“容器—管道”隐喻视域下中医痞满证成因分析

Analysis on Causes of Abdominal Distension and Fullness Syndrome from Metaphorical Perspective of “Container-Pipeline”

文章试图从隐喻认知的立场探究古人是如何认知痞满证的形成原因。“容器-管道”隐喻是人类认识世界的基本隐喻。痞满是中医临床常见病证,主因脾胃功能失调,升降失司,胃气壅塞所指。中医学认为胃主受纳、脾主运化,胃之受纳犹如以容器盛物,而脾之运化必赖管道或道路。因而本文从“容器-管道”隐喻的视角,分析古人如何认识痞满形成的原因,即古人如何知道痞满的成因源于胃失受纳、脾失健运及脾胃升降失司的。形成这种认知的原型很可能是“容器-管道”,因痞满证的成因可以从“容器-管道”隐喻获得较为圆满的解释。容器所以能够盛物,取决于容器本身质量与所纳之物的数量;管道能保持通畅依赖于管道本身与管道的内容物。这与痞满证成因的脾胃虚弱及表邪入里,饮食不节,痰湿阻滞、胃阴虚具有相似性。

This paper attempts to explore how ancient people recognized the formation of abdominal distention and fullness syndrome in TCM(traditional Chinese medicine) from the perspective of metaphorical cognition.The metaphor of “container-pipeline” is a basic metaphor for human to understand the world.The abdominal distention and fullness syndrome is a common clinical disease in TCM,which is mainly due to the dysfunction of spleen and stomach, the disorder of Qi activity, and the congestion of stomach Qi.In TCM,it is believed that stomach receives food and drink, while spleen governs transportation and transformation.The functions of stomach as a vessel, while the spleen must rely on tubes and pipelines.Therefore, from the perspective of “container-pipeline” metaphor, this paper analyzed how ancient people recognized the causes of this disease, that is, how ancient people knew this disease caused by the loss of stomach acceptance, the failure of spleen in transportation and transformation and dysregulations of spleen ascending and stomach descending function.“Container-pipeline” metaphors are probably the archetypes of this cognition, because the cause of the disease can get a satisfactory explanation by the metaphors of “container-pipeline”.The ability of a container to hold things depends on the quality of the container itself and the amount of things it contains.The reason why a pipe remains unimpeded depends on the pipe itself and its contents.This is similar to deficiency of spleen and stomach, external evil entering into the interior, improper diet, phlegm-dampness blocking and stomach Yin deficiency caused by abdominal distention and fullness syndrome.