🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Since ancient times, people have desired health and long life. With the continuous improvement of material living standards and increasingly rich spiritual life, health and longevity have become globally significant issues. But how can one achieve health? How can one attain longevity? People have tried various methods, seeking magical elixirs or resorting to mystical rituals, but all proved futile. Although no magic pills exist and mystical practices are nonexistent, human lifespan has been steadily increasing.
Reports indicate that average human lifespan was only 20 in the 17th century, 30 in the 18th century, 40 before the 19th century, 55 in 1920, 60 in 1935, 68 in 1952, and now reaches around 70 years. Many developed countries have already entered an "aging society." It is foreseeable that by 2000, some nations and regions will see average lifespans approaching or reaching 80 years. The ancient Chinese medical classic, *The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon*, mentions: "To live out one’s natural span, reaching a hundred years before departing"—a dream once unattainable, but soon to become reality. Though many factors influence health and longevity—such as genetics, natural environment, socioeconomic conditions, scientific and technological advancement, medical standards, nutrition, and occupation—the key lies in proper health preservation. Regarding the relationship between health preservation and longevity, *The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon* clearly states: "I have heard that ancient people lived to a hundred years old, yet their movements remained vigorous; today’s people, half a century old, already show signs of decline—is it due to changing times, or because people have lost the way?" This highlights the crucial point: whether one remains healthy and lives long depends on whether they understand the principles of health preservation. Ancient sages mastered these principles and lived over 100 years without showing signs of aging, whereas modern people, neglecting health preservation, often fail to reach fifty, appearing prematurely aged. While death is inevitable, through postnatal cultivation, one can gradually strengthen constitution, enhance recovery and anti-aging abilities, thus achieving longevity.
Traditional Chinese medicine offers rich theories and methods for health preservation, but the most important principle is "adapting to the seasons." As stated in *Ling Shu: The Original Spirit*: "Thus, wise people nourish themselves by following the four seasons and adapting to cold and heat... Only then can harmful influences be avoided, and long life sustained." "Sustained life" means prolonging life and resisting aging. Why can life be prolonged? Because "harmful influences do not invade." Harmful influences refer to pathogenic factors; avoiding invasion means pathogens cannot attack. The key to preventing such invasion lies in "adapting to the four seasons and adjusting to cold and heat"—a fundamental principle in traditional Chinese medicine, indeed the secret to longevity. Why so? *Su Wen: The Essential Doctrine of Treating Life and Form* says: "Humans are born from the breath of heaven and earth, shaped by the laws of the four seasons." *Su Wen: The Theory of the Six Divisions and Zang Organs* adds: "Heaven nourishes humans with five qi, earth nourishes humans with five flavors." These emphasize that human survival depends on material conditions provided by heaven and earth, and adaptation to the seasonal changes of yin and yang is essential for growth and development. As the renowned Ming dynasty physician Zhang Jingyue said: "In spring, correspond to the liver and nourish; in summer, correspond to the heart and nurture growth; in late summer, correspond to the spleen and transform; in autumn, correspond to the lung and gather; in winter, correspond to the kidney and store." This illustrates that the physiological activities of the five zang organs must adapt to seasonal changes of yin and yang to maintain harmony with the external environment. This aligns with modern views that life arises from the interaction of matter and energy in nature. Humans must consume food and breathe air to exchange substances with nature, maintaining normal metabolism. Traditional Chinese medicine holds that heaven has three yin and three yang six qi, and the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, earth—undergo changes. The human body also experiences corresponding three yin-three yang six qi and five-element movements. Natural climate changes affect the movement of yin-yang six qi and five elements, and human physiology and pathology depend on the coordination of the six meridians and five zang organs’ qi. Thus, human life activities are fundamentally aligned with natural changes. Moreover, the movement of yin-yang and five elements in nature corresponds reciprocally with the movement of qi in the human body’s five zang organs and six meridians—this is the concept of "unity of heaven and man," "the human body is a small universe," and "harmony between man and heaven," known as the "oneness of heaven and man." As *The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon* states: "Man corresponds with heaven and earth, and responds