Qi allows integrity, process, engagement and transformation. The most fundamental Qi in human life is the Original Qi (Yuan Qi). Li Dong-Yuan (also known as Li Guo, 1180-1252 A.D.), in the discussion that introduces the original version of Arouse Vigor, points out that a person’s capacity and desire to engage in activity, to transform to a new state of being, to adapt in relationship to the environment and to be imbued with feelings are all dependent on this Original Qi (Discussion of the Spleen and Stomach, section 2, 1249 A.D.). The Original Qi activates, maintains and gives intention to the entire personality. To nourish this generative source of so many dimensions of human life, Li Dong-Yuan created “Benefit the Middle and Boost the Qi” (Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang). The original name for Arouse Vigor, “Benefit the Middle and Boost the Qi,” refers to the “Middle” and the “Qi.” The famous Ming Dynasty scholar, Wu Kun, commenting on this name said, “The Middle is the Spleen, the feminine, the mother of the ten thousand phenomena. Qi is the Yang, the masculine, the father of the ten thousand phenomena...” (Verified Medical Prescriptions, section 20, 1584 A.D.). Li Dong-Yuan is renowned for emphasizing the central role of Spleen-Stomach Qi. In his dramatic style he states: “All five solid organs (Wu Zang) belong to the Stomach and all disharmony comes from its deficiency.” This Spleen-Stomach Qi, he says, is identical to the “Original Qi” and “is the pivot of the ascent and descent of the Yang and Yin.” The Original Qi facilitates “the clear Yang Qi’s ascent . . . the turbid Qi’s descent and regulates the nine orifices” (the two eyes, two ears, two nasal passages, mouth, anus and urethra). No human activity, behavior, sensation or thought is separate from Qi’s vigor. PHYSICAL INDICATIONS Because the Original Qi is so central to life, its disruption can generate a myriad of patterns. Sluggishness and weakness patterns can include occasional fatigue, always wanting to sleep, having no power to speak and tired limbs. Occasional digestive disharmonies can be another focus for the formula. ABOUT THE HERBS Astragalus root is called “the senior of all herbs” by Wang Ang in his Essentials of the Materia Medica (1694 A.D.). He also says that, depending on how it is processed, Astragalus root can drain Yin Fire and “tonify the Middle, benefit the Original Qi, warm the Three Burners and strengthen the Spleen and Stomach.” It is sweet and slightly warm, and in modern times is said to enter the Spleen and Lung meridians. Dong quai root “harmonizes the Blood and blood vessels,” according to Li Dong-Yuan. It is sweet, acrid, bitter and warm, and enters the Liver, Heart and Spleen meridians. Chinese red ginseng root and rhizome is described in the Divine Husbandman’s Classic of the Materia Medica (c. 150 A.D.) as the “tonic of the five Yin organs (Wu zang).” The Materia Medica of (c. 600 A.D.) says that, in addition to the five Yin organs, Ginseng also “tonifies the six Yang organs (Liu fu), protects the Middle, and maintains the Spirit (Shen).” Chen Jia-Mo’s Hidden Aspects of the Materia Medica (c. 1560 A.D.) describes Ginseng as “draining the Yin Fire and nourishing and tonifying the Original Qi.” It is sweet, slightly bitter and slightly warm, and in modern times is said to enter the Spleen and Lung meridians. Cimicifuga rhizome is “bitter and neither hot nor cold, is thin in flavor, is the ‘Yang within Yin’ and makes the clear Qi upwardly ascend,” according to Li Dong-Yuan. Li Shi-Zhen (1518- 1593 A.D.) says it is especially important to make the “Yang Ming clear Qi ascend.” Modern texts usually describe Cimicifuga rhizome as sweet, acrid, slightly bitter and cool, entering the Stomach, Spleen and Lung meridians. Bupleurum root also makes the clear Yang ascend. It is ancillary to Cimicifuga rhizome, according to Rectification of the Materia Medica (c. 1832 A.D.), because it enters the Shao yang meridians, not the Yang ming. The Divine Husbandman’s Classic (c. 150 A.D.) says it “diminishes the old and increases the new.” It is bitter, slightly acrid and cool, and is said in modern texts to enter the Liver and Gallbladder meridians. White atractylodes rhizome “harmonizes the Middle, benefits the Qi, warms the Middle, and rules flesh feeling hot, limbs being tired, eyes not wanting to open, lethargy and always wanting to lie down and eating imbalances,” according to Zhang Yuan-Su (1151-1243 A.D.). Li Dong-Yuan says it “removes Middle Burner and Stomach Heat.” It is bitter, sweet and warm, and it enters the Heart, Spleen, Stomach and Triple Burner meridians. Honey fried Chinese licorice root and rhizome is used to “tonify the Spleen, Stomach, Middle Burner and Original Qi,” according to the Discussion of the Spleen and Stomach. It is sweet and warm, and enters the Spleen meridian. Tangerine dried rind of mature fruit “creates flow into and penetration of the Spleen and Stomach and prevents the stagnation of the sweet, warm herbs,” according to Wu Kun’s commentary on Arouse Vigor in Verified Formulas (1584 A.D.). It is acrid, bitter, warm and aromatic, and enters the Spleen, Stomach and Lung meridians.
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