Four-constitutional
cheap viagra as Korean traditional Medicine's special subject
-Special time with professor Lee part 1.
We can say that one of the main character of Korean traditional
cheap cialis is Four-constitutional
Medicine. These days, many people are concerned about Four-constitutional Medicine but they
don't know what Four-constitutional Medicine exactly. What makes Four-constitutional
Medicine placed in special position of Korean traditional Medicine? what contents are there in
Four-constitutional Medicine? what is the significance of existence of Four-constitutional
Medicine in Korean traditional Medicine? There are so many questions about Four-
constitutional Medicine. therefore, we had a special time with professor Lee who works for
Kyunghee Oriental Hospital.
Jun Hyoung : People say that Four-constitutional Medicine is different from existing Oriental Medicine. I heard that in contrast with existing Oriental Medicine that is mainly based on Taoism, Four-constitutional Medicine relies on Confucianism. What is prominent distinction between these two Medicines?Professor Lee : Existing Oriental Medicine is based on the Yin-Yang and Five phases theory that
are basic concepts of Taoism. Taoism describes human as beings who have to adapt themselves
to the nature, with the view that human-beings called Small Universe is parts of the nature,
Large Universe. Since Universe itself is Qi and human-beings are connected with Universe by
Qi, human-beings change themselves with their wholeness, following the order of change of
Universe. However, the perspective of Taoism put so much focus on the harmonization between
human-beings and nature that it could not reflect the autonomy of human-beings. Hence, it
could not explain various diseases caused by discords of human own, and between human and
society. That is, Taoism was no more able to elucidate diverse states that occur according to the
civilization of human society. Under this urge of the age, Four-constitutional Medicine appeared
as a concept overcoming Nature-focused theory. In Four-constitutional Medicine, we can figure
out that foci were moved from nature to human-beings, and materialism to spiritualism. Four-
constitutional Medicine puts human into center and concerns states they make. It was
Confucianism that was adequate for the human-oriented theory. In Four-constitutional
Medicine, Lee Je-Ma set the ethical doctrine of innate goodness as a background, and concerned
on the states that occured under the situation that postnatal factors blocked good nature of
human. In addition, in the Book of Changes, it says that the Great Absolute produces Yin and
Yang, Yin and Yang make Four-shape, Four-shape bears the Eight Trigrams for divination. it
consists of the structure of 'Great Absolute - Yin and Yang - Four-shape - the Eight Trigrams for
divination' and explains material phenomena with the Eight Trigrams for divination made by
Four-shape. Four-shape is just an intermediary and appears a little while at the process which
Great Absolute changes into he Eight Trigrams for divination. However, four constitutions in
Four-constitutional Medicine consist of the structure of 'Great Absolute - Yin and Yang - Four-
shape' and there is no branch after Four-shape. Four-shape becomes a substantial concept as 'Sa
Sim Sin Mul(äºå¿èº«ç©)'. 'Sa Sim Sin Mul(äºå¿èº«ç©)' is element of universe, controls birth and
change of all things and makes harmony by itself. Four-constitutional Medicine explains human
with the temper(æ§æ
) of Confucianism based on holism as 'Sa Sim Sin Mul(äºå¿èº«ç©)' instead of
yin-yang and five phases theory. To sum up, Four-constitutional Medicine, with the temper(æ§
æ
) of Confucianism based on holism as 'Sa Sim Sin Mul(äºå¿èº«ç©)' takes human-oriented
epistemology that regards human as beings with the ability of self-control that actively deal with
the nature.
Se Hyun : were there specific urges of the age or backgrouds that drived Lee Je-Ma to design this new Medicine?Professor Lee : When Lee Je-Ma lived, there were many changes in government and society in
Joseon dynasty such as the confusion of administration, the change of the status system, popular
uprisings, external aggressions and etc. So there were requirements to establish new order of
society at that time. Accordingly, many scholars became criticizing the consuming controversy
between ä¸»æ°£è« and 主çè« which are main doctrines in Sung Confucianism and new theory like
realism involving promotion of public welfare and contribution to the society which is progressive
Confucianism appeared. The society underwent drastic changes from the inflow of foreign
cultures and the birth of realism although there was a tendency called è¡æ£æ¥éª where people
sticked to their existing theory in way that only the existing thought, the doctrines of Chu-tzu(æ±
åå¸) is right but others like Catholicism are wrong. Those became the historical background of
philosophy in Joseon dynasty to make principals in Sung Confucianism concretize and actualize
by making them the practical logic. In detail, Lee(ç) which is the main doctrine in Sung
Confucianism is absolute good. Originally, Confucians had thought that Lee(ç) is equal to Sung
(æ§) saying 'æ§å½ç' but in 18-19 century, this thought was changed to the philosophy based on
Sim(å¿). In other words, the main concept in the doctrines of Wang Yang-ming(é½æå¸) is that
Sim(å¿) and Lee(ç) are the same saying 'å¿å½ç'. This change of thought was a result from the
current regarding Sim(å¿) as the most important thing in Sung Confucianism, not a result of
transferring Sung Confucianism to Wang Yang-ming(é½æå¸). Namely, Because Lee(ç)
considered as Sung(æ§) was an ideal concept in traditionally established Sung Confucianism, it
couldn't become a practical logic. Then, Appearance of Sim(å¿) made Sung Confucianism more
practical and concrete than Sung(æ§) in 'æ§å½ç' and Lee Je-Ma made use of this concept to
describe human body. in other words, he explained lung, spleen, liver, and kidney which are
more concrete objects with the absolute good which is abstract concept. Though Sung
Confucianism that is the main ideology in Joseon dynasty was degraded to the fight of the faction
by the historical view in japan, it had a slow development but continued to be modified in the
mainstream. what made this new theory appear at that times? First of all, If Joseon dynasty was
an ideal society, people had a happy life, but their life were miserable. also the nation incessantly
exposed to external aggressions. then most scholars were aware of serious problems in this
situation. Second, by explaining medicine with the concept of the absolute good in the established
metaphysical Confucianism the stronger practical will was expressed. This could represent much
to the history of philosophy. That means Lee Je-Ma, the scholar of Confucianism, stuck to the
specific and positive attitude through the practical means, medicine, in other to realize the aspect
of practice in the abstract Confucianism.
