Course of Yiyi

I have been working on a course teaching ancient Chinese healing which I call Yiyi（易医 yìyī) to differentiate the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) course. TCM courses teach the body as anatomy, health as physiological function, sicknesses as pathological disorders, and the application of herbs or needling points as accumulated experiences for treating diseases.

In ancient Chinese healing, the human body is viewed as the creation of yinyang interaction, and the yinyang transformation created the wuxing (五行 wǔxǐng) organs. The wuxing organ responds to the wuxing quality of planets’ position changing in 天 (tīan, sky), and the twelve meridians— 经脉 (jīngmài) respond to the wuxing quality of time changing of 地（dì, earth). The acupuncture points — 穴位 (xùewèi) are the receivers of the body to the daily wuxing qi (氣 qì, force) of 天地 （tīandì) . When wuxing organs coordinate with the wuxing transformation of tian, the meridians receive wuxing qi of earth, the acupuncture points are open to the tiandi, and people are healthy. When the wuxing organ’s coordination is out of touch with tiandi, acupuncture points are blocked, and people fall sick. Acupuncture methods are aimed to regulate the wuxing quality of the receiving point to the same wuxing quality that is of tiandi 天地. Herbs are utilized to regulate the wuxing quality of organs and xuewei穴位 to achieve healing results. As TCM gives a different theory for ancient healing techniques, it provides unreliable healing results. The practices are like a blind cat trying to catch a mouse, totally relying on luck. When there isn’t good luck, one can’t find an effective alternative.

Ancient Chinese healing emphasizes that people’s way must go with nature’s way. TCM courses are not just lacking the teaching of the theoretical principles of yi 易, they share the biomedical attitude that is hostile towards the way of nature. The philosophy of TCM goes against ancient Chinese healing, and the two mustn’t be considered one system of healing.

Understanding the theoretical system of yi 易, one is clear of the purpose of choosing acupuncture points and herbs, and one can be confident in the practice of healing. TCM is popular but its healing effect is minimal, which gives a bad reputation for ancient Chinese healing. The aim of developing the course of yiyi 易医 is to provide a path for people who are interested in the true system of ancient Chinese healing.

In ancient China, “易” Yi is the reasoning system of all practices. Chinese thinking is based on this system, Chinese characters are created according to this system, Chinese governing systems build on this reasoning system, and Chinese appreciation of arts is based on this system. Chinese healing, martial arts, fengshui, and divination are established through this reasoning system. Interest in any ancient Chinese practices cannot bypass understanding the system of yi 易. Therefore, tiandiyi 天地易 subjects are important for the interest of learning all ancient Chinese practices.

The system of yi 易 was established by observing the movements of planets, and at the
same time phenomena presented around the observers. The primary observation is the
rise and fall of the Sun which leads to the day and night phenomena. The ancients
named the day as Yang and the night as Yin. As the sun moves in the apparent celestial
sphere, on the ground, the activities of lives on Earth appear in a cycle of rise, growth,
transformation, shrinking, and hibernation, which the ancients named wuxing ( five
steps of transformation ). Wuxing is the result of the movement of planets and Earth.
The movements of planets that contributed to the wuxing transformation around the
subject/observer were named tiangan (天干 tīangān)， and the movement of Earth
that contributed to the wuxing transformation around the observer was named dizhi
(地支dìzhī). Recording the regular movements of the Sun in the celestial sphere that influence the
weather conditions surrounding the observer, the ancient scholars created a yang
calendar. Recording the waxing and waning of the moon, the ancient scholars created a
yin calendar. Combining the Yang and Yin Calendar, the ancient scholars created a
yinyang calendar. Adding the wuxing effects of moving planets and time changing in
the yinyang calendar, the ancient scholars created a tiangan dizhi calendar, which is not
only a calendar of the position of planets and time of earth, but the wuxing quality of
the movements. As the movement of different planets is at a different pace, their
wuxing effects on the observer vary yearly. To infer the yearly variations of wuxing
effects, the ancient scholars set up the system of wuyun liuqi (五运六气 wǔyùn lìuqì,
which can be translated as Five transformations of wuxing and six qi). Further
elaborating on the intercourse of yin yang, the creation of wuxing, and the
maintenance of the wuxing cycle, ancient scholars established a system that exhibits
the law of change of everything on earth, which is the system of yi 易.

Yi 易 is the changes of yinyang around the observer or subject, and people are the
centre of concerns of the observation, therefore, people are considered the center of yi
易. All things are nothing more than life and death, active and inactive. The
appearance of life always starts in absence, and the absence of life is always the end of
appearance. When activity reaches its extreme, it will calm down, and inactive is the
base for activities. Thus, life and death are dependent on each other, active and inactive
are inseparable. The cycles of life and death, activity and inactivity are subject to the
laws of the sun, moon, and other planets in the sky, and the rotation and revolution of the earth, so as
health and illnesses of people.

The word 易 “Yi” has the word 日(rì, the Sun) above the word 勿（old writing of the
word 月 yùe, the moon). The sun is yang, and the moon is yin. The meaning of the
word 易 is explained in the oldest Chinese dictionary “Shuowen Jiezi ” as: “易 conveys
three meanings, one is simple, the other is change, and the third is eternity.” The socalled
simplicity means that the changes in the positions of the sun, moon, and stars in
the sky are visible to all and are obvious, so it is simple. The so-called change means
that the changing positions of the sun, the moon, and planets in the sky and the time
on the ground have ever-changing effects on the observer. The so-called eternity
means that the laws of the movement of heaven and earth have an unchanging
influence on the rise and fall of all things in the world. And the word yi 医 means
healing. So yiyi 易医 is a healing system that based on the theoretical foundation of 易.

This course will consist of five subjects. The first is 天地易 (天 tīan, sky. 地 dì, earth).
The second subject is 人(ren, human) 易. The third subject is 针 (zhēn, needling) 易. The fourth subject is 药 (yào, healing material)易, and the fifthsubject is yiyi 医易.

天地易 consists of six sections. 1. Yinyang Wuxing, Tiangan Dizhi. 2. Celestial
phenomena, and calendar（天像历法 tīanxìang lìfǎ). 3. The transformation of tiangan
wuxing and dizhi wuxing（五运六气 wǔyùn lìuqì) 4. He Tu (河图 hétu), Luo Shu (洛书
lòu shu), Bagua (八卦, bā gùa, ). 5. The tiangan and dizhi of Gua (纳甲 nàjǐa), The
interaction of wuxing between tiangan and dizhi （纳音 nàyīn）. 6. The wuxing
diagram of a year (卦气 gùaqì). I envisage that this course will be of interest and
benefit to anyone who has a deep interest ancient Chinese culture, philosophy, healing,
arts and even martial arts.

I will begin teaching the first subject on the 1st of September 2024. There will be one live lesson per week, which will also be recorded, and also one live tutorial for discussion, questions and answers. I warmly welcome you to join me.