's pritnevallitc-energy, front which 
pcoplt.· dt.·rive their sexual vitality. Son1eday we n1ight find a genuine, sate aphrodisiac , one that 
brings instant sexual arousal without unwant ed side effects. Up 
to now. however. all known aphrodisiacs that create the illusion of 
arousal have been found to be hannful. Son1c-such as Spanish 
fly. and perhaps the palace grapes eaten by the otlicial in the story 
recounted carlier-n1ay n1on1entarily heighten "arousal" of the 
sexual organs, but they do not enhance genuine sexual desire. They stin1ulate the body in ways not intended by nature and drain 
it of its lin1ited vitality . and their long-tenn side effects n1ay in­
dude eventual in1potence and even death. The answer docs not lie in a pill that instantly gives people 
overworked sex organs and lat er rewards them with impotence 
and ill health. Perhaps the real aphrodisiac is something that first 
boosts sexual health, then in turn naturally arouses sexual desire. Up to now little has been studied in the modern laboratory , 
not even the long -term side effects of aphrodisiacs as defined in 
the classical sense. The ultimate laboratory is the human body 
itself The ancient Chinese, with their fervent though discreet 
pursuit of sexual vitality , have been at it more or less for several 
thousand years. Perhaps their interest in sexual nutrients can give 
us some hints in our own quest for the perfect aphrodisiacs. Foods and Herbs for Love 
145 11 
Sexual Vitality from 
the Sea of Chi 
The Taoist Fountain o/ Youth? IN THEIR SEARCH into the art of lovemaking , the ancient Chinese 
Taoists went beyond food and herbs, even beyond erotic tech­
niques. The quintessenc e of their Art of the Bedchamber was to 
generate and maxi mize sexual vitality by consciously maneuver­
ing the human body's chi, or life -energy . They did this to enhance 
sexual arousal, control orgasn1, and intensify ecstasy for both 
men and won1en. Was this pure mysticis m? Or can it be reconciled with modern 
science? The answer may con1e n1ore easily fron1 the rnodern bed­
roonl than fron1 the n1odern laboratory. Scientists have, it is true, 
stumbled on son1e intriguing findings in the laboratory, but in 
doing so they luvc con1e up with rnore questions than answers. This chapter, which exarnines Taoist ideas of sexual enhancen1cnt, 
touches on both the n1ystical and the scientific. In rnodern tenns, the Taoists' dri tnaneuver is a fonn of nlind­
body interaction in which the n1ind consciously attempts to direct 
the body. It is intriguing first to survey \Vhat ancient physicians 
and st·xologists tht·orized and practiced, on their tern1s and with 
their rationale, and then to kan1 about discoveries in this area by 
conternporary scientists, East and West, and finally to sec specifi-Srxual Vitality from tire Sea ��(Chi 
cally how the ancients used n1ind-body interaction to boost their 
sexual vitality. The notion that there is powerful, albeit elusive, life-t(Hce in 
the hurnan body has been n1aintained tlrrnly and continuously in 
China for rnore than three thousand years. Chinese traditionalists 
believe that this prirneval force of life can be controlled and nu­
nipulated not only to intensify sexual prowess, but also to rein­
force nurtial arts strength and irnprove health and longevity. According to the ancients, chi is generated and stored in a 
ntysterious reservoir inside the lower abdon1en between the navel 
and the pubic region. This reservoir, the ta11-ticn, or cinnabar field, 
however, is not an anatornical structure that can be found in 
surgery or by autopsy. It is rather an energy field whose role is in­
dicated indirectly and tenuously by many n1edical and health 
practices. Ancient Chinese meditation is aimed directly at the cin­
nabar field, as sugg ested by the colorf ul though inaccurate expres­
sion "contemplating the navel." As long as a person is alive, his chi circulates ceaselessly in his 
body in a network of energy channels called meridians, which are 
linked to specific organs or physiological functions. Dotting these 
meridians like pumping stations are acupoints. The acupoint 
nearest the cinnabar field is called chi-hai (sea of chi) and is be­
lieved a key point connected to the cinnabar field. By selectively manipula ting specific acupoints with needles, 
burning herbs, or fingers, one can sedate or stimulate a particular 
organ or physiological function. According to the ancients, acu­
puncture cured diseases because it regulated the flow of chi and 
restored the balance of Yin and Yang for life-energy. Chinese physicians and acupuncturists, Zen Buddhists, Tao­
ists, kung fu masters, acrobats, dancers, and sexologists all have 
considered the cinnabar field of supreme significance in their re­
spective domains. They use various forms of physical exercise and 
mental therapy to cultivate and train it. CHI -KUNG 
Among the various Chinese practices to manipulate life-energy, 
the most potent is chi- kun g, or qi-,gotlJ! (life-energy skill), a com­
bination of meditation and diaphragm breathing that consciously Cot� temporary 
acupututure chart THE ART OF THE BE DCHAM BER 
harnesses vital energy. The practitioner sits on a stiff chair or in 
the lotus position on the floor, or stands, breathing slowly, while 
directing his mind on the circulation of life-energy to and from 
the cinnabar field. This becon1es more complex a·s the practi­
tioner progresses through half a dozen stages, including reverse 
diaphragm breathing, throat breathing, rectal breathing, and the 
most advanced, cinnabar field breathing. The catatonic appearance of chi-kung practitioners belies the 
powerful results of this purely internal exercise. Usually the first 
noticeable result is improved digestion; the next, enhanced sexual 
vitality; and finally, blooming health. The Chinese consider chi­
kung a rejuvenation exercise because it is believed to energize 
internal organs and thus to aid digestion, facilitate blood circula­
tion, and stimulate hormone secretion. It is a potent exercise-so 
potent that those practicing more advanced stages rnust be trained 
by a chi-kun .._� master to avoid possible serious injury. In recent years, Chinese scientists have been conducting ex­
periments on chi-kun g that border on the mystical. By consciousl y 
directing their chi toward specific acupoints of patients, medical 
technicians trained in chi- kun g have been successfully anesthetiz­
ing patients for thyroid and stomach surgery-without using 
drugs, acupuncture, or even human touch. Physicians with the 
proper training are popular in China for chi-krm .� treatments in 
which they direct their energy at patients, without touching thent, 
to cure certain ailments. How such seemingly outlandi sh prac­
tices are appraised by sotne scientists will be discussed later in this 
chapter. Chi-krm .� is the basis of all higher tonns of Chinl·se tnartial 
arts. Tai chi chuan (great ultin1ate fist) is a ntind-body exercise 
very popular for health and for self-defense. Its graceful, ball etlik e 
ntovctnents reinf(.lfce the flo\v of chi, so that when the practitioner 
