I Can Talk to the Internal Organs-Chapter 81 - 72: Creating a Formula of One’s Own
The dosage of classical prescriptions originates from the River Map and Luo Book...
Wait!
Lu Jiu suddenly recalled a passage from the "Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor," Su Wen—Discussion of Truth in the Golden Cabinet.
"The east is blue, connects to the liver, opens the orifice to the eyes, stores essence in the liver... its sound is Jiao, its number is eight, hence it is known that the disease is in the tendons, and its smell is rank. The south is red, connects to the heart, opens the orifice to the ears, stores essence in the heart... its sound is Zhi, its number is seven, and its smell is scorched. The center is yellow, connects to the spleen, opens the orifice to the mouth, stores essence in the spleen... its sound is Gong, its number is five, and its smell is fragrant. The west is white, connects to the lung, opens the orifice to the nose, stores essence in the lung... its sound is Shang, its number is nine, and its smell is fishy. The north is black, connects to the kidney, opens the orifice to the two yin, stores essence in the kidney... its sound is Yu, its number is six, and its smell is putrid."
It seems there really are numbers.
Previously, Lu Jiu didn’t understand why there were phrases like "its number is eight" and "its number is seven" in this article. Now, hearing the old man speak, he suddenly realized that these words were not meaningless.
"The reason? It’s hard to explain if you haven’t studied the Book of Changes. Let’s discuss it slowly later," the old man chuckled.
But Lu Jiu picked up Xiao Tu and turned to leave, "I suddenly have a feeling. I’ll go back to research it first." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
The old man watched Lu Jiu’s hurried figure and couldn’t help but smile.
Some things are indeed more profound when discovered through personal insight.
But could Lu Jiu really figure it out?
On the way home, Lu Jiu’s mind was constantly pondering.
He looked up the River Map and Luo Book on his phone and found that it was much simpler than he had imagined. They were just two diagrams.
And the Luo Book is somewhat like a magic square, where any three numbers in a row, column, or diagonal add up to fifteen.
Isn’t this the number game they played in elementary school?
Hmm?
The River Map seems a bit different.
"Heaven gives birth to water with one, earth completes it with six, earth gives birth to fire with two, heaven completes it with seven, heaven gives birth to wood with three, earth completes it with eight, earth gives birth to metal with four, heaven completes it with nine, heaven gives birth to earth with five, earth completes it with ten."
According to the diagram’s positions and textual descriptions, three and eight are wood, in the east, for the liver; four and nine are metal, in the west, for the lung; one and six are water, in the north, for the kidney; two and seven are fire, in the south, for the heart; five and ten are earth, in the center, for the spleen.
It seems to correspond with the teachings in the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor.
But what’s the connection to the dosage of herbal medicine?
Lu Jiu immediately wrote down the prescription and doses for the White Tiger Ginseng Decoction on a piece of paper.
Anemarrhena six liang, plaster one jin, licorice two liang, Japonica rice six he (six liang), ginseng three liang.
The White Tiger Ginseng Decoction can clear heat, boost qi, and generate fluids, treating the upper consumption, similar to diabetes in modern medicine.
The thirst of upper consumption leans towards the upper burner heart and lung.
So the White Tiger Ginseng Decoction should mainly regulate the lung’s function.
Among these five medicines, plaster is the sovereign medicine, and according to its nature and channel entry, it enters the lung and stomach channels. According to the River Map numbers, one jin is sixteen liang, not a multiple of nine, but a multiple of four.
What about the minister medicine?
Anemarrhena’s nature and channel entry are lung, stomach, and kidney channels, and its role in the prescription is to purge fire and nourish yin, so six liang corresponds exactly to the kidney’s number.
Coincidence?
Ginseng serves as the assistant medicine, helping the sovereign medicine eliminate toxicity. Plaster is a very cold medicine, while ginseng is warm and sweet, entering the spleen and lung channels, partially counterbalancing the cold nature.
But the three liang obviously corresponds to the liver’s number!
This direction is wrong!
