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Frequently Asked Questions
1) When making San Huang San, what is the proportion of the medium (Vaseline or egg whites) to the powdered herbs?
Have the herbs ground to a fine powder. I suggest paying the herb store do this for you as it is difficult to grind it fine enough without the proper machinery. There are no exact proportions when making San Huang San into a poultice or gao. It is like cooking , done by eye. When using Vaseline, melt the Vaseline in a pan. When it is liquefied, slowly add the herbal powder, stirring it in thoroughly. Once the mixture is thick like mud you can put it in a container and let it cool. It will keep for at least a year made this way and can simply be scooped out and applied when needed. Spread on the affected area and cover with a bandage to hold it snugly against the skin.
Traditionally beeswax an sesame oil were heated and the powder mixed with them to make a gao that could be used later. As it is difficult to make gao this way without them going rancid we have by Kamwo Herb and Tea (www.kamwo.com) make San Huang San with beeswax and sesame oil. Look for the Zheng Gu Tui Na product line on the Kamwo website.
With egg whites, the procedure is similar. Mix the egg whites with a small amount of powder and add keep adding powder until the mixture is thick like mud, wet but not runny. Again, spread on the affected area and cover with a bandage to hold it snugly against the skin.
Another useful medium that can be used to make San Huang San is green tea (to enhance the cooling effect). Make green tea just as you would if you were going to drink it, and then use the liquid as the medium to mix with the herbal powder.
2) How do you prepare the Bone-Sinew Gao?
The herbs for the Bone-Sinew Gao need to be ground to a fine powder. Have the herb store do this for you as it is difficult to get it fine enough without the proper machinery. We have Kamwo Herb and Tea (www.kamwo.com) pre-grind and package this product. Look for the Zheng Gu Tui Na product line on the Kamwo website.
The Bone Sinew Gao needs to be mixed with whiskey or vodka and cooked over a low flame. There is no exact proportion of powder to alcohol. The amount of powder depends on the size of the area to be covered.
Put the herbal powder in a pan and cover it with a thin layer of alcohol. Let the mixture sit for several minutes then put on a low flame and cook stirring occasionally so that it mixes well. As the alcohol burns off, the mixture will thicken. As the mixture thickens and darkens in color, add a dollop of honey. Continue to stir until the mixture is thick like mud, wet but not runny. Spread on the affected area and cover with a bandage to hold it snugly against the skin.
Generally Bone-Sinew Gao can be left on for several days, but it can irritate sensitive skin, in which case leave it on for shorter time periods. Make sure the bones or the joint are aligned properly before applying as the Bone-Sinew Gao will tighten up the joint.
3) Can you store Die Da Jiu (Trauma Liniment) in a plastic container?
No. Although for short periods of time (1-2 weeks) the Die Da Jiu can be stored in plastic container, for example when one is traveling, in general it should not be stored in plastic. The liniment will interact with the plastic ruining it.4) Can you make Die Da Jiu (Trauma Liniment) with isopropyl alcohol?
No. Some people make it that way, but in general it is less effective.
5) When making Die Da Jiu (Trauma Liniment) what kind of alcohol should be used?
Whiskey, Vodka, gin all work well. The Chinese traditionally use strong rice wine. We often use vodka simply because it is cheap. Basically you want something that is 40-60% alcohol. This means that the rest is water and both water and alcohol are needed to extract the herbal substances properly Do not use grain alcohol (100% alcohol) unless you cut it with water to make it 40-60% alcohol. This is a case where stronger is not better.
6) What is the difference between Qi Gong and Nei Gong?
