Spirit

Also bright spirit; heart spirit; spirit-mind.

1. That which is said to be stored by the heart, to return to the abode of the heart during sleep, to be disquieted in conditions of heart palpitation, susceptibility to fright, heart vexation, and insomnia, and to be clouded in wind stroke or when evils enter the pericardium. The Chinese concept of spirit is what normally makes us conscious and alert during the day, what becomes inactive during sleep, and thus corresponds to the concept of the English word mind in the sense of the mental capacity to think, feel, and respond. See the entries listed below.

• Disquieted heart spirit
• Insomnia
• Clouded spirit
• Clouding sleep
• Delirious speech
• Loss of consciousness
• Soliloquy
• Mussitation
• Spirit failing to keep to its abode
• Pericardiac pattern
• Heat entering the pericardium
• Phlegm confounding the orifices of the heart
• Epilepsy
• Mania and withdrawal

See also essence-spirit; mind; affect.

2. Any one of the five spirits, of which the spirit stored by the heart is one.

3. A physical and mental state reflected in a healthy complexion, bright eyes, erect bearing, physical agility, and clear coherent speech. It is said that If the patient is spirited, he is fundamentally healthy; if he is spiritless, he is doomed. Thus, the spirit sheds useful light on the severity of a given complaint. Conditions of the spirit may be arranged in three fundamental categories: spiritedness, spiritlessness, and false spiritedness:

• Spiritedness (有神 yǒu shén): If the patient has bright eyes, normal bearing, clear speech, and responds coherently to inquiry, the condition is said to be spirited, indicating that right qì is undamaged and the complaint is relatively minor. Although certain aspects of the patient’s health may be seriously affected, swift improvement may be expected.
• Spiritlessness (失神 shī shén): Essence-spirit debilitation (lack of mental energy), apathy, abnormal bearing, torpid expression, dark complexion and dull eyes, low voice, slow, halting speech, and incoherent response to inquiry are signs of a spiritless condition. They indicate a relatively serious condition in which right qì has suffered damage. Although no critical signs may be present, extreme care is necessary. Where a spiritless condition is particularly marked, there may be signs of deranged speech, stupor of the spirit-mind, carphology (involuntary picking at bedclothes), and a general feeling of heaviness preventing the patient from turning over in bed.
• False spiritedness (假神 jiǎ shén): False spiritedness generally occurs in enduring or severe illness and extremely severe cases of debilitation of essence-spirit. If, suddenly, during a disease characterized by taciturnity, a low voice, halting speech, and an extremely dark complexion, the patient becomes strangely garrulous and his cheeks are flushed and unusually rosy, this new condition is said to be one of false spiritedness. Such conditions are extremely serious and should not be mistaken for improvement. False spiritedness implies a superficial improvement in certain aspects of the patient’s mental state, which does not fit in with other aspects of the condition. It is a sign that the patient’s condition will soon deteriorate dramatically, and therefore demands special attention.

See also stomach, spirit, and root. Note also that the word spirit occurs in several terms pertaining to the eye. See spirit water; spirit jelly; spirit ball; pupil spirit.