chinese cosmology III: notebook project

1
this semester we learned about the four "humanity" organs: pericardium, triple burner, gall bladder, and liver. this painting shows the organ clock and the positions of these four organs, starting with pericardium at the rightmost position, representing lunar month 9 and 7-9PM, and ending with liver in the leftmost position, representing lunar month 12 and 1-3AM. each position has an association with an earthly branch, which itself has an association with an element.



earthly branches
pericardium: xu (earth)
triple burner: hai (water)
gall bladder: zi (water)
liver: chou (earth)

the red lines represent the 6 conformation correspondences. pericardium and liver are part of the jueyin wood conformation, while triple burner and gall bladder are part of the shaoyang fire conformation.

each organ is also assigned to a zang fu pairing, which has its own elemental association. thus, each organ is associated with three different elements: 5 element, 6 conformation, and 12 earthly branches. they are as follows:

pericardium: fire / wood / earth
triple burner: fire / fire / water
gall baldder: wood / fire / water
liver: wood / wood / earth

2
the pericardium is full of gate symbolism, which this painting represents. on a physiological level, the pericardium's job is to protect the heart from external pathogens, and its meridian wraps around the heart like a barrier. acupuncture point PC6 is aptly named "the last door before the emperor". the protection that the pericardium provides might be seen as analogous to the blood brain barrier's function in western medicine.

the pericardium's close relationship to the heart is also suggested by its three names: xin bao (the sac around the heart), xin zhu (heart master / that which sees mastership of the heart), and dan zhong (surrendered minister that follows commands that others will not).

on an emotional level, the pericardium is thus involved with romantic relationships, about intimacy. there are two pathologies associated with intimacy that are represented by the red horizontal arrows in the painting. on the one hand, there is the pathology of being closed off to one's emotions and overly intellectual, achieving a Kafka-esque neuroticism in relationships.

on the other hand, there is the pathology of having the gates to one's heart constantly flung open and having no barrier to new and potentially harmful relationships. prostitution is a crystallized example of this pathology. thus the pericardium must be looked at when addressing trauma related to intimacy (as opposed to the bladder, which is more associated with general emotional trauma).

the arrow pointing upwards represents the fact that achieving balance within romantic relationship along the pericardial axis will allow the partners use the relationship in its full potential; as a vehicle for divine connection, an enhanced experience of unity with the universe.

3
the tidal hexagram associated with the pericardium is hexagram 23, the character of which implies, "stripping naked", or "peeling off the peel". the time of day associated with the hexagram is 7-9pm, a time when intimacy between partners occurs; a time for stripping naked. (the theme of intimacy is also depicted in the river zhang, which is made up of two rivers that end up interweaving together)

the time of year, month 9, also has a similar energy; during this time, nature "sheds its clothing", and the leaves on the trees that turned brilliant colors during autumn now start to wither and fall to the ground. during this time nature "has only one goal-- to conserve the life force" and pump everything underground in preparation for the wintertime.

the ninth month is also traditionally the month for marriage, another tie in with the theme of romantic union. one of the pericardium's archetypes is the pure female virgin about to get married, which is on an axis opposite the clock pair of the pericardium, the stomach-- whose archetype is the hormonal, debaucherous teenage male.

4
the stellar constellations associated with the pericardium are also associated with the same themes of intimacy and heart protection. all three refer to spots on a constellation of a dragon-- fang, the breast of the dragon, di, the chest of the dragon, and xin, the heart of the dragon.

the strong connection to the chest and breast within these constellations is indicative of the pericardium's energetic connection to the breasts; breast cancer is oftentimes a pericardium pathology. in fact, hormonal function in women in general can partly be attributed to the pericardium, although some other organs might be more closely associated. uterine fibroids is another example of a hormonally based pathology that is associated with the pericardium.

the character for fang also refers to the ancillary chambers of a house, where sex with concubines with occur. sex therefore has a strong association with the pericardium. incidentally, the animal associated with the pericardium is the dog, whose genitals are used in sex tonics. scorpio, the western counterpart to the pericardium time of year, is also notably associated with strong sexual energy.

