If you don't cure your own disease, you can cure the disease before, build a defense line against diseases, and talk about the ancient tea culture of health preservation

What is wellness? Health preservation means to maintain the body through food, exercise, etc., in order to achieve the purpose of prolonging life. Did the Chinese people's health preservation only start in modern times? How is it possible, Chinese medicine health preservation is as long as China's history.

The origin of health science

In ancient times, when medical and health technology was not so developed, it was very rare for people to live a hundred years old. Out of the instinctive needs of survival and self-protection, people would pay more attention to the continuous pursuit of longevity, disaster relief and pain relief in practice. A good way to explore something simple that isn't even scientific.

For example, the application of fire: from raw food consumption to cooked food consumption, reducing the probability of digestive tract diseases and parasitic diseases that may be caused by eating raw food; another example, it was used in primitive times to assist hunting or to please ghosts and gods during sacrifices. , has become a way of keeping people healthy. Even in such a difficult situation that even the most basic living conditions cannot be guaranteed, people gave simple support to the so-called health preservation, and the budding period of Chinese medicine health preservation began.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the concept of health preservation gradually matured

For example, the idea of ​​the unity of nature and man in "Book of Changes"; it is the holistic view of the philosophical basis of "correspondence between man and nature" in traditional Chinese medicine health preservation; Taoism, represented by Lao Zhuang, has the fundamental concept of health preservation that Taoism follows nature; It is necessary to be quiet and inactive, concentrate on the qi, and recuperate; so that in the later years, very famous health preservation methods such as breathing regulation, inner alchemy practice, and swallowing medicinal herbs have been developed; Confucianism represented by Confucius and Mencius also reflects the concept of health preservation, such as " Do not speak when you eat, do not speak when you sleep.”

After the Qin and Han Dynasties, the trend of health preservation became popular

In 221 BC, Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms, and China officially entered a feudal society; and during the Qin and Han dynasties, health preservation was quite popular in society, and most emperors were keen on the way of longevity: like Qin Shihuang ordering alchemists to refine it for him Elixir of immortality; even Emperor Wu of Han was very keen on alchemy in his later years.

During these periods, many outstanding health-preserving physicians also appeared, such as Zhang Zhongjing and Hua Tuo; just by looking at the words "health-preserving physician", we know that health-preservation science has begun to gradually integrate with medicine; at this time, traditional Chinese medicine began to slowly Establish its own unique system of traditional Chinese medicine.

The integration of religion and traditional culture to promote the development of health science

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties, the health-preserving medical system was further improved due to the continuous development of Buddhism and Taoism; the prosperity of metaphysics in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty Taoism was regarded as the state religion, making Taoist health-preserving knowledge, such as Fu Shi and The technique of breathing is quite popular in the royal family and the people.

The Buddhism originated in ancient India and the original Taoism and Confucianism in China have gradually merged with each other and evolved into a Sinicized Buddhism suitable for the national conditions; some of them emphasized that people should discipline themselves, not be too greedy, and take more baths. Fasting sincerely, not killing, and coexisting in harmony with nature; this coincides with the traditional Chinese concept of health preservation.

A large number of intellectuals are involved in the field of health care

During the Song, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, people have gradually realized that the side effects of gold and stone in alchemy are very harmful; there are rumors that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty died of mercury poisoning after eating too much refined elixirs. Therefore, people began to strongly advocate the use of In alchemy, the things of gold and stone were changed to things of plants and trees. Under this background, many medical scientists began to sort out the previous herbal works.

From then on, the use of medicines to maintain health began to move towards the bright road of attaching importance to plants and trees; and with the emergence of the policy of "emphasizing literature and suppressing martial arts" in the Song Dynasty, high-profile intellectuals began to dabble in various aspects, which of course also included medicine. For example, the well-known poets and writers such as Wang Anshi, Lu You, Su Dongpo, etc. are familiar with medical knowledge and health preservation; there are also famous doctors such as Xu Shuwei and Zhu Danxi who were born in Confucianism; this kind of mutual benefit has improved to a certain extent. The cultural level of the medical team has also greatly promoted the development of medicine and health science.

In the Ming Dynasty, when medicine was in a period of prosperous development, it was not only a family of doctors who studied medicine and health preservation, but also literati, calligraphers, painters, and opera artists. The doctors of the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to the relationship between the spleen and stomach, conditioning the spleen and stomach, and stressing that the spleen and stomach should be nourished at the same time. So, how did the ancients maintain their health? What are the characteristics of the tea culture promoted by health preservation?

