The 10 Lunar Months of Gestation
The Tai Chan Shu, buried in Mawangdui in 168 BC, is the oldest known version of a text on obstetrics which was later used by many physicians, and quoted by the likes of Wang Shuhe, Zhang Zhong Jing, and Sun Simiao.
The book describes in detail the 10 lunar months of human gestation. For each month, it describes the tendencies affecting the child's becoming into Form: the meridians at work, the elements which influence incarnation, the types of tissues being developed. It also gives recommendations of lifestyle and foods, and therapeutic flavors, which are invaluable in crafting formulae that are in harmony with the developmental phases of pregnancy. The text attaches particular importance to the relationship between the mother and the baby's physiologies, making it the earliest extent book of fetal-maternal medicine.
Truly, in prescribing formulae for pregnant women, we must consider the entirety of the Mother~Baby dyad and match its physiological state to the ideal progression described along the 10 lunar months.
The Tai Chan Shu, buried in Mawangdui in 168 BC, is the oldest known version of a text on obstetrics which was later used by many physicians, and quoted by the likes of Wang Shuhe, Zhang Zhong Jing, and Sun Simiao.
The book describes in detail the 10 lunar months of human gestation. For each month, it describes the tendencies affecting the child's becoming into Form: the meridians at work, the elements which influence incarnation, the types of tissues being developed. It also gives recommendations of lifestyle and foods, and therapeutic flavors, which are invaluable in crafting formulae that are in harmony with the developmental phases of pregnancy. The text attaches particular importance to the relationship between the mother and the baby's physiologies, making it the earliest extent book of fetal-maternal medicine.
Truly, in prescribing formulae for pregnant women, we must consider the entirety of the Mother~Baby dyad and match its physiological state to the ideal progression described along the 10 lunar months.
Tang Ye Jing Fa - Canonical methods of decoctions
The principles evident through the reading of the Tai Chan Shu are the same as that of the wu yun liu qi of the Nei Jing, and the liu jing/ 6 conformations of the Shang Han Za Bing Lun. As part of the same era of classical thought, these books can be used cohesively to inform our work in the crafting of formulae. In all the above texts and in many others of the same era, as well as in later works within the same philological lineage, such as the writings of Tao Hongjing or even much later Zheng Qinan, the founder of the Fire Spirit School, we find an attention to the rhythms of nature and the therapeutic actions of the flavors, which serve as agents to place the patient back into proper cosmic timing, proper harmony with the cosmos.
Thus we can read Zhang Zhong Jing's works through the lens of Su Wen 22, which explains the ways flavors can either supplement or slow down organs so as to have them function harmoniously along the seasonal, circadian or physiological rhythms of life, large and small: as small as the expansion and contraction of the lungs or the heart, or the wakefulness and sleep of one day, or as big as the seasons of the year or even of a lifetime.
This style of herbalism shares its proclivity for the importance of change through time with the Tai Chan Shu. As the 10 lunar months of gestation describe a full cycle of life, with constant transformation, resulting in the ability of the baby to become physiologically independent from the mother, understanding the directional movements of the herbs in a cyclical, nature-based fashion marries the two systems seamlessly. The flavors of the herbs can be used to help bring mother and baby into proper timing, which is to say proper physiology at the proper time... which is to say health.
The principles evident through the reading of the Tai Chan Shu are the same as that of the wu yun liu qi of the Nei Jing, and the liu jing/ 6 conformations of the Shang Han Za Bing Lun. As part of the same era of classical thought, these books can be used cohesively to inform our work in the crafting of formulae. In all the above texts and in many others of the same era, as well as in later works within the same philological lineage, such as the writings of Tao Hongjing or even much later Zheng Qinan, the founder of the Fire Spirit School, we find an attention to the rhythms of nature and the therapeutic actions of the flavors, which serve as agents to place the patient back into proper cosmic timing, proper harmony with the cosmos.
Thus we can read Zhang Zhong Jing's works through the lens of Su Wen 22, which explains the ways flavors can either supplement or slow down organs so as to have them function harmoniously along the seasonal, circadian or physiological rhythms of life, large and small: as small as the expansion and contraction of the lungs or the heart, or the wakefulness and sleep of one day, or as big as the seasons of the year or even of a lifetime.
This style of herbalism shares its proclivity for the importance of change through time with the Tai Chan Shu. As the 10 lunar months of gestation describe a full cycle of life, with constant transformation, resulting in the ability of the baby to become physiologically independent from the mother, understanding the directional movements of the herbs in a cyclical, nature-based fashion marries the two systems seamlessly. The flavors of the herbs can be used to help bring mother and baby into proper timing, which is to say proper physiology at the proper time... which is to say health.
Geneviève Le Goff
Geneviève Le Goff has spent most of her life studying the Chinese classics, and obstetrics. These two passions merged early on. Geneviève was lucky to study and apprentice with various teachers of the Fire Spirit School, some heavily rooted in the tradition of the Shang Han Za Bing Lun, and has applied this knowledge to specializing in obstetrics, working in partnership with local midwives.
In this line of formulae, reflecting her own practice, Geneviève Le Goff has exclusively used classical formulae modified with the classical principles of tang ye jing fa. Although it's always best to make one's own formula for each patient, this is a repository of recipes that she has found to be both recurrent and invaluable in the treatment of pregnant and postpartum women.
The herbal methods used are gentle enough to be extremely safe, often employing, as did the sage Yi Yin in the Shang dynasty, simple kitchen herbs; but combined with great care and the insight of the Classics, they yield great efficacy.
Like a circle, we hope that they will shine with simplicity and the brightness of benevolence!
May all Mothers and Babies be Well!
Geneviève Le Goff has spent most of her life studying the Chinese classics, and obstetrics. These two passions merged early on. Geneviève was lucky to study and apprentice with various teachers of the Fire Spirit School, some heavily rooted in the tradition of the Shang Han Za Bing Lun, and has applied this knowledge to specializing in obstetrics, working in partnership with local midwives.
In this line of formulae, reflecting her own practice, Geneviève Le Goff has exclusively used classical formulae modified with the classical principles of tang ye jing fa. Although it's always best to make one's own formula for each patient, this is a repository of recipes that she has found to be both recurrent and invaluable in the treatment of pregnant and postpartum women.
The herbal methods used are gentle enough to be extremely safe, often employing, as did the sage Yi Yin in the Shang dynasty, simple kitchen herbs; but combined with great care and the insight of the Classics, they yield great efficacy.
Like a circle, we hope that they will shine with simplicity and the brightness of benevolence!
May all Mothers and Babies be Well!
