49. The Principle of Oriental Medicine: If the Upright Qi Resides Within, Pathogens Cannot Invade

Even when two people eat the same food at the same restaurant, one might suffer from food poisoning while the other experiences no symptoms at all. This illustrates that although external factors are important in the onset of disease, the internal state of one’s body is even more critical. In Oriental medicine, this concept is expressed as “正氣內存 邪不可幹” (If upright qi resides within, evils cannot invade), while Western medicine refers to it as immunity.

Countless bacteria exist around us and constantly attempt to invade our bodies through various channels. However, our body’s defense system—known as jingqi (vital essence and energy) in Oriental medicine or the immune system in Western medicine—controls these invaders effectively, maintaining our health and sustaining life. It is now a widely known and proven fact that even in healthy individuals, hundreds or thousands of cancer cells are formed each day, but they do not develop into cancer because immune cells eliminate them.

In Oriental medicine, the optimal state of health is maintained through the balance of jing, qi, and shen (essence, energy, and spirit).
We supplement jing by adjusting our diet according to five colors (corresponding to five organs and elements), optimize the flow of qi with tailored exercises and breathing methods, and regulate excessive greed and anger to maintain the peace of shen (mind/spirit).

These principles align with the core practices of integrative oncology now gaining attention—such as personalized immune-boosting diets, exercise and lifestyle correction, and meditation or yoga—all aimed at enhancing the body’s immunity, or jingqi.

Even in modern Western medicine, we are now moving away from the absurd statement:
“The disease was cured, but the patient did not survive.”