Another World Underneath a Drop of Water (Part 3)
The properties of water depend on its source. In ancient China, people knew a lot about water. A saying they often used was, "Water from the Jing River and the Wei River are completely different." It is said that it is easy to identify the water's source at the junction of these two rivers. Water from the Jing River is muddy, while water from the Wei River is clear. Although water from the two rivers amalgamate, the boundary between them is quite clear.
People traveling on the Yangtze River will see a separation of color where water from certain lakes merges with that of the Yangtze River. Different waters do not necessarily mix easily.
The book Jingshi Tongyan documents an interesting story about two famous Chinese writers, Wang Anshi and Su Dongpo. Wang Anshi suffered from Tanhuo (phlegm fire), and drinking tea steeped with water from the Middle Gorge of the Yangtze River was good for his health.
When Wang Anshi heard that Su Dongpo was going back to Sichuan to visit his family, he asked Su Dongpo to bring back some of that water. When Su Dongpo returned, he brought Wang Anshi some water. Wang Anshi immediately boiled this water to brew tea. It took a while for the steeping tea to give off its color.
Wang Anshi asked Su Dongpo, "Is this water from the Middle Gorge?"
Su Dongpo answered, "Why, yes. Of course it is."
Wang Anshi smiled and said, "You lied. Obviously it is from the Lower Gorge."
Su Dongpo was astounded and immediately confessed. "I enjoyed the scenery of the Three Gorges so much that I forgot about your request. It was only when I reached the Lower Gorge that I remembered it." He decided to just get some water there and thought there wouldn't be any difference.
Wang Anshi said, "In Shansui Jingzhu, careful observations are noted about the properties of water in the Yangtze River. The water in the Upper Gorge flows too fast, and the water in the Lower Gorge flows too slowly. The water in the Middle Gorge flows at a leisurely speed. My disease is due to 'medium fire' so I need water from the Middle Gorge to open the bodily channels.
“Using water from the Yangtze River to brew Yangxian tea, the Upper Gorge water imparts a strong taste while the Lower Gorge water makes for a weak taste. The taste of the Middle Gorge water is in between. Today, the color of the tea developed slowly, so I know it is from the Lower Gorge."
Su Dongpo then stood up from the table and offered a formal apology.
When it comes to brewing tea, the ancients understood the differences between flowing and still water. In the book Cha Jing, the author advocated using water from "the mountains, the middle of rivers, and from deep in wells." In addition, it says that water from mountains has to be flowing slowly, and water from rapids cannot be used. In other words, slowly flowing water will produce a nice tea.
Regarding flowing and still water, the famous Chinese doctor Sun Simiao mentioned in his book “Qianjin Fang” that flowing water should be used to steam ginseng, while still water does not work for this purpose.
Taking medicine correctly is a vital issue, and sometimes, apparently trivial things such as the quality of water have an effect on the medicine's efficacy. Flowing water and still water should therefore be used for different purposes.
In the book Mengxi Bitan, the author mentioned that some fish could only live in still water and that they would die if they were transferred to rivers. It also said that a type of carp can live in both flowing and still water, but those that live in flowing water have white marks on their backs and taste delicious, while those that live in still water have black marks on their backs and taste awful.
The Crystal Experiments
Dr. Masaru Emoto, president of the Hado Institute (IHM Corporation) and author of Messages from Water, conducted experiments from which he concluded that factors like pollution, music, and our thoughts can affect how a water crystal is formed. His experiments have produced enthusiastic response among readers.
In Messages from Water, a two-volume collection of photographs from the experiments, several photographs of spring water show that water source also affects the formation of water crystals.
[Photo of Three Branch Spring crystal here]
The picture above shows a crystal of water from Three Branch Spring. The spring is located in Kita Mikoma County of Yamanashi in Japan. The spring splits into three branches at one point, and thus is called Three Branch Spring. There are also three branches at each arm of the crystal.
This photo is a water crystal of Dingdong Spring in a cave in Tenkawa Village in Yoshino County in Nara. This famous spring comes out from the mouth of a cave in the mountain and makes "ding dong ding dong" sounds like a bell. The people living nearby are all spiritual cultivators, and they believe that the spring has mysterious water. From the crystal, we can imagine the mysterious cave and the clear sounds of a bell.
The above pictures are from Hongfa Spring in Kanagawa and Hongfa Spring in Hiroshima, respectively. Although the cities are quite far away, the water crystals from the two springs are amazingly similar to each other. Are they somehow connected?
Legend has it that 1,200 years ago, a famous monk, Master Hongfa, traveled on foot to teach spiritual cultivation. In one place, many people suffered from a strange disease. The monk broke a huge stone and a warm spring came out. The spring water healed those people. After that, many warm springs came out of the ground in places where he had been. They were all named after him.
From these pictures, we can see that a crystal from one drop of water reflects the whole shape of the spring, its sources, and its environmental information. Water is just like a hologram. People who understand laser imaging know that any tiny piece of a hologram will reflect the entirety of the image. This appears to be true for the above water crystals.
How long can such information be stored? Will it change as time passes or through environmental changes? These questions are worth further investigation in the future.
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