5
this painting represents the triple burner's elusive function in the body, which is perhaps the most difficult organ to depict because it basically has no single analogue in simple anatomical terms. in general, triple burner is the function within the body that serves to connect the spaces between cells and organs. accordingly, the painting represents two of the many examples of triple burner manifestations in the body; the lymph channels, draining fluid from the extracellular matrix around cells, and the nervous system, connecting and coordinating all parts of our body to our central command center.

the middle channel represents the river luo, which is the river that is purported to hub together the other rivers (acting similar to the nervous system), as well as a drainage canal for the yellow river (acting similar to the lymph channels)

the triple burner's networking function can be seen in personality traits as well; the person with a triple burner personality is the "networker"-- in a group setting, this person connects everyone to each other and knows everyone. sometimes this function can be pathological and come at the expense of knowing true intimacy, resulting in a charismatic, sociable mask covering up a loneliness that only that person knows.

6
the triple burner is not only involved with connecting on a horizontal level, within one system, but it is also involved in connecting on a vertical, hierachical level. it is in charge of connecting with the universe, the microcosm with the macrocosm. this painting depicts the state that must be realized to achieve this connection; wu wei-- doing without doing, in the flow.

the person in bed represents the time associated with the triple burner, 9-11, a time when nature takes us into sleep, which is the ultimate wu wei state. our bodies are completely relaxed, our breathing gets deep and slow, and we merge with our subconscious, at the very least.

in the middle of the flow is the tidal hexgram associated with the triple burner, hexagram 2. this hexagram is "kun", and its meaning is again "in the flow". it is also a symbol of a grave and related to peaceful awareness of death, that is afforded by the unity of the wu wei state. (a metaphor for the TB function of proper transition / awareness of death is the structure of the pyramids; the long passageways into the pyramids and the elaborate, temple-like interiors suggest a transition with the next realms, rather than a hiding from them.)

the two dots on either side of the flow in the painting represent the stellar constellations wei and ji, which are on either side of the milky way, and also part of the milky way, representing the theme of "in the flow" as well.

7
this painting represents two examples of the relationship between the triple burner and the other organs. the bladder and the triple warmer can both be likened to the roots on a tree, but the bladder is more the large taproot (as it is concerned with circulating energy up the spine in the microcosmic orbit), whereas the triple burner is represented by the root network that connects adjacent plants.

secondly, the kidney and the triple burner can be represented by a battery (or spark plug) and a circuit; the kidney is the central power source and the triple burner provides the channels in which energy can flow. the kidney and triple burner are the pair most closely associated with adrenal function in western medicine. thus some states of adrenal fatigue can be related to these organ networks (although many cases are conflated with thyroid dysfunction).

8
the tidal hexagram of the gall bladder is hexagram 24: fu. it has one yang line under 5 yin lines and represents the energetic momentum at this time of year; yang is returning. the hexagram, when split into two trigrams, also represents thunder under the earth, which is represented by the painting.

the bottom layers of the painting represent the thunderous yang energy deep under the earth. each layer gets progressively more tame, and by the time the surface is reached, the manifestation of what is deep underground is simply rolling hills. the hilly landscape is also reminiscent of gansu province, which the gall bladder's river wei is purported to come from. this province is full of desert like landscapes full of burial mounds that poke up like hills; suggestive of a force about to burst from underneath.

the valleys between the hills in the painting are also suggestive of vertical caves-- caves are an important part of gall bladder symbolism. nature is beginning to come out of the caves during this time of year, out of hibernation. the life force reached the deepest place in the previous month and now is beginning to push back upwards.

