DONGUIBOGAM; Internal Bodily Elements-07. Dream

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Written By Jun Heo(許浚, 1539~1615), Translated by Namil Kim, Wung Seok Cha et al., Published by Ministry of Health & Welfare (Korea)


01 The Ethereal Soul and Corporeal Soul Become Dreams 魂魄爲夢 혼백이 꿈이 된다

① All dreams are produced by the ethereal soul and it is the corporeal soul that acts over matter. Moreover, when the body comes in contract with matter, it causes events to take place; when spirit meets matter, it causes dreams.

② True men in the old times did not dream when they slept. If one does not dream in one’s sleep, it is because one’s spirits is intact.

③ If the heart is in excess, the patient dreams of anxious, surprising, or strange things. If the heart is deficient, the patient’s ethereal and corporal souls roam around and the dreams are troubled. Use Seperation Powder or Augment Qi and Calm Spirit Decoction.

④ When pathogenic qi enters and the ethereal and corporal souls become anxious, it is because there is a blood qi deficiency. A deficiency of blood qi is related to the heart. If the heart qi is deficient, the patient has a lot of fear, only wants to close one’s eyes, and go to sleep, dreams of going somewhere far away, and the essence-spirit is dispersed and the ethereal and corporeal souls wander out of control. When yin qi is deficient, it causes epilepsy; when yang qi is deficient, it causes manic psychosis.

  • Seperation Powder 別離散 별리산: It treats cases when a man meets a woman in his dreams and a woman meets a man in her dreams, a symptom caused by heart wind. Clear the pathogenic qi with this medicine and it stops the patient from meeting the other gender in his/her dreams again. That is why this medicine is called ‘byeolri (別離, the meaning of separation)’. 1 nyang of Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba (白朮), 3 don of Aconiti Singularis Radix seu Folium (天雄), Aconiti Lateralis Radix Preparata (附子), Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus (肉桂), Zingiberis Rhizoma (乾薑) and Rubiae Radix (茜根) each, 5 don of Skimmiae Folium (茵芋葉) and Loranthi Ramulus (桑寄生) each, and 2 don of Asiasari Radix et Rhizoma (細辛) and Acori Gramineri Rhizoma (菖蒲) each. Grind these drugs into powder, add 2 don of the powder in boiled water and drink on an empty stomach. If the patient has a fever, remove Aconiti Singularis Radix seu Folium (天雄), Aconiti Lateralis Radix Preparata (附子), Zingiberis Rhizoma (乾薑) and Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus (肉桂) and add 3 don of Anemarrhenae Rhizoma (知母) and Phellodendri Cortex (黃柏) each, and 5 don of Angelica Gigantis Radix (當歸), and Rehmanniae Radix Crudus (Terra) (地黃) each.
  • Augment Qi and Calm Spirit Decoction 益氣安神湯 익기안신탕: It treats cases when a patient dreams a lot during sleep, experiences discomfort while sleeping with ecstasy, and fright palpitations due to a heart deficiency caused by the seven emotions and six excesses. 1 don of Angelica Gigantis Radix (當歸) and Hoelen cum Radix (茯神) each, 8 pun of Rehmanniae Radix Crudus (生地黃), Liriopis Tuber (麥門冬), Zizyphi Semen (stir-baked) (酸棗仁), Polygalae Radix (遠志), Ginseng Radix (人蔘), Astragali Radix (moistened in honey then stir-baked) (黃芪), Bovis Fel Preparata Arisaematis Rhizoma (牛膽南星) and Phyllostachys Folium (竹葉) each, and 4 pun of Polygalae Folium (小草) and Coptidis Rhizoma (黃連) each. Mince these drugs to make 1 package, and decoct in water with 3 peices of Zingiberis Rhizoma Crudus (生薑), and 2 units of Zizyphi Fructus (大棗).


02 Evil Pathogens Cause Dreams 淫邪發夢 음사가 꿈을 꾸게 한다

① Huangdi (黃帝) asked, “If there is excessive pathogenic qi, how does it flow?” Qibo (岐伯) answered, “When healthy and pathogenic qi enter, they do not have a place to stay therefore they flow into the five viscera. Then they wander with nutrient and defense qi, a vagabond with ethereal and corporeal qi; therefore, the patient cannot sleep even if when lying down and also dreams frequently. Therefore, when yin qi is exuberant, the patient dreams of experiencing fright as one crosses over a large body of water; when yang qi is exuberant, the patient dreams of a big fire; when both yin and yang qi are exuberant, the patient dreams of killing oneself. When the upper body is exuberant, the patient dreams of flying around; when the lower body is exuberant, the patient dreams of falling. When the patient suffers from starvation, one dreams of bringing something; whereas when the patient overeats, one dreams of giving something to others. When liver qi is exuberant, the patient dreams of getting angry; when lung qi is exuberant, the patient dreams of lamenting; when heart qi is exuberant, the patient dreams of laughing and being afraid; when spleen qi is exuberant, the patient dreams of singing and not being able to move because of one’s weight; when kidney qi is exuberant, the patient dreams of one’s lumbar breaking off into two and not being able to connect it back.”

② Moreover, “If reverting qi enters the heart, the patient dreams of hills and mountains on fire; if it enters the lungs, one dreams of flying or seeing strange metal; if it enters the liver, one dreams of forests and trees; if it enters the spleen, one dreams of hills, big ponds, collapsed houses, and storms; if it enters the kidneys, one dreams of going to a pond or falling into a river. If it enters the bladder, one dreams of wandering around; if it enters the stomach, one dreams of food; if it enters the large intestine, one dreams of fields and farms; if it enters the small intestine, one dreams of populated villages and roads; if it enters the gallbladder, one dreams of initiating litigation or injuring oneself. If it enters the genitals, one dreams of having sexual intercourse; if it enters the neck, one dreams of being beheaded; if it enters the shins, one dreams of not walking or running in place or sleeping in a tunnel; if it enters the thighs and forearms, one dreams of bowing politely; if it enters the bladder and rectum, one dreams of going to the restroom.”

