Aug 28 2008
Opposites inform
We know from the texture of our lives that the Chinese yin/yang theory of opposites attracting and mutually transforming into one another is one of the ways that life grows, unfolds, and transforms. It is somehow comforting to know that moments of despair will in time tranform, and that present frustrations can be the inspiration to questions that lead us to wider view of the world.
But, on a less grand scale, opposites as they are currently constellated can give us deeper insight and understanding into the present situation. Anyone who has studied even a little of the six warp of the Shang Han Lun will easily recognize the da huang presentation of excessive heat that burns the tongue coating into a dry yellow-black, turns the stool into a dry compacted mass, and causes thirst as a rescue signal to replace the fluids that are pouring out as sweat.
Ever stop to think about what is the opposite of this kind of presentation?
It is the presentation for gan jiang! Check it out:
- Vomiting of saliva or phlegm fluid. Clear, thin and odorless stool and urine.
- Abdominal distention and pain, nausea and vomiting, or coughing.
- The mouth is moist and there is a lack of thirst, aversion to cold with a desire for warmth, listless and dispirited.
- Pale or pale red tongue, with a greasy coating; the coating is usually white and greasy, grey-black and greasy, or white and glossy. (This is the ginger tongue)
Notice here that both the da huang and gan jiang presentation include signs of abdominal distention and pain. As is so often the case with Chinese medicine, we can not even begin to consider what herbs to use from a single symptom, the entire gestalt must be considered.
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