The dosage of classical prescriptions is definitely not derived this way!
Lu Jiu pushed for half a day, and ultimately gave up, but this provided him a good research direction.
If he could really figure out how the dosage for each classical prescription is derived, he could optimize the prescriptions for patients and lay a solid foundation for creating his own prescriptions in the future.
Throughout history, those who could leave behind a classic prescription for future generations after studying traditional Chinese medicine were all eminent scholars of their time.
If he could achieve that, not only would he gain eternal fame, but he would also benefit future generations.
Whether or not it would benefit future generations, Lu Jiu was unsure, but the allure of eternal fame was too great.
Lu Jiu couldn’t resist it.
Sigh~
His skill level still isn’t enough!
Lu Jiu stopped thinking and closed his eyes to rest!
He knew his knowledge was still too shallow, even with the system’s help, he hadn’t touched the deeper levels of traditional Chinese medicine theory.
However, Lu Jiu wasn’t in a hurry. He was still in his twenties and had plenty of time to delve into these ancient classics.
He didn’t believe that after studying for another twenty years, he still wouldn’t be able to create a good prescription?
[Patient Du Ran, intestinal abscess recovery progress 12%, symptom recovery progress exceeds one-tenth, activate standard reward, claim?]
Quite fast!
Lu Jiu stretched his arms.
He knew the power of Rhubarb and Peony Decoction; healing was certainly not an issue. It’s just that he had no concept of the recovery time, as it was his first time seeing an appendicitis patient and possibly the last.
[Claim]
[Reward obtained: Basic TCM Diagnosis]
Hmm, diagnosis skills are quite helpful!
This basic knowledge could deepen his understanding of the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor and significantly enhance his diagnostic level.
Initially, Lu Jiu thought that would be the only notification today, but as it neared ten and he was about to sleep, another notification regarding Du Ran arrived.
[Patient Du Ran, intestinal abscess recovery progress 51%, symptom recovery progress exceeds half, activate skill reward, claim?]
This speed...
Lu Jiu was somewhat surprised!
Such great efficacy!
No wonder there was an old TCM doctor who substituted twice at their university and said that hospitals’ appendicitis patients didn’t need surgery. Even if there were hundreds or thousands, he could completely cure them within a day.
On that day, he talked about Rhubarb and Peony Decoction.
However, after substituting twice, that old TCM doctor never came back to the school. Later, some teachers said the old gentleman seemed to have gone to practice as a traveling physician.
[Claim]
[Reward obtained: Gua Sha Board]
Oh?
It’s not an acupuncture skill?
Lu Jiu was a bit surprised.
He thought it would be some acupuncture point combination again, but it turned out to be Gua Sha.
After claiming the reward, Lu Jiu also understood what "operation board" meant.
It’s actually similar to the four techniques of acupuncture: twisting, lifting, inserting, and withdrawing. The operation board comprises six methods: suspending, loosening, releasing, pressing, rotating, and uplifting. These methods emphasize gentleness, focusing on specialty, and effect on deriving the board’s sensation.
Why emphasize gentleness?
For example, when using a Gua Sha board on the leg, the outer side is yang meridian, and the inner side is yin meridian. During Gua Sha, scraping the yang meridian can be harder, but the yin meridian should be gentler. If one doesn’t pay attention to this and uses the force meant for the yang meridian on the yin meridian, the leg’s skin on the yin meridian will turn red in a few minutes, and subcutaneous bleeding will occur in half an hour.
At this point, the skin and Righteous Qi can be damaged, not only reducing efficacy but also hindering disease recovery.
Thus, Gua Sha emphasizes penetrating deeply with gentle strokes, ensuring effectiveness without injuring the body.
With the operation board technique, combined with previously acquired Basic Gua Sha, Lu Jiu now had more options for conditions unresponsive to acupuncture and medication.
For instance, some fitness enthusiasts lifting heavy weights and straining muscles could benefit greatly from Gua Sha, as well as those with tenosynovitis from prolonged keyboard use.
