Three Treasures (Traditional Chinese Medicine)

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This article is about the "Three Treasures" in Chinese medicinal theory. For other uses, see Three Treasures (disambiguation).

The Three Treasures or Three Jewels (Chinese: 三寶; pinyin: sānbǎo; Wade-Giles: san-pao) are theoretical cornerstones in practices such as Traditional Chinese medicine, Neidan, and Qigong.

This Chinese term sanbao "Three Treasures" first occurs in Tao Te Ching, referring to compassion, frugality, and humility, and it was later used to translate the Buddhist Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

In Taoist healing traditions, the "Three Treasures" are the essential forces sustaining human life:

Qi 氣 "vitality, energy, force; air, vapor; breath; spirit, vigor; attitude"
Jing 精 "nutritive essence, essence; refined, perfected; extract; spirit, demon; sperm, seed"
Shen 神 "spirit; soul, mind; god, deity; supernatural being"

Besides this common qi-jing-shen ordering, both jing-qi-shen and shen-qi-jing also are used.

The Taoist text Gaoshang yuhuang xinyin jing (高上玉皇心印經, "Mind-Seal Scripture of the Exalted Jade Sovereign", or Xinyin jing "Mind-Seal Scripture") is a valuable early source about the Three Treasures (tr. Olson 1993). Louis Komjathy describes it.

Probably dating from the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), this anonymous text presents a simple and concise discussion of internal alchemy (neidan 內丹). In particular, it emphasizes the so-called Three Treasures (sanbao 三寶), namely, vital essence (jing 精), subtle breath (qi 氣), and spirit (shen 神). (2004:29)

Frederic Balfour's (1880:380-381) brief essay about the Xinyin jing ("The Imprint of the Heart") contains the earliest known Western reference to the Three Treasures: "There are three degrees of Supreme Elixir – the Spirit, the Breath, and the Essential Vigour".

[edit] References

Balfour, Frederic H. 1880. "Three Brief Essays". The China Review 9: 380-382.[1]
Komjathy, Louis. 2004. Daoist Texts in Translation.
Olson, Stuart Alve. 1993. The Jade Emperor’s Mind Seal Classic: A Taoist Guide to Health, Longevity, and Immortality. St. Paul: Dragon Door Publications.