The Chinese calendar: supporting a healthy life through resonance

The Chinese Calendar:  resonance between heaven and the human being

In ancient times, the Chinese observed that there was a strict correlation between  human and natural rhythms. Looking further, they also realised that at the basis of all life is the never ending cycle of day and night, from sunrise to sunset to night and to a new sunrise: people rise at sunrise and launch into activity, only to slow down  as the sun starts to set into the night to seek restorative sleep, in order to be ready for more activity during the next day. Circles representing cycles of life are always present in  Chinese Medicine: i.e. the circles of Wuji, 無極 ,Taiji 太極, the Five Phases 五行 and the succession of the 6 Confirmations 六氣.   Studying the rhythms of the sun in the year and the whole day provided the ancient Chinese with insights into the  rhythms of nature and how these were matched in human life. Resonance, on a very basic level, means to fall asleep at night and be filled with vigour in the daytime. By default, in case of sickness, the rhythms of the sun also give a glimpse into the nature of a possible pathology: is this a pathology caused by the sun - Yang not rising or not setting?  Or rising or setting too early or too late? All other physiological functions i.e. the Zang Fu 臟腑 respond to and serve this rhythm.  According to the Chinese Calendar, at the end of Winter  Liver  (Jue Yin) announces  the  imminent rising of the Yang  whereas in Autumn  the Lungs  (Tai Yin)  announces its incipient setting into the depths of the organism. All other organs, in between these two poles, announce  either a greater increase of Yang  and the consequent manifestation of form in all its details      

The Chinese Calendar, the 24 seasons and the 24 hours of the day

Although the  Chinese calendar is made of 12 months of about 30 days each, each month is further divided into two parts of 15 days, called 'small season' or 'solar terms', as they are determined by the sun's changes in the sky. Each 'small season' gives a more accurate reading of the phenomena  taking place in nature and, in the medical context, allows for a more detailed reading of a person's inner situation.  Is this person in tune with the sun's rhythm?   If yes,   health prevails, if not disease lurks in the background. It goes without saying that, when resonance is broken, the first step in the healing process is that of recreating resonance. This is called 'working at the root' and can be equated to looking at ways of making the roots of the plant healthy, rather than pinching off its withering flowers and yellow leaves, a metaphor for  what is done  when treating a symptom, disregarding the fact that its appearance  is a reflection of the condition of the roots. Each small season has its starting and ending date, within which are the two Solstices ( Winter and Summer) as well as the two Equinoxes ( Spring and Autumn).  Typically the year starts on the 5th day of February, a date  the ancient Chinese arrived at through  a complicated calculation. This date stands between the longest night of the year (21/12) and the  Spring Equinox (23/03).  By the 5th day of February,  not only the time of light has become visibly longer, indicating that the sun's  longer presence in the sky, but it is  almost close to  reaching the 1/2 and 1/2 quota of light/darkness characteristic of the upcoming Equinox. The chart below gives the  breakdown of the 24 'small seasons' of the Chinese calendar.

