Jump to content
IndiaDivine.org

Cultivating coherence/incoherence

Rate this topic


Guest guest

Recommended Posts

I love that! The physiological snapshot idea!

 

I've just acquired a copy of Li Shih-zhen's Ben cao cang mu, which has

a lot of this information in it. He went around China for thirty

years, compiling and editing information about regional herbal use.

According to Michael Broffman, however, what he left out was as

important as what he left in.

 

 

On Wednesday, September 17, 2003, at 03:38 PM, Emmanuel Segmen wrote:

 

> It's all based on the same living human physiological coherences.

> It's just thousands of snapsho!

> ts of thousands of moments in thousands of locales. This is the

> family album, so to speak, of Chinese medicine. That the written

> characters have a bit of consistency through time says so much for

> Ken's insights into at least understanding something about the written

> language. That it really arises from thousands of separate and

> regional oral traditions says so much for posts by Andrea of late.

>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love that! The physiological snapshot idea! I've just acquired a copy of Li

Shih-zhen's Ben cao cang mu, which has

a lot of this information in it. He went around China for thirty years,

compiling and editing information about regional herbal use. According to

Michael Broffman, however, what he left out was as important as what he left in.

 

 

 

Hi Z'ev,

 

Considering the vastness of physiological snapshots over the centuries, what he

left out must have been most of the picture ... more or less by definition. It

was his anthology of collected poems or snapshots. I would love to read this

book, too, if it's in English translation. Is it? If not, I can read it with my

friend John Zhang at work and annotate it. What thirty year period was Li

Shih-zhen traveling? This information would be especially beneficial to me as

Dr. Liang travels the same countryside pinching the shan zhu yu and smelling the

aromatic fragrances of drying dang gui. I need all of the vicarious travels in

China that I can get ... especially if I can view the world while sitting on Li

Shih-zhen's shoulder.

 

Emmanuel Segmen

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The book is only in Chinese (they had an on sale copy at Eastwind Books

when we were there, remember? Half price at 28.00 for the two volumes).

But if John will translate with you, all the better. Jim Ramholz

posted a few weeks ago about a conference at the Joseph Needham

Institute in the U.K. to develop a translation project for the text.

 

I can imagine Dr. Liang roaming the Chinese countryside, judging by the

incredible quality and aroma of the herbs I smelled and tasted on my

S.F. visit last month.

 

I miss the wildcrafting of herbs. While I can grow many herbs here in

San Diego, wildcrafting is limited to a few months in the rainy season

here. In New Mexico and Colorado, because of the different altitudes

and microclimates, many potent medicinal plants were available.

 

 

On Wednesday, September 17, 2003, at 06:29 PM, Emmanuel Segmen wrote:

 

> Considering the vastness of physiological snapshots over the

> centuries, what he left out must have been most of the picture ...

> more or less by definition. It was his anthology of collected poems

> or snapshots. I would love to read this book, too, if it's in English

> translation. Is it? If not, I can read it with my friend John Zhang

> at work and annotate it. What thirty year period was Li Shih-zhen

> traveling? This information would be especially beneficial to me as

> Dr. Liang travels the same countryside pinching the shan zhu yu and

> smelling the aromatic fragrances of drying dang gui. I need all of

> the vicarious travels in China that I can get ... especially if I can

> view the world while sitting on Li Shih-zhen's shoulder.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yum Yum ,

Emmanuel your natural ability to find a good thread has the royal family in

their toes when it comes to their sort of speak house manners.

Having said all that :))

I would say I am impressed with your eagle eyes for definitions that includes

all, as in practical truth ( I feel philosophical today :)

I would just add the same comment to acupuncture knowledge coming down through

all these years in many form and ways.

Vanessa

>

>>

>>that amidst the incoherence and contradictions of the written tradition is a

transmission of coherence from the very living nature of what has proceeded

through the centuries. Perhaps therein lies the challenge of the CM

practitioner.

 

Your observations?

 

In gratitude,

Emmanuel Segmen

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, Vanessa. Yes, acupuncture, moxa, tui na, dietary regulation, tai

chi/qi gong, as well as the pharmacopiea. All are part of the living human

ecology captured as written snapshots thousands upon thousands of times.

Emmanuel Segmen

 

Yum Yum ,

Emmanuel your natural ability to find a good thread has the royal family in

their toes when it comes to their sort of speak house manners.

Having said all that :))

I would say I am impressed with your eagle eyes for definitions that

includes all, as in practical truth ( I feel philosophical today :)

I would just add the same comment to acupuncture knowledge coming down

through all these years in many form and ways.

Vanessa

>

>>

>>that amidst the incoherence and contradictions of the written tradition is

a transmission of coherence from the very living nature of what has

proceeded through the centuries. Perhaps therein lies the challenge of the

CM practitioner.

 

Your observations?

 

In gratitude,

Emmanuel Segmen

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love that! The physiological snapshot idea! I've just acquired a copy of Li

Shih-zhen's Ben cao cang mu, which has

a lot of this information in it. He went around China for thirty years,

compiling and editing information about regional herbal use. According to

Michael Broffman, however, what he left out was as important as what he left in.

 

 

 

Hi Z'ev,

 

Considering the vastness of physiological snapshots over the centuries, what he

left out must have been most of the picture ... more or less by definition. It

was his anthology of collected poems or snapshots. I would love to read this

book, too, if it's in English translation. Is it? If not, I can read it with my

friend John Zhang at work and annotate it. What thirty year period was Li

Shih-zhen traveling? This information would be especially beneficial to me as

Dr. Liang travels the same countryside pinching the shan zhu yu and smelling the

aromatic fragrances of drying dang gui. I need all of the vicarious travels in

China that I can get ... especially if I can view the world while sitting on Li

Shih-zhen's shoulder.

 

Emmanuel Segmen

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was the mid eighteenth century.

 

 

 

Z'ev,

 

Does Li Shih-zhen's two volumes present a dry cognitive rendition of herb

function and growing technique? Or do you also gain an historical perspective

of the times? You say he traveled thoughout China, so it seems to me that by

reading these two volumes, you will get a sense of how people did their work and

carried out their lives in those times. Does he discuss growing techniques as a

part of the local cultural traditions? That is, are the farmers lives connected

to the Taoist calendar and to the intracies of cycles longer than solar cycles?

Are unique growing techniques unique to regional traditions? Dr. Liang has

noted that the most successful dang gui growers go through two transplantation

procedures separating the three years of growth. First growing period as

seedlings on the mountain top, second growing period as more mature plants

inside the mountain, third growing period in the valleys below the mountain.

Seems that various regions have very intact traditions that have stayed on track

over vast periods of time. It would be interesting to compare what Li Shih-zhen

saw in his day and compare it to what is seen now.

 

Emmanuel Segmen

Merritt College, Asia Natural

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was the mid eighteenth century.

 

 

 

 

Chinese Medicine , " Emmanuel Segmen "

<susegmen@i...> wrote:

 

> Hi Z'ev,

>

> Considering the vastness of physiological snapshots over the centuries, what

he

left out must have been most of the picture ... more or less by definition. It

was his

anthology of collected poems or snapshots. I would love to read this book, too,

if it's

in English translation. Is it? If not, I can read it with my friend John Zhang

at work and

annotate it. What thirty year period was Li Shih-zhen traveling? This

information

would be especially beneficial to me as Dr. Liang travels the same countryside

pinching the shan zhu yu and smelling the aromatic fragrances of drying dang

gui. I

need all of the vicarious travels in China that I can get ... especially if I

can view the

world while sitting on Li Shih-zhen's shoulder.

>

> Emmanuel Segmen

>

>

>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was the mid eighteenth century.

 

 

 

Z'ev,

 

Does Li Shih-zhen's two volumes present a dry cognitive rendition of herb

function and growing technique? Or do you also gain an historical perspective

of the times? You say he traveled thoughout China, so it seems to me that by

reading these two volumes, you will get a sense of how people did their work and

carried out their lives in those times. Does he discuss growing techniques as a

part of the local cultural traditions? That is, are the farmers lives connected

to the Taoist calendar and to the intracies of cycles longer than solar cycles?

Are unique growing techniques unique to regional traditions? Dr. Liang has

noted that the most successful dang gui growers go through two transplantation

procedures separating the three years of growth. First growing period as

seedlings on the mountain top, second growing period as more mature plants

inside the mountain, third growing period in the valleys below the mountain.

Seems that various regions have very intact traditions that have stayed on track

over vast periods of time. It would be interesting to compare what Li Shih-zhen

saw in his day and compare it to what is seen now.

 

Emmanuel Segmen

Merritt College, Asia Natural

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...