Chinese Medicine Jing | What is ‘Essence’ in TCM?

Have you wondered why many people look way older than they look? Well, Chinese Medicine has an answer to it.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, your body has different vital substances that perform specific functions and give you the necessary vitality. One of them is Jing which is the most refined of all essential substances and ultimately determines your quality of life and vitality.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jing/Essence refers to the most refined of the vital substances. It is stored in the Kidneys and can be transformed into other substances (Qi, Blood, Shen, Fluids) according to the demands of the body. It is inherited from the parents and then acquired through food, exercise, and the stimuli of life, it gives your body the capacity for development and makes sure your health is right according to your age. Disturbances in the Jing/Essence can manifest in defects in development and eventually poor life quality with reduced vitality.

Understanding how the Essence works will make you understand why there are people who look older for their age.

Chinese Medicine Jing. What is Essence in TCM?

Essence is one of the vital substances of the body along with Qi, Shen, Blood, and Fluids. It is the substance that is unique to living organisms and what makes them different than the inorganic elements of the world, unlike Qi which is present in every component of the universe.

Jing is one of the so-called Three Treasures in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Chinese culture along with Qi and Shen (Spirit).

It is the most refined of the vital substances, it has the potential to be transformed into the rest of the substances if the body needs it.

The ancient Chinese refer to Essence as being ‘deep’, this can mean ‘closer to the very essence’ of the living organism, closer to the very core of the self. But not the self in terms of personality, but in terms of the nature of being.

This comes from Daoist philosophy and the Five Elements Theory. According to the Daoists, the eternal return is the movement of the Dao, this eternal movement indicates a return to what they call the Supreme Simplicity (Taiji, and then Wuji) which is the essence of the Dao: the absolute truth in simplicity that has the potential to create everything.

This is also talked about in the Five Elements theory when you look at the Water Element, water that lies in the depths of the world and carries within itself the potential to bring forth life.

The Water Element describes the deepest part of the self, the Supreme Yin that has the seed of creating the Yang from within itself. This Element is represented in your body by the Kidneys which are the ones that store the Essence.

When talking about Essence, the ancient Chinese were talking about the innermost substance that makes sure your nature unfolds the right way.

Essence is the Ultimate Determinant of your healthspan.

Types of Essence

There are two types of Essence: Prenatal Essence and Posnatal/Acquired Essence, they two mix to create the Essence of your body.

Prenatal Essence

It is inherited from the parents and is fixed, it cannot be increased. It can only be replenished with Acquired Essence. Prenatal Essence with Original Qi (Prenatal Qi) determines your starting quality of life and basic makeup, it depends on the Essence of both parents. This is why it is so important for parents to be healthy when trying to have a baby.

In modern scientific knowledge, Essence is translated as the field of Genetics and Epigenetics.

Conception itself is the combining of the parents’ Essence that creates new life. Babies come into the world with sufficient Essence for three months.

Malformations and developmental problems can be a manifestation of disturbances in the Essence.

Postnatal Essence:

It is acquired through food, breathing, and the stimuli of life itself. It is extracted from the nutritive essence of food (Food Qi), the air Qi, and also from the mental, physical, and emotional stimulation in your life.

This explains the need for a healthy lifestyle: a good diet, an adequate amount of exercise, and good mental and emotional health. A kid who is overweight won’t have as healthy Essence as one who is physically active. The same applies to children subjected to chronic stress or trauma or to people who haven’t developed some mental resilience.

The health consequences of being subjected to unhealthy stimuli have a direct impact on one’s quality of life and therefore on one’s Essence. Examples of this are the inheritance of genetic markers of trauma by holocaust survivors, the impaired quality of life in children subjected to trauma, and others.

Origins of Essence

Jing/Essence is created by the union of Prenatal and Postnatal Essences. When food is consumed, the Spleen extracts the nutritive essence from it and sends it upwards to the Lungs where it will be combined with the air Qi to create Qi, Blood, Fluids, and Essence.

Essence also works as a storage of surplus Qi.

When Qi, Blood, or other substances are required for the body to function properly, some Essence is transformed into the specific substance the body needs.

