Summer Has Come
This summer's weather is a little strange. People used to say "in February and August, all sorts of clothes" — that is, in March/April and September/October, in spring and autumn, the weather varies and clothing varies in thickness with it. Now we are in summer; the June First holiday is at hand; yet across Beijing the variety in clothing is still wide — fresh short sleeves, flowing dresses, heavy long sleeves; the frail still need a jacket, vest, or sweater-vest.
Cool morning and evening, hot at midday; cool after rain, dry after wind — that is this summer's character. By the Huangdi Neijing's reckoning, this summer is "the heavenly government's order: cool then prevails; dry-and-hot meet; dryness at its peak yields moisture; the people fall ill of cold-and-hot." That is: in the first half of this year, before the end of July, the year's ruling-Heaven qi (the heavenly government) — yangming dry-metal — is in charge. Yangming dry-metal is autumn's qi — cool and dry. So this summer takes on autumn's character: not hot but cool, alternating cool-and-hot, dryness-and-rain in interplay, sudden cold and hot. On a morning walk, with the cool breeze and the rustle of leaves, one feels autumn-air.
Summer is here, but lately at the clinic we are seeing colds again — fever with diarrhea, mostly in children and the young. Flu virus mutation may play a part, but a not-to-be-ignored cause is people — especially the young — not adjusting to the weather. As the saying goes, "without inner thieves, no outer ghost can come"; TCM says, "with right qi held within, evil cannot encroach." In summer, qi-and-blood fill out toward the surface — like summer plants, lush leaves and many flowers, nutrient fully called to outer flourish — so the inside is "empty in soldiers", and viruses can find an opening. If clothing is not adjusted with the weather, a chill catches, and fever-and-diarrhea follows.
Summer is here, and people often crave coolness. With improved life today, air-conditioner and refrigerator are in every home. Excessive AC use and cold foods suppress the body's accumulated heat's natural release. Once we sweated naturally to regulate heat-cold and to vent inner waste — now self-regulation is suppressed by abnormal environment, off-rule. With weather unseasonable and viruses mutating, many healthy people thus turn susceptible.
Summer is here. This year mind clothing adjustment in good time and diet in measure — the young should; the old must not skip it. Summer is the fire-hot season of the year; the heart-qi is most easily injured. In the four-seasons yangsheng: spring is wood, regulate liver-qi; summer is fire, protect heart-qi; autumn is metal, guard lung-qi; winter is water, nourish kidney-qi. Especially for the elderly with heart disease, heart-qi runs weak in summer — avoid chill; avoid over-cold and over-eating; beyond morning-and-evening walks in cool air, take some Shengmai Yin (renshen, maidong, wuweizi) as appropriate.
The Neijing: "The yin-yang of the four seasons is the root of the ten thousand things. Therefore the Sage nourishes the yang in spring and summer, nourishes the yin in autumn and winter, follows the root; therefore with the ten thousand things he sinks and floats at the gate of life-and-growth. To go against the root is to cut the root, to ruin the true. Therefore the yin-yang of the four seasons is the end-and-beginning of the ten thousand things, the root of life-and-death. To go against it brings disaster; to follow it, no severe illness arises — this is called attaining the Way." Human and Nature are tightly bound; no one we have ever seen lifted himself off the Earth by his own hair. So one can only accord with Nature — the great Way of yangsheng* and keeping clear of severe illness.
Summer is here. Every summer shares the same features and brings its own unique changes. People love summer's lush green; they must also accept summer's fire. They know summer's usual; they should know the year's unusual. So facing summer in this way — summer brings us health and joy.