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Traditional Chinese medicine understands the living body as animated and sustained by a set of ‘vital substances’. These range from the most refined and immaterial – the spirit – to the most dense and material – the body fluids and essence. Health depends on their abundance, their quality, their proper relationships, and above all their free and harmonious circulation.
Qi
Qi (氣) is the vital energy that animates both the body and the cosmos. It is hard to translate – it is at once energy, function and the subtle ‘breath’ of life. Qi performs five great functions: it warms the body, moves and activates all processes, transforms food and fluids, holds the organs, blood and fluids in place, and protects the body from external attack.
There are several forms of qi. Source (yuan) qi is rooted in the Kidney and derived from the essence. Gathering (zong) qi collects in the chest from air and food and supports respiration and the heartbeat. Nutritive (ying) qi flows in the channels and blood, nourishing the body. Defensive (wei) qi circulates at the surface, warming the skin and guarding against pathogens. Each organ also has its own qi. Most disorders involve qi in some way: it may be deficient (fatigue, weak voice, spontaneous sweating), stagnant (distension, pain, frustration), sinking (prolapse, bearing-down sensations) or rebellious (cough, belching, nausea, vomiting).
Blood
Blood (xue, 血) is the dense, nourishing and moistening substance that circulates in the vessels, formed mainly from the food-qi produced by the Spleen and Stomach with the help of the Lung, Heart and Kidney. Blood nourishes and moistens the whole body and, importantly, provides a stable residence for the mind. Qi and blood are inseparable: ‘qi is the commander of blood, and blood is the mother of qi’ – qi moves and holds the blood, while blood nourishes and anchors the qi. Blood deficiency brings pallor, dizziness, palpitations, scanty periods and a poorly-rooted, anxious spirit; blood stasis brings fixed, stabbing pain, masses and a purple tongue.
Body fluids
Body fluids (jin-ye, 津液) are all the normal, healthy fluids of the body other than blood. The thin, clear jin fluids moisten the skin, muscles and orifices and form sweat and tears; the thicker, denser ye fluids lubricate the joints, spine and brain and moisten the orifices of the sense organs. When fluids are deficient there is dryness – dry skin, mouth, eyes and stools; when they fail to move and accumulate, they congeal into dampness, phlegm and oedema.
Essence (Jing)
Essence (jing, 精) is the deep, precious and finite substance that underlies growth, development, reproduction and the constitution. Pre-heaven essence is inherited from our parents at conception and determines our basic constitution; post-heaven essence is refined from food and replenishes the stores throughout life. Stored by the Kidney, essence governs the great arc of life – birth, the eruption of teeth, sexual maturation, fertility, and the changes of ageing – and produces marrow, which fills the bones, spinal cord and brain (the ‘sea of marrow’).
Spirit (Shen)
Spirit (shen, 神) is the most refined and immaterial of the vital substances: our consciousness, awareness, thought, memory, sleep and emotional life, housed by the Heart and rooted in the blood and essence. A healthy shen shows in a clear mind, sound sleep and bright, lively eyes. Chinese medicine further describes five aspects of the mind-spirit, each linked to a yin organ: the shen (Heart), the hun or ethereal soul (Liver), the po or corporeal soul (Lung), the yi or intellect (Spleen) and the zhi or will (Kidney).
The three treasures and their cultivation
Essence (jing), qi and spirit (shen) together are known as the three treasures. They are intimately related: essence is the material basis from which qi arises, and qi in its most refined form supports the spirit. Their conservation and cultivation – through balanced living, sound nutrition, moderate activity, restful sleep and practices such as qigong and meditation – lie at the very heart of Chinese medicine’s approach to health, vitality and longevity.
This article is for general information and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.