docs strike, the blow can bl· dev astating . It also epitotnizes the 
Taoist philosophy of softness con qul·ring rigid ity: one uses the 
opponl ·nt's own force to attack hint. Japanese judo and jujitsu are 
sintplitil·d sdf:.dd(:nse systen1s derived front tai chi chuan. An esotl ·ric branch of tnartial arts kno\vn as tit'11-hs ud1 (point­
ing acup oin ts) is a lil·adly art in \vhich a kung fu fighter can tent­
por arily paralyzl'. or rl·ndcr unconscious. or even kill an opponent 
by pressing a spccit ic vulnerable acupoint with a tinge r whik· di­
recting thl· chi front his tdtl-tictl to his tingcr. These paralysis and St·xr4a l Vitality from the Sea of Chi 
death points arc carefully catalogue d in kung fu n1anuals. It is be­
lieved that sorne rnartial arts n1astcrs in China can still practice 
ticu-hsueh. MIND OVER Bonv ? Can a person really direct his o\vn rnind to control son1c of his 
bodily functions? Curiously. quite a tcw mystical-sounding an­
cient n1ind-body practices arc being contirmed in the modern 
laboratory, either directly or indirectly. A few examples arc en­
lightening. In recent centuries, Western scientists have sharply separated 
the body from the mind. During much of this century, the physi­
cian took care of the body, and the psychologist took care of the 
mind. Each kept to his own territory, and neither realized that 
what was happening in his own realm could strongly affect what 
was happening in the other. Physicians have traditionally consid­
ered the human body like a machine, functioning mechanical ly, 
with the main causes of disease as bacteria, viruses, and other out­
side agents. This paradigm is changing. For some decades physicians have 
known that a few diseases are psychosomatic (affected by the 
mind), but their scope was thought to be limited. Recent re­
search, however, indicates that at least ninety percent of diseases 
are affected by the patient's mind. The most exciting development in contemporary health sci­
ences is the growing recognition of mind-body interaction. Since 
the 1 96os, American scientists have become increasingly inter­
ested in a phenomenon called biofeedback. Monitoring it in­
volves hooking a person to an array of electronic devices that 
record brain waves and physiological condition, then feed the in­
formation back to him. The electrical potential of the human brain varies according 
to different mental states, as is shown clearly by electroenceph­
alography. Scientists have found four principal types of brain 
waves: alpha (during deep relaxation), beta (during awake and 
alert states), theta (while dreaming), and delta (in deep sleep, or 
while under anesthesia) . Biofeedback instruments enable a per­
son to keep himself in profound relaxation, when his brain emits 
149 mainly alpha waves. He can watch the mon itoring instru me nts 
and, with a little practice, keep himsd f on alpha waves for long 
stretches of time. It has been found that while in the alph a state one can con­
sciously control the autonomic nervous systen1, wh ich regul ates 
the normally automatic functioning of internal organs. Th is 1neans 
that with the help of biofeedback, a person can learn to control or 
at least influence his normally involuntary functions such as 
heartbeat, blood pressure, and skin teinperature. Patients on bio­
feedback programs have been able to "think" their way out of the 
syn1ptoms of many ailments, including migraine headaches, ir­
regular heartbeat , and high blood pressure. Biofeedback re­
searchers believe that people who have mastered the alpha state 
can keep in good physical health with little medicine. The findings on biofeedback, gathered from laboratories all 
over the United States and elsewhere, fly in the face of orthodox 
physiology, which claims that we cannot control our autonomic 
nervous system voluntarily. The evidence to the contrary was 
quite a discovery, but was it really? For many centuries Chinese 
Taoists, Chinese and Japanese Zen Buddhists, Tibetan lamas, and 
Indian yogis have been exer cising extraordinary mental control 
over their bodies through transcendental meditation, without 
using any instruments. As a matter of fact, the techniques of biofeedback were in­
vented after a Japanese scientist, intrigued by the remarkable 
mental state of Zen meditators, monitored their brain waves. As 
has been pointed out, Zen Buddhism originated in China, with 
its meditative practice inspired by Taoism. For thousands of years 
Chinese Taoists and Zen Buddhists have been using meditation as 
a mind-body means to improve their health and longevity. The firm link between the mind and the body has been estab­
lished further by contemporary scientists. In the 1980s a new 
science was born: psychoneuroimmunology, which studies the 
interplay an1ong the mind, the nervous system, and the immune 
system. Among its findings are that the mind and body are in 
constant dialogue. The n1any billions of neurons (nerve cells) of 
the human brain arc endlessly whispering and shouting to each 
other, and to cells elsewher e in the body. Our emotions can cause 
the brain to produce any of the fifty known neuropeptides, or 
brain chemicals. Sexual Vitality from the Sea ofChi 
Numerous laboratory experiments have shown that when a 
person becomes depressed or elated, angry or loving, when he is 
stressed or relaxed, when he meditates or prays, his brain releases 
specific neuropeptides into the bloodstream. These signal to 
defense forces in his immune system, such as scavenger macro­
phages and defensive "killer cells," and may strengthen or weaken 
his immune system. Spontaneous remissions from a fatal disease 
may be the work of the mind through neuropeptides. A person's 
health may be subtly, or even powerfully, affected. The ancient 
Chinese believed firmly that the body-mind approach could 
bring good health and longevity. Modern scientists are proving what Eastern mystics always 
believed: The mind is a powerful thing. For many centuries the 
ancient Chinese have advocated the use of the mind to control, 
discipline, and nurture the body for various purposes. In tradi­
tional China the mind-body approach was popular and highly re­
spected. Physicians emphasized mental hygiene and moderation 
in lifestyle as a means to good health. Philosophers preached the 
tranquility of the heart and the cultivation of the mind. Taoists 
and Zen Buddhists used meditation and deep breathing to elevate 
their consciousness and enrich their life-force. Martial arts mas­
ters have performed incredible ph ysical feats through intense men­
tal concentration. These feats, according to the ancient Chinese, 
were manifestations of all-important chi. ExPERIMENTS ON CHI 
Dir ect evidence of chi was collected in the late 1970s by Chi nese 
scien tists in Hong Kong. Researchers conducted experiments on 
two groups of people engaged in the conscious manipulation of 
life-force. The first group includ ed Chinese physicians who treated 
pati ents with men ta] con centr ation of thei r chi, without touc hing 
their patients. The secon d group con sisted of kung fu masters 
