As I was growing up as a child in Malaysia, my mother used to cook foods with the awareness of the climate. As Malaysia is just north of the equator, it experiences tropical climate all year long; daytime temperature highs often in the early 30s Celsius, nighttime lows of 24 degrees with over 80 percent humidity. My mother often cooked us drinks to cool us down and move dampness, like herbal sugarcane drink, mung and adzuki bean tea. We, the children of the family, also used to give mom leg massages, kneading the muscles of her legs in the evening. I recall one of my sisters, asking me as a child to walk on her back to stimulate the points too. Sometimes when we went outside to the park or playground, we would see an elderly person practicing Tai Ji Quan, moving very slowly. However, I did not get to experience acupuncture until I was in my 20s. Chinese Medicine is very ingrained in the culture in Asia, especially in areas where Chinese immigrants settled. It is not just a medicine for when you are sick but a way of living in balance with your environment. This is a medicine not just for the Chinese but for people all over the world, including animals.
 
In the old days, it was common that a Chinese Medical practitioner was supported financially by the community in return for her/his medical services, even when the people were healthy. It was her/his job to keep the community continually healthy by helping them to eat appropriately and regularly, reminding them to go to bed on time and to refrain from the over-consumption of alcohol as well as sex. If you read books and articles about Chinese Medicine, you will come across the "Five Pillars of Chinese Medicine." They are: 

1. Acupuncture and Moxibustion
2. Tui Na massage 
3. Chinese Herbal Medicine 
4. Chinese Nutrition and Dietetics
5. Tai Ji Quan and Qi Gong

 
The Chinese have an old saying, "When you are ill, get Acupuncture/Moxibustion, Tui Na and take Herbal Medicine. If you want to stay healthy, sleep enough and eat healthy. If you want to build strength practice Tai Ji Quan/Qi Gong." The 5 Pillars are not just methods of treatment but a foundation to becoming/staying connected to Life.
 
As a Chinese Medical practitioner, I am very thankful to have the 5 Pillars to support me in aiding my patients. I often have to determine which method/s is/are best, as some patients react more positively to certain methods. For instance, I have had patients requesting acupuncture for a certain health theme but have had strong reactions, such as fatigue for a few days, after treatment. This is often a sign of "over-stimulation" and requires me to tone down the treatment, either by using less stimulation or reduce the number of needles. Frequently, I have substituted needles with touch of the hand, with Tui Na massage. This method is often more suitable for "sensitive patients," as these individuals return to treatments describing how their symptoms have resolved and the feeling of being more energetic than prior to treatment. This is when I hear the reminder of my teachers that "less is more."   
 
I like to describe Chinese Medicine as a medicine for the individual; each person is unique and distinct through their constitution, environment and style of living that each requires different treatment strategies. It is not a "one-size-fit-all" medicine, as I like to say, unlike a lot of cheap, massed-produced clothes or products available today that don't really fit our needs. As such, no two individuals coming in with a headache will get the same treatment or Herbal Medicine or advice. The 5 Pillars provide me the foundation and stability, as pillars of a building do, but they also allow me, the practitioner, the flexibility to adapt to my patients' needs and individuality.
 
 
 
 
Image by NguyenDo on pixabay 
Image Hand Acupuncture by jorgeparedes1992 on pixabay
Image Hand Massage by andreas160578 on pixabay
Image Herbal Medicine by vivi14216 on pixabay
Image Food by Ruttikal Chularom on pixabay
Image Qi Gong by ICM

When we look at the Chinese calligraphy for Tea, Chá 茶,it shows us how the Chinese view Tea. At the very top stands 艹which is the radical for any plant or part of it that is herbaceous. In the middle is human, rén  人 . Finally, at the bottom is the radical for tree, mù 木 . I see this character as Human being rooted through the Tree in the Earth and Herb to the Heavens. This is my experience of Tea, whether I drink it or be with people who drink/work with Tea; Tea seems to root the person to the Earth and connect their Minds to the Heavens.
 
