disturbances in childhood and a sallow complexion.- Liver: myopia and headaches in childhood, a greenish complexion, primary infertility or
amenorrhoea in women. - Kidneys: nocturnal enuresis and fears in childhood with a bluish colour on the chin, poor
bone or brain development, primary infertility in women, sterility in men, premature
ageing and greying of the hair.
Overwork
By "overwork" is meant here excessive work whether it be mental or physical, long hours of
work without adequate rest and work under stressful conditions. A proper balance between rest
and work is essential to health and many conditions of chronic tiredness are simply due to
excessive work without adequate rest. Indeed, in many cases, rest is the only treatment required
for chronic tiredness.
Overwork in the sense described above is one of the commonest causes of chronic tiredness,
especially in modern industrial societies where the pace of life has become very fast indeed. Peer
pressure, competitiveness, financial demands and a misguided "work ethic", all contribute to
creating the conditions for overworking. In some societies, the very idea of rest seems to be
old-fashioned and almost sinful.
When periods of work are alternated with proper rest, the body has a chance to recuperate and no
ill effect will derive from work. Indeed, inactivity is also a cause of disease in Chinese medicine
leading to stagnation of Qi and sometimes Lung-Qi deficiency. However, when a person
overworks or works very long hours without adequate rest, the body has no time to recuperate.
This leads the body to use reserves of energy, i.e. the Kidney-Essence. For this reason, a Kidney
deficiency often results from overwork.
In Chinese medicine, overwork has been considered a cause of disease since early times and it
would appear that working long hours under conditions of stress is not only a feature of our
times but also of ancient China during certain historical periods. For example, conditions of life
were difficult in China during the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) and people had to work very hard
under stress, which, as we know, depletes the Yin: some doctors think this was the reason why
the School of Nourishing Yin (of which Zhu Dan Xi was the main advocate) developed during
those times. Zhang Jie Bin wrote in his book "The Complete Book of Jing Yue" (1634): "If one
does not know one's limits of endurance and pushes oneself trying again and again, this will
result in exhaustion".8(337) This description fits admirably the behaviour of many people in our
times.
"Overwork" is a general term which includes many different types of excessive work leading to
disease. For example, work which involves standing for hours on end day after day without