who em ployed their chi to perf orm pow erful feats of intern al 
strength. The fir�t grc,up was made up of eight teams, each consisting 
of a physician and a patient. I )uring the physi cians' treatments, 
for every one of thl· teams, the tem per atu re of the tip of the physi­
cian \ nose lowered a dc:g rcc or two, wluk that of the patient was THE ART OF TH E BEDCHAMBER 
raised correspondingly. This temperature shift suggested an ex­
change of energy between physician and patient, and hinted at a 
flow of some form of energy from physician to patient. The find­
ings were confirmed and measured by infrared instruments. The same instruments, when employed to detect energy from 
the martial arts experts, failed to measure any change in the case of 
a practitioner of chi-kung. Instead, scientists detected that one acu­
point between his eyebrows was sending out an electrical charge 
measured at I X Io-14 coulomb . Such an electrical charge has 
never been detected in ordinary people. Another martial artist 
was found to give off a magnetic force measured at I o to I 5 
gausses, several hundred times that of the highest known emana­
tion from a norn1al person. The researchers were puzzled that the energy generated by the 
test groups appeared sometimes as heat and other times as elec­
tromagnetic waves. These detectable but unexplained phenom­
ena brought the scientists engaging in the research to coin the 
term "human body field"; this force field of the human body has 
yet to be explained by modern science. Whether one calls it ema­
nation, bioplasma, or life-force, it seems that the ancient Taoist 
concept of chi is not all hot air. CHI AND SEXUALITY 
Almost all the classics and manuals of the ancient Art of the Bed­
chamber directly advocate or subtly suggest the role of chi in 
sexual activities, the erotic and health value of certain bodily se­
cretions, the benefits of physical contact and sitnple proxin1ity 
between opp osite sexes. Although son1e of these concepts were 
cloaked in ancient super stition and the explanations couched in 
metaphysic a l tt.·rnls, the basic appr oach scen1s quite valid to the 
n1odern obst.·rver. In t:Kt, during the past few decades, medical 
scit. 'ntists and sexologists have, through expcrin1ents and tests, 
k·nt indirect support to son1c concepts of ancient Taoist sexology. Today we know that sex honnoncs arc essential to sexual ac­
tiviti es, which in turn sti tnulatc and increase the secretion of sex 
honn ones. Scientists arc awa rt.' that we secr ete tnany enz yn1cs and 
and honno nes, in varying quantities . Perhaps the production of 
these substances in the body can be increased or decreased not by Sexual Vitality from the Sea of Chi 
taking harsh chernical drugs but through the ingestion of food 
and herbs. and even n1ore through physical and mental therapy. including sexual activity. Continuing sexual activity in n1iddlc and 
old age appears crucial in keeping people healthy and youthful. In light of the latest scientitlc findings. it is worthwhile to 
look at son1e points raised by ancient Chint•se physicians and sex­
ologists. As has been n1entioned. they believed that certain body 
fluids contained ingredients of lite essence. and they reconunended 
a generous exchange of fluids between sex partners. In the Art of 
the Three Peaks. for instance. the tnale was advised to drink or ab­
sorb the saliva. tnilk. and vaginal juices of a fen1ale sex partner. Won1en likewise were advised to reap the benefits of male saliva 
and genital emissions. Taoist life-nurture experts, incidentally. prescribed several ex­
ercises by which a person can increase the secretion of his own 
saliva, and then swallow it as a "tonic." The one to two quarts of 
saliva we secrete each day not only help digestion, enhance the 
taste sensation, and kill bacteria, but also guard teeth against de­
cay and con1bat cancer-causing agents. Three Japanese scientists 
recently isolated from saliva a sex hormone that is abundant in the 
young; they believe it may help retard aging. A male secretion, semen, is rich in protein and contains many 
chemical substances, some of which benefit a woman's ovaries as 
water nurtures Rowers. Since this effect lasts four or five months, 
biologically speaking, it might suggest that semen should "irri­
gate" female sexual organs at least once every four or five months; 
otherwise her organs will slowly atrophy, and she will age faster. Modern researchers have found that wotnen who have sex weekly 
are more regular in their menstrual cycles than those who have it 
less frequently or not at all. It was the Taoist belief in the abundance 
of life essence in sexual fluids that led Empress Chia, mentioned 
earlier, to nourish herself with cocktails of semen collected from 
a stable of young men. TH E ExcHANG E OF LIFE-EN ERGY 
Ancient Chinese beliefs about sex, health, and longevity involved 
not only the exchange of body fluids but also the even n1ore 
n1ystical interaction of chi between individuals . The custom of 
153 polygan1y enabled affluent old men to have several young wives 
and concubines-an undesirable sexist practice, it is true, whose 
biological consequences should nevertheless be separated from its 
ethical implications. Sharing the vital energy of young women, it 
was believed, gave new life to hopeful elders. Such "rejuvenation" 
was achieved through copulation and sometimes mere physical 
contact, even proximity. So convinced of the interaction of chi 
between people are many elderly Chinese that they decline to 
sleep in the same bed with their very young grandchildren, be­
cause they believe they will sap the children's life-energy. Conventional Western knowledge of physiology might dis­
miss such a belief as simply an old wives' talc from an ancient 
culture. Some of the latest findings of modern biochemists and 
endocrinologists, however, should make us hesitate to pass judg­
ment that quickly. Both men and women secrete the male hormone testosterone 
and the female hormone estrogen, although in different quan­
tities. It is the former that fires both men and women with sexual 
desire. The level of testoster one in individuals fluctuates in daily 
and seasonal cycles. A team at the University of Pennsylvania studied the cycles of 
testosterone and sexual activity in eleven young n1arried couples 
and thirty older married couples. The researchers found that each 
partner had con1e to adjust his or her hormonal cycle so that the 
sexual desires and activities of each partner becatne synchronized. Even more fascinating is another experitnent, conducted by the 
Monell Chen1ical Senses Center in Philadelphia. The experitnent 
showed that won 1en who n1enstruated irregularly becan1e regular 
when exposed to nulc underann odor (satnples were attached 
to their upper lips and renewed regular ly) t(1r a period of three 
tnonths. In son1e cases physical con tact nuy not even be necessary. Scientists at the Sonot na State Hospit al Brain Behavior Research 
Center in Calit 'lHnia found that fcnule roon1nutes in college ar-.... 