Functions of Essence

Essence determines your quality of life, aids the work of the other substances, and is closely related to the reproductive function. One good way to look at how Essence works is in the next phrase:

‘It works like a drop of water falling on a stone, at first it doesn’t look like it’s working but eventually a hole appears.’

‘Gutta cavat lapidem’ for you Latin enthusiasts out there.

The functions of Jing/Essence can be divided into three main categories. This is a division I made up to give you more clarity on how Jing works.

Jing determines your lifespan and your healthspan:

Your lifespan is how much you live, your lifespan is how well you live within that lifespan. Essence makes sure both are in concordance.

Essence can be seen as the ultimate controler of the life cycle making sure every vital process is done correctly.

At first glance, it cannot be noticed because it works in a very slow way but when you analyze chunks of time you can easily notice how it was working. If Essence is healthy, you will have a healthy life and development according to what’s normal.

A healthy body has different developmental milestones: teething, puberty, sexual development, muscular development, etc. The changes in Essence are what make maturing and development possible.

In TCM, mind and body are closely related and sometimes seen as undivided. Well, Jing/Essence also works on the mind, it is responsible for adequate mental and emotional development. It works closely with the Kidney Yin for the creation of Wisdom which is the virtue linked to the Kidney Yin.

When Jing is healthy, Wisdom can be developed and people mature psychologically.

Jing/Essence is transformed into the other vital substances when needed.

If there is a need for a substance that is deficient in the body, a part of the Essence will be transformed into that substance to make up for the deficiency. This is a way the body has to protect itself against disharmonies of deficiency, but it puts a strain on your Essence and if maintained it will lead to a Deficiency of Essence which is a critical problem.

This way of acting of the Essence is similar to sacrificing some of the future to get through today, a logical response but with potential repercussions in the long term.

It is closely related to the Reproductive functions

According to the Five Elements and Zhang Fu theories, the Kidneys are the organs in charge of the sexual and reproductive functions. Healthy Kidneys go by hand with healthy Essence which in turn translates to healthy sexual and reproductive functions.

One of the most important functions in the body is the perpetuation of the lineage through the offspring. Essence makes sure the future baby is as healthy as your Essence is.

Excessive sexual stimulation i.e. sexual intercourse or masturbation depletes your Essence.

Everything in excess is contrary to nature.

Hippocrates.

Unfolding of Jing/Essence

The changes in the Essence are the basis for the development of the body and mind. These changes happen at fixed intervals throughout life. However, these intervals are different in women and men.

When analyzing the changes in Essence and the developmental milestones reached, the Chinese medical theory speaks of intervals of seven years for women and eight years for men. Here is a breakdown of such intervals for women and men.

This chart serves as a tool to assess the state of the person’s Jing.

In the first years of life, the state of Jing can be assessed by analyzing five core milestones:

• Hair quantity, color, and quality.
• Teething.
• Walking.
• Speaking.
• Closing of the fontanels.

One of the most noticeable traits of a damaged Essence is looking way older for your age. It is a sign that your Essence has been depleted to make up for other substances and can’t perform its duty as controller of your healthspan.

This is the reason many people look older than they are. Their Essence is damaged. Now let’s take a look at what may be causing it.

How can the Essence be Damaged?

As you can see, the Essence is a truly important substance of your body and the depletion of it has serious consequences over the long haul. Now it is time to see how you could be damaging your Essence so you can spot the signs and stop those habits.

Poor lifestyle choices:

The Essence is formed by the mix of the air Qi, the food Qi, and the different stimuli through life. Unhealthy lifestyle decisions will damage your Essence.

Behaviors like smoking, consuming drugs, and drinking alcohol have a direct impact on your Stomach and Lungs which means your ability to extract food Qi and bring in air Qi will be diminished. Over time, this will lead to a deficiency of Essence.

That’s why chain smokers and other addicts alike look deteriorated and older than other people their age.

Not getting enough sleep stresses your body. This makes the adrenals secrete more cortisol than they ought to.

The Kidneys in TCM include the adrenals and if they are strained the Kidneys are damaged and therefore the Essence is depleted. This also applies to the other Zhang-Fu organs, as their Qi and Blood deplete, Essence is used to cover for that deficiency creating a Deficient Essence disharmony.