Look at ancient books and hear more from experts

The knowledge about health preservation in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period was more of a small idea of ​​various schools, not the mainstream; and the emergence of the "Huangdi Neijing" in the Qin and Han Dynasties made health preservation a clear object; edited by Tao Hongjing of the Southern Dynasty "Yangxing Yanming Lu" is one of the earliest extant works on health preservation in China. Sun Simiao, a well-known medicine king in medicine, has set a benchmark for the common people in terms of health preservation.

At the same time, Sun also wrote "A Thousand Gold Prescriptions for Emergency Preparedness" and "A Thousand Gold Wings Prescriptions", which further inherited and carried forward medicine and health preservation. The best medium for the perfect combination of health preservation and traditional Chinese medicine is tea with therapeutic effects.

To stay healthy, drink good tea

China is famous for two things in the world, one is ceramics, and the other is tea. This tea can be regarded as food or medicine, which is very in line with the theory of "medicine and food are of the same origin" in Chinese medicine health preservation; What effect does tea have to make people so admire him?

The ancients believed that tea could prevent and treat many diseases. According to modern pharmacological research, tea contains tea polyphenols, alkaloids, tea polysaccharides, amino acids, proteins, and various vitamins and substances, which have the functions of lowering blood lipids, lowering blood pressure, regulating body immunity, Antioxidant, anti-aging and other effects. According to the relevant ancient Chinese medicine literature records, and summed up the ancient Chinese cognition of the health function of tea is mainly in the following aspects.

In terms of nature, taste and classics: Sun Simiao's "Prescriptions for Emergencies" in the Tang Dynasty believed that the taste of tea was bitter, salty and sour, cold in nature, and non-toxic; "Xinxiu Materia Medica" believed that tea was sweet and bitter, slightly cold, and non-toxic; In the Compendium of Materia Medica, Li Shizhen believes that "tea is bitter and cold, the yin in the yin, and the sinking also descends." Here is an example of a brief understanding of tea in the fundamental ancient books. It is certain that tea is not poisonous.

After all, if it was really poisonous, would people drink it? There is also the fact that tea leaves are cooling, different tea leaves have different tastes, some are more sweet than bitter, some are more bitter than sweet; some are sweet and then bitter, and some are bitter and then sweet. In terms of awakening the mind: Miao Xiji's "Shen Nong's Herbal Classic Shu" believes that tea can keep people awake and calm.

In terms of refreshing and assisting thinking: Hua Tuo's "Food Theory" clearly states that the more bitter tea you drink, the more sober you will become; the Tang Dynasty poet Shi Jiaoran's words in "The Song of Drinking Tea Praise the Lord Cui Shishi" also clearly embodies this. This point: "One drink will clear the sleepiness, and the feeling will be bright and refreshing. Then drink to clear my spirit, and suddenly it will be like a rainstorm and light dust. Three drinks will get the Tao, so why bother to break through the troubles."

In terms of reducing fire and improving eyesight: Li Shizhen believed in Compendium of Materia Medica that tea is bitter and cold in nature, which is very suitable for reducing fire. In terms of detoxification and dysentery: the "Ben Cao Yi Read" in the Qing Dynasty believed that tea detoxifies the heat; the "Suixiju Diet Manual" in the Qing Dynasty also recorded that those who suffered from heat stroke, stomach pain, cholera and dysentery would be cured as long as they drank tea. ; This kind of record is actually a bit exaggerated, which also makes tea too important; although tea has many benefits, it is not as good as the description in "Suixiju Diet Manual".

In terms of lowering qi and digestion: Ming Dynasty "Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing Shu" explained: drinking tea can reduce fire, and food is gradually absorbed and digested by the human body with the decrease of fire.

end

Tea culture and health-preserving culture are simply a perfect match, twin brothers, a perfect combination. In addition to the above functions, tea also has the functions of relieving hangover and protecting teeth. How can people not like tea with so many functions? But there are two sides to everything, tea is cooling; therefore, people with qi deficiency and cold body drink too much tea, which will cause all kinds of harm and no benefit.

Tea has many benefits. Only when you understand your own constitution, and then drink it properly, can it be in line with the truth of health preservation. But the real health care is not just drinking tea, but also a healthy diet and moderate exercise. As Taoism said, Taoism is natural, mentality is the most important, and a relaxed and happy attitude is the most healthy and open-minded attitude.