rived each t:1ll with their O\Vtl individual n1enstrual cycles. At the 
l'tH.i of an academic year, however , cycles often had beconH.' syn­
chronized. Tests indicttcd that the young wotncn gave off odo r 
signals to each other and thus their tlll. 'nstrual cycks began to co­
incide. Scx14cll Vita/it)' frwu tllf' St'cl ,�f Chi 
Through intinute contact or even proximity. then . and 
\vhether through exchange of body fluids . odor. or o ther signals. two individuals, especia lly of oppositl' sexes. nuy affect one an­
other physically. Such n1utual influences tend to bl·nd it both p.u­
ties physiologically, and probably also tnentally and emotion ally. But the benefits nuy not be equal if there is a large gap in age or 
health bet\Vl'l'n the parties. This is sugges ted by a study con­
ducted at the University of l)klahonu. Using data frmn the U.S. 
Census Bureau and a national n1ortal ity survey, the study showed 
that n1en between the ages of fifty and seventy-nine with n1uch 
younger wives had a death rate thirteen percent below average, 
while the dea th rate of those tnarried to older wor nen was twenty 
percent higher. This analysis lends support, albeit indirectly, to the ancient 
Taoist belief in the interaction of chi between two individuals: 
The person with n1ore abundant life-force may boost the rela­
tively lower life-force of the other. In so doing, the individual's 
own life-force is of necessity decreased to a certain extent. This 
flow of vital energy seen1s to be affirmed by recent experiments 
on chi. The analysis of individuals married to much older spouses 
gives only part of the picture, however. On the basis of Taoist be­
liefs, people married to much older mates should fare better than 
people who are not married at all. This is due to the so-called har­
monizing of Yin and Yang, which in modern terms corresponds 
to the biological and psychological benefits derived from the sex­
ual stimulation enjoyed between spouses. SEXUAL EXERCISES 
In keeping with their concept of chi, ancient Chinese Taoists advo­
cated therapy and a bewildering number of mind-body exercises 
for better sex and better health. Some of these look dubious, 
while others are quite rational. They believed, for example, that 
during urination, hair follicles and capillaries were utterly vulner­
able to outside influence. When a man urinated, he should grit his 
teeth and stand on tiptoe to guard hin1sclf against outside harm; a 
woman should do the same while squatting or sitting. This pro­
tective maneuver would not only guard a person's health but also 
I) 5 TH E ART OF THE BEDCHA MBE R 
preserve his or her sexual strength. A man could strengthen his 
genitals by alternately warming and chilling his scrotum in a 
bathtub. Traditional Chinese physicians often check their male pa­
tients' big toes. Full and firm big toes indicate sound health. If it is 
pressed, the tip of the toe normally bounces back; if it does not 
spring back, but stays like a partially deflated ball, it means a 
problem not only of health but also of potency. A man suffering 
from impotence can be helped by massaging the big toes, which 
are linked by meridians to his glans. Both men and women can benefit from regularly exercising 
the pubococcygeal muscles, those of the pubis and coccyx. A 
woman can activate her vagina indirectly, and thus bring her part­
ner to orgasm without moving her body; she also can induce in­
tense orgasms in herself A man well trained in the same exercise 
can will an erection, vivify his organ, and give great pleasure to 
his bedmate. Such exercises are often euphemisti cally called lwi­
chun (recapture the spring; "spring" in classical Chinese implies 
youthfulness and sexual vigor). Several simple exercises aiming at 
enhancing sexual vitality are described in chapter 1 3. Both tai chi chuan and chi- kun g are used for health and sex­
uality. The latter has been practiced in China for more than three 
thousand years, by Taoists, Buddhists, and Confucians. Specially 
geared to sexuality arc chi exercises of the southern Taoist school, 
which rely on pluck-and- nurture techniques, and the eastern Tao­
ist school, which ain1 at dual training for shared pleasure. After diligent and sufficient training. a chi-krmg practitioner 
of either sex often discovers that sexual arousal is heightened and 
quickened, and sexuJl vigor greJtly increased. Anecdotes testify 
to the disappear ance or dirninution of such problcn1s as irnpo­
tencc, pren1ature ejaculation , and frigidity. And rnany n1en clain1 
to have achieved total orgasrn control; if required, they could 
carry on sexual intercourse as long as they want without ernitting. ()f course, dogged endurJnce tor a rnan dot. 's not necessarily 
rnean sexual pleasure t"lH his partner, but it is useful if net.·ded. Many of the arnorous ernpcrors of the past learned thest.' JS­
pects of the Art of Bl·lkharnber, to their ddight. And quite a few 
ancient Chincsl' royal wonll 'll were known atkpts of n1ind-body 
cont rol for sexual pkasurc. Two an1ong then1 were Chao Fci-yi, 
who successfully nusqucraded Js a virgin for three nig hts for the Sexu al Vitality from the Sea of Chi 
Han emperor Cheng, and Hsia Chi, the femme fatale whose lov­
ers flaunted her underwear in the royal court. By devotion to chi­
kung practices such as contracting the rectum while breathing in, 
and mentally willing the chi to sink into the sea of chi and the cin­
nabar field for regeneration and enrichment, they and others 
reaped bountiful rewards in bed. For sexual purposes, chi also can be manipulated externally 
with various techniques. Ancient Chinese erotic massage, for 
example, combines traditional therapeutic massage with acu­
pressure, to treat frigidity and impotence, strengthen sexual 
stamina, or arouse sexual desire. The theories of chi and acu­
pressure are intriguing. The ear, for instance, is said to have 120 
acupoints. Theoretically, a lazy person can avoid all those ex­
hausting gymnastics and still enjoy the benefits of whole-body 
exercises by simply pressing and massaging specific points on 
his ear. By massaging the top and middle cavities and the front wall of 
the ear canal with a finger daily, one can strengthen sexual vitality. A woman who massages her breasts daily stimulates production 
of sex hormones, thus heightening her sexuality and facilitating 
