Italian version When I started practicing Tàijí太極 (Tai Chi in Wade-Giles romanisation of Chinese characters) little I knew about East Asian culture and philosophy. As a young man mostly exposed to scientific ideas my only contact with Eastern philosophies was through seminal books like ‘the tao of physics: an exploration of the parallels between modern physics … Continue reading The meaning of 六合八法 (liu he ba fa)
In a BaZi chart not only each branch is compared to the Day Master (the most important comparison is made using the branch of the month) but each pillar is also evaluated independently and each stem is examined in relation to the branch that supports it. The cycle of the “12 stages of growth” (十二长生 literally … Continue reading The 12 stages of growth
“Back shu” (Bei Shu) points are commonly used in modern acupuncture; however, some practitioners claim that needling them is forbidden, others believe that they should be needled for no longer than 10 min or just twisted, flicked and shortly after removed; some others maintain that they can be used but the insertion of needles at these points … Continue reading “Back Shu” points
You will find here a link to Jan van der Greef’s incredibly inspiring website. It is a beautiful gallery of gifts of nature and its wonders. By following this link “Expect the unexpected“. Continue reading Jan van der Greef
The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits, and when the rabbits are caught the snare is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are … Continue reading A fish trap
The following table provides information about the actions of Shu-transporting points as recorded in the NanJing (difficulty 68) and Ling Shu. The table collates information originally found in Deadman, Maciocia and Zhao Wang and then appropriately referenced to the primary classical sources. Continue reading Actions of the Shu-transporting points
During autumn and winter everything in Nature starts to move inward. This is a natural cyclical process that allows life to be constantly renewed. What is not essential is shed away: trees abandon their leaves showing their intimate form; fruits’ pulp gets rotten to give nourishment to the bare seed now stored deep into the … Continue reading The New Moon Eight Day Method
No scholar pursuing his own nature, who does not make a plan for himself, concerning self-care, will ever be able to partake in any discussion of the path of nourishing life. For this reason we take self-care as primary — SUN SIMIAO from 攝養枕中方 Shzeyang Zhenzhong Fang translated by R. Bertschinger Continue reading Self cultivation
Two writings by Jacques Lavier are reported in this post: The first is taken from 1962 Wu Wei Ping’s book “Chinese Medicine” where Lavier describes Wu Wei Ping’s idea of transmission of energy. Although Wu Wei Ping never wrote about this topic Lavier (who is the translator of the book from Chinese) reports Wu Wei … Continue reading Energy Transfer according to Jacques Lavier and Wu Wei Ping
