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Yang Sheng: The art of Chinese self-healing

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Macrobiotics is a convenient term for the belief that it is possible to prepare, with the aid of botanical, zoological, mineralogical and above all chemical, knowledge, drugs or elixirs [ dan 丹] which will prolong human life beyond old age [ shoulao 壽老], rejuvenating the body and its spiritual parts so that the adept [ zhenren 真人] can endure through centuries of longevity [ changsheng 長生], finally attaining the status of eternal life and arising with etherealised body a true Immortal [ shengxian 升仙] (Needham and Lu 1974: 11). To maintain and improve the standards of teaching and learning in Dao Yin Yang Sheng Gong in England All instructors in the Association are also experienced Tai Ji Quan or Qi Gong teachers in their own right, who have learnt one or more sets of Dao Yin Yang Sheng Gong exercises and wish to pass them on to their students. Standardisation is maintained by regular seminars led by Simon Watson at which instructors are invited to demonstrate their practice and offer it for evaluation. All members are strongly encouraged to visit China to take advantage of the quality of teaching available there. The Association has strong links with Beijing University of Physical Education and the Dao Yin Centre based at the University. The cook replies, "What your servant loves is the Way, which goes beyond mere skill. When I first began to cut oxen, what I saw was nothing but whole oxen. After three years, I no longer saw whole oxen. Today, I meet the ox with my spirit rather than looking at it with my eyes. My sense organs stop functioning and my spirit moves as it pleases. In accord with the natural grain [依乎天理], I slice at the great crevices, lead the blade through the great cavities. Following its inherent structure, I never encounter the slightest obstacle even where the veins and arteries come together or where the ligaments and tendons join, much less from obvious big bones." ... " "Wonderful!" said Lord Wenhui. "From hearing the words of the cook, I have learned how to nourish life [養生]." (3, tr. Mair 1994: 26-27) The English Dao Yin Yang Sheng Gong Association, in common with its partner Associations in Europe, is committed to doing whatever it can to help to produce teaching and learning materials in English.

Besides shiqi ("eating qi/breath") above, the Lunheng also refers to Daoist breath yoga as daoqi (導氣, "guide the qi/breath"). In religious Daoism and Traditional Chinese medicine, yangsheng (養生, " nourishing life"), refers to various self-cultivaton practices aimed at enhancing health and longevity. Yangsheng techniques include calisthenics, self-massage, breath exercises, meditation, internal and external Daoist alchemy, sexual activities, and dietetics. Some sinologists translate yangsheng and yangxing (養性) as "macrobiotic", using English macrobiotic in its original meaning "Inclined or tending to prolong life; relating to the prolongation of life" instead of its more familiar macrobiotic diet meaning, "Of or pertaining to a Zen Buddhist dietary system intended to prolong life, comprising pure vegetable foods, brown rice, etc." ( OED 2009). The first example was Alfred Forke's 1907 translation of Wang Chong's 80 CE Lunheng, mentioned below. Wang's autobiography says that near the end of his life, "he wrote a book on Macrobiotics [養性] in sixteen chapters. To keep himself alive, he cherished the vital fluid [養氣]." (tr. Forke 1907: 348). Joseph Needham and Lu Gwei-djen say, is a system of exercises characterised by gentle twisting motions and involving breath control, the stimulation of key acupressure points in the body and mental development.The Beijing University of Physical Education is the home of the Dao Yin Yang Sheng Gong Centre, Professor Zhang Guangde's headquarters since his official retirement. Dao Yin practitioners who visit China can arrange to work either at the Centre or in the University's Foreign Students' Department.

During the Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589), yangsheng incorporated Chinese Buddhist meditation techniques (especially Ānāpānasati "mindfulness of breathing") and Indian gymnastic exercises. Daoist zuowang ("sitting and forgetting") and qingjing (清静, "clarity and stillness") meditating were influenced by Buddhist practices (Despeux 2008: 1149). The polymath Ji Kang (223-262), one of the Daoist Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, wrote a text titled Yangsheng lun (飬生論, "Essays on Nourishing Life"). The early Zhuangzi commentator Xiang Xiu (227-272) wrote a criticism with the same title, and Ji replied in his Danan Yangsheng lun (答難飬生論, "Answer to [Xiang Xiu's] Refutation of 'Essays on Nourishing Life'"). Ji Kang believed that achieving immortality was attainable, but only for those who have extraordinary qi, yet even those without it who practice longevity techniques can achieve a lifespan of several hundred years (Engelhardt 2000: 90). Dao Yin Yang Sheng Gong therefore has three aspects which make it such a valuable contributor to health care.Song to Qing texts [ edit ] Su Shi, Yuan dynasty painting by Zhao Mengfu, 1301 Illustration of the Baduanjin qigong "Separate Heaven and Earth" exercise, Qing dynasty 17th-18th century Another medical text from Mawangdui is a recipe ( fang方) manual titled Recipes for Fifty-Two Ailments The famous physician Sun Simiao devoted two chapters (26 "Dietetics" and 27 "Longevity Techniques") of his 652 Qianjin fang (千金方, "Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold [Pieces]", see above) to life-nourishing methods. The Qianjin fang is a huge compendium of all medical knowledge in the Tang period, the oldest source on Chinese therapeutics that has survived in its entirety, and is still being used to train traditional physicians today (Engelhardt 2000: 93). Sun also wrote the Sheyang zhenzhong fang (攝養枕中方, "Pillow Book of Methods for Nourishing Life") is divided into five parts: prudence, prohibitions, daoyin gymnastics, guiding the qi, and guarding the One ( shouyi 守一). The text identifies overindulgence of any sort as the main reason for illness. (Engelhardt 1989: 280, 294). Some shorter texts are also attributed to Sun Simiao, including the Yangxing yanming lu (養性延命錄, "On Nourishing Inner Nature and Extending Life"), the Fushou lun (福壽論, "Essay on Happiness and Longevity"), and the Baosheng ming (保生銘, "Inscription on Protecting Life") (Despeux 2008: 1150). Yangsheng practices underwent significant changes from the Song dynasty (960-1279) onward. They integrated many elements drawn from neidan ("inner alchemy") practices, and aroused the interest of scholars. For the Song dynasty alone, there are about twenty books on the subject. An important author of the time was Zhou Shouzhong (周守中), who wrote the Yangsheng leizuan (養生類纂, "Classified Compendium on Nourishing Life"), the Yangsheng yuelan (養生月覽, "Monthly Readings on Nourishing Life"), and other books (Despeux 2008: 1150). Famous Song literati and poets, such as Su Shi (1007-1072) and Su Dongpo (1037-1101), wrote extensively about their longevity practices. The Song author Chen Zhi's (陳直) Yanglao Fengqin Shu (養老奉親書, "Book on Nourishing Old Age and Taking Care of One's Parents") was the first Chinese work dealing exclusively with geriatrics (Engelhardt 2000: 81). Along the development of Neo-Confucianism and the growth of syncretism among Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism in the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1636–1912) periods, a number of ethical elements were incorporated into yangsheng (Despeux 2008: 1150).

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