Special reward?
Lu Jiu's curiosity was instantly piqued!
[Claim]
[Reward received: Original collateral therapy of acupuncture point selection]
Original collateral therapy?
Lu Jiu seemed to have some impression of this, feeling like he had read about it in some extracurricular book, but he couldn't remember clearly.
Forget it, let's first see what effect this original collateral therapy has.
After accepting the reward, a vast amount of acupuncture knowledge flooded into Lu Jiu's mind.
Already eager for knowledge, he was now immersed in an ocean of information, and time passed by second by second.
Over an hour later, Lu Jiu finally digested this portion of knowledge.
Original collateral therapy, as the name suggests, is a method using the primary points and collateral points for treatment in acupuncture point selection.
In the Spiritual Pivot of the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, chapter Nine Needles and Twelve Original points, it's mentioned, "The five viscera have six bowels, the six bowels have twelve original points, the twelve original points originate from the four gates, the four gates govern the five viscera. When the five viscera are diseased, one should take the twelve original points. The twelve original points are where the 365 seasonal energies of the five viscera concentrate."
The five viscera are connected to the six bowels, outside the six bowels are the twelve original points, and these original points originate from the four gates, namely the body's two elbows and two knees, and the original points of the four gates govern diseases of the five viscera. So if the five viscera are afflicted, the twelve original points should be used.
Because the twelve original points are the places where the 365 seasonal energies of the five viscera are concentrated.
At the same time, the primary and collateral points complement each other just like the relationship between the five viscera and the six bowels, with primary points as the exterior and collateral points as the interior.
Generally, initial diseases affect the meridian, while chronic diseases affect the collateral. Original collateral therapy also requires diagnosis before treatment.
Lu Jiu discovered that this reward included a mnemonic to help him remember it.
"Taiyuan pairs with Pianli, Hegu pairs with Lieque; Chongyang pairs with Gongsun, Taibai pairs with Abundant Bulge…"
Besides the mnemonic, there's also a detailed explanation of which conditions each pairing primarily targets.
For example, if the primary disease originates in the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian, causing symptoms like cough or asthma, and subsequently leads to diarrhea or constipation related to the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian, it suggests using the original point of the Hand Taiyin, Taiyuan, paired with the collateral point of the Hand Yangming, Pianli; conversely, use the original point of the Hand Yangming, Hegu, paired with the collateral point of the Hand Taiyin, Lieque.
With this original collateral therapy, my acupuncture skills should be sufficient for handling some simple ailments!
By then, with just one needle, the patient could be cured on the spot, and wouldn't the system's rewards keep coming non-stop?
Suddenly, Lu Jiu became eager for tomorrow's consultation!
...
At six the next morning, Lu Jiu naturally woke up.
He had consistently maintained a habit of going to bed at 10:30 PM and waking up around 6 AM.
There's an old saying in traditional Chinese medicine, "Not sleeping during the hour of Zi is equivalent to not sleeping for the entire night."
Why?
Because the hour of Zi, which is from 11 PM to 1 AM.
The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, Plain Questions, chapter Six Seasonal Changes discusses, "The heart is the root of life, the spirit's transformation, its brilliance shows in the face, its charge lies in the blood vessels, representing the ultimate yang among the yang, communicating with the summer energy. The lung is the foundation of qi, where the corporeal soul resides, its brilliance is in the body hair, its charge on the skin, representing the ultimate yin among the yang, communicating with the autumn energy. The kidney governs hibernation, is the foundation of storage and the reservoir of essence, its brilliance shines in the hair, its charge in the bones, representing the lesser yin among the yin, communicating with the winter energy. The liver is the root of resting and exertion, home of the ethereal soul, its brilliance shows in the nails, its charge in the tendons, giving life to blood and qi, its taste is sour, its color blue, representing the lesser yang among the yang, communicating with the spring energy. The spleen, stomach, large intestine, small intestine, triple jiao, and bladder are the basis of storage and residence, called the organ, capable of transforming waste, turning flavors in and out, its brilliance at the lips, its charge in the muscles, its taste sweet, its color yellow, this represents the utmost yin, communicating with the earth energy. All eleven viscera are determined by the gall."
The last sentence "All eleven viscera are determined by the gall" means that the normal functioning of the various aspects of the five viscera and six bowels depends on the proper emergence of gall energy.
According to the rhythm of the Meridian Flow, the hour of Zi is when the Gallbladder Meridian is most active and is the best time for gall energy to flourish, marking a crucial point where the yin energy declines and the yang energy gradually rises.
Entering deep sleep at this time can effectively nourish and balance the yin and yang energies.
If one does not sleep at this time, and once they stay awake past that point of drowsiness, they might actually feel more energetic, even hungry, which is an abnormal response of the body.
If one never sleeps during this time, then their yin and yang energies won't be nourished, the gall energy won't flourish, and the functions of the five viscera and six bowels will start to malfunction.
Over time, a person will become weak.
Therefore, going to bed early and rising early is essentially to protect the flourishing of the gall energy.
But what if the gallbladder is removed?
Uh... Lu Jiu hasn't encountered such a patient yet, but if the gallbladder is removed, bile would still be secreted. If its place is forcibly dismantled, where would it go then?
Find a place to stay temporarily?
This is a thought-provoking question!
After getting up and washing up, Lu Jiu changed into a set of practice clothes and went downstairs to the open space to start practicing the Eight Vajra Skills.