her milk production if she is nursing. Massaging the groin at the 
juncture of the lower abdomen and thighs is a recommended 
mind-body sexual therapy. Male masturbation, however, has al­
ways been discouraged in Chinese sexology, because of the loss of 
semen. There is yet another esoteric but effective practice of manip­
ulating chi for sexual purposes. A number of acupoints, when 
stimulated in the proper way, can effectively treat impotence, 
premature ejaculation , insufficient erection, frigidity, menstrual 
irregularity, and other dysfunctions . Most of these points are in­
volved also in strengthening sexual stamina and arousing desire. These sexually sensitive areas might be termed "sex points," 
or better, "love points." Some of them are in the so-called erog­
enous zones, while others arc not; most are on the lower torso and 
legs. The mor e effectiv e ones, including the sea of chi, are imtne­
diatdy adjacent to the cinn abar field. When they arc stimulated 
with adroit acu pressu re and massa ge as part of love-play, a con­
summat e bedch amb er artist can do wonders with these love points. These arc not simple push- butt ons of lust, however: if some of 
the love poi nts arc pressed too heavily, or jabbed t(lrn:fully. scri-
,,� THE ART OF THE BE DCHAM BER 
ous injury or even death may result. Specific instructions on love 
points are given in chapter 15. All ancient Chinese mind-body practices to invigorate sex ­
uality are intitnately linked to the life-energy stored in the myste­
rious cinnabar field and the elusive sea of chi. This inner region of 
the lower torso is the fountainhead of life-force which benefits 
health and longevity in general, and sexual vitality in particular. Ancient Chinese physicians and sexologists emphasized the im­
portance of health tonics and mind-body practices. They believed 
they had found the Fountain of Youth somewhere in the cinnabar 
field. Whether this was wishful thinking or not remains to be 
s�n. Either way, in the spirit of scientific experiment, it is enjoy­
able to contemplate the navel and exchange chi with a beloved 
partner in a bedroom. Part Three 
AN CIE N T SEC RETS 
FOR MODE RN LOVERS 
THE COLORFUL SEXUAL MANNERS AND MORE S of a bygone age and 
the mystique of the ancient sexology classics deserve more than 
casual attention. Their universal themes may contain valuable hints 
for modern men and women. It should be noted that many of the 
"revolutionary" ideas of contemporary sexologists, including 
Masters and Johnson-so different from the traditional ones in 
the West only decades ago-appear to echo some of the tenets ad­
vocated by ancient Taoists. The relentless pursuit of sexual vitality in ancient China was 
inspired by the Taoist belief in physical itnmortality, and sustained 
by a pragmatic desire to satisfy all the spouses of a polygan1ous 
159 AN CIENT SECR ETS FO R MODERN LO VERS 
husband. These are not the goals of our times. The Art of the 
Bedchamber does, however, have a message for us. To nurture our 
life-energy and sexual chi with certain foods and herbs, to train 
our sexual muscles and nerves with exercise and therapy, and to 
use n1ind-body erotic techniques to make sexual unions benefi­
cial and pleasurable: these purposes and practices are universal 
and timeless. Modern lovers with a monogamous lifestyle can spice up their 
sex life immensely if they borrow some of the erotic techniques 
taught by the Taoists. These ancient secrets can be used directly or 
modified for one's own lifestyle. They need no proof in the mod­
ern laboratory. To sophisticated modern lovers, every bedroom is 
a laboratory for love. 12 
The Mystic Master 
of the Grotto, 
and Masters and Johnson 
Where Ancient Taoists 
and Modern Sexologists Meet 
SOME OF THE LATE ST THEORIE S of modern sexologists agree with 
those propounded by Chinese Taoists one to two thousand years 
ago. This is all the 1nore ren1arkable when we compare the evolu­
tion of the two groups. The Taoists advanced their theories in a 
tolerant milieu for a thousand years; then they were swept away 
by the nco-Confucian tidal wave which covers China to this day. In the West, early sexologists had to contend with the Victorian 
social-religious attitude, which was extremely uneasy about hu­
man sexuality. Only in recent decades have sexologists been able 
to conduct their studies with relatively n1ore science and less so­
cial pressure. It is enlightening to view the similarities and differences be­
tween the observations of the ancients and those of the moderns. The basic pren1ise of the Taoists was that good sex pron1otes 
health and lon gev ity. Regular and enjoyable sexual activiti es hring 
health and long life to men and wom en. The 'T.1oists advocated the 
golden 1nean, frowning on both celibacy and sexual excess. Early 
I(, I ... N ( · I I' N l S f. ( R I' I S I I I R M I I I I I' R N I (I V t: f� S 
Taoists may have linked sex to immortality, and later pluck-and­
nur ture extremists may have been obsessed with one partner 's ex­
trac ting orgasmic secr etions from the other without ejaculating, 
but mainstream Taoists advoca ted another golden mean �ex for 
health, youthfulness, and longevity. Thei r intuiti ve attitude ap­
pears to be confirmed by the latest findings of modern scientists 
about the link between sex on the one hand and health, aging, and 
longevity on the other. Admittedly, there is little direct laboratory proof, but proliferat­
ing indirect evidence has shown a strong correlation between sex 
and healthy longevity. Increasing numbers of sexologists and ger­
ontologists today are aware of such a correlation. SEX AND AGING 
In I635, when the English longevity champion Thomas Parr died 
at the reputed age of I 52, the celebrated English surgeon William 
Harvey performed an autopsy on him. Harvey reported that Parr 
had unusually heavy, well-developed testicles for his age. The 
twentieth-century Swiss gerontologist Paul Niehans had advo­
cated that the secretions of endocrine glands, especially the gonads 
(sexual glands), were related to longevity. Niehans claimed that 
Parr's long life was due to his unusually abundant and durable 
genital secretions from his oversized testicles. Serge Voronoff, a Russian aristocrat, was physician to the 
Egyptian khedive early in this century. The large harem in the royal 
palace was .guarded by eunuchs, and Voronoff reported that these 