Camellia sinensis, Tea are divided into 6 types: Green Tea (Lu Cha), White Tea (Bai Cha), Yellow (Huang Cha), Black Tea (Hong Cha), Wu Long Tea, Pu Er Tea or Dark/Fermented Tea (Hei Cha). In my last post, I wrote about Green Tea, which does not undergo any form of oxidation as with White Tea, which are the buds/immature Camellia sinensis. All the other forms of Tea undergo a process of oxidation, which sometimes is called fermentation. Yellow Tea is Camellia sinensis leaves that have undergone very light oxidation to remove the grassy flavor but is often categorized as Green Tea. Pu Er and Dark Tea are sometimes known as Brick Tea. This was the way Tea was able to be transported all over the world including the Silk Road, as they were compressed into a brick/cake form to save space and remain fresh. What we know as Black Tea, the Chinese called Red Tea (Hong Cha) is 100 percent oxidized. Wu Long Tea is a categorization for oxidized Tea from 8 to 85 percent. Here, there are innumerable possibilities for creativity, creating Wu Long Tea that appear like Green Tea or Black Tea but aren't. As such the Gong Fu Cha ceremony was created to enjoy this form of Tea.
  
My husband and I are Tea drinkers. We drink Tea almost everyday and often in the ceremonial form of Gong Fu Cha. Our favorite type of Tea is Wu Long Cha, which means Black Dragon Tea, referring to the shape that the Camellia sinensis leaf curls up into as it undergoes oxidation and unfurls as you steep it in your teapot. About 15 years ago, we travelled to Taiwan for the first time, which is well-known for its Wu Long Tea, to see where Tea is grown and experience Tea culture. We met people who drink, grow, make and sell Tea. Every corner you turned to there is Tea, whether it's a Tea shop or a place where people just gather to drink Tea. We met intellectuals who studied at the university, Tea farmers, Tea shop-keepers or just Tea connoisseurs. They all had something in common; there is a certain respect for the plant and for life. Taiwan is an island with steep, misty mountain slopes ideal for growing Tea. They make some of the best High-Mountain Wu Long Tea. One can observe these by the way the leaves look, whole and large. I must say that the Taiwanese are some of the friendliest people I have ever met on my journeys throughout the world. If this has an effect on the Tea or vice versa, I cannot say, but the experience of Tea-drinking is definitely enhanced by the company you share it with.   
 
In Chinese Medicine, Wu Long Cha is used for clearing heat and detoxifying the digestive system as a result of food poisoning. It is also good for edema as it is a diuretic. It clears the head and eyes as a result of hangovers from alcohol or tiredness, as well as breaks down grease as a result of a heavy meal. This is often why you will get a pot of Wu Long Tea in a Chinese restaurant to go with a meal in Asia. Wu Long Tea is never drunk with sugar or milk, as these additives will destroy the flavor of good teas. Unlike Green Tea, you use close to 100-degree Celsius heated water for Wu Long Tea. The first flush is to wash the leaves and from the second onward, you drink and savour its essence. If a Tea is of good quality, its flavor will remain for a few flushes. As with any Tea, teabags often do not hold good quality Tea as there would not be enough space for the leaves to expand and therefore often contain crushed leaves. In my opinion, teabags are convenient but lacks the subtlety for "real" Tea drinking. As with humans, Tea leaves need space, enough time to steep and the ideal atmosphere to flourish; this will allow it to display its best qualities. 
 
 
Images by Elaine

Spring is here! When I look outside I see not only blossoms but "spring green" leaves, sprouting out of previously leafless brown branches. It is the time of leaves. When I think of leaves, I think of a very common leaf that most of us have in our homes or have at some point came in contact with but have no idea of its story; the Tea leaf.  
 
