Research On The Qi Of Chinese Medicine Based On Conceptual Metaphor And Data Mining

ObjectiveThe Qi in human body is referred to the congenital and acquired nutrient substances to maintain life activities,mainly including the Primordial Qi,the Nutritive Qi,the Defensive Qi,and the Pectoral Qi,etc.In this paper,the origin of the concept of human body's Qi and the regularity of prescription will be discussed,aiming at analyzing the basic concept of the Qi in human body.Furthermore,this paper will also study how ancient doctors diagnose and treat the diseases caused by Qi's abnormality,providing references to modern doctors for clinical diagnosis and treatment.MethodThis paper applied three methods to study the origin of the concept of human body's Qi and the regularity of prescription,including literature review,linguistics,and data mining.Through literature review,the origin of human body's Qi,including the Primordial Qi,the Nutritive Qi,the Defensive Qi,and the Pectoral Qi,were studied,and the process of construction and perfection of the concept of human body's Qi was also analyzed.Based on the conceptual metaphor theory of cognitive linguistics,the metatheory of human body's Qi is researched.Through searching for the source domain,the mapping relationship between the target domain and the source domain is established,attaching cognitive motivation to the understanding of the human body's Qi.A database was built sourced by medical records in the Classics of Traditional Chinese Medicine.Then three typical prescriptions of "Buzhong Yiqi Decoction"(treatment for Primordial Qi),"Guizhi Decoction"(treatment for Nutritive and Defensive Qi),and "Shengxian Decoction"(treatment for Pectoral Qi)were studied using data mining.A statistical analysis was conducted on main diseases,main symptoms,and the rule of prescription modification in the medical cases involved.The medication rule of ancients'treatment of injury in human body's Qi was explored by analyzing the ancient medical records on the abnormality of human body's Qi including Primordial Qi deficiency,disharmony between Nutrient Qi and Defensive Qi,and Pectoral Qi sinking.ResultsThe theoretical overview of human body's Qi defines the source of the Primordial Qi,the Nutritive Qi,the Defensive Qi,and the Pectoral Qi.The Primordial Qi theory in the Classic on Medical Problems and the Genuine Qi theory in the Huangdi's Internal Classic together laid the foundation for the emergence of the theory of Primordial Qi in TCM.The continuous development of the Primordial Qi theory by the doctors in past dynasties can be concluded that Primordial Qi roots in kidneys and its ups and downs are not only affected by the congenital essence,but also by the effect of transportation and transformation of water and grain.Therefore,in the treatment of Primordial Qi deficiency,the ancient doctors paied much attention to tonifying the spleen and stomach to achieve the goal of invigorating the Primordial Qi.The theory of Nutritive Qi and Defensive Qi originates from the Huangdi's Internal Classics,which expounds the source,function,circulation,Yin-Yang,pathology and importance of Nutritive Qi and Defensive Qi.The theory of Nutritive Qi and Defensive Qi is boosted by doctors in later ages and applied for the treatment of many diseases.Additionally,the theory of Pectoral Qi comes from the Huangdi's Internal Classics too.The function of Pectoral Qi is to foster respiration and blood circulation,and as a result,the wax and wane of the Pectoral Qi is closely related to the health of the heart and lung.The Pectoral Qi theory is employed to treat various diseases by doctors of successive generations.The source domains of the Primordial Qi,the Nutritive Qi,the Defensive Qi,and the Pectoral Qi were found through exploring the conceptual metaphor of the human body's Qi.By using metaphorical cognition,the mapping relationships between the source domain and the target domain were built,which revealed that the concept of Primordial Qi in the target domain was more similar or identical to the concept of "embryo" in the source domain.The Nutritive Qi and the Defensive Qi have the characteristics of "barracks" and "garrison" respectively.The Pectoral Qi takes clan "leader" as its source domain because of the likeness with the clan and temples.Three typical prescriptions of "Buzhong Yiqi Decoction","Guizhi Decoction" and"Shengxian Decoction",seperately for the Primordial Qi,the Nutritive and Defensive Qi,and the Pectoral Qi,were studied based on ancient medical cases of human body's Qi.A statistical analysis was conducted on main diseases,main symptoms and the laws of modification in the medical records involved.Firstly,it can be