9
the gall bladder's emotional function is highly related to decision making; the initial drive that starts a process. people who are unable to make a decision are likely to have a deficiency in the gall bladder network. it is also linked with leadership styles. this painting represents the clock pairs of gall bladder and heart, which form an axis that depicts two styles of leadership. on the one hand, heart leadership is wise, loving, and prioritizes the connection with all members of the group. on the other hand, gall bladder leadership is pushy, about efficiency and organization, and about making decisions rapidly. (the pushy nature of the gall bladder leader is mirrored in part by the gall bladder's physiological function; it serves to move energy in the body and flush out phlegm.)

these two styles are represented by the bamboo leaves- the heart bamboo leaves are falling downwards, representing the more relaxed heart leader and the gall bladder leaves are pushing upwards, representing the wood nature of the gall bladder leadership. bamboo in general might be an archetype for the wood organs, as it is rapidly growing, yet highly flexible. it is also hollow in the middle, which points to the heart function of being an "empty vessel", not having any private agenda as a leader.

another archetype of the gall bladder is the "jihad official". this official has a flag with truth written on it; as the name implies, this truth is often radical or cultish, and the official pursues it with the devotion of a cult leader. thus those who have a tendency to follow charismatic religious leaders or dive into esoteric religious beliefs might be related to gall bladder dysfunction.

10
this painting depicts an old myth about how the months were set in the zhou dynasty; all the animals were lined up on one side of a river and it was determined that the first animal to cross would be assigned to the first month. as the story goes, the rat, in all its cleverness, asked the ox for a ride across, and just as the ox was about to reach the other shore, jumped off and won the contest. the rat thus represents the gall bladder energy of cleverness. incidentally, the gall bladder meridians zig zag along the brain, furthering the mind connection.

the rat and the ox are also the animals for the gall bladder and liver, which are intricately related. if the gall bladder is about the initial push, the liver is about long term endurance. another notable relationship is the gall bladder and the small intestine: both are related to one's internal compass, but the SI has more of a mental, spiritual focus while the gall bladder has more of a visceral nature.

11
in contrast to the triple burner's maxim of "in the flow", the livers energy is decidedly "against the flow", as this painting depicts. hexagram 19 is the tidal hexagram associated with the liver and has two yang lines pushing up against 4 yin lines, and the chinese character means "to advance". the liver thus represents endurance, working for work's sake, without necessarily seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

the river associated with the liver is the river sheng, which, unlike all the other rivers in china, flows east to west, against gravity. (a side note-- this river is also full of toads, which symbolically represent the liver's detoxifying properties, as toads have mucous membranes on the outside and are highly susceptible to environmental toxicity)

the liver's elemental associations for the five element and six conformation systems are both wood; further exemplifying the quality of pushing against the flow. the energy of the jueyin wood network might represented well by a single blade of grass pushing up towards the sun, bringing water upwards against gravity.

in this painting the liver energy is represented by the single red fish, swimming against the flow of the school of black fish.

12
the endurance that is associated with the liver is a womanly endurance. this painting depicts the symbol for a woman with many complex symbols inside of it, which represent the hormonal reality that renders the female body capable of feats of endurance such as childbirth. the arrow to the right represents the drive to go forward as well as suggesting that this quality might be channeled in males as well, although our physiologies might be different.

however, there is a stronger association with the female archetype than the male with the liver. another connection: the emotion associated with the liver is anger, and the character associated with anger depicts a woman being suppressed-- suggesting that the essence of liver anger is the heart of a suppressed woman, about to burst forth. also, the source of prenatal energy in women is the liver (and the kidneys in men).

xi wang mu is an archetypal liver woman character; a legendary tribal leader who led her tribe with eternal youthfulness and shamanistic wisdom. she was also, according to myth, wore a leopard mask, and howled at the moon-- representing perfectly the physiological qualities of "nu"-- healthy emotional expression.

the ox is yet another symbol of the endurance that liver energy represents; it toils in the fields tirelessly and as the jueyin conformation suggests, works best when pulling against some resistance. as mentioned before, while the gall bladder is important for making initial decisions, the liver is crucial for carrying out plans long term. the liver is therefore also represented by the general, the official in charge who plans and strategizes and delegates orders to the gall bladder's platoon seargent, who then executes the orders on the ground.