unfortunate castrates as a rule were quite sickly and aged rapidly. None of them was known for longevity or creative achievement. Voronoff successfully transplanted testicular tissue of young 
animals, some rams and a bull, to the testicles of older creatures of 
the same species, and found apparent rejuvenation. By the I 920s 
he was ready to attempt human testicular transplants. Since for le­
gal and ethical reasons he could not obtain hun1an tissue, he tried 
to graft testicula� tissue from chimpanzees on men. Today we 
know why he failed, as transplantation between different species 
without an effective immunity-suppressing drug does not work. A man begins to grow old once he reaches his twenties. His 
secretion of testosterone, the principal male sex hormone, de­
clines gradually -but not abruptly-throughout his life. A man ages, and his SL'Xual power wanes steadily yet gradual ly. In con­
trast, a wotnan's secr etio n of estrogen, the principal tl.·male sex 
honnone, dL·dines abruptly during tnenopausc, when tnenstrua­
tion ceases. ShL· experiences a host of drarnatic physiological and 
psychological chang es at n1enopause. The abrupt decr ease of es­
trogen production causc·s her ovaries to atrophy , her vaginal lubri­
cation to dry up. and her arteries to harden-in short, she ages 
t:1ster than a nun. Such conditions in a won1an, if severe, can be rcn1cdied with 
estrogen horr none therapy . Sirnilarly, a nun can be "rejuvenated" 
with chernically synthesi zed testosterone horn1one. But hormone 
ther apy disc ourages the production of natural hormones; the 
body' s feedba ck rnechanisn1 n1akcs the glands "lazy," and once 
horn1one therapy stops. the body's natural production of hor­
n1ones will be even less than before. Persistent hormone therapy. son1e fear, increases the chances of cancer. The production of sex hormon es can be increased and main­
tained at a higher level naturally . As was pointed out earlier, in 
recent years an increasing amount of evidence has shown that sex­
ual activity among healt hy men and women tends to boost the 
secretion of sex hormone s as well as other substances, such as beta­
endorp hine, the hormone responsib le for "runner's high" and 
other euphoric feelings. An experiment conducted at the famed 
Max Planck Institute in Munich in 1974 showed that even visual 
arousal in the form of a sex movie can raise the level of testoster­
one in n1ale test subjects. All these findings suggest that various forms of sexual arousal, 
ranging from visual stin1ulation to sexual int ercourse, tend to en­
courage the production of sex hormones, which improves sexual 
stamina and probably helps keep people more youthful and live 
longer. Here modern sexologists and gerontologists have had an 
unexpected encounter with ancient Taoists. SEX AND ENJOYME NT 
Whether the goal of sex is procreation only or pleasure depends 
on deeply entrenched religious and social attitudes in each cul­
ture. Althoug h the idea that the sole purpose of sex is to propagate 
the human race may seen1 a medieval concept few people now be­
lieve, it survives in some cultures. The idea that sex itself is in1-AN CIENT SECRE TS FO R MODERN LOV E RS 
moral and dirty lurks within certain segments of Western society, 
and perhaps in the subconscious of many who consider them­
selves sexually liberated. For many years this attitude toward sex, 
found often in the United States, has amazed and amused people 
from other lands. While Hollywood and Madison Avenue end­
lessly dish out titillating and suggestive images of voluptuous­
ness, the laws of some states treat any sexual activity other than 
conventional heterosexual intercourse as a crime. These laws, 
which vary somewhat from state to state, have labeled sodomy­
an umbrella term covering anal intercourse and genital kissing-a 
crime even in the marital bed. In certain states, technically it is un­
lawful for a husband to kiss his wife on Sundays. In spite of such laws and the attitudes behind them, however, 
many Americans have been practicing what they do not preach. They have experimented and diversified their sexual practices, al­
beit not with the rel ish of the French or ancient Chinese. This ex­
perimentation was revealed not long after World War II by the 
pioneering sexologist Alfred Kinsey, director of the Institute for 
Sex Research at Indiana University. His findings, based on in­
terviews with some five thousand men and an equal number of 
women, disconcerted . many when they were published. He re­
ported that many Americans practiced masturbation and homo­
sexuality, had premarital and extramarital relations, and engaged 
in other sexual activities then consider ed shocking. One of his 
more interesting findings was that heavy petting, oral sex, and 
prolonged foreplay were all comn1on atnong college-educated and 
high-income respondents, whereas those on the lower rungs of 
the education and incon1e ladders tended to skip such prelimin­
aries and go directly to intercourse. Kinsey stirred up a furor. He 
was denounced by church leaders, even n1ctnbcrs of the press, as 
offensive, an1oral, and antifatnily. The n1on1entun1 created by Kinsey paved the way for the cele­
brated tcan1 of Willian 1 Masters and Virginia Johnson , with their 
revolutionary approach to sexology . Their adtnittedly controver­
sial techniques of studying sex in the laboratory shed tnuch light 
on hitherto murky areas of hun1an sexuality, at least fron1 the 
physiological angle. The ancient Chinese considered food and sex as essentials to 
life; by thentsclves they were neither n1oral nor in11noral. Procrea­
tion was etnphasized because of the need for heirs, but there were Tlrt' AI)'Siic Almtcr ��r tire Grtltto, and A1tHias mrd Jolmson 
still n1any ways to increase enjoyntent in bed, just as there were 
many ways to increase enjoyn1ent at the table. Modern Western 
attitudes abou t sex arc in this respect not so diffC..·rcnt front ancien t 
Eastern attitudes. Early Western sexologists did not believe that won 1en enjoyed 
sex. Sir Williat n Aston, a prorn inent English Victorian physician 
and the author of severa l books on sexology. wrote: "The ntajor­
ity of wonten (happily tor thcnt) are not very n1uch troubled with 
sexual feeling of any kind .... A rnodest wontan scldon1 desires 
any sexual gratitication." He called the attribution of sexual feel­
ing to a wotnan a "vile aspersion." Even the Gennan psychiatrist 