What we today called qi gong “qi exercises” or nei gong “internal exercises” originally came under the category of nourishing life (yang shen) techniques. Yang Shen methods were often collectively referred to as Dao Yin exercises (Guiding/Leading or Guiding/Pulling). Manuscripts known as the Yin Shu (“Pulling Book”) and the Dao Yin Tu (“Guiding-Pulling Chart”) were unearthed in the Zhangjiashan (Hubei) and Mawangdui (Hunan) tombs. These manuscripts date from the Early Han period (160 BC) and pre-date the Huang Ti Nei Jing, the seminal book which forms the basis of much of modern Chinese medicine. These early exercises are considered by some scholars to be truly indigenously Chinese exercises.
The Dao Yin Exercises originally included an mo (self-massage), tu na (breathing; inspiration-expiration), also called xing qi or yun qi, and moving exercises that imitated animals or pulled on the sinews or the area of pain. Although qi is implied in this guiding and pulling, what was effectively “dredged” or unblocked by these movements were anatomical structures and surfaces, pain and dysfunction. (1)
In the Mawangdui tomb documents, Dao Yin exercises have names like “Pulling Ham Pain”; “Pulling the Nape”; “Pulling the Warm Ailment”; “Bear Ramble”. The Yi Shu includes seasonal health regimens and regimens for cultivation of the body, as well as exercises for specific illnesses or dysfunctions. “Breathing is an integral part of these exercise routines.” (2)
Qi gong and nei gong are essentially modern terms for what were originally Dao Yin Exercises. Some people make much of the distinction between qi gong and nei gong. In some circles qi gong exercises are considered to be only those that involve leading the qi with the mind while nei gong exercises employ breathing and external movements or subtle internal movements that move the qi in specific ways. In practice there are overlaps so making too much of this merely causes confusion.
Nei gong is also a term used to distinguish certain exercises associated with the so called “soft,” or “internal” styles from the “hard,” or “external” styles. Qi gong implies breath or vital force and thus can be translated as breath work or energy work. It is a term largely re-invented in the modern era. It was used in the 1950’s to differentiate health exercises from similar superstitious practices.
(1)Tim Regan MA Thesis p.149
(2)Danial Harper Early Chinese Medical Literature: The Mawangdui Medical Manuscripts. Kegan Paul: New York/London, 1998. p. 33.
氣 Qi
1) Qi is often defined as energy. This is really a misunderstanding or partial understanding of the concept. Early on qi referred to:
- Mists
- Fog
- Moving Clouds & Exhalation
- Air
- Vapor
- Aromas
- Smoke
Basically - Anything perceptible but intangible
2) In Chinese cosmology(3) there was originally hun-tun: an undifferentiated luminous cloud (ie: a potential state). At some point the breaths or qi are released (inhalation and exhalation or expansion and contraction) and they separate. The light, transparent qi rises to form Heaven and the heavy opaque qi sinks forming Earth. This is the polarity of Heaven and Earth. The qi join and unite in the Center forming a 3rd fundamental modality These 3 modalities complete each other, forming the 10,000 beings or 10,000 things.
3) Other ideas related to or described by qi
- Yin/Yang
- Light
- Weather
- Color
- Flavors of Food
- Seasonal Changes
- Emotions – anger etc.
Basically - fundamental cosmic influences that affect other phenomena
4) By the time of Confucius (51-479 BC), qi also referred to the Physical vitalities or physical powers.(4)
- Qi meant air, breath, vapor etc, which could congeal, gather or coalesce to form liquids or solids.
- Balanced and ordered human vitalities, that maintain life and cause physical changes.
5) Qi then is less a conception of “energy” as we use the term in the West, but rather an idea of transformation – To quote Nathan Sivin:
- “Stuff that makes things happen in other stuff.”
- “Stuff that makes things happen.”
- “Stuff in which things happen.”(5)
Basically: we only know or recognize qi in the body by what it does: by its functioning
(3)Kristofer Schipper, The Taoist Body. Berkely, Los Angeles: University of California Press,1982. p. 34.
(4)Nathan Sivin, Traditional Medicine in Contemporary China. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Center For Chinese Studies, 1987. pp. 46-7.
(5)Ibid. p. 47