13
this painting represents some of the energetic functions of the liver in the body. the red drops and flow represents the blood, which the liver has a pivotal role managing. the liver can be likened to a manager in a warehouse of blood, ushering the blood in and out when needed. the three drops of blood in each outlet represent three substances; blood, tears, and hormones (as described above the liver has a close connection with hormones, and tears are an expression of emotional reality made possible by hormones, and contain hormone metabolites as well).

the liver and the pericardium together govern the hormones and blood. jue ni represents a pathological condition of these two organ networks, resulting in blood rushing up in the wrong direction; leading to such conditions as stroke. another organ network that is related to blood flow is the small intestine, which is in charge of all the narrow passageways-- however it is more related to venous, retreating flow, while the liver is related to the pushing, arterial flow.

the overall painting describes another function of the liver, that it is in charge of coursing and draining. the two receiving channels represent the fact that the liver can aid in draining stagnant energy from two areas: the digestive spleen/stomach system, as well as emotional well being, preventing stagnant depressive states. (not depicted by the painting is another physiological function of the liver: the liver contains the hun spirits, which are ethereal spirits that follow the shen and come out in full force during sleep)

chinese cosmology: notebook project

this was my chinese cosmology project from last year that looked at the symbolism of the lung, large intestine, stomach, and spleen. (please excuse the messy handwriting)

chinese cosmology I: the large intestine

Lung and Large Intestine are both metal elements according to five element theory and both fall within the spring months according to the neijing cosmological organ clock and as such share some general functions.
However, their differences are potent: the lung is represented as the pressurized bow in which the arrow is waiting to be shot. In contrast, the large intestine is the arrow that has left the bow. Lung is represented by the tiger who waits in his cave, demonstrating power through its stillness, ready to pounce at any moment. Large intestine, on the other hand, is the rabbit who bounds endlessly and recreates with abandon.

One of the more palpable analogies we learned about the large intestine was that of a political leader. Lung is the official who stands in the background, ruling with calmness and only exerting force when necessary. Large Intestine is the charismatic dictator who claims equality, claims to be a populist leader, while achieving his objectives by dictatorial means. As with any organ system, there can be a healthy and unhealthy representation; a healthy Large Intestine representation in this analogy might be Jesus or Confucius, whereas the pathological representation is Adolf Hitler, the ultimate dictator.

The theme of “dominance within equality” is captured in other symbolic systems as well; as mentioned the Large Intestine time on the organ clock refers to the 2nd month of spring, the time when the insects come out. Notably, it is the time of the Chinese vernal equinox; the time when the length of the day vs. night are exactly equal. However, the tidal hexagram that corresponds to the large intestine time, hexagram 34, has 4 yang lines underneath 2 yin lines, indicating that the yin yang balance has already been tipped in favor of yang.

Another flavor of large intestine that was emphasized to us highly was its crudeness, its crassness, its bluntness. If there was a company made up of 12 people, each who represented one organ network, the large intestine would be the person who got fed up with the lack of progress of the group. The crudeness is furthermore a corollary to the large intestine’s connection to the material world - “the equation of shit [from the large intestine] and stuff” is not coincidental in this view.

chinese cosmology week 3: the lung

This lecture continued the ideas of different symbolic systems of chinese organ classification and began an in depth look at lung symbology and function.

Heiner first described another metaphorical system that is used in Chinese medicine to describe the organ functions; comparing the 12 organs to 12 major rivers in China. For example, the Sheng river is the only river in China that flows East to West and is representative of the liver's characteristic of "going against the flow", and overcoming obstacles. The Ji river is a small river that crosses the murky Yellow river and yet remains pure on the other side and represents the heart's spiritual orientation and function (the murkiness representing the material world).

On the other hand, the lung is represented by the yellow river, which brings water and fertilizer (clay) and distributes it throughout its banks. The river is representative of the lung's function of being the master and distributor of chi.

The lung can be described in many ways- here are some of the overarching phrases Heiner used to describe it:

"master of chi"
"distributor of middle burner energy"
"distributes chi like a shower nozzle"
"responsible for standard setting"
"peace keeper"
"uplifting, expanding energy"
"more concerned with physical body than any other organ"
"invigorator that patches up the system"
"concerned with instincts"

The lung is understood through many different symbolic systems, each of which captures a different aspect / characteristic. The element associated with the lung is metal ("going down", "purity", "money issues"), whereas the conformation is taiyin ("earth", "dampness"). The tidal hexagram for lung is hexagram 11, which represents the intercoursing of heaven and earth (yang is on the bottom and yin is on top).

