天津英語翻譯交流-中醫之精、氣、神

練武術的人常說：“內練精氣神，外練筋骨皮”。在中國傳統文化里，對于精、氣、神的修煉遠遠要比對于筋骨皮的修煉高明得多，也難得多。在中醫里，精、氣、神的概念也是非常重要而又復雜的。

People who practice martial arts always say, “Practice the inner essence, qi and spirit, and practice the outer sinew, bone and skin.” In traditional Chinese culture, the practice of essence, qi and spirit is far more brilliant abut also way too difficult than the practice of sinew, bone and skin. While in traditional Chinese medicine, the concepts of essence, qi and spirit are also very important as well as complicated.

氣是構成萬物的最基本物質。中醫里“氣”字用得很廣泛，有元氣、正氣、邪氣、營氣、衛氣、臟腑之氣、經絡之氣……人體的氣有三個來源：來源于父母的先天之氣，也就是貯藏在腎中的精氣；來源于脾胃的水谷之氣，也就是后天攝入的營養；來源于天地的呼吸之氣，也就是肺吸入的氧氣。這些氣組成了人體的氣，并且不斷運動變化，中醫把氣的運動稱為“氣機”。氣在不同的臟腑，表現出不同的功能。氣流布全身各處，走到臟腑就叫“臟腑之氣”，至血脈內外則稱“營衛之氣”。氣的“升降出入”運動失常，稱為“氣機不調”。

Qi is the most essential substance that constitutes all things on earth. The word “qi’ is widely used in the traditional Chinese medicine. There is source qi, healthy qi, evil qi, nutritive qi, defense qi, organ qi, channel qi…… There are three sources of qi of human body: the prenatal qi acquired from parents, that is the essential qi stored in the kidney; the grain and water qi coming from the spleen and stomach, that is the qi transformed from the nutrients taken; and the breathing qi from the heaven and earth, that is the qi transformed from the fresh air inhaled in the lung. These qis form the qi of human body and are in constant motion and variation. The motion of qi is called “functioning of qi” in traditional Chinese medicine. Qi performs different functions in different viscera. It flows everywhere in the body: when it flows into viscera, it is called “organ qi”; when it flows inside and outside of the blood vessel, it is called “nutritive and defense qi”; when it flows to the channels, it is called “channel qi”. The disorder of the “upbearing, downbearing, inward and outward movement” of qi is called”misfunctioning of qi”

氣聚而成形則稱之為“精”，類似于現在所說的物質。而“神”則代表了人的精神、思維、意識活動，這種活動也是氣的運動變化的結果。換句話說，精和神都是氣的表現形式，只不過一個有形，一個無形。

When qi gathers and takes shape, it forms into “essence”, which is similar to the substance we say now. The “spirit” represents people’s spirit, vitality and mental activities, and these activities are also the results of qi’s motion and variation. In other words, both essence and spirit are manifestations of qi; only that one has form and the other is formless.

中醫常說養氣，練氣，就是通過一些具體的方法，調整身體里的氣的運動，從而達到陰陽調和，精充神旺的目的。

Nourishing and practicing qi, which is often mentioned in TCM, means to adjust the qi’s motion in the body through some specific ways, so as to achieve the yin-yang harmony and a vigorous spirit.