At the university, they practiced the Eight Pieces of Brocade, but later, after encountering the Eight Vajra Skills online, Lu Jiu switched practices to the Eight Vajra Skills.
It's not really about which cultivation technique is better or worse, it's just that Lu Jiu felt more in tune while practicing the Eight Vajra Skills.
Plus, the Eight Vajra Skills include both the External Eight and Internal Eight cultivation techniques. The External Eight is practiced in the morning, and the Internal Eight is practiced in the evening. After just two or three months, Lu Jiu's life essence and spirits noticeably improved a lot compared to before.
Because of this, since then, Lu Jiu has been consistently practicing the Eight Vajra Skills, and now he's been doing it for the fourth year.
In the community, quite a few uncles and aunties were also up by this time. When they saw Lu Jiu practicing in the courtyard, they slowly gathered around.
"Xiao Lu, ever since you came back, I've seen you doing this exercise every morning. How is it that you're so young but acting like us old folks?"
"What nonsense, it's great that Xiao Lu exercises every morning. Unlike the lazy pig in our house who not only barely makes it to work on time every day but also sleeps until eleven or twelve on weekends. It drives me crazy!"
"Staying up late is no longer a novelty among young people today. Honestly, I've never seen anyone go to bed before midnight. Everyone's living the nightlife, and it seems like their souls are about to be taken away by their phones. I really don't see what's so entertaining about it."
"When they're young, they can live as recklessly as they want, but when they reach our age, I bet they'll be complaining day after day!"
"Hey, Xiao Lu, I heard you're running your grandpa's medical clinic. How's it going, getting many patients these days?"
The uncles and aunties are all from the same community, so there's no way any family affair could escape their information network. Besides, Lu Jiu's grandpa already knew these uncles and aunties.
Lu Jiu laughed, "Just two or three, Granny Wang, please keep your voice down. It's early morning, and everyone else is resting. It wouldn't be nice to disturb them."
Among them, Granny Wang's voice was the loudest. Her personality didn't care much about considerations, and once she got excited in a chat, her voice was like carrying a loudspeaker, and those standing next to her could really experience what it meant to be deafening.
But she had the advantage of being open to advice.
"Okay, okay, I'll keep it down," Granny Wang immediately replied, then continued chatting, "Xiao Lu, not to criticize, but as I heard from your grandpa, you could totally make it in a big city. Why did you choose to come back to this small place like Jianghan? Big cities have so much to offer."
"Yeah, big cities have more opportunities. Li, you know my grandson, right? He just graduated last year and joined some big company, and he's making two hundred thousand RMB a year. In a few years, it'll probably double."
"You've mentioned that before!"
"Really? Oh dear, getting old, memory's failing, memory's failing!"
"You're just pretending. Xiao Lu, tell us, what were you thinking?" Granny Wang asked.
Lu Jiu was practicing nicely, but then it seemed there was no way to continue.
"The pace in big cities is too fast for me. I'm not suited for it. I prefer my hometown, less pressure, more free time, though the downside might be not making much money, but if I can get by, that's all I aspire to," Lu Jiu said with a smile.
"Xiao Lu, your way of thinking is problematic. If you don't make more money while you're young, what will you do when you're older and need money but your health fails?" Granny Wang said.
"Granny, isn't it also possible to work hard in a big city for years without making money and end up with poor health too?" Lu Jiu replied with a smile.
He had seen too many patients in the hospital with various health problems at a young age.
Some scholars also pointed out that the trend of illnesses getting younger is appearing domestically, meaning more young people are getting diseases previously associated with people in their forties or fifties.
Of course, there are scholars who refute this, arguing that diseases aren't getting younger, but that past medical practices were underdeveloped, and diagnostic methods were lacking, so many illnesses weren't detected, causing the current illusion of diseases getting younger.
But in any case, both sides's arguments basically prove that the group of young people falling ill is already quite large.
This is not good news.
"Hey, you know what, Xiao Lu's got a point. My grandson told me that some of his classmates couldn't find good jobs after graduation. Commuting alone takes four hours, two hours in the morning, two in the evening, getting up at six or seven every day, getting home at eight or nine after work, and that's not counting overtime. Heard there was an internet worker who died suddenly in his twenties—so young, he hadn't even married…" Uncle Zhang, who had been bragging about his grandson earlier, sighed.
"Health is most important. If you wreck your health to make money, that's no good," Uncle Li said.
"Easy for you two to say, but how are young people supposed to live without money? Getting married, having kids, doesn't that all cost money? My nephew is thirty-five, and a few years ago, the whole family scraped together enough for a down payment before he dared find a wife. Only just saved enough for a bride price this year; if he waited longer, he'd have to find a second marriage." Granny Wang said.
"To be fair, we were poor back then, but didn't feel too pressured. Now that there's everything, young people's pressure is much greater than ours was." Uncle Li said.
"The cost of living is higher now; everything costs money…" Uncle Zhang said.
When Lu Jiu saw that the uncles and aunties were preoccupied with their discussion and not paying attention to him anymore, he found an excuse to slip away.
Lu Jiu wasn't interested in these topics. Besides, discussing them brought no real benefit. He was focused on diagnosing and treating patients, improving his medical skill, and other matters didn't concern him.
After changing into casual clothes, Lu Jiu headed to Garden Street.
Time to grab some breakfast first!