TCM Health Cultivation
01 · Historical Records
Complete records of it are found in the Baosheng Xinjian (Mirror for Preserving Life) written by the Layman Tiefeng of the Ming dynasty, the Wanshou Xianshu (Immortals' Book of Longevity) written by Luo Hongxian of the Ming dynasty, and the Zunsheng Bajian (Eight Discourses on Following the Principles of Life) written by Gao Lian of the Ming dynasty. Mr. Zhou Qianchuan, a famous veteran physician of Chinese medicine at the former Shanxi Provincial Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, received instruction from Taoist Master Zhao of Qingcheng Mountain around the 1930s and 1940s, and passed it on to Xu Yiguan, Yang Kai, and others in Shanxi; it was then transmitted to Zhang Mingliang, who later brought the project to Beijing.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The twenty-four solar terms are a body of knowledge and practice by which Chinese people understand and adapt to nature. The Twenty-Four Solar Terms Daoyin Method of Health Preservation is a non-pharmacological method of health preservation and treatment in Chinese medicine that conforms to the theories and practices associated with the twenty-four solar terms. The Twenty-Four Solar Terms Daoyin Method of Health Preservation is said to have been created by Chen Tuan Laozu (Chen Xiyi), a famous Taoist health preserver of China in the late Tang and early Song period. Chinese medicine holds that spring, summer, autumn, and winter correspond to the viscera of the human body, and that the viscera should be regulated in a targeted manner according to the corresponding season. Based on the holistic concept of Chinese medicine and the theory of the unity of heaven and humanity, the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Daoyin Method of Health Preservation employs the means and methods of Chinese medical daoyin exercise, enabling practitioners to better regulate the viscera, qi and blood, and channels and collaterals, so as to nourish life in accordance with the seasons. Each solar term has one set of movements, making twenty-four sets in all. Each solar-term daoyin method encompasses the following elements: the solar term, the three pentads (hou), the original text of the illustrated manual, the name of the movement and its connotations, the mnemonic formula, the movement itself, the key points, the functions, the direction, the timing, the explanation, and the regimen of care. These movements emphasize 'practicing exercises at the proper hours and treating disease through the channels; uniting the person with the environment, with correspondence between heaven and humanity.' They bear the characteristics of traditional Chinese culture and Chinese medicine and serve as an effective vehicle for health preservation according to the solar terms. The movements of this method are simple and easy to learn. Desk workers may use it as a workplace exercise break; ordinary people may use it as a health-preservation exercise for morning and evening; patients with chronic diseases may select movements from it as an aid to rehabilitation; and international friends may use it as a health exercise for understanding Chinese culture and experiencing Chinese medicine. This method has brought new vitality, new approaches, and a new fashion of Chinese medical health preservation to its many practitioners. The Twenty-Four Solar Terms Daoyin Method of Health Preservation is an effective way to study and practice such elements of traditional Chinese culture as the correspondence between heaven and humanity, the midnight-noon flow of qi, the viscera and channels, and ancient astronomy and climatology. It has definite effects in improving the immune system and the body's capacity for self-recovery, in promoting adaptability and coordination between people, between individuals and society, and between humanity and nature, and in developing the body's various latent capacities.
The twenty-four sets
One set for each of the twenty-four solar terms, each carrying the period, the diagram, the verse, the movement, its purpose, direction, timing and regimen.
Timing the practice, treating through the channels
Each set is timed to its season and aimed at a particular organ, on the principle that the four seasons correspond to the internal organs.
The verses
Verse and diagram go together, and it is the verse that makes the practice memorable; learners recite first and match the diagram afterwards.
Exercises for the desk and the convalescent
Simple enough for a break at work, for morning and evening exercise, for convalescence from chronic illness, or for visitors wishing to experience Chinese medicine.
Chen Tuan of the late Tang and early Song
The practice is said to have been created by the Daoist Chen Tuan, and three Ming-period writings preserve it in full enough to be collated against one another.
A platform for transmission
The academy carries the practice through continuing education, graduate courses, training classes, television, new media and research programmes.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The transmission of this method originated at Qingcheng Mountain. In the 1930s and 1940s, Mr. Zhou Qianchuan, a famous veteran physician of Chinese medicine at the former Shanxi Provincial Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, received instruction from Taoist Master Zhao, and passed it on to Xu Yiguan, Yang Kai, and others, who transmitted it in turn to Zhang Mingliang, who brought it to Beijing. Today, the Medical Experiment Center of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences undertakes its transmission and preservation, teaching and disseminating it through national-level continuing education projects, graduate courses, training classes, television programs, new media, and research projects; its participants are no longer limited by region.
Other submitting regions for the same item: TCM Health Cultivation · TCM Health Cultivation · TCM Health Cultivation · TCM Health Cultivation.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Through the continual teaching, study, and research of the relevant inheritors and inheriting communities, this heritage project has been well inherited and disseminated, and its inheriting communities and regions are relatively extensive. The China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences is an important platform for the transmission and preservation of this heritage project, carrying on, researching, and disseminating it through national-level continuing education projects, graduate courses, training classes, television programs, new media, and research projects.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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