Although it is commonly understood to be associated with Autumn, according to classical Neijing cosmology, the lung is associated with the first months of spring. Looking at the Chinese understanding of what occurs during this time we can gather more information about the lung's function:

"yang first emerges"
"life is starting to re-awaken"
"fish being drawn to the surface of the ice"
"still cold but beginning to warm up"
"beginning of all circulation of time and space"

more to come...

chinese cosmology week 2: symbolic systems

In this lecture we continued on symbols in Chinese medicine and the different symbolic systems used to understand the 12 chinese organs (which, again, are not referring to the physical organs in our body necessarily, but are "symbolic representations of functional vibrations"). Although there are a wealth of such systems in this medicine, we focused mainly on the 5 element, 6 conformation, and 12 organ network systems.

The 5 element system pairs yin with yang organs together into 5 groupings. Wood: associated with spring and the organs liver and gall bladder. Fire: associated with summer and the organs heart and small intestine. Also associated with pericardium and triple burner. Earth is associated with late summer, also the transition between seasons- and the organs spleen and stomach. Metal is associated with fall and the organs lung and large intestine. Water is associated with winter and the organs kidney and bladder.

On the other hang, the 6 conformation system pairs yin-yin and yang-yang organs together and proponents claim it is more classical because of its origins in the Shang Han Lun. These six conformations can be thought of as six different positions on a sine wave curve, the upper part of the curve representing "yang" and the lower representing "yin". Yang starts off with taiyang, which is represented by the small intestine and bladder organs. Next is yang ming, which is the stomach and liver. Shaoyang is the last yang pairing, gall bladder and triple burner. Taiyin is the first yin pairing- lung and spleen, followed by jue yin (liver and pericardium) and shao yin (heart and kidney).

The twelve organ network system is considered in classical chinese medicine to be the superior framework to operate on because it incorporates both the 5 and the 6 model, which are in a sense complementary to each other, equally necessary. In this system the 12 organs can be drawn out on the borders of a circle subdivided into 12 sections. This makes it easy to visualize the organs' specific relationships to time; both the 12 months of the year as well as 12 groupings of 2 hours within each day. More to come.

chinese cosmology week 2: symbolic systems

In this lecture we continued on symbols in Chinese medicine and the different symbolic systems used to understand the 12 chinese organs (which, again, are not referring to the physical organs in our body necessarily, but are "symbolic representations of functional vibrations"). Although there are a wealth of such systems in this medicine, we focused mainly on the 5 element, 6 conformation, and 12 organ network systems.

The 5 element system pairs yin with yang organs together into 5 groupings. Wood: associated with spring and the organs liver and gall bladder. Fire: associated with summer and the organs heart and small intestine. Also associated with pericardium and triple burner. Earth is associated with late summer, also the transition between seasons- and the organs spleen and stomach. Metal is associated with fall and the organs lung and large intestine. Water is associated with winter and the organs kidney and bladder.

On the other hang, the 6 conformation system pairs yin-yin and yang-yang organs together and proponents claim it is more classical because of its origins in the Shang Han Lun. These six conformations can be thought of as six different positions on a sine wave curve, the upper part of the curve representing "yang" and the lower representing "yin". Yang starts off with taiyang, which is represented by the small intestine and bladder organs. Next is yang ming, which is the stomach and liver. Shaoyang is the last yang pairing, gall bladder and triple burner. Taiyin is the first yin pairing- lung and spleen, followed by jue yin (liver and pericardium) and shao yin (heart and kidney).

