I'm heading down to southern Colorado to help out with some recovery from the Aspen Acres fire, so I thought I'd just do a quick one about a TCM reference I found in a Star Wars book...
Feeling the Force
You may or may not know this, but I'm a pretty big Star Wars nerd, and lately I've been reading through the High Republic books.
One concept the series introduces is that each Jedi experiences the Force differently. One might experience it as music, with different notes of harmony and disharmony. Another might see it as stars that form constellations. Another might feel it as different colored threads woven into a great tapestry.
But the Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh experiences it as flowing water.
One passage reads:
The tiny trickle of a babbling brook grew into a steady stream, which in turn grew into a rushing river, pouring into the wide sea that was the Force.
And this is similar to how we describe qi flowing from the extremities toward the trunk.
The five-step process that Vern goes through—trickle, brook, stream, river, sea—echoes the way the classics describe qi flowing through the Five Shu-Transport points.
Chapter 1 of the Ling Shu states:
The point at which the qi rises is known as the jing-well. The point at which the qi glides down is known as the ying-spring. The point at which the qi flows through is known as the shu-stream. The point at which the qi flows is known as the jing-river. The point at which the qi enters inwards is known as the he-sea.
The qi appears at the Jing-Wells, like water coming out of the ground. Then as it flows, its passage gets wider and deeper until it becomes a great sea of qi.
(The character for Hé 合 would be more accurately translated as uniting, joining, or a "confluence." In English, a confluence is where two rivers join to form a large body of water.)
The above translation is from Deadman's A Manual of Acupuncture.
(That text erroneously attributes it to Chapter 71 of the Ling Shu. It actually comes from Chapter 1.)
Unschuld translates the classics more literally. Here's how he renders this passage:
Where they exit, these are the wells. Where they move in swift currents, these are the creeks.
Where they flow, these are the transport [openings]. Where they permit passage, these are the streams. Where they enter, these are the confluences.
So I just thought this was kind of fun to see a possible TCM reference in a Star Wars book.
Hope you have a good week!
