The Fundamental Substances: Essence

The Fundamental Substances: Essence
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Kuo-Pin Wu
1/8/2023
Updated:
3/24/2023

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is built on a foundation of more than 2,500 years of Chinese medical practice. TCM is a holistic practice that aims to treat the body as a whole, rather than alleviate specific symptoms of illness.

Within traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), there is frequent discussion of a substance called “essence.”

According to TCM, “essence, qi, blood, and body fluid” are the four basic substances that make up the human body and maintain its vitality. The viscera, meridians, internal organs, and other tissues of the human body are composed of these four basic components and rely on the nourishment of essence, qi, blood, and body fluid to conduct normal physiological activities.

The Basic Concept of Essence

In TCM, “essence” means focus and subtlety, and refers to all the subtle substances that comprise the basic components of the body.

Essence can have various names and imply different things according to its various sources, distribution, and functions. Most encountered are:

Congenital Essence: Inherited and derived from the parent’s prenatal. It is innate in nature and is the most primitive substance that constitutes the embryo and from there the origin of life.
Reproductive Essence: is stored in the kidneys and comes from the kidney essence. It is transformed from the congenital essence and with the help of the acquired essence, performs the function of reproducing the next generation’s offspring. The male and female reproduction essence comes together to form an embryo as a product of reproduction.
Water and Grain Essence: is also known as “acquired essence.” and is formed after absorption by the spleen and stomach and other viscera through the metabolism of water and grain after birth. It is an important essence to maintain all human life activities.
Viscera and Internal Organs Essence: is the essence stored in the five viscera and six internal organs. The functional activities of all visceral and internal organs need not only to be stimulated and promoted by the innate essence but to be nourished by the acquired essence. Therefore, the essence of viscera and internal organs contains both congenital, as well as acquired essence. Essence derived from these two primitives is needed to maintain the functional activities of the five visceral and six internal organs.

Generation of Essence

The source of essence can be divided into congenital (innate) essence and acquired essence.

The innate essence is endowed by the parents, derived when the reproductive essence of the parents is combined into one. When the preliminary embryo is formed, the pre-natal essence is transformed to become the primary essence of the embryo (the next generation). The fetus, while still inside the amniotic sac during pre-natal development phases, is dependent entirely on its mother’s energy and blood for nourishment. Therefore, the innate essence also includes the nutrients that the fetus received from its mother.

Acquired essence comes from water and grain. After birth, the spleen and stomach work in unison to transport and absorb the subtlety of water and grain and distribute it to the five viscera and six internal organs to become the essence of them and maintain their physiological activities. Those of the best quality are stored in the kidneys to keep the essence in the kidneys full.

In other words, the source of the essence of the human body starts with the innate essence, which is continuously nourished after birth by the acquired essence. This combination of the essence of the past and present work in harmony, enhancing and assisting each other to maintain the full capacity of essence within the body at all times.

The General Function of Essence

Reproduction: “Reproductive essence” is the most primitive substance of life, which has the function of reproducing offspring.
Growth and Development: Essence is the material basis for human growth and development.
Marrow Production for Making Blood: Kidneys store essence, which in turn produces marrow. The marrow is further subdivided into the brain, spinal cord, and bone marrows, all of which are based on kidney essence. Essence is the main substance that makes blood, and it is done by transforming water and grain essence into blood, and by the transformation of kidney essence (generating marrow) into blood. When the essence is full, there will be sufficient blood supply.
Humidification: Essence has the effect of moistening and nourishing all the viscera and internal organs, as well as other tissues within the human body.
Kuo-pin Wu is the superintendent of Taiwan Xinyitang Heart Clinic. In 2008, he started to study traditional Chinese medicine and obtained a bachelor’s degree from China Medical University in Taiwan.
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