The twelve organ network system is considered in classical chinese medicine to be the superior framework to operate on because it incorporates both the 5 and the 6 model, which are in a sense complementary to each other, equally necessary. In this system the 12 organs can be drawn out on the borders of a circle subdivided into 12 sections. This makes it easy to visualize the organs' specific relationships to time; both the 12 months of the year as well as 12 groupings of 2 hours within each day. More to come.

chinese cosmology week 1: philosophical introduction

The first class in the cosmology series by Heiner Fruehaf. He basically laid out the philosophical foundations for the material we're about to study; ideas that are both relatively foreign to "western" thinking as well as integral to the Chinese medicine framework.

One of the central ideas was of the nature of reality and man and the idea of "levels of reality": This map of reality has 5 realms which start with the dao, which can be thought of as the world before it was manifested; the ultimate energetic and ethereal realm. On the opposite end is Qi, the material world (the character for Qi is a vessel surrounded by 4 dogs which might represent the guarding of earthly possessions). In the middle is the realm called Xiang, halfway in between the realms of energy and matter. This is the realm in which chinese medicine operates in.

Hierarchies of thought, of energy, reality thus play an integral role in the medicine. "Energy informs matter" and thus the root of any physical manifestation can be considered to be a primarily energetic and spiritual phenomenon. The highest level of physician, "Shang Gong", can operate and influence the patient on this energetic level, where the lowest type of physician, "xia gong", has only the capability to practice "cook book medicine", looking up specific remedies for physical symptoms without necessarily addressing the underlying energetic cause.

Because the very nature of reality is so elusive in this worldview, the study of Chinese Medicine makes great use of symbols. The organs as specified in Chinese medicine are not the literal structures in the body but rather symbolic descriptions of functional energetic patterns. Thus, "every cell has a liver". Each organ is described with several different symbolic frameworks in order to shed light on different facets of its nature.

classical chinese medicine: lecture on the heart by heiner fruehaf

today i went to a CE workshop led by one of my favorite professors here at NCNM (who played a large part in my decision to attend), Dr. Heiner Fruehaf. he talked about the role of the heart and emotions in chinese medicine. the lecture was difficult to grasp in its entirety, so i won't sum it up, but here are some of the main ideas:

the heart as the ultimate sensory organ: the heart is the receptor / vessel / antennae for extrasensory, heavenly information (such as one's life purpose, without which illness will definitely occur) and as such rules the other sensitive areas such as the eyes, tongue, hands, feet, etc. it is through the heart that we can sense that which is beyond the material realm.

the emotions facilitating the heart's communication: emotions arise in response to the heart's "receptor sites" being stimulated. if one is present with the emotions they can be used to help develop our sensitivity towards what the heart is trying to perceive.

the emotions as an evolutionary manifestation: the ability of humanity to feel such emotions via the heart is the main difference between us and the animals. whereas animals have just one nature, the animal nature (which, though it is not spiritual, is in touch with the universe), humanity has three levels in its consciousness: animal nature, the heart, and the spirit / true nature.

the potential for de-evolution: there is always the possibility and in fact the probability that instead of using emotions to facilitate the heart's communication beyond the material realm, we can get trapped in feedback loops that are self-limiting. emotions can become reactions which can become patterns which can become rigid and trap the individual from communicating with his/her true purpose.

blame as the "axis" for emotions: learning to accept responsibility for one's circumstance and relationships rather than blaming others is a crucial turning point in one's emotional life and can liberate the individual to truly affect change in their own life.

some quotes:

"the purpose of ritual is to point to a sacred reality"

"the heart is a receiver of purpose and subtle realities... every place that is very sensitive belongs to the heart"

"if you have no purpose in your life, you will get ill"

"consciousness governs energy, and energy governs matter"

"the most important thing in holistic medicine is to not ever take hope away from the patient"

"we shut our spirits off with doubt"

"for some reason, we venerate our small patterns instead of letting go of them and receiving the larger patterns of the universe"

"modernity is a condition that is heightening the animal needs"

"in order to get true joy, you need to first be able to eat bitter"

"learn what it means to be a filial son or daughter of the universe"

"we are meant to use the emotions as functions of the heart to be in touch with higher realities"

"[qigong] shaking is a form of daily hygeine that is much more important than brushing our teeth- we shake our negative emotions away before they take root"