- This page is in response to someone (male) who asked about sperm counts. It has reference to sex so move on if you need to.
- There are bunch of angles to sex and Chinese medicine. The main word we look at is Jing (精) and has innumerable connotations especially when combined with other words. For example: it can mean “perfect” as in perfection or in Chinese medicine we say essence. Combined Jingshen means the “spirit” or mind. So big concept. Combined with Zi / seed – 精子 jīngzǐ – means directly sperm.
- This concept of Jing as “essence” in Chinese medicine is very important. There is a concept that you have an innate (born with) amount of jing. Persons with early childhood problems – such as retardation either mental or physically with spinal problems are called “jing deficient”. One hopes to “nourish” jing by living a good life, not having excessive sex, not “burning out” in current lingo. For an old person, the crooked spine, poor eyesight etc… is the decline of jing.
- Yet one can develop and replenish post birth jing to some extent by living a balanced life…
- Chinese medicine and culture gets kind of obsessed with this because its important and often famous doctors were treating emperors and princes with huge numbers of wives they could choose from every night. Also Taoism has a big thing about “preserving” jing through some weird (to many) and sometimes dangerous practices.
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Original art (detail) by Douglas Eisenstark
- Mainstream modern books repeat a formula for guys- I believe its something like this: in your 20’s sex once a day, in your 30’s sex 5 times a week, 40’s 3 times a week, 50’s once a week, 60’s 2 twice a month – 70’s once a month- and the joke goes: 80’s as much as you can get. Something like that.
- The word Jing forms the basis of sperm in translation so yes, there are some people who have sex 3 times a day in their 40’s who can damage themselves for their future. A healthy sex life is better than no sex life of course. It is said that sex with a partner can replenish jing. (But we don’t know if that just is a justification for emperors and princes having sex with young wives.) Certainly, one can say that sex in a loving manner with the healthy exchange of energies is better for both partners.
- In your forties there is a natural decline of jing… and you have to be more careful about how much you “lose” one way or another.
- Theories about women vary. Some say that jing is lost in sex and/or menstruation and certainly childbirth which may be pretty much annually back in the day (Chinese birth control is very ineffective if it was desirable at all).
- My suggestion if someone gets really tired the day(s) after sex then they need to be less frequent and take some supplements such as Cordyceps in the days after.