A key principle of Traditional Chinese Medical therapy is an adequate balance between work and rest. Being slothful is as dangerous as being a workaholic.

Poor nutrition

Your body needs food to create the vital substances. Having bad dietetic habits like eating highly processed foods won’t give you the nutrition you need and therefore will deplete you of your Essence. Having restrictive diets will also directly affect your Essence as you are missing essential nutrients that may be in those foods you are avoiding.

That’s why Traditional Chinese Medicine has dietetic guidelines rather than a ‘diet’ itself. Closing the door to necessary nutrients is a bad choice to make.

Kidney damage

As you well know by now, the Kidneys are crucial to your overall health, and your Essence. Any damage your Kidneys suffer will also affect your Essence.

The Kidneys can be damaged structurally, functionally, and energetically. The excessive use of NSAIDs, antibiotics, steroids, and repetitive renal infections are all causes of Kidney damage. Excessive work, not getting enough sleep, and excessive sexual activity also damage the Kidneys.

But, how can you tell someone has a Deficient Essence? Let’s learn how…

Deficiency of Essence

Damage to the Essence manifests mainly in developmental problems. As noted before, one clear sign of Deficient Essence is looking much older than you are. Let’s see other clinical features of Jing/Essence Deficiency.

In children, Deficient Essence is spotted because of retardation in their development: late or incomplete fontanel closure, slow motor development, poor skeletal development, and failure to achieve the developmental milestones described before.

We can also say we are in the presence of an Essence Deficiency when the following signs appear:

• Premature senility.
• Fraile teeth and bones.
• Problems with long-term memory.
• Impaired sexual functions like sexual anxiety, pain, or discomfort.

In the psychological sphere, Deficient Essence manifests as a fear of dying, not aging gracefully, not having a sense of maturing as you age. This indicates that Essence is incapable of developing Wisdom.

How to Nourish Your Essence

Luckily, there are many things you can do to make sure your Jing/Essence is nourished. Here are some measures you can take to nourish your Essence.

The ideal time to nourish your Essence is in the Winter because it is when your Kidney is at its highest energy state.

Lifestyle changes

• Getting enough sleep, and having a regular sleep schedule. Some TCM doctors recommend going to sleep at 11 pm to let the Liver and Kidneys do their filtering processes more easily.
• Quitting smoking, drinking, etc.
• Having a balanced work-rest ratio.
• Avoiding excessive sexual activity.
• Avoiding overindulging (Food, Netflix, Social Media, etc).
• Reducing or eliminating the consumption of unnecessary medicines (antibiotics, NSAIDs, steroids)

Food

You need to consume foods that nourish the Kidneys and the Essence:

• Fish
• Spinach.
• Kale
• Swiss chard.
• Black Beans
• Aubergine.
• Dates.
• Mussels.
• Deer antler.
• Cow’s Kidney.

Herbal medicine

Here are some herbs that are used to tonify the Kidney and nourish the Essence:

• Chinese ginseng.
• Black tea.
• Astragalus root.
• Steamed Rehmannia

You can also consume custom-made formulas created to nourish the Essence.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture must always be done by a qualified person because it is an invasive maneuver. However, you can massage certain points in your body to tonify and invigorate your Kidneys therefore strengthening its capacity to store Essence.

• Kidney 3 (Taixi): Located behind the inner ankle, in the midpoint between the tip of the ankle and the Achilles tendon.
• Kidney 7 (Fuliu): Two cun (1 cun = 1 thumb breadth) directly above Kidney 3.

You can also massage the Lower back, especially the Lumbar region where the Posterior Shu points of the Kidneys and Bladder are. You can Stimulate these points for an additional Stimulus of the Zhang-Fu organs.

Additional measures are keeping your lower back covered and warm to avoid Cold or Wind to invade the body. Someone with a Deficient Essence will have its Defensive Qi also diminished in some cases.

Final Thoughts

The Jing/Essence is the most refined and most important of the vital substances of the body. It controls your quality of life, can be transformed into other substances if needed by the body, and along with the Kidneys is in charge of your reproductive functions.

Learning how to spot signs of Essence Deficiency will allow you to correct courses and make better decisions.

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