seen that the clinical application of the Buzhong Yiqi Decoction is extended to the treatment of skin diseases,dysentery and other diseases,comparing with the use of Li Dongyuan.In terms of main symptoms and pulse,it's generally in accord with the Li Dongyuan's treatment characteristics.The added herbs in high frequencies are poria cocos,pinellia,dried ginger,radix ophiopogonis and radix paeoniae Alba,and they work for reinforcing deficiency.Secondly,the Guizhi decoction is mainly used for diseases such as colds,malaria and cough,etc.,and its main symptoms are bad cold,sweating,fever and so on.The main diseases are more than that of the original prescriptions in the Treatise on Febrile Disease,while there is little change in the main symptoms and the pulse condition.Licorice,ginger and jujube become indispensable medicine components in the Guizhi Decoction,and the added medicines with the first five high frequencies are angelica,poria cocos,ginseng,tangerine peel and astragalus,whose main efficiency are reinforcing deficiency.Thirdly,the main disease of Shengxian Decoction is gasp syndrome,and the main synptoms are shortness of breath and asthma.The necessary compositions of Shengxian Decoction are raw astragalus and common anemarrhena,and meanwhile the indispensable ones are bupleurum,platycodon grandiflorum and cimicifuga foetida.The added or reduced herbs with high frequencies are keel,oyster,ginseng,Scrophulariaceae and dogwood,and keel and oyster both work for inducing astringency.The prescription regularity of ancient doctors treating the damages of Primordial Qi,Nutritive and Defensive Qi,and Pectoral Qi were studied based on the ancient TCM medical cases.It can be concluded that when the Qi in human body was damaged,the herbs used have some commonality.For example,the herbal properties involved are generally warm and mild,and the flavor includes mainly sweet,bitter and pungent,and the herbs play mostly as deficiency-nourishing drugs.But there were also some differences.In the aspect of high-frequency herbs,the first four herbs for regulating and invigorating the Primordial Qi by ancient doctors were licorice,ginseng,poria cocos and atractylodes macrocephala;the first four herbs for adjusting the Nutritive Qi and the Defensive Qi were poria cocos,angelica,licorice and tangerine peel.the first four herbs for tonifying the Pectoral Qi were poria cocos,prepared radix rehmanniae,angelica and licorice.In the aspect of herbal properties,there were more warm herbs when treating Primordial Qi,Nutritive Qi and the Defensive Qi than Pectoral Qi;however,there were more mild herbs in the treatment of Pectoral Qi.In the aspect of herbal flavors,there were more pungent herbs in the treatment of Nutritive Qi and the Defensive Qi.In the aspect of meridian,herbs for Primordial Qi were mainly in spleen meridian,lung meridian,and stomach meridian;herbs for Nutritive Qi and the Defensive Qi were mainly in spleen meridian,lung meridian,and liver meridian;herbs for Pectoral Qi were mainly in kidney meridian,spleen meridian,and heart meridian.In the aspect of herbal function,herbs for Primordial Qi were mainly in nourishing deficiency;herbs for Nutritive Qi and the Defensive Qi were mainly in relieving the exterior;herbs for Pectoral Qi were mainly in inducing diuresis,excreting dampness,and relieving uneasiness.ConclusionThe concept of the Primordial Qi originates from the Genuine Qi in the Huangdi's Internal Classic and the Primordial Qi in the Classic on Medical Problems.It was formed by the combination of congenital essence and the nutrient substances of water and grain,taking"embryo" as the source domain.The medicines for Primordial Qi are to make the spleen and stomach healthy and then to supplement the Primordial Qi.The concepts of Nutritive Qi and Defensive Qi come from the Huangdi's Internal Classic,which are born from water and grain in the stomach.The Nutritive Qi and Defensive Qi take "barracks" and "garrison" as the source domains respectively.The Nutritive Qi and the Defensive Qi are reconciled by deficiency-nourishing drugs and diaphoretics in ancients.In addition,the concept of Pectoral Qi stems from the Huangdi's Internal Classic,its source domain is "clan".Regulating the spleen and stomach is regarded by doctors in past dynasties as the foundation of adjusting and reinforcing the Pectoral Qi.In general,when the human body's Qi(the Primordial Qi,the Nutritive Qi,the Defensive Qi,and the Pectoral Qi),whether congenital or acquired,become asthenia,nourishing the spleen and stomach is seen as the main treatment measure.This may link strongly to the TCM thought emphasizing the spleen and stomach,which says "Earth can produce everything".