③ When a woman dreamed of having sexual intercourse with a ghost, she was very scared. She also dreamed of shrines, the angel of death, boats, paddles, and bridges. Fifteen years had passed. She had become sterile and had tried to cure it in every way but was unsuccessful. Dairen (戴人) said, “This is because yang-Fire is exuberant in the upper body and yin-Water is exuberant in the lower part. Ghosts are divine forms of yin, shrines are places of yin, and the boat, paddle, and bridge are related to Water. If the chun pulses of both hands are sunken and hidden, this is because there is excessive phlegm in the chest” and he made her vomit 3 times, purge 3 times, and perspire 3 times. She did not dream again in less than 10 days passed and became pregnant a month later.

03 Deficiency and Excess of the Five Viscera Become Dreams 五藏虛實爲夢 오장의 허실이 꿈이 된다

If liver qi is deficient, the patient dreams of mushrooms or fresh herbs; if it is excessive, one dreams of lying face down under a tree and daring not stand up. If heart qi is deficient, the patient dreams of extinguishing a fire or seeing objects with yang characteristics; if it is excessive, one dreams of flames blazing up. If spleen qi is deficient, the patient dreams of shortage of
food; if it is excessive, one dreams of building a wall or a roof. If lung qi is deficient, the patient dreams of seeing white things or people bleeding from wounds; if it is excessive, one dreams of war. If kidney qi is deficient, the patient dreams of sinking ships and drowning people; if it is excessive, one dreams of experiencing fear while drowning.

04 People Fall Asleep and Wake up Due to the Movement of Yang Qi 陽氣之出入爲窹寐 양기의 출입에 따라 잠들고 깨어난다

① In the Divine Pivot (靈樞), it is said, “If defense qi circulates the yang aspect during the daytime, the eyes are opened and people wake up; if it circulates the yin aspect during the night time, the eyes are closed and people fall asleep.”

② Zheng Kangcheng (鄭康成) said, “Breathing through the mouth and nose is driven by the ethereal soul; seeing and hearing
through the ears and eyes is driven by the corporeal soul. If we compare the ears and eyes with the mouth and nose, the mouth and nose can be classified as yang and ears and eyes as yin. If we compare the ears, eyes, mouth, and nose with the viscera and bowels, the ears, eyes, mouth, and nose can be classified as yang, the viscera and bowels as yin. Therefore, if yang qi circulates 25 times in the yang aspect in the exterior of the body, the ears, eyes, mouth, and nose all receive yang qi and are able to perceive, see, hear, move, and wake. If yang qi circulates 25 times in the yin aspect inside the viscera and bowels, the ears, eyes, mouth and nose cannot receive yang qi and are not able to perceive so they fall asleep.” How can one say seeing and hearing is not a phenomenon driven by yang qi?

05 Being Confused and Sleeping a Lot 昏沈多睡 정신이 몽롱하고 잠을 많이 자는 것

① In the Divine Pivot (靈樞), it is said, “There is an area where the bladder meridian passes through the nape and enters the brain. This area is connected to the root of the eye, so it is called Angye (眼系, optic system), and it is situated in the middle of the nape between the two sinews. The bladder meridian enters the brain and splits into the yin heel vessel and the yang heel
vessel. Yin and yang cross over, yang enters yin, yin comes out from yang, and yin and yang are joined at the outer canthus [inner canthus is also correct]. If yang qi is exuberant, the eyes are opened; if yin qi is exuberant, the eyes are closed.”

② When defense qi cannot enter the yin aspect, it always stays in the yang aspect. If it stays in the yang aspect, yang qi is
abundant. If yang qi is abundant, the yang heel vessel becomes excessively full and cannot enter the yin aspect, so the eyes cannot be closed. Moreover, if defense qi stays in the yin aspect and cannot circulate the yang aspect, yin qi becomes exuberant. When this happens, the yin heel vessel is full and cannot enter the yang aspect. Therefore, the eyes are closed.

③ Being sleepy, confused, and having eyes closed occurs when the pathogenic qi of Cold Damage enters yin because yin controls all the closings. Staying still and quiet occurs because yin supervises all the tranquility. You do not have to use medicine when the patient sleeps a lot even as the greater yang syndrome is released. When heat hides inside and the patient sleeps a lot during yang brightness syndrome, use a Minor Bupleurum Decoction. [The prescription is mentioned in the chapter on Cold]. During the lesser yin syndrome, the pulse is faint and fine, and the patient only wants to sleep. When the patient wakes up, defense qi runs in the yang aspect, and when he/she sleeps, defense qi runs in the yin aspect. It always starts in the kidney meridian: that is why the patient only wants to sleep when diagnosed with lesser yin syndrome. Use a Poria, Four Counterflows Decoction [the prescription is mentioned in the chapter on Cold] in order to tonify yin and recover yang. After sweating caused by heat, if the patient’s pulse is sunken and fine, and the patient’s body is cold, prefers to lie down, and is confused and unconscious, use immediately a Four Counterflows Decoction in order to warm the patient’s limbs. If not, the patient could fall into a deep sleep and die. Having a sound sleep after perspiration or purgation means that healthy qi is recovered, so you do not have to use medicine.

④ In the case of wind-warmth, one sleeps a lot. Also, in the case of fox-creeper disease, one sleeps a lot. [All of these are mentioned in the main text].