The concept of the three treasures “Jing Qi Shen” appears in the Huang Di Neijing or the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic, the main classical medical book of ancient China. These are conversations about heaven, man and earth and their dynamic relationships and are attributed to the Yellow Emperor and his ministers dated circa 2600 BC.
The three treasures is a concept that occurs in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), but also in Daoism, in Neidan (inner alchemy), in Qigong and the tai chi classics.
Jing Qi Shen also corresponds to the three treasures or the three jewels of Daoism: compassion, frugality and humility, metaphysically expressed in the “Three Purities” or the three highest Daoist deities.
Jing is the essence of our life. Jing is related to our genes or the constitution we are born with, which we inherited from our parents. Qi is the breath, the energy/ vitality or motive life force. As an energy or life force Qi is more Yang in nature, as Jing does have a Yin quality. Shen is the divine spirit within our human spirit and our connection to a higher dimension. Shen is related to our emotional side. In TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) it is related to our heart health, as our heart is also connected to the unconditional love within the universe.
In Chinese medicine the three treasures are thus essential for our material substance, our physical existence, for the energy we need to live healthy and move on in life and our connection to the spiritual dimension. The three treasures are the three essentials that link physical with mental/ emotional and spiritual health.
Mind body spirit medicine is therefore as old as the three treasures, originating from one of the oldest traditional medicines of the East, as it is, at the same time, as new as modern research in Western integrated medicine, such as has been discovered in epigenetics.