One's constitution is formed congenitally and is also acquired, and is relatively stable its individually manifested function, structure and temperament. It has characteristics of universality, complexity, generality and continuity. It is also
manifested in physiological responses and expresses pathologic tendencies including susceptibility.
Attempts at understanding constitution has had a long history throughout the world.
IN Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM), the constitution had been acknowledged from the Huangdi Neijing, which has been a Bible in TCM for about two thousand years. In many aspects, the Huangdi Neijing provides the basis for both basic and
practical
fields.
In order to derive the ideal structure from the Neijing to Lee Jay-ma's Four Type Constitutional Ideas, which can strengthen the understanding of the ideal core of TCM's constitutional characteristics, the author launched his analysis of the
constitutional understandings in the Neijing as a first step and came to the following:
1. The constitutional understanding in the Neijing was done both as via the physiological responses to beat pain and acupuncture treatment and the pathologic tendencies via body structure strength, body heat, courage and obesity.
2. It was recognized that the constitution was formed congenitally and also acquired factors like living conditions including food customs and residents, geographical and social conditions were explained in detailed.
3. The constitutional typology was suggested both by the general and systematic criterion according o the Yin-yang and the Five Phase theories and by single criterion such as obesity, courage and response to acupuncture treatment.
4. As diagnosis is to the constitution, courage was adopted for the disease caused by emotions, obesity was for its manifestations of chi and blood, the quantities of chi-blood and Yin-yang in the typology by the Yin-yang and the Five Phase
theories
were suggested.
5. In the cases of obesity, Yin-yang and Five Phase theory, treatment according to the constitutional ideas was mentioned, and their goals were concluded as "being the balancing between Yin and Yang" which means the Yin-yang theory is more
practical
than the Five Phase theory in the Traditional Chinese constitutional medical field.
According to the above understandings, the author would like to suggest that the constitutional ideas in the Huangdi Neijing based on the Yin-yang theory blossomed via the practical spirit of Zhang Zhong-jing's 《Shang Han-Lun》and at from Lee
Jay-ma' s
Four Type Constitutional which realized "the balancing between Yin and Yang" through the practical application of herbal treatments.
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