Growing up in Malaysia, I drank Tea often, even as a child. When I say Tea, I mean Black Tea or Wu Long Tea. When we went to a Chinese restaurant, they always served Wu Long or Pu Er Tea in a pot for the whole family to go with the meal. We had Afternoon Tea, around 4 to 5 o'clock, with some snack or pastry, something we learned from being a former British colony. It would often be a Black Tea, Orange Pekoe, which the British set up plantations for in the highlands of peninsula Malaysia. I only began to drink the classical Chinese style of Tea, Gong Fu Cha, when I was in the US. A Tai Ji brother (how we call a fellow student in Tai Ji class) was a student of a master calligrapher as well as of Tea. In Gong Fu Cha, we drink, smell and experience Tea in a ritual, that requires a certain state of calmness as well as introspection; this style of Tea drinking is more relaxed and is less elaborate than the Japanese Tea ceremony. Speaking of Tea rituals, my husband and I were married by performing a (semi-) traditional Tea ceremony, where elders of the family were served Tea; in their acceptance by drinking the Tea served by us, they symbolized their acceptance of us as a couple.
 
What is Tea? There are many misconceptions about Tea. Technically, when you say you are drinking Tea, then you are referring to the infusion of the leaf of the Camellia sinensis plant. All other teas, such as peppermint or chamomile, are not teas but "herbal infusions." Tea is the most widely drunk beverage in the world after water. Camellia sinensis originated in China but has spread all around the world and enjoyed, as well as adopted as their own. My research into Tea has revealed that we can trace how Tea came to that particular region or culture by the terms, Cha or Tey or even La. If the plant came by land through the Silk Road or from northern China then the term Cha or Chai was adopted, such as in Russia, Japan, Turkey or the Middle East. However, if the plant came by the water route from the South of China, by ship mostly brought by the European traders, then it was/is called Tea, The or Te, with the exception of Portugal, which uses the word Cha. The term La was passed on through South-West China to the neighboring countries like Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.
 
The Chinese believe that Tea was discovered by Shen Nong, The Divine Farmer or God of Agriculture; he is also the mythological emperor who taught the Chinese to farm and use plants as medicine. He passed down his knowledge through his tasting and testing of the herbs on himself through the The Classic of Herbal Medicine, Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing. Shen Nong is said to have used Tea as an antidote to counteract any poisonous plants. In old pottery found in the Tian Luo Shan region in Fu Jian province in China archaeologists believe Tea was being cultivated almost 6000 years ago; that would be around 4000 BCE. But it wasn't until China's flourishing golden age of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) that Lu Yu wrote Cha Jing, The Classic on Tea, that drinking Tea became an art, a philosophical pursuit practiced by the cultivated scholarly class. It was the Cha Jing that also influenced the spreading of Tea into Japan, who then in turn created their own manner of drinking Tea, which is more well-known in the West. Chado, The Way of Tea, is influenced by Zen Buddhism and has become not just a cultural ceremony but a meditation, as well as a way of life.
 
In Chinese Medicine, in the lineage of Shen Nong, we use Tea as medicine. In the Materia Medica, we have 2 types of Tea. One is Lu Cha (Folium Camellia sinensis), Green Tea. It is bitter and cool, affects the Stomach organ. It harmonizes the Stomach, sinks the Qi down in cases of nausea and vomiting. A classical usage is to clear the head; Green Tea has an effect to clear headaches due to its circulatory effect. However, one has to be careful with Green Tea, as it can be too strong for people with weak digestive systems, those who have cool systems; this may result in digestive issues such as nausea and too stimulating for people with sleep issues. Green Tea has become a trendy drink due to its ability to aid in weight-loss and metabolism, as well as being high in anti-oxidants. In the Chinese medical point of view, it helps to dispel dampness in the body, as such aid in weight-loss. But no amount of Green Tea without dietary changes and increase in movement  can stimulate weight-loss. One common mistake that many make with Green Tea is to brew it with boiling hot water (100 degrees Celsius). As these leaves are not oxidized, one has to use 80-degree hot water, so as not to burn the leaves. If you have found that your Green Tea was too bitter, it is because it was burnt from 100-degree water, which stimulated too quick a release of catechins from your Tea or that it was left too long to steep. So, to make good-tasting Green Tea, use no more than 80-degree (spring/filtered) water, 30-90 seconds brewing time and use good quality Green Tea leaves; often teabags do not contain good quality Tea. 
 
