etymology Archives |

Three Yin and Three Yang: Clarifying Zhang Zhongjing’s Diagnostic Approach of the Six Conformations

CCM2019-06-11T21:30:07-07:00Tags: classical texts, etymology, German, Shanghan lun, Six Conformations, Zhang Zhongjing|

BY YARON SEIDMAN
Hunyuan Institute

Our associate is an accomplished Chinese medicine physician and emerging scholar on the classical aspects of TCM. His studies with his mentor, Dr. Liu Lihong, have led him to specialize in the six conformation system of Chinese diagnostics introduced in the Shanghan lun. He is presently writing a book on treating infertility with Chinese herbs, wherein he is discussing his thoughts on the deeper meaning of the "three yin and three yang" system. He has allowed us to a preview parts of the book in the Associates Forum—a must read for everyone interested in six conformation theory.

GERMAN TRANSLATION BY MARKUS GOEKE

The Lung and the Tiger Image: An Example of Decoding the Symbolic Record of Chinese Medicine

CCM2017-04-01T19:26:22-07:00Tags: etymology, German, Heiner Fruehauf, Huangdi Neijing, lung, symbolism, tiger|

BY HEINER FRUEHAUF
National University of Natural Medicine,
College of Classical Chinese Medicine

Heiner Fruehauf has researched the ancient symbolism that defines the finer points of Chinese organ network function for 10 years. His prolific research project will eventually culminate in the creation of an illustrated compendium on the macrocosmic and microcosmic ramifications of organ network theory. Since the publication of this effort is still years away, he has decided to make a selection from his cache of existing research papers available now by publishing them on ClassicalChineseMedicine.org. The first installment of these papers consists of a detailed etymological analysis of the character of fei 肺 (lung), and the defining statement on the lung’s function/office in chapter 8 of the Huangdi neijing suwen.

GERMAN TRANSLATION BY MARKUS GOEKE

Fei: An Etymological Analysis of the Pictogram for ‘Lung’

CCM2022-09-07T12:52:51-07:00Tags: classical texts, cosmology, etymology, Heiner Fruehauf, Huangdi Neijing, Jingue yaolüe, lung, Shuowen jiezi, symbolism, translations|

BY HEINER FRUEHAUF

The word 肺, in a more specific reference to the specific function of this organ system, is classified by the component 巿 po (in its seal script form, composed of the pictographic components grass 屮and eight 八), meaning “abundant foliage in the wind” (this is a clear reference to the anatomical appearance of the lung lobes, as well as to traditional descriptions of this organ: Chinese texts describe them as “leaves”; see Shijing: 東門之楊, 其葉肺肺 “The poplars at the Eastern Gate, their leaves flutter lung-like in the wind;” Neijing: 肺熱葉焦 “When the lung is hot, its leaves become charred”); note that the rain forest with its prolific canopy of leaves is considered to be the lung of the earth.

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Three Yin and Three Yang: Clarifying Zhang Zhongjing’s Diagnostic Approach of the Six Conformations

The Lung and the Tiger Image: An Example of Decoding the Symbolic Record of Chinese Medicine

Fei: An Etymological Analysis of the Pictogram for ‘Lung’