Richard von Krafft-Ebing. considered the founder of modern 
sexology. says in his Psychopathia Sexual is ( 1 886) that the sexual 
desire of a normal won1an was srnall; if it were not, "the whole 
world would becorne a brothel." This Victorian dogtna was shattered by Sigmund Freud, fa­
ther of psychoanalysis, who boldly disagreed with the idea that 
"good" won1en had no sexual desire. More recent sexologists, in­
cluding Kinsey and Masters and Johnson, have listed many symp­
tonls of female sexual manifestatio ns before and during coitus. These include sexual flush, nipple erection, breast engorgement, 
muscular contractions , hyperventilation, increased heartbeat, el­
evated blood pressure, sweating, and lubrication of the vagina. These symptoms were observed and recorded more than a 
thousand years ago as the Arcane Maid's Nine Essences; as the El­
enlental Maid's Five Desires, Five Sytnptoms, and Ten Move­
ments; and as the manifestations described by the Mystic Master 
of the Grotto, all cited in earlier chapters. Ancient sexologists 
were convinced of the existence of fen1ale sexual desire and con­
sequently devised bedroom techniques for men to satisfy women 
at every sexual union. After all, some of these sexologists were 
women; they did not need men to tell them whether won1en had 
any sexual desire. LovE -PLAY 
Love-play includes a variety of well-known and little-known sex­
ual practices. It has been accidentally discovered, practiced, and 
refined by lovers from time to time here, there, and everywhere. Some never engage in such foreplay because they consider it taboo .\ N l. I 1-' N T S f- < . R f' l S I < ) R M ( ) I> 1: R N I ( ) V 1: N \ 
166 on religious or moral grounds. ( )thers feel the �arne, hut engage 
in it anyway-and enjoy the forbidden fruit. Still others do not 
practice it, out of ignorance or unin ug inativ e sex uality. Modern sexology has evolved consider ably from K rafft-Ebing, 
who lumped sexual deviation with sexual crin1c, to Masters and 
Johnson, who recommend sex play to treat impotence and other 
sexual dysfunctions that come between partners. Today's sexolo­
gists and sex therapists place increasing importance on sex play as 
part of healthy sexual union. Masters and Johnson introduced "sensate focus exercises"­
carefully regulated, progressive love-play designed to arouse the 
sexual desire of each partner. An important feature of their ther­
apy for the male's temporary impotence is the nondemanding na­
ture of the exercise. No matter how aroused partners are, they are 
not to have intercourse until the man's erections have become reg­
ular and reliable. This assuages the male fear of performance, the 
principal cause of this form of impotence. Masters and Johnson chan ged the term "foreplay," which has 
been used popularly , to "noncoital sex play." As they and their 
cowriter, Robert Kolodny, explain in Masters and Johnson on Sex 
and Human Lovin g, such activities need not precede actual inter­
course. Sex play can be enjoyed before, during, or after coitus­
or even without it. This last poss ibility is indicated by a recent 
American poll in which many women responded that they found 
love-play essential in sex, and in many cases even preferable to in­
tercourse. While today's sexologists' ideas on love-play might have 
shocked early Western sexologists, they are in broad agreement 
with the teachings Taoist sexologists propounded centuries ago. The ancients put great emphasis on love-play, and came up with 
various means to harmonize the Yin and Yang embodied in the 
partners. This is evident in the graphic instructions in many an 
ancient sexology classic. As is stated explicitly at the opening of 
The Class ic of the Elemental Ma id, sex play was not only pleasurable 
by itself, but essential to avoid sexual dysfunction. SEXUAL Musc LEs 
In the 1940s, the gynecologist Arnold Kegel introduced a revolu­
tionary treatment for urinary stress incontinence (inability to con-trol urine) in his patients. Instead of pert'ilnning surgery, as was 
traditional. he taught the wonten to strengthen their puboror­
cygeus tnusdcs with exercise. These tnuscles, tound betwet·n the 
pubic bone and the coccyx, arc controlled in a cotnplex nunnt•r by 
the pudendal nerve, which is linked to the gt·nitals, and the pdvic 
nerve, which is linked to tht· uterus (the prostate in tnen) and the 
bladder. The exercise, which involvt·d contraction of the n1uscles, 
not only helped Kegel's patients control urination, but as a sur­
prise bonus enabled son1e of then1 to have orgasn1 for the first 
titne in their lives. Sexologists Be verly Whipple and John Perry 
claimed in 1980 that their research confirmed that this exercise, 
v.rhen done by both male and fetnale partners, greatly enhanced 
their sex lives, improving n1ale erection and female orgasmic ca­
paCity. How "revolutionary " was this discovery? For more than ten 
centuries, adherents of the Art of the Bedchamber had been ex­
ercising their genital area, including the pubococcygeus muscles, 
to enhance their sex lives. FEMALE ORGASM 
In the West, until the mid-twentieth century, many people still 
believed the Victorian myth that women were neither interested 
in nor capable of orgasm. Even some physicians and medical sci­
entists shared this belief Contempo rary sexologists, including 
Kinsey and Masters and Johnson, have found that women can 
have orgasm, and multiple orgasms. In the politically more authoritarian but sexually less inhib­
ited East, female orgasm has been taken for granted for centuries ; 
indeed, earnest efforts to bring it about resulted in the Taoist Art 
of the Bedchamber. As we have seen, the art revolves around the 
major technique of male orgasmic brinkmanship; such control by 
the male is necessary because, according to the Taoists, the female 
is the stronger sex. Since the male is temporarily incapacitate d by 
orgasmic ejaculations, and the female can "come, and come again," 
brinkmanship is essential to buttress male endurance, at least un­
til the female "rejoices," and at most so she can have repeated 
orgasms. AN CIENT SECRE TS FOR MODERN LOVERS 
MALE ORGASM AND EJACUL ATION 
There has been a considerable difference between the East and the 
West in the assessment of male orgasm as wel l. In the East, the 
various schools of Taoist sexologists were always cautious about 