to the sun and moon." Here, sun and moon refer to celestial movements and climate changes. "Heaven and earth" historically denote the entire natural world. "Unity of heaven and earth" means nature is a unified whole. This understanding was clearly articulated in *The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon*, such as in *Su Wen: The Great Treatise on Yin-Yang Correspondence*: "Heaven and earth are the upper and lower realms of all things" and "Heaven has four seasons and five elements, producing growth, maturation, harvest, and storage, generating cold, heat, dryness, dampness, and wind. Humans have five zang organs producing five qi, generating joy, anger, sorrow, worry, and fear." This indicates that all things in heaven and earth are not independent but interdependent, mutually influencing, interacting, connected, and reliant on each other. The seasonal and elemental changes in heaven produce diverse climates. Under different climates, all living beings undergo processes of birth, development, and demise. Human zang organs also change accordingly, generating the five emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, worry, fear. "Four seasons" refer to spring, summer, autumn, and winter annually. Their formation stems from our planet Earth. Earth orbits the sun once every 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds (or 45 seconds), commonly known as one year. Simultaneously, Earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours, forming one day. The axis of rotation is inclined at 66.5° relative to the plane of Earth’s orbit around the sun. Thus, during its orbit, the Northern Hemisphere faces the sun more closely for half the year, while the Southern Hemisphere does so for the other half. On the summer solstice, the sun shines directly on the Tropic of Cancer (23.5°N); on the winter solstice, it shines directly on the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5°S). For the rest of the year, the sun’s direct rays move between these two latitudes. During the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, the sun passes directly overhead the equator twice, meaning Earth completes one orbit, and the sun’s direct rays travel back and forth between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Consequently, sunlight distribution across the globe follows a regular pattern, resulting in predictable seasonal alternations. Each season has distinct climatic characteristics: spring brings warmth and growth, summer brings heat and flourishing, autumn brings coolness and harvest, winter brings cold and storage. Yet, they form an inseparable whole—a continuous process. Without growth, there can be no harvest, nor renewal in the next year. It is precisely due to the alternating presence of cold, heat, warmth, and coolness, along with the dynamic changes of growth and storage, that life develops normally. Traditional Chinese medicine explains this as: *Su Wen: The Great Treatise on Regulating the Four Seasons*: "The yin and yang of the four seasons are the foundation of all things." "Four seasons' yin and yang" refers to the annual changes in cold, heat, warmth, and coolness caused by the ebb and flow of yin and yang qi, hence called "four seasons' yin and yang." For example, after winter solstice, yang begins to rise; from spring to summer, yang grows while yin declines, leading to spring’s warmth and summer’s heat. After summer solstice, yin begins to rise; from autumn to winter, yin grows while yang declines, resulting in autumn’s coolness and winter’s cold. Due to the seasonal fluctuations of yin and yang, we observe the biological patterns of spring growth, summer flourishing, autumn harvest, and winter storage. Thus, four seasons’ yin and yang are the foundation of all things—the origin of life and death. "Six qi" refers to the six climatic factors in nature: wind, cold, heat, dampness, dryness, and fire. These six factors emerge from the annual climatic fluctuations and, though distinct, work together harmoniously. It is precisely due to these normal seasonal changes that we experience the balanced alternation of warmth, heat, coolness, cold, and the cycles of growth and storage. Thus, the natural climate regulates itself, benefiting the growth and development of all things, forming an organic whole. This whole is constantly in motion and change, governed by regularity. Adhering to and utilizing this rhythm maintains dynamic balance of yin and yang, benefiting humanity; disrupting this balance leads to disaster. "Humans are born from the breath of heaven and earth" also refers to the origin of human life, derived from heaven, earth, sun, and moon—primarily from the sun’s fire and earth’s water. All life depends on the sun; ultimately, all organisms rely on solar light and heat energy. Light and heat are the energy sources for life on Earth. Without sufficient light and heat, life cannot arise or survive. Engels stated: "Our Earth itself survives only because of solar heat... Without the repulsive force radiated by the sun, all motion on Earth would cease" (*Dialectics of Nature*). Our daily food comes directly or indirectly from plants, and fuels originate from plant matter. Through photosynthesis, their energy comes from the sun. Thus, without the sun, there would be no life on Earth.