________________________ Trademark Gong is also called Private or Selfish Gong [si gong 私功], because it is your own only, for selfish reasons and no…
Read MoreSaints & Sages Part VIII: 刘一明 Liu Yiming (1734 – 1821)
Saints & Sages Part VIII: 刘一明 Liu Yiming (1734 – 1821) —————————————— 生不知來處，生的事大；死不知去處，死的事大。遍塵世人，來固糊塗，死亦糊塗，所以輪回不息，常入惡趣，真可痛惜。 《會心內集卷下》 [One] does not know which place [one] is born from, [yet] the issue of birth is [rather] great; [One] does not know which place [one] goes to [after] death, [yet] the issue of death is [rather] great. Everywhere the people of…
Read MoreHerbal Legends X: Xin Yi [辛夷]- Magnolia biondii
Herbal Legends X: ___________________________ A long time ago a man named Qin Juren lived with a very uncomfortable illness. For many years a foul-smelling purulent secretion oozed out from his nose, while he felt very unnerving pressure in his forehead, as well as dizziness and drowsiness. Those symptoms caused him to smell badly to the…
Read More一至七字詩 Poems of One [Character] to Seven Characters by Wang Chong Yang
Daoism Series 3 [part 1] 一至七字詩 Poems of One [Character] to Seven Characters by Wang Chong Yang ______________________________________________ The following four-word combination is present in all of the writings of the Complete Realization School of Daoism, yet one of the most elucidating and insightful versions is contained in the《Collection of Complete Realization》[quan zhen ji 全真集]…
Read MoreDaoist Medicine III: 道医六个一 Daoist Medicine’s Six Ones, One Pair of Hands
Daoist Medicine III: 道医六个一 Daoist Medicine’s Six Ones ______________________________________________ (三) 一双手 (3) One Pair of Hands ______________________ What could you do with two hands? You have one left and right, and there are too many things that you could potentially do with them. For instance Qi Gong needs One Pair of Hands. Acupressure, massage, bone-setting…
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