Reflections of the Moon on Water by Xiaolan Zhao

Author:Xiaolan Zhao [Zhao, Xiaolan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-37378-6
Publisher: Random House of Canada
Published: 2006-07-26T16:00:00+00:00

* “These practices are described in the ancient texts The Handbook of the Plain Girl and The Art of the Bedchamber.

Part Five

RIPENING THE FRUIT

Me, pregnant with my son, Zhao Zhao, in January 1984

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Planting the Seed

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Kidney system is responsible for human reproduction, growth and development. The Kidneys are where we store our Jing, or Essence, which is the foundation of the body and its functions, and can be transformed into Qi. There are two kinds of Essence. The first is prenatal Essence, which is the genetic material we inherit from our parents when we are conceived. It endows us with our unique constitution, vitality and nature. We each have a finite amount of prenatal Essence and use a little each day to produce and move the Qi in our bodies. Once we’ve depleted it, as we do through the course of our lives, we naturally die. The second type of Essence is postnatal Essence, which we produce from the food we eat and how we live our lives. If we have abundant postnatal Essence, we use up less of our prenatal Essence, and thereby prolong our life.

The strength of our Essence, or Kidney Qi, is also a significant factor in conception and determines the health and vitality of our children. The parents’ Essence forms their babies’ prenatal Essence, which sustains and nourishes them in the womb and throughout their lives. Therefore, both parents’ constitutional health, age and state of well-being at conception all contribute to their babies’ health. If the parents’ Kidneys are weakened due to a constitutional deficiency, aging or overwork, this may result in inadequate Essence, which may lead to possible problems in conceiving, and infertility and, if conception has occurred, lack of nourishment for the fetus to properly develop and grow.

If we plan to have children, then, it is important that we try to support our Kidney Essence. We can endeavour to preserve our prenatal Essence by avoiding overwork and excessive physical exertion (this includes strenuous activities such as sports), irregular dietary habits, inadequate rest and chronic illness. We may also support our prenatal Essence by increasing our postnatal Essence. The food and drinks we consume are manufactured into Blood and Qi and used for our daily activities. At the end of the day, if there is surplus Blood and Qi, it will be transformed into postnatal Essence and stored in our Kidneys. To support the manufacture of abundant postnatal Essence, we can do our best to maintain a proper diet, stay away from exposure to Cold and Damp conditions, deal with our stress and emotions appropriately, abstain from or reduce our consumption of coffee, tobacco and alcohol, and maintain regular work and rest patterns. A proper diet is one without excessive amounts of cold, raw and frozen foods, along with reduced consumption of dairy products and greasy foods. We should also eat foods high in iron, such as spinach, black sweet rice, raisins and dried longan fruit, which enrich Blood. A

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