Wondering what “Jing” is in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)? It’s one of the “3 treasures” and your overall health largely depends on preserving it. Here’s how….
You’re probably familiar with the western concept of body, mind, and spirit. The TCM equivalent of this trio is called The 3 Treasures. The 3 Treasures are the esoteric substances that nurture the organ systems and keep the mind, body, and spirit in balance.
Qi, one of the 3 Treasures, is the life force that supplies the body with energy. The second treasure is “Shen”, which is loosely means “spirit”. The third treasure is “Jing”.
What is Jing in TCM
Jing has no exact English translation, although many people attempt to define it as “essence.” In a way, “essence” is an accurate description. Jing is indeed what makes you, you. Even before you’re born, it determines your physical and energetic attributes. You inherit this treasure from your parents.
Everybody has a set amount of Jing at birth. A healthy newborn has a lifetime of it accrued in an energy savings account. Your essence enters your body and like a network of tree roots, it anchors all the energy you’ll expend in your lifetime.
So why should you care about Jing if there’s nothing you can do about the essence you’ve inherited? Why should you care about it if you’re born with a predetermined amount of it?
Over the course of your life, if you live a life of moderation, you’ll likely keep a good chunk of it stored in your energy savings account. But if you take out too many withdrawals, your ‘financial essence future’ might not be so bright.
Pre-Heaven Essence
Conception is a blending of the sexual energies of a man and women to form what the ancient Chinese called the “pre-Heaven Essence” of the newly conceived human being. This essence nourishes the embryo and fetus during pregnancy and is also dependent on nourishment derived from the mothers Kidneys. The pre-Heaven Essence is the only kind of essence present in the fetus, as it does not have independent physiological activity. This Pre-Heaven Essence is what determines each persons basic constitutional make-up, strength and vitality. It is what each individual unique.
Since it is inherited from the parents at conception, the Pre-Heaven Essence can be influenced only with difficulty in the course of adult life. Some say this Essence is “fixed” in quantity and quality. However, it can be positively affected, even if not quantitatively increased.
The best way to affect positively ones Pre-Heaven Essence is by striving for balance in one’s life activities: balance between work and rest, restraint in sexual activity and balanced diet. Any irregular or excess in these spheres is bound to diminish the Pre-Heaven Essence. A direct way to positively influence one’s Essence is through breathing exercises and such exercises such as Tai Ji Quan and Qi Gong.
Post-Heaven Essence
This is the essence which is refined and extracted from food and fluids by the Stomach and Spleen after birth. After birth, the baby starts eating, drinking and breathing, its Lungs, Stomach and Spleen start functioning to produce Qi from food, drink and air.
The complex of essence refined and extracted from the food are collectively known as “Post-Heaven Essence”. Because the Stomach and Spleen are responsible for the digestion of food essence ultimately leading to the production of Qi, the Post-Heaven Essence is closely related to Stomach and Spleen.
The Post-Heaven Essence is therefore not a specific type of essence, but simply a general term to indicate the essences produced by the Stomach and Spleen after birth, as opposed to Pre-Heaven Essence which is formed before birth.
The Essence
The functions of Essence are as follows:
1) Growth, reproduction and development
Essence is the organic substance which forms the basis for growth, reproduction and development. It controls the growth of bones in children, teeth, hair, normal brain development and sexual maturation. After puberty, it controls the reproduction function and fertility. It forms the basis for successful conception and pregnancy. The natural decline of the Essence during our lifetime, leads to the natural decline of sexual energy and fertility.
2) The Essence as basis of Kidney-Qi
There is a close interaction among the various aspects of Kidney energy, i.e Kidney-Essence, Kidney-Yin, Kidney-Yang and Kidney-Qi. Essence is fluid-like and naturally belongs to Yin; it can therefore be considered as an aspect of Kidney-Yin. In addition, it provides the material basis for Kidney- Yin to produce Kidney-Qi by the heating action of Kidney-Yang. In other words, the Kidneys can be compared to a large cauldron full of water. The fire under the cauldron is provided by Kidney-Yang and the Gate of Vitality, the water inside the cauldron corresponds to the Kidney-Essence, and the resulting steam (i.e. Qi), corresponds to Kidney-Qi. Thus, Kidney-Essence is necessary for the transformation of Kidney-Yin into Kidney-Qi through the warming action of Kidney-Yang.
3) The Essence Produces Marrow
The concept of Marrow in Chinese Medicine is different from that in Western Medicine, and does not correspond to bone marrow. The Essence produces Marrow, which, in turn, produces bone marrow and fills the spinal cord and the brain. Thus, “Marrow” is a substance which is the common matrix of the bone marrow, brain and spinal cord: it has no equivalent in Western Medicine.
If the Kidney-Essence is weak, the brain may lack concentration and memory and suffer from dizziness and a feeling of emptiness of the head.
4) The Essence as The Basis of Constitutional Strength|
Finally, the Essence determines our basic constitutional strength and resistance to exterior pathogenic factors. although the Defensive Qi is mostly responsible for protection from exterior pathogenic factors, it also draws its strength and has its root in the Kidney-Essence. Thus the Kidney-Essence also plays a fundamental role in the protection against exterior pathogenic factors.
From these four main functions of the Essence, one may deduce the kind of problems that may derive from a deficiency of Essence.
Top 5 Things That Drain Your Jing
Here are a few ways that your essence can leak from the body:
- Excessive sexual ejaculation
- Lack of sleep and staying up late
- Anger
- Chronic stress
- Drugs and alcohol abuse
Signs That Your Jing is Leaking Excessively
Here are some tell-tale signs that your Jing is draining precipitously:
- Accelerated aging (looking older than your real age)
- Looking and feeling tired all day
- Habitual trouble focusing
- Loss of hair
- Loss of purpose
If you waste your essence, in theory, your health can suffer because your immunity will be lowered, and will be more vulnerable to the so-called external pathogenic “6 Evils” such as Wind and Cold (or Wind-Cold). Healthy people who maintain their essence, generally speaking, are able to fight off more effectively colds, flus, and allergies.
How Can You Increase Your Jing?
So it is disheartening to think that your life essence is consumed virtually every day. Isn’t it? The good news is there are ways you can preserve or even replenish your Jing. You can prevent your inherited Jing bank account from being drained by eating nutritious foods. Some foods that are especially beneficial for supporting Jing include eggs (both poultry and roe, aka fish eggs), organ meats, bone broth, bee pollen, kidney beans, sea vegetables, royal jelly, black rice, and seeds.
Some Chinese herbs, according to TCM theory can actually replenish Jing. You’re probably familiar with at least a couple of these Jing-regenerating herbs such as goji berry and mulberry. There’s also the legendary anti-aging herb, he shou wu as well as shan yao. Here are some other ways to preserve or replenish your Jing:
- Refrain from frequent masturbation and sexual intercourse
- Practice Qi-building therapeutic modalities such as Tai Chi, Qigong
- Meditation
- Acupuncture
Jing, Qi and Shen Working Harmoniously
Jing is the densest, physical matter within the body. Similarly to DNA, it determines our constitution. In fact, according to TCM theory, it nourishes, fuels, and cools the body. When our lifestyles are moderate and we’re eating well, getting enough sleep and managing stress, we support our Qi.
When we contain Jing and don’t let it leak, we possess abundant Qi. Moreover, we feel energetic and vivacious. And when both Jing and Qi are vital, according to TCM logic, our spirit (shen) will also be high.