Yeu En : Four-constitutional Medicine has distinctive classifying system called four constitutions. What is the difference between Naegyeong's Ou-tae-in and four constitutions, and what meaning and significance does this difference infer? Four-constitutional Medicine uses the original classifying system, four constitutions to categorize people and clinically treat them. Can all people be actually categorized into four constitutions? Isn't it possible that there are other constitutions than the four? For example, might not some be half and half between lesser yin person and lesser yang person, or greater yang person and greater yin person?
Proffessor Lee : Yin Yang and Five phases theory, the rules of nature, is also applied to humans
uniformly, but uniform application can mean overlooking individual's characteristics. This might
work as a barrier in recognizing disease or treating. The endeavor to make up for the limits of
pattern identification-treatment method can be seen in Naegyeong's Ou-tae-in theory or é°é½äº
åäºäººè«, Jang Jung-Gyeong's Yin Yang constitution theory and such. Four-constitutional
Medicine can also be seen as a descendant of those previous attempts to complement the limits
of pattern-treatment medicine. Yet while the previous attempts were based on the traditionally
established theory of yin-yang and five phase, thus locking themselves in its limits, Four-
constitutional Medicine defined a new paradigm based on a new way of thinking and
philosophical background. It did something more than simply categorizing with constitutions
concept, which was what previous theories did. Among those previous theories, Ou-tae-in
classifies people with Five phases theory and uses only people's outward appearance as a tool for
explaining configuration and form of five phase. In other words, it explains people's external
appearances as compared to five phase, but there are no constructive visions other than that.
That is why the categorization of Ou-tae-in isn't called 'medicine'. It just categorizes people, and
doesn't contain medical information according to the constitutions such as physiology, pathology,
preventive medicine, and life preservation medicine. In comparison, Four-constitutional
Medicine categorizes people by the largeness and smallness of internal organs, specifically lung,
spleen, liver, and kidney. Based on that category it explains a person's physiology, pathology,
preventive medicine, and life preservation medicine.
I can say with conviction that a person has one constitution among the four, and it does not
change. In Four-constitutional Medicine, it has three principles about constitutions. First is that
the four constitutions do not change. Second is that we should not blend treatment materials for
the four constitutions. Thirdly, constitutions are based on the permanent factors. It is said "人ç¨
èç æå不å"(People are born with the four principles of organs, and each principle is different
from one another), and that "太å°é°é½ä¹èå±çé· é°é½ä¹è®åä¹, 天ç¨ä¹å·²å®, åºç¡å¯è«"(The
length and shortness of organs in Larger and Lesser yin and yang are variations of yinyang.
those are indisputable because they are already innately given by nature)
Also, Lee Je-ma asserted "太å°é°é½ä¹èå±çé· å不åä¸ æä¸å¤§å 天çä¹è®åä¹ è人èè¡äºº ä¸
åä¹ å¤ªå°é°é½ä¹çé·è®å ä¸åä¹ä¸ æåå... è人ä¹è åç«¯ä¹ è¡äººä¹è å端ä¹"(The The length
and shortness of organs in larger/lesser yin/yang persons can be differentiated into four, and the
four are not the same but they have one important similarity which is the variations of the laws
of nature. Saints and ordinary people have this in common. Based on this one sameness, the
larger and lesser yin and yang's long and short changes have four tendencies,.. The saints' organs
have four traces and ordinary people's organs also have four traces), saying that all people
belong in one of the category of four constitutions. That people are born with declinations of
organs such as larger lung-smaller liver and larger liver-smaller lung indicates the imperfection
of humans. Thus it can be said that people are born with innate strengths and weaknesses, and it
is the purpose of four constitutions medicine to know those strong and weak points in order to
strive for perfection. This is also why we say that given constitution is permanent for one's life.
Then, in actual lives when people change as they live, it is their symptoms that change, not the
constitution. Consequently, when we categorize people we must do so by the unchanging factors
and must treat diseases according to those.
In this article, we just talked about special characters of Four-constitutional Medicine, historical
demands for Four-constitutional Medicine and the classifying system called four constitutions.
Does this article make you know a little more about Four-constitutional Medicine? there are
more talks about Four-constitutional Medicine. To be continued.