When you drink a cup of good Green Tea, it should taste like a cup of Spring; like liquid fresh spring leaves or grass in your mouth. That's why the best Green Tea is harvested in Spring. The Chinese and Japanese grow as well as produce the best Green Teas. They have made Tea not just a beverage but an art.
 
 
 
 
Image Tea Plantation by Dendhy Halbaik on Pixabay
Image Green Tea in Gai Wan by apple deng on Pixabay
​Image Shen Nong/Shinno from Wikimedia Commons

If you go on a walk right now, you will observe that the Peony is in or coming to blossom.  In German, we call them Pfingstrosen, I imagine due to the fact that they flower around the time of Pentecost. As a child, I recall having experienced the flower Peony in the form of soap from China; a very strong, sweet scented soap, which was almost too sweet for me. We also used to get duvets from China that were Peony brand. When I went with my mother to the market, I would ask her about the flowers, whose blossoms were wrapped in white tissue and she would tell me that they were Peonies imported from China. So, I had an impression that Peonies were Chinese, as they don't grow in the tropical climate in Malaysia.
 
Since my studies in Chinese Medicine began, I have come to know of how the Chinese honor the Peony. It was referred to by Confucius (551-479 BCE), was often the subject of art in the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE) and even declared the national flower of China during the Qing dynasty, the last imperial government of China till 1912. In Chinese it is called Fu Gui Hua, "flower of riches and honor." Peonies are naturally occurring in temperate and cold areas of the northern hemisphere, from Morocco to Japan to North America. There is a Greek myth of Peony, where the God of Medicine, Aesclepius, got jealous of his student, Paeon, and he was saved from Aesclepius' attack by Zeus who transformed him into a flower - the Peony. 
 
There are tree Peonies, herbaceous Peonies and hybrids that have leaves like the tree but are herbaceous.  In the Chinese Medicine itself, we use 3 different species of Peony: Paeonia suffruticosa, Paeonia lactiflora and Paeonia veitchii. Interestingly, the part of the plant that it used as medicine is not the flower. The part of Paeonia suffriticosa, which is the tree, that is used is the cortex or bark of the tree, Mu Dan Pi. It is used to cool the blood and clear heat, as in the case of fevers. It also moves blood when there has been trauma, lowers blood pressure and inflammation. Paeonia lactiflora, the herbaceous Peony, provides its radix or root as medicine in the form of Chi Shao or Bai Shao. Chi Shao is the root that is still red, which helps move blood and relieve pain from trauma or menses. Bai Shao is the white root, which tonifies the blood, calms the liver, relieves tension and adjusts Ying Qi (Nutritive Qi) as well as Wei Qi (Defensive Qi). One of my Chinese herbal teachers called Bai Shao the "White Fairy Mother."
 
I grow Peonies in my garden, both the tree and herbaceous ones. They are special plants that don't like to be moved, they find a spot and they root there till they die. I observe them throughout the year. After they flower in Spring (April to early June), the tree has already flowered now and the herbaceous form is flowering soon, the energy of the plants goes inward and dies back its external manifestation in autumn. This does not mean the plant is not working, the power of the Yin (autumn and winter being Yin times of the year) is being generated in the root of the plant. This I believe is why the root of Bai Shao are so powerful to nourish the Yin and Blood in our bodies. Right now, those who react to the seasonal pollen that is currently in full emission, that includes myself, will be thankful to Mu Dan Pi for providing the cooling and calming of the mucous membranes in the eyes and nasal passages. The bark of the Peony tree is hardy yet gentle, providing the soothing coolness and protection of autumn-winter in the searing heat from growth of spring-summer. It is an herb of balance; sinking when there is strong rising action, calming when there is over-excitement. 
 
Chinese Herbal Medicine uses herbs mostly as formulae, almost never one herb alone, as the synergy of the combined herbs counteract the overexertion of another. One could say they operate as a team, supporting one another and balancing the forces of the other. Each herbal formula is prepared specially for each individual person, paying attention to causes of the imbalance and not just on symptoms. If you are interested in using Herbal Medicine, discuss it with your practitioner so that s/he can help you understand your imbalances and how these amazing plants can aid you in your health.  

Images Peony by Elaine