Comments on: On Excess and Deficiency http://classicformulas.com/excess-deficiency/ Classic Formulas Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:32:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Pat Meath http://classicformulas.com/excess-deficiency/comment-page-1/#comment-3770 Pat Meath Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:23:45 +0000 http://classicformulas.com/?p=621#comment-3770 "...On every level of the body there are doors, which have to open and close in appropriate ways..." This is a very insightful metaphor. Thank you. “…On every level of the body there are doors, which have to open and close in appropriate ways…”

This is a very insightful metaphor. Thank you.

]]> By: Michael Max http://classicformulas.com/excess-deficiency/comment-page-1/#comment-3717 Michael Max Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:08:27 +0000 http://classicformulas.com/?p=621#comment-3717 Z'ev I am not a linguist like Nigel, and so I don't have much to say on this matter. Like so much in Chinese medicine the shi/xu- excess/repletion- deficiency/vacuity issue is not about words, it is about understanding the clinical manifestations to which these terms point toward. I think it is a waste of time and energy to argue over the meanings of these terms. We need to take them as indicators, and craft our own clinical understanding. We need to unfixate on the words themselves and strive to grasp the meaning they encode. When moving between languages and cultures, I think it is useful to consider the various ways a term gets translated, and how it might shift with various contexts. Mostly I think we should stop arguing about who has the right meaning and focus instead on what these things look like in clinic. Z’ev

I am not a linguist like Nigel, and so I don’t have much to say on this matter.

Like so much in Chinese medicine the shi/xu- excess/repletion- deficiency/vacuity issue is not about words, it is about understanding the clinical manifestations to which these terms point toward. I think it is a waste of time and energy to argue over the meanings of these terms. We need to take them as indicators, and craft our own clinical understanding. We need to unfixate on the words themselves and strive to grasp the meaning they encode.

When moving between languages and cultures, I think it is useful to consider the various ways a term gets translated, and how it might shift with various contexts. Mostly I think we should stop arguing about who has the right meaning and focus instead on what these things look like in clinic.

]]> By: Z'ev Rosenberg http://classicformulas.com/excess-deficiency/comment-page-1/#comment-3687 Z'ev Rosenberg Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:01:02 +0000 http://classicformulas.com/?p=621#comment-3687 Michael, Glad to hear of the new Nanjing course. So how is fullness and emptiness for shih and xu different from Wiseman's repletion and vacuity? Nigel has been making the point for years that 'excess and deficiency' were not really accurate translations for the Chinese technical terms. Glad to see this discussion, and glad to see Huang Huang 'opening up closed doors' in clinical practice. Fascinating stuff, looking forward to hearing more. . Michael,
Glad to hear of the new Nanjing course. So how is fullness and emptiness for shih and xu different from Wiseman’s repletion and vacuity? Nigel has been making the point for years that ‘excess and deficiency’ were not really accurate translations for the Chinese technical terms. Glad to see this discussion, and glad to see Huang Huang ‘opening up closed doors’ in clinical practice. Fascinating stuff, looking forward to hearing more. .

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