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Barmymoo:
A couple of times I have come across brief, unexplained references to hot and cold theory in relation to Chinese culture. I also came across the concept as a more wildly-held set of beliefs in other countries in the ?17th century. I've started looking into it a bit, but can anyone, such as Akima, expand on the concept? I'm reading this article as a basic overview but wondered if there were regional variations and how much it's still believed or practised.

Akima:
I am not trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and having received a modern scientific education, I am skeptical about many aspects. However TCM is very widely accepted in China, throughout China's zone of cultural influence in East/South East Asia, and wherever there is any significant population of Chinese people. In Australia, practitioners must be registered under the national registration and accreditation scheme with the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia, and meet the Board's Registration Standards, in order to practise legally. Regardless of the actual efficacy of TCM, its cultural influence is immense. There is a widespread idea, for example, that drinking cold water is damaging to the stomach, which is tied to TCM ideas about heat and cold, though it might well have had a purely pragmatic basis when unboiled water was not safe to drink.

TCM is very old, long predating any scientific understanding of disease, and has many similarities with the ideas of the Ancient Greeks (which persisted in Europe until at least the 17th century), particularly the idea of bodily and emotional health being based on the "humours". TCM also is heavily influenced by Taoist ideas of balance between opposing forces, among which are included heat and cold, two of the "Six Pernicious Influences." The basic idea is that certain foods, medicines, and activities promote heat or cold, and that if a patient's symptoms suggest that they are suffering from an excess of either, diet or herbs will be suggested to exert a countervailing influence.

Barmymoo:
Yes, it was the humours I was thinking of but couldn't remember the name of. Thank you, that's helpful. Like any other cultural practice I won't assume it applies to all Chinese families I meet, but it's definitely helpful to be aware of the possibility that a Chinese woman might prefer not to have ice in her water jug, for instance (fetching jugs of water is a good first year student task!).

pwhodges:

--- Quote from: Akima on 08 Apr 2014, 20:07 ---There is a widespread idea, for example, that drinking cold water is damaging to the stomach, which is tied to TCM ideas about heat and cold, though it might well have had a purely pragmatic basis when unboiled water was not safe to drink.
--- End quote ---


--- Quote from: Barmymoo on 09 Apr 2014, 01:51 ---a Chinese woman might prefer not to have ice in her water jug, for instance
--- End quote ---

At the age of 13 I stayed in the South of France for a couple of months, in high summer.  After a while I came up in hives, to the extent that my hosts took me to their doctor.  He told me that the iced water I was drinking because of the heat was upsetting my liver; so I stopped, and the hives went.

bainidhe_dub:

--- Quote from: Barmymoo on 09 Apr 2014, 01:51 ---Yes, it was the humours I was thinking of but couldn't remember the name of. Thank you, that's helpful. Like any other cultural practice I won't assume it applies to all Chinese families I meet, but it's definitely helpful to be aware of the possibility that a Chinese woman might prefer not to have ice in her water jug, for instance (fetching jugs of water is a good first year student task!).

--- End quote ---

This is definitely something I've read about elsewhere - an article about cultural awareness vs stereotypes, I think. A study found that Chinese and South Asian women had higher rates of dehydration following delivery, and they eventually discovered that it was because the women were refusing the ice chips that the hospitals usually provided.

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