Part One
By Matthew D. Bauer,L.Ac.
In the introduction to
her landmark translation of the Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen, a.k.a., the
Yellow Emperor's Classic, Ilza Veith commented that three primary
concepts are critical to understanding that complex work. She listed
those three as: "(1) Tao, (2) Yin and Yang, and (3) the theory of the
elements and, closely connected to it, the imposition upon the universe
as well as upon man of a system of numbers among which the number five
predominates." (P.10)
Over centuries, countless authorities
have commented upon the meaning and ramifications of the concepts of
Tao, yin/yang and the Five Elements (wu hsing). Far less scrutiny
however, has been paid over those years to the basic concept of
utilizing a "system of numbers" as a means to comprehend the nature of
the universe as well as that of humankind.
Why would the number five figure so
prominently within the theories of Chinese culture in general and
Chinese medicine in particular? Why did the Chinese seek to use numbers
as a means to organize their medical knowledge in the first place?
I first became interested in these
questions 27 years ago when I began taking classes on Taoist philosophy
and spirituality from a 74th generation Taoist Master by the name of
Hua-Ching Ni, who went on to publish more than 40 books on various
Taoist topics including translations of the main Taoist classics; the
works of Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, and I-Ching. During one such class, while
emphasizing the important role the sun, moon, stars and planets played
in the lives of the prehistoric Chinese, my teacher mentioned that the
idea of wu hsing was inspired by the ancients' discovery of the orbits
of the five planets. The five planets my teacher was referring to are
the only five visible to the naked eye, and as such, the only planets
known to our ancestors until the invention of the telescope. These are:
Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn. While I had seen these
planets listed on some Five Elements charts, the claim that the
discovery of their orbits was the inspiration for the idea of wu hsing
stuck me as very important but impossible to prove as it was part of my
teacher's long oral tradition and could not be backed-up with any hard
evidence. Without any other supportive sources, I thought this claim
would be ignored by modern scholars so I filed it away in the back of my
mind, wondering from time to time why this discovery might have been
regarded as so significant to the ancient Chinese.
Some years later, I happened across a
book (The Mask of God: Primitive Mythology) published in the late 1950's
by Joseph Campbell, the late scholar and historian who was widely
regarded as the world's leading authority on the influence of myths in
various cultures. In one passage of this book, Campbell relates how the
discovery of the orbits of the five planets played a pivotal role in the
birth of the world's first modern civilization in Mesopotamia (modern
Iraq) just over 5,000 years ago. According to Campbell, not only was
this discovery vital, but so was the notion that went along with it;
that the laws that govern the movement of the heavenly spheres must also
govern life on earth. (P.146-147)
It seemed to me that it could not be a
coincidence that these two authorities (Ni and Campbell), from very
different backgrounds and relying on different sources, would rank this
discovery as so crucial in these different cultures. This made me wonder
again: Why should the discovery of the orbits of the five planets be so
important?
Campbell believed this discovery helped
to spawn humanity's first modern civilization because Mesopotamian
leaders would come to organize society to mirror the order of the
heavens. This was also the era when writing and mathematics were
invented and advanced as was the calendar and the concept of the four
cardinal directions of the compass. For the first time in history,
large-scale public works projects were carried out under the rule of
those at the top of a political and religious hierarchy. Pyramid-shaped
ziggurats were erected with their four corners aligned with due north,
south, east, and west. These structures, according to Campbell, were
symbolized by the number five, with their four corners meeting in the
neutral middle, which was raised upward to meet the heavens. The
Mesopotamian calendar was composed of 12 months of 30 days each, with
five intercalated days spaced in-between and celebrated as days of feast
and festival - the five days when heaven's influence was strongest upon
the earth.
After studying Campbell's thoughts and
learning that the number five predominated ancient Mesopotamian culture
as well as that of the Chinese, I began pondering what other factors
these two cultures may have had in common, especially factors relating
to their development and use of numbering systems. I had long been
interested in why much of Chinese medicine was organized with specific
numbers – like 365 acupuncture points or 12 primary qi pathways –
numbers also used to organize time within the framework of a calendar.
When I started studying what experts think about Mesopotamian culture, I
learned these same numbering systems were crucial to the development of
humanity's first modern civilization. I also learned that these
numbering systems could be traced back a quest to follow the cycles of
the sun, moon, stars, and planets – a quest Hua-Ching Ni teaches was
also paramount in the lives of the ancient Chinese.
Today, I am convinced that ancient
Chinese astronomy was instrumental to the development of Chinese
medicine concepts. In my next article, I will offer more thoughts on how
the ancient desire to comprehend the movement of the heavenly spheres
spawned a range of crucial firsts, forever changing the way most humans
began to view their world and, for the Chinese at least, the
organization of medical knowledge.
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