So, one of the core values of TCM comes from the “Yellow Emperor’s classic of Internal Medicine” treating the disease not yet contracted, not the one already contracted. The core of TMC is “Treating the disease not yet contracted.” Nowadays, China has developed a project for “Treating the disease not yet contracted”. Of course, in Western medicine, this is known as preventative medicine. There was a physician in the Yuan Dynasty who clearly wrote that curing a disease after one already had was too late, and preventing disease was essential. That’s why in ancient China, they said that the high-class, most intelligent physicians, treated disease not yet contracted, middle-class physicians. Because there were high, middle, and lower-class physicians. Middle-class physicians treated diseases which were soon to be contracted, and lower-class physicians treated already-contracted disease. Back then, in ancient China, Bian Que was a famous physician. He said that he was a lower-class physician, that his eldest brother was an upper-class physician, and his second-eldest brother was a middle-class physician. He said that he was a lower-class physician and only treated people’s disease, so when the disease were cured everyone thought that he was amazing. However, his second-eldest brother would make diseases disappear in those who had just contracted them. His eldest brother kept people from getting sick, so he said that his eldest brother wasn’t as well-known as him, and that he was the lowest class of physician. Nowadays in the West, there is a new medical theory known as naturopathy. Naturopathy was first proposed in Japan. The proposal of naturopathy from Japan was based on TCM theories, which then affected the West. What is the idea of naturopathy in Western medical world? One of the core philosophies of naturopathy is that doctors aren’t there to prescribe medicine, they are there to teach people how to live healthy lives. I think this counts as a high-class physician. When thought of from a TCM perspective, naturopathy’s goal is to keep people from getting sick, and that in order to be a doctor, one has to teach people how to live healthy lives.
In the “Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine”. There is another question that the Yellow Emperor asked Qi Bo. He said. “The ancient Chinese didn’t require complicated treatment for disease. All they had to do was adjust the spirit, Qi, and pray, and they got better. Why is it that now, to treat disease we have to take medicine and use acupuncture? Why wasn’t the ancient method of spirit and Qi adjustment passed down? It wasn’t that it wasn’t passed down. It was passed down, but nowadays, what do we do? We ostracize it. In TCM, there is a department called the department of incantation and psychology. It makes use of adjustment of the spirit and Qi. Just what is the adjustment of the spirit and Qi? For example, shifting your attention, dispelling your fears, and filling you with hope. It’s a little bit like witchcraft. Through these external methods, they instill you with a sort of belief. If we look at it from a philosophical perspective, how do you explain this sort of phenomenon? There is a disease called herpes zoster. It’s a disease of the immune system. That’s right, and it’s a very painful one. Herpes zoster is a very agonizing disease. In the past, what did they call herpes zoster? It was called “the dragon which wraps the waist. Typically, the majority of the disease appears around the waist. Nowadays, there are some which appear on the back, but most present on the waist. Regarding this dragon which wraps the waist, they said that if the blisters wrap around the waist and connect, then you would be constricted to death. So it was terrifying and agonizing.
So in the past, they could use what was called prayer treatment. So what they would do, is have you sit in the middle and then place a circle of hay around you, and recite incantations. After they recited the incantations. They would take ink from an inkslab and then write a character with a brush on your blisters. It was cooling. After they wrote the character, they said that on their mark, the patient hat to leap out of the hay circle. They cut the hay with a knife and the person was cured. They said that it was guaranteed, that the “dragon” wouldn’t constrict you to death. And so your belief was strong, right? You had a great deal of confidence. It was just type of psychological suggestion. So, your psychological suggestion went with the ink that they had written on you. Do you know what this ink was made of? It was sometimes made of aged, melted snow, and sometimes made from medicinal ink. It wasn’t ink that we usually write with. This medicine contained medicine, like ice, to cool the body, which was cool in nature. Used to dispel heat-toxins. That’s right, as well as to dispel your spiritual burdens. They also gave you a cold wrap which allowed you to sleep soundly. Once your mind release