Today we look at the discussion of membranes, the major theory of Sinew Changing.
The sinew changing classic was written sometimes during the 16 or 1700s during a time in which Chinese Medicine and internal practice were rapidly evolving.
A few points to note:
during this period the martial arts were beginning to become popular among the commons and novels of the time began to romanticize “knights errant,” who did justice in the land with their magical martial arts abilities.
The Yi Jin Jing is purported to be a method from Shaolin, a temple which had become famous as a result of its stick fighting methods, which were used to train the Ming Dynasty military in spear based warfare,
The Yi Jin Jing claims to be a method of spiritual practice in which the Qi of the body is repaired through exercise in order for the more subtle Marrow Washing meditation to be effective,
Around this time European medical knowledge of anatomy and physiology were gradually entering China with the Jesuit class and earlier ideas such as the sinew channels were beginning to undergo a revival in Chinese Medicine literature,
Daoist Dao Yin practice had become mature around this time and the Yi Jin Jing essentially uses Dao Yin as its basis.
With this in mind, we can begin our discussion today, about how the body is refined in Yi Jin Jing from a theoretical perspective.
The basic argument goes like this:
refining Qi is essential to the health of the body,
Qi is in the whole body, but especially must be harmonized in the blood,
blood circulates in the whole body and every tissue and organ,
there is a special layer of “membrane” which runs under the surface of the skin along the entire body,
this membrane can be opened, thus allowing Qi to flow in the blood without impediment.
Let's talk about a few big points:
1: Qi and blood:
Qi and blood is the first theory of Qi in medicine, but is not the only theory. Chinese Medicine has multiple interpretations of Qi, but by far the oldest is that Qi is atmosphere which is brought into the body via the mouth and nose. Practically this means that air and food are both Qi and they can both nourish and hurt the body. The nourishing substance enters the blood via the stomach and lungs and is carried around the body system in the vessels and meridians (the meridians running along the paths of multiple blood vessels each). Ideas like Yuan Qi are also important, but the Yi Jin Jing especially emphasizes Qi as a product carried in the blood,
2: strength and flexibility allow unimpeded movement of Qi around the body:
for the Qi to nourish the body it must not have impediment, thus open and relaxed tissues will tend to benefit the Qi, while closed off and stiff tissue will stop it. Practicing exercises which loosen the tissue between muscles, bones and flesh will have an impact on how our Qi flows, since it will more easily travel from place to place,
3: Membrane is a hypothetical whole body tissue which serves the purpose of connecting all sinuous material, flesh, muscle and bones:
the membrane could be likened to fascia, although it is not known how the authors of this text came to know about this. The closest thing in the literature is Jing Jin/meridian sinew, but the word membrane is quite unique. The theory goes, if the membranes are relaxed, the blood containing Qi will easily circulate and the entire body will be healthy.
If we were to use modern Qigong as a vantage point from which to view this phenomenon, it would explain the physical aspect of practice, but perhaps not the deeper mental states used to produce strong Qi.
Below is my translation and annotation of the membrane discussion:
膜 论
Membrane Discussion: