![Why The Chinese Word Zhi 治 “To Treat” Has A Water Radical?](https://www.sinimed.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/joshua-anderson-tt1F_WDBy0Q-unsplash-766x1024.jpg)
The Chinese word for the verb “to treat/ to cure” [a disease] is Zhi 治. This word also means to govern, to rule or to regulate.
On the left we have three dots representing water, on the right we have the character Tai 台 which means a stage or a platform. From a governmental point of view the leader can rule a platform where water flow freely. Ruling is done by peace and not by horse riding or enforcement.
The word Zhi 治 was originally used in a context of controlling a river to prevent flooding. Later, the meaning of managing the flow of the river led to the use of social behavior/ governing a country or treating a disease.
Why the word Zhi “to treat” has a radical of water?
Because if water is regulated it can nourish all living things, but if there is a disorder of water everything is in danger.
When water is guided according to the circumstances, life can be prolonged and flourished. Treating disease has a similar meaning of regulating the body, of opening the passages, of enabling a free circulation in the Jing Mai system.
That is why in Chinese medicine we listen to the pulse – “the river of the body” that describes how the organs are doing, we measure how the river preforms its task ensuring the essential elements are available for the people to survive. Therefore the word 治 Zhi “to treat” has a water radical in it.
This can be applied not only to treating disease but in any field that needs to be regulated in life.
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Thanks for the information and good luck
Thank you!