Terms	Chinese	Month	Comments
Spring starts	lì chūn立春	4-5.02	Regardless of  external conditions,  this date is almost in the middle between the  Winter Solstice  and the Spring Equinox.  It indicates the time when the  presence of the sun,  the hours of daytime and warmth increase.
Rain Water	yǔ shuǐ雨水	19/02	In nature: frequent rain falls.
Awakening of Insects	jīng zhé惊蛰	6/03	In nature: thunder and  the time when insects wake up, to foster pollination and the growth of plants.
Spring Equinox	chūn fēn春分	21/03	Daylight and night have the same length.
Bright and clear	qīng míng清明	5 /04	Clear and bight, light and life giving time both in nature and in the human body.
Rains grains	gǔ yǔ谷雨	20/04	This is the time when the plants sprouts and put out leaves and buds.
Start of Summer	lì xià立夏	5/05	Beginning of Summer, heat increases and light becomes stronger.
Tiny Fullness (Grain)	xiǎo mǎn小满	21/05	This is the time when  some plants carry the first semi ripe  fruits.
Ear of grains	máng zhǒng芒种	6/06	This is the time when the wheat is predominant and almost fully mature.
Summer Solstice	xià zhì 夏至	21/06	Longest daytime and shortest nighttime. From the day after the light will start diminishing, gradually.
Minor Heat	xiǎo shǔ小暑	7/07	Strong heat arrives.  The sun starts declining and, in doing so, it is closer to earth, heating it powerfully.
Major Heat	dà shǔ大暑	23/07	The hottest part of summer.
Start of Autumn	lì qiū立秋	7/08	The time when darkness is visibly growing  whereas light receding, leading to the Autumn Equinox of equal light and darkness.
Limit of Heat	chù shǔ 处暑	23/09	Heat gradually diminishes and the climate becomes more temperate.
White Dew	bái lù白露	8/09	Heat is definitely receding to leave room for cooler days and nights.
Autumnal Equinox	qiū fēn 秋分	23/09	Day and night have the same length.
Cold Dew	hán lù寒露	8/10	The first dew appears on the fields, a sign of the colder nights.
Frost Descends	shuāng jiàng霜降	23/10	Beginning of frost now and again
Start of Winter	lì dōng 立冬	7/11	Here again, darkness is visibly taking over the light, leading  gradually to the Winter Solstice's darkness.
Minor Snow	xiǎo xuě 小雪	22/11	The first snow could appear and  the weather is definitely cooler.
Major Snow	dà xuě大雪	7/12	Cold makes its way with power,  in places it may snow.
Winter Solstice	dōng zhì 冬至	22/12	The shortest daytime and  the longest nighttime of the year.
Minor Cold	xiǎo hán 小寒	5/01	The weather becomes  colder and colder
Major Cold	dà hán 大寒	20/01	'The coldest time of the year.

The following drawing represents the movement of Yang Qi  within the body during  a calendar year.

 

Yang  Qi rises from Winter to Summer and descends (goes into hiding) from Summer to Winter. The following statement from the "Huangdi Neijing - Sowen" ch.2 describes its continuous, endless cycle of  waxing and waning  beautifully when it says: "When Yang is born  Yin  grows and when Yang declines Yin hides, 陽生陰長陽蔑陰藏“ Yang Qi , the power behind Yin Qi,  encourages it to expand and show its form xing 形 , in the same way as  in the first part of the year the  increased presence of the sun in the sky makes all  sap rise to feed the sprout and then the plant helping it to bloom and become able to bear its fruits.   On the other hand of the spectrum, when Yang Qi declines,  Yin also declines and its form  contracts and hides, in the same way as  in the second part of the year, the decreases presence of the sun in the sky makes fruits and leaves drop and trees become bare. This 'death'  is however only transient event, as nature shows over and over again that the same tree returns to bear leaves and fruits in the next Winter-Summer cycle, only to  slowly go back to hiding in the following Summer-Winter cycle. Human physiology resonates with it all, and it stays healthy. The implications of this cycle are multiple and they determine the appropriate lifestyle in a given season as well as the correct emotion, the  most appropriate food  and the level of activity allowed.  The "Huandi Neijing _ Sowen"  ch. 2 gives precise instructions as how to handle each season in order to be healthy. For instance talking of Autumn it says: "The three months of autumn, denote taking in and balance.  The qi of heaven becomes  tense. The qi of the earth becomes bright. Go to rest early and rise early, get up together with the chicken. Let the mind be peaceful and tranquil, so as to temper the punishment carried out in autumn.  Collect the spirit qi and cause the autumn qi to be balanced. Do not direct your mind to the outside and cause the lung qi to be clear. This is correspondence with the qi of autumn and it is the Way to nourish gathering. Opposing it harms the lung. In winter this causes outflow of [undigested] food and there is little to support storage." (1) When human physiology is out of sink with it,  illness comes. For instance, if Yang Qi does not surge  on time  (from 1am to 1pm) the body's ability to move an spread heat all over its surface   during the day, when people should be up and about, is impaired leading to symptoms like painful movement, coldness, sleepiness .When , however, it does not descend on time (from 1pm -1am), it impairs the body's ability to retreat into rest and rebuild itself through sleep. The symptoms arising can all be erased when  the periods  Yang surge and decline are balanced and are on time.   Notes (1) "Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen - An Annotated. Translation of Huang Di’s Inner Classic - Basic Questions " Vol I C 2  by Paul U. Unschuld, H. Tessenow with  J.Zheng ed. University of California Press, S Berkeley Los Angeles, 2003, pg 48. (2) Already mentioned, 2003 ©Vita Revelli