The Third Lunar Month and Hexagram 43

Spring continues to threaten to emerge here in Portland, Oregon; we are witnessing a deficient ShaoYang spring that is throwing many people into illness. One day it is warm and sunny, the next cold and rainy. But even on the cold days the spring energy is definitely palpable if not in your face. The daphne has an intoxicating sucker punch, the magnolia tree in front of my house is about to pop, and the birds won't shut up about the twists and turns of Obama's budget proposal (to be fair, i'm not fluent in bird, they're probably just talking about sex).

At any rate, the third lunar month (March 26 - April 24) is all about light eliminating the shadows of our lives so that we can make clear and decisive decisions without hesitation. This month is represented by Hexagram 43 夬 which translates as Stride, Eliminating, Decisiveness, or Receive. It is also related to the Stomach organ in Chinese Medicine. In this way, proper nourishment through outward decision is imperative to what we take in from the external and make part of ourselves.



The text from the Yi Jing:

揚于王庭，孚號有厲，告自邑。

An inquiry at the King's court, confidence shouted carries terrible reports from the fiefdoms.



不利即戎，利有攸往。

It is not an auspicious time for going to war, it is beneficial to have someplace to go.



夬、決也，剛決柔也。健而說，決而和。


Stride, is decision. Firm but yielding. Strong and vocal, decisive and harmonious.

「揚于王庭」、柔乘五剛也，「孚號有厲」、其危乃光也。
"Inquiry at the King's court" means to yield to the 5 strengths (laws?), "confidence shouted carrying terribleness" means that the light shining (inquiry) is dangerous.

「告自邑不利即戎」、所尚乃窮也，「利有攸往」、剛長乃終也。
"Reports from the fiefdoms that it is not beneficial to war" means that the places of esteem are actually poor, "beneficial to have someplace to go" means firm and lasting only in the termination or ending of things.

I find this text really interesting for a number of reasons. For one, we're in the middle of spring and as we all know it is good to do some spring cleaning at this time of year. But from a cultivational standpoint, we can see this as symbolically cleaning out the ego, shining light on our skeletons in the closet and airing them out to dry. I understand this inquiry at the court to be a questioning of the ego in this way. Because of the instability that this causes, it is not correct to wage a battle because the structure of the ego itself is so changeable at this time. Instead it is best to move with the energy of spring and terminate those aspects of ourselves which are no longer useful to us and move outside of ourselves in travel or coming into contact with new things.

As Wilhelm writes:

This hexagram signifies on the one hand a break-through after a long accumulation of tension, as a swollen river breaks through its dikes, or in the manner of a cloudburst. On the other hand, applied to human conditions, it refers to the time when inferior people gradually begin to disappear. Their influence is on the wane; as a result of resolute action, a change in conditions occurs, a break-through.

Spring Equinox

So, it is time. Today is the day that the yang qi, overcomes the yin qi and begins to lead. The days are longer than the nights, and will be for the next 6 months. Now is the time to execute and achieve those things that you want to do for the year; however big or small. You'll probably feel the need to clean some stuff, reorganize your living space, hang out with new people, and just generally bask in all the forms of intercourse that are taking place. If you properly cut away those things that didn't matter in the fall and stored your energy in the winter, your goals can now be easily achieved. Go speedracer! Go! And oh yeah, don't forget to stop and smell the metaphorical roses every once in a while - there is a lot to be learned in those moments of watching the activity of spring instead of constantly living it.

真武湯 True Warrior Decoction

“True Warrior Decoction” is mentioned in the Shang Han Lun only twice. The first time it is mentioned, it is in reference to Tai Yang disease:

太陽病，發汗，汗出不解，其人仍發熱，心下悸，頭眩，身瞤動，振振欲擗地者，真武湯主之。

"In Tai Yang disease, when there is sweating, and the emergence of sweat does not resolve the disease, and the person still has fever, there are palpitations below the heart, the head is dizzy, and the body shivers violently, and they are quivering and about to fall on the ground, Zhen Wu Tang governs it."

In this scenario, the person is sweated with Gui Zhi Tang and the person does not recover or the person has sweated themselves and has not recovered. In both cases, the person has a yang deficiency because the person’s yang qi with the addition of a correct treatment of Gui Zhi Tang is still too weak to defeat the pathogen. Because of this yang deficiency, there is cold shivering, and because the body is attempting to mobilize its yang qi to the surface, there isn’t enough left to maintain the interior, so the Shao Yin heart and head begin to feel the effects.

The second time Zhen Wu Tang is mentioned is in reference to Shao Yin disease:

少陰病，二三日不已，至四五日，腹痛，小便不利，四肢沉重疼痛，自下利者，此為有水氣，其人或欬，或小便利，或下利，或嘔者，真武湯主之。

In ShaoYin disease, that has lasted two or three days without stopping, and at four or five days, there is abdominal cramping, inhibited urination, heaviness and pain of the four limbs, and spontaneous diarrhea, this is because the person has water qi, and the person may have cough, or uninhibited urination, or diarrhea, or retching, then Zhen Wu Tang governs it.

Zhen Wu Tang:
Fu Ling 3 Liang (45g)
Shao Yao 3 Liang (45g)
Bai Zhu 2 Liang (30g)
Sheng Jiang 3 Liang (45g)
Fu Zi 1 piece prepared

*if cough add:
Wu Wei Zi half sheng (100mL)
Xi Xin 1 Liang (15g)
Gan Jiang 1 Liang (15g)

*if urine flows freely, remove Fu Ling
*if there is diarrhea, remove Shao Yao and add 2 Liang of Gan Jiang
*if there is retching, remove Fu Zi and Sheng Jiang to equal 8 Liang (1/2 Jin).

In the first description of symptoms in Shao Yin disease, there are Earth symptoms being inversely invaded by Water: abdominal cramping (Wood trying to control the Water in the Earth), inhibited urination (Water being directed towards the Earth element), heaviness and pain of the four limbs (the Earth rules the four limbs), and spontaneous diarrhea (Water invading the Earth Spleen).

In the second description of the symptoms the Metal is overwhelmed by Water, and cough and uninhibited urination occur (or perhaps constant urination from the Lung being too open and a lack of pressure within the system). Also there is Earth disharmony as the Stomach is in counterflow, leading to collapse of the Spleen.

In both cases, the method is to restore the yang of the Kidney and drain the excess water to correct the reversal of Water Qi invading Metal and Earth. In the Tai Yang example, we can note that the Zhong Qi (中氣) of Tai Yang is Shao Yin and the Zhong Qi of Shao Yin is Tai Yang. This is an explanation for why, if someone is severely deficient and they are subjected to Tai Yang disease, and sweating does not work, that a Shao Yin pattern emerges. The ying and the wei have as their source the ultimate yang and yin of Shao Yin, when these are severely depleted the patient cannot mount an attack even with sweating so the underlying yang deficiency must be addressed with Fu Zi.