Guest guest Posted June 26, 2005 Report Share Posted June 26, 2005 I asked one of the doctors in the acupuncture dept at the Taiwanese hospital where I study what he thought about the name of St-7 (xia guan). This doctor is very traditional in his approach to treatment, and relies heavily upon classical texts. He said that it is difficult to determine with certainty how the point name should be translated, because the word guan means joint as well as gate/pass. Thus, there is no way to determine whether one translation is more correct than another and each practitioner will have a different opinion depending on their orientation. However, he believed that the point name had a deeper meaning than a reference to its location, and discussed the meaning of the word guan at greater length with me. His ideas are outlined below. Underlying signs and symptoms are patterns, and underlying patterns are pathomechanisms (bing ji). Pathomechanisms are used in modern CM to describe how disease moves between various patterns– essentially how disease develops and evolves in the body. Understanding pathomechanisms helps our understanding of disease, because patterns represent only a static picture of disease at a given point in time. Pattern diagnosis gives a snapshot of a condition at a particular moment, while pathoconditions allow the physician to understand the dynamic progression of disease to predict its changes, grasp its origin, and instigate appropriate treatment to prevent unnecessary progression. However, the phrase bing ji (what we now call pathomechanisms) has involved in meaning over time. Bing means illness/disease, and ji means a variety of things, but is often used in compound words to describe mechanisms and machines. In ancient Chinese medicine, this ji was understood to be a trigger, as in the trigger mechanism on a crossbow. A cocked crossbow has a device that locks the drawstring down, which is attached to the trigger itself that releases the lock to shoot the bolt. Thus, the trigger mechanism is the key element that initiates all the action. The ancients saw the manifestations of disease, but equated the starting point for everything going off to be related to some type of trigger that caused the normal peace to be interrupted and the action to begin. Military metaphors abound in Chinese medicine, and the weaponry metaphor appears to be intertwined with the early understanding of " bing ji. " Now, here is where the business of the " guan " comes in. On a crossbow, the trigger device is called the " ji. " The " ji " is the pivotal place that is protected by a ring-like guard called a " guan, " the same guan that appears in these point names. Thus, the understanding that this doctor has about the word guan from ancient Chinese medical texts is that the guan is the protective element that prevents the trigger from going off and with it the initiation of the disease process. Therefore, he feels that the points with the word guan in their names are referring to a deeper meaning of points that protect these pivotal triggers. Of course, there are many doctors and many opinions in the field of Chinese medicine. What the people who coined the point names had in mind, we can only guess. Eric Brand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 26, 2005 Report Share Posted June 26, 2005 this is fascinating, Eric. How did your teacher use these points? My first thought is that 'protective' is 'proactive', as in preventing the onset of disease. How did he use the points if the imbalance has already been triggered? thanks for this. Karen Eric Brand wrote: >I asked one of the doctors in the acupuncture dept at the Taiwanese >hospital where I study what he thought about the name of St-7 (xia >guan). This doctor is very traditional in his approach to treatment, >and relies heavily upon classical texts. He said that it is difficult >to determine with certainty how the point name should be translated, >because the word guan means joint as well as gate/pass. Thus, there >is no way to determine whether one translation is more correct than >another and each practitioner will have a different opinion depending >on their orientation. However, he believed that the point name had a >deeper meaning than a reference to its location, and discussed the >meaning of the word guan at greater length with me. His ideas are >outlined below. > >Underlying signs and symptoms are patterns, and underlying patterns >are pathomechanisms (bing ji). Pathomechanisms are used in modern CM >to describe how disease moves between various patterns– essentially >how disease develops and evolves in the body. Understanding >pathomechanisms helps our understanding of disease, because patterns >represent only a static picture of disease at a given point in time. >Pattern diagnosis gives a snapshot of a condition at a particular >moment, while pathoconditions allow the physician to understand the >dynamic progression of disease to predict its changes, grasp its >origin, and instigate appropriate treatment to prevent unnecessary >progression. > >However, the phrase bing ji (what we now call pathomechanisms) has >involved in meaning over time. Bing means illness/disease, and ji >means a variety of things, but is often used in compound words to >describe mechanisms and machines. In ancient Chinese medicine, this >ji was understood to be a trigger, as in the trigger mechanism on a >crossbow. A cocked crossbow has a device that locks the drawstring >down, which is attached to the trigger itself that releases the lock >to shoot the bolt. Thus, the trigger mechanism is the key element >that initiates all the action. The ancients saw the manifestations of >disease, but equated the starting point for everything going off to be >related to some type of trigger that caused the normal peace to be >interrupted and the action to begin. Military metaphors abound in >Chinese medicine, and the weaponry metaphor appears to be intertwined >with the early understanding of " bing ji. " > >Now, here is where the business of the " guan " comes in. On a >crossbow, the trigger device is called the " ji. " The " ji " is the >pivotal place that is protected by a ring-like guard called a " guan, " >the same guan that appears in these point names. Thus, the >understanding that this doctor has about the word guan from ancient >Chinese medical texts is that the guan is the protective element that >prevents the trigger from going off and with it the initiation of the >disease process. Therefore, he feels that the points with the word >guan in their names are referring to a deeper meaning of points that >protect these pivotal triggers. > >Of course, there are many doctors and many opinions in the field of >Chinese medicine. What the people who coined the point names had in >mind, we can only guess. > >Eric Brand > > > > > > http://babel.altavista.com/ > > and adjust accordingly. > > > >If you are a TCM academic and wish to discuss TCM with other academics, click on this link > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 Chinese Medicine , karen <tryfan@o...> wrote: > this is fascinating, Eric. How did your teacher use these points? My > first thought is that 'protective' is 'proactive', as in preventing the > onset of disease. How did he use the points if the imbalance has already > been triggered? I just switched departments, so I have only been on his shift for a few weeks. I have never seen him use these particular points yet. He tends to use big points that can propagate a strong qi sensation, but he often doesn't select them for the standard reasons and he uses far fewer needles than all the other acupuncture doctors in the department. He recently published an article on this subject in the journal of a TCM university in Beijing. As soon as I can find the time to go to the library and read the article, I may have some more insights to offer on the matter. One point that I have noticed that this particular doctor uses with much higher frequency than anyone else is St 40 (feng long). Last week he was too busy to explain the whole story, but he said that his use of the point comes from an explanation of the region in the nei jing and has nothing to do with the more common use of the point in treating phlegm, though he did say that his use of it is somewhat connected to the fact that it is the luo point of the stomach channel. He also tends to incorporate points from Dr. Dong's method (popularized in the West by Richard Tan and Miriam Lee). Most of this doctor's point selection motives are unclear to me at this time. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 Chinese Medicine , " Eric Brand " <smilinglotus> wrote: > Chinese Medicine , karen > <tryfan@o...> wrote: > > this is fascinating, Eric. How did your teacher use these points? My > > first thought is that 'protective' is 'proactive', as in preventing the > > onset of disease. How did he use the points if the imbalance has > already > > been triggered? > > I just switched departments, so I have only been on his shift for a > few weeks. I have never seen him use these particular points yet. He > tends to use big points that can propagate a strong qi sensation, but > he often doesn't select them for the standard reasons and he uses far > fewer needles than all the other acupuncture doctors in the > department. He recently published an article on this subject in the > journal of a TCM university in Beijing. As soon as I can find the > time to go to the library and read the article, I may have some more > insights to offer on the matter. (Tom) Eric, do you know which magazine, issue #, page? I might be able to locate it from here. There are many great articles being published in Chinese journals by experienced doctors with unique insights, often based on a passage from the classics- and tested through their expertise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 For these points in question, it is worth pointing out that the word " gate " ( " guan " ) is also used in Chinese medicine to refer to the jaw specifically. For example, the expression " tong guan, " literally " freeing the gate, " specifically refers to freeing the jaw to treat clenched jaw. An example of a medicinal with this action is xixin: " Xi xin is an acrid and aromatic medicinal with a moving and penetrating nature, it has the actions of freeing the jaw (lit. freeing the gate), opening the orifices, and arousing the spirit. It may be blown into the nose for sneezing because it is said to open the orifice of the nose. Xi xin is used to treat malignity stroke or phlegm reversal with sudden clenched jaw and qi congestion, clouding loss of consciousness, white face and somber white complexion, or clenched jaw ascribed to block patterns and other repletion patterns. Here it may be used alone or combined with zao jiao; first the medicinals are ground into a powder, which is blown into the nose in a small quantity. " In Grasping the Wind, the explanation of the names of these points (GB 3 & St 7) emphasize the use of the word guan in the context of the jaw. Thus, it is most likely that the point names refer to the fact that these two points are above and below the jaw. Eric Brand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 Hi Eric, Would you be very kind? Could you tell me what school you're doing your training? including website if possible. Thanks. amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 Chinese Medicine , " Tom Verhaeghe " <verhaeghe_tom@h...> wrote: > (Tom) Eric, do you know which magazine, issue #, page? I might be able > to locate it from here. There are many great articles being published > in Chinese journals by experienced doctors with unique insights, often > based on a passage from the classics- and tested through their expertise. The exact title is back at my dorm room, but I think the name of the journal is beijing zhong yi yao da xue zhi bao (Journal of the Beijing University of ). It is the current (latest) issue, and the author is named chen yu sheng (Chen as in the last name, Yu as in jade, and Sheng as in upbearing/raising- his name has another radical above the sheng but it is left out in simplified script). Once I get back to my dorm room, I'll let you know if I made any mistakes in my recall of the journal name and I can get the issue number. We have this journal at the university library here in Taipei, but I haven't yet trekked through the rain to retrieve it. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 > The exact title is back at my dorm room, but I think the name of the > journal is beijing zhong yi yao da xue zhi bao (Journal of the Beijing > University of ). Sorry, I don't have access to this specific journal. Please keep us updated! There should be more translations available of these journals- There's a wealth of information out there. I recently started browsing through Chinese magazines and I must say I am impressed . Tom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 Chinese Medicine , Amyc144@a... wrote: > > > Hi Eric, > > Would you be very kind? Could you tell me what school you're doing your > training? > including website if possible. Thanks. Hi Amy, I am doing a post-graduate internship in a hospital in Taiwan. You can contact me off-list for details. ericbrand Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2005 Report Share Posted June 29, 2005 At 08:19 AM 6/27/2005 -0000, Eric Brand wrote: >... >In Grasping the Wind, the explanation of the names of these points (GB >3 & St 7) emphasize the use of the word guan in the context of the >jaw. Thus, it is most likely that the point names refer to the fact >that these two points are above and below the jaw. Above and below the what? according to CAM (Chinese Acup & Moxib): St-7 ... at the lower border of the zygomatic arch... GB-3 ... on the upper border of the zygomatic arch, in the depression directly above S7 and this description agrees with those in all other books I've seen, and drawings/charts (of TCM). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2005 Report Share Posted June 29, 2005 Chinese Medicine , <@w...> wrote: > At 08:19 AM 6/27/2005 -0000, Eric Brand wrote: > >... > >In Grasping the Wind, the explanation of the names of these points (GB > >3 & St 7) emphasize the use of the word guan in the context of the > >jaw. Thus, it is most likely that the point names refer to the fact > >that these two points are above and below the jaw. > > Above and below the what? > > according to CAM (Chinese Acup & Moxib): > St-7 ... at the lower border of the zygomatic arch... > GB-3 ... on the upper border of the zygomatic arch, in the depression > directly above S7 > > and this description agrees with those in all other books I've seen, and > drawings/charts (of TCM). Yes, the Chinese now use Latin names to describe anatomical structures. Groundbreaking news, I'm sure. Come on. You have an ancient Chinese word that is associated with the jaw. You have two points that are above and next to/below the articulation site that defines the jaw. Making the connection is not rocket science. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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