Theoretical Study On "Qie" In Traditional Chinese Medicine

"Qie"(timidity)was defined as "full of fear" in ShuoWenJieZi.Its concept was verified and developed in traditional Chinese Medicine as time goes by.The concept of Qie,originated from "full of fear",naturally has a definition concerning emotion.Besides,the meaning of "weak" and "deficiency" are also mentioned in traditional Chinese Medicine.In addition,some ancient doctors used Qie as "fear of".Qie concerning emotion is different from "frightened","scared" or "palpitation".performing as full of fear.easy to be scared,and hesitating.When this kind of person is attacked by scared,frightened or other emotional factors,is also prone to palpitation.Essentially,it is a situation with the weakness of Spirit.When Qie means"weak"it could be the weak of Spirit,Qi or Physique.When Qie means "deficiency",it is related to the mechanism,such as deficiency of Qi and Blood,deficiency of constitution,deficiency of Zang and Fu and so on.When used as a verb,"Qie" is a substitute for "fear".This is the interuse of synonyms,not pertain to traditional Chinese Medicine by implication.The theory of Qie was sprouted in the Huangdi’s Classic on Medicine,and gained important development in the Song,Ming and Qing Dynasties.Qie is most closely related to Heart,Liver,Kidney and Gallbladder in Zang and Fu.The etiology of Qie includes the exogenous pathogenic wind,internal causes,and many factors involved in diet,physical fitness,birth,postpartum,disease,mistreatment,and so on.The pathogenesis of Qie is mainly deficiency,such as deficiency of Heart,deficiency of Gallbladder,deficiency of Lung,deficiency of Spleen and Stomach,deficiency of Liver,deficiency of Kidney,deficiency of constitution,deficiency of Qi and Blood,and so on.We also discussed the pathogenesis of "Qi goes up when Qie exist",which was put forward by ancient doctors.Qie is usually related to disease syndrome such as palpitation,insomnia,fatigue,impotence,and congenitally deficient syndrome.Diagnosis of Qie could be based on its concept,with reference of discussion on relative diagnostic method by ancient doctors.With the meaning of "weak" and "deficiency",corresponding treatment,medicine and prescription of nourishing were frequently used.As for the Qie concerning emotion,"Qie may be cured with weighty sedatives" was mentioned in the record of more than half of the medicine that claiming function of curing Qie.But in corresponding prescriptions,medicine that weighty was not so widely used.We pointed out that "Qie may be cured with weighty sedatives" should be explained as follows:weighty sedatives could calm the nerves and keep Spirit in the interior,so that Spirit could be strengthened,and would not easy to be disturbed by scare,and not easy to create the sense of fear.Besides,there are also the treatment method of calming Heart and strengthening Gallbladder for curing Qie,with a representative prescription Wendan Decoction.Some medicines having the functions of regulating Qi and Blood are also mentioned as medicines that could curing Qie,because qi-stagnancy and blood stasis sometimes would also exist in the syndrome with Qie,and the theory works in the representative prescription.We also did the statistical work,on the property,flavor and channel tropism of those medicines that could curing Qie.30 kinds of medicine were included in the statistics,which including 19 weighty sedatives,9 tonic medicine,and 2 kinds of medicine that regulating Qi and Blood.The principle of ’"Qie may be cured with weighty sedatives" and "treating deficiency with tonification" are well reflected.The properties of these drugs are mostly even,and the frequency of cold and warm property is basically equal.Flavor of sweet,spicy and salty are the top 3.As for channel tropism,channel of Liver,Heart,Lung,Spleen and Kidney are the top 5,just related to 5 Zang organs.It’s somehow beyond our expectations that Gallbladder is not in the top 5 list,which may related to the theory of "Deficiency of Liver would lead to timidity caused by Gallbladder".We used literature method,theoretical analysis method and statistical method,expounding the concept of Qie,combing the theoretical development in ancient books,combing the the theory of "Qie" in traditional Chinese Medicine from the aspects of its relevant Zang and Fu organs,etiology,pathogenesis,relevant disease and syndrome.diagnosis,treatment,medication,and representative prescription.We explained the concept of Qie as follows:a situation with the weakness of Spirit.performing as full of fear,easy to be scared,and hesitating;weak;deficiency.Furthermore,we explained the treatment principle of "Qie may be cured with weighty sedatives" with a new understanding.