KIDNEY 2

From Zhang Huang, A Compendium of Illustrated Texts (Tushu Bian), Ming Dynasty:

In relation to the other organ networks, the kidney is situated in the lowest position. It is associated with the phase element water, and it is in charge of storing essence (jing). Just like water was the first substance to emerge from heavenly oneness, the kidney is the source of the human body, the initial sprout of physical life.

Everything between heaven and earth that is made from qi and blood has the urge to mate. Once fire and water separate and desire finds a match, the essence leaves the source, and what creates the body will turn into what kills the body. If you are a student of the Book of Change (Yijing) and align your desires by fooling around with the lofty hexagram 41 [Sacrifice, Decrease], then this is like being worried about floods at one moment and about water leakage the next-you 'sacrifice' again and again, thus using yourself up until there is nothing left to spare. Therefore, if you want to protect your source of longevity, there is no better way than to guard yourself against sexual desires.

From Sun Yikuei, Contemplations On Unexplored Medical Topics (Yizhi Xuyu), 1584:

In the Simple Questions (Suwen) section of the Neijing it is stated: 'The kidney stores the qi of the bones and the marrow.' At another place it says: 'The black color associated with the direction north corresponds directly with the kidney; its corresponding orifices in the body are the two yin (the genitals and the anus), and its essence is stored in the kidney.' The Nanjing(Classic of Difficulties) further explains: 'This is where males store their essence.' This line does not mean that all of the essence is stored right there; the brain is also called the sea of marrow, and the kidney connects with the brain via the spine. 

Master Shengsheng once said: 'Chapter 36 of the Nanjing states that there are really two kidneys, namely the left one being the actual kidney, while the right one is mingmen, the gate of life. It is this mingmen that is the seat of all physical (jing) and mental (shen) essences, and it is here that essence is stored in males, and from where the uterus branches off in females. Thus, we speak of two kidneys. Just as is said in chapter 39 of the Nanjing: 'The fact that six fu organs are paired with five zang organs means that the kidney really represents two organ systems, namely the left one being the kidney, and the right one being mingmen. And mingmen, that is the abode of jing and shen. This is where male essence is stored and where the female uterus is attached; its qi is on the same wavelength with the kidney.'' 

A detailed examination of both sections of the Neijing does not yield any references to a differentiation of the kidney network into two distinct parts. It was the author of the Nanjing who first made this distinction. Does this mean that the entity which the Nanjing author calls mingmen-the abode of jing and shen, the seat of the original qi, the place where males store essence and females have their uterus-is nothing but idle talk? I say we have to take this theory seriously, since it appropriately places extra weight on the kidney network by emphasizing that the original qi which lodges in the kidney is the source of our life force.

The Central Junction Classic (Huangting Jing) states: 'The kidney qi regulates the upper burner, nourishes the middle burner, and protects the lower burner.' The Collection of Central Harmony (Zhonghe Ji) states: 'Breathing through the process of opening and closing-that is what happens at the gorge of mystery (mingmen), the root of heaven and earth.' Opening and closing here does not refer to the regular action of inhaling and exhaling through the nose or mouth, but to what is called the true breath. The author of the Nanjing also said: 'The igniting spark between the kidneys (shenjian dongqi) is the origin of the various processes of human life, the base of the body's five zang and six fu organs, the root of the twelve channel pathways, the door of breath, and the source of the triple burner.' 

Precisely this is what the concept of mingmen is all about. It is what the Confucians refer to with their Taiji image, and what the Taoists call the gorge of mysterious origination. If we take a close look at a bronze acupuncture statue we can easily find out that the point mingmen is not located on top of the right kidney, but right between both kidneys. This certainly proves my point.