male ejaculation ; this caution mi ght be extreme, as in the pluck­
and-nurturists' "never," or moderate, as in the mainstream advice 
for ejaculation regulated according to age and health. In the West, 
until recent years male ejaculation at orgasm was taken for granted 
as the logical denouemen t, and often the sole purpose, of sexual 
intercourse. The second-century Greek physician Galen advised 
men to ejaculate at every coitus; he believed the retention of sperm 
was harmful. This view was echoed adamantly by the gynecolo ­
gist Theodore Van de Velde in his 1928 bestseller Ideal Marriage. He criticized another doctor, Alice Stockham, for recommending 
male nonejaculation in her late-nineteenth-century book Karezza, 
and yet another, Marie Stopes, for mentioning but not condemn­
ing it in her book Married Love. "Karezza," also known by its Latin 
name, coitus reservatus, is a method mention ed also in Tantric litera­
ture, which, as was pointed out earlier, may have been inspired by 
Taoist sexology. It has been practiced by Arabs-including Aly 
Khan, whose sexual staying power was legendary-and by mem­
bers of the Oneida Communit y, a group engaging in communal 
polygamy in upstate New York during the second half of the 
1 8oos. The Oneida technique was a pale and listless version, in­
volving only occasional movement of the male organ. The Taoist 
version is much more dynamic. Van de Velde's "urgent warning against Karezza " was prob­
ably responsible in part for the consensus atnong Western sex­
ologists that coitus without the tnan's orgastnic ejaculation was 
harn1ful to hin1. Masters and Jo hns on disputed this opinion. They 
also recognized that tnale org asn1 and tnalc tjaculation n1ay not be 
the sante. They not only suggested that a n1an need not tjaculate 
t•vt'ry titne. but even introduct'd their own techniqut ' to delay 
tnale ej�Kulation. Their .. squeeze technique," probably Tantric in 
inspi ration . requires the rnan to withdr aw when he tcels his eli­
nux is near, and then the won1�u1 to pinch his penis frenulun1 
(under the glans ridgt·) with her thun 1b and two tlngers. The best Taoist ntethod ditlcrs fron1 the "squeeze technique "-The Mystic Master of the Grotto, and Masters and Johnson 
and perhaps is superior to it-in that it does not require with­
drawal, or any effort by the woman, or-if the man wants to be 
discreet-even the woman's awareness. The art of male orgasmic 
brinkmanship will be described in detail in chapter 16. The mainstream Taoist concept of sexual health may have 
gotten support, however tenuous, from a recent experiment con­
ducted at the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Nancy Os­
trowski and other researchers found that male golden hamsters 
allowed to have sex on demand showed a weakening of defensive 
"killer cells" in their immune system. As this experiment was 
only tentative, it must be augmented by further tests. For now we 
can only assume from its findings that since the male hamsters 
probably ejaculated every time, the weakening of their immune 
system was a result of ejaculation . We might extrapolate further 
and apply this to ejaculation in men. It is conceivable that ex­
perimen tation on human beings will conclude that while sexual 
activities strengthen health in the long run, ejaculation lowers im­
munity, at least tem porarily. THE G SPOT 
Now that they agree that women do have orgasm, contemporary 
sexologists have found themselv es in a controversy about its exact 
nature. Freud distinguished clitoral from vaginal orgasm, calling 
the former immature and neurotic. Masters and Johnson , like 
Kinsey before them, stated that all female orgasms involved the 
clitoris directly or indirectly. The debate on clitoral versus vaginal orgasm, started by Freud 
and put to an end-for a while-by Masters and Johnson , was re­
kindled by sexologists Beverly Whipple and John Perry in 1980, 
when they announc ed the findings of their research on the G spot. In the early 1940s, while doing research on birth control, the Ger­
man gynecologist Ernst Grafenbcr g claimed to have discovered a 
bean -size spot on the front wall of the vagina, about two inches 
from the entrance . The wel l-hidden spot was difficult to locate 
in self-examination or dur ing mission ary-pos ition intercour se. Grafenberg fi>und this spot extremely sensitive to deep pressure; 
when stimu lated, orgasm resulted. Wh ipple and Perry termed 
lOt) ANC IENT SE CRE TS FOR MODERN LOVERS 
this little erogenous area "Grafenberg spot," or "G spot." Of the 
approximately four hundred women volunteers their team exam­
ined, all were found to have the G spot. Whipple and Perry announced that stimulation of the G spot 
by deep pressure led to a deep "cervical" orgasm in the female, 
dissin1ilar to the usual clitoral orgasm, and that during such deep 
orgasm rnany women ejaculated a fluid, sometimes abundantly. In the past this ejaculation may have embarrassed some women 
because they thought, incorrectly, that it was urine. Whipple and Perry were joined by Alice K. Ladas, a psycholo­
gist and sexologist, and her husband, Harold, who had been on a 
similar track researching clitoral and vaginal orgasms. The findings 
of the four are still controversial today, but they seem to confirm 
some older beliefs formerly ignored or rejected by the scientific 
community. It will be interesting to see their confirmation by fu­
ture research. While the existence of the G spot and its function in relation 
to deep vaginal orgasm still have not been accepted by all sexol­
ogists, the ancients seem to have made use of the G spot either 
through experience or by instinct. The Taoists never described a 
specific feature that might be the G spot, but there is evidence they 
understood it all the same. The optimum intercourse positions 
for intense stimulati on of the G spot, as pointed out by Gr�iten­
berg, Whipple and Perry, and other sexologists, are rear entry 
and woman's feet on man's shoulders. These two lovemaking 
positions happened to be an1ong the most popular in China for 
centuries. When one considers a n1ajor goal of the Art of the 
Bedchamber , to excite and please won1en sexually, an empirical 
knowledge of the G spot seen 1s con finned . Mast ers and Johnson, perhaps the n1ost renowned atnong 
rnodern sexologists, exploded n1any sexualrnyths long held in the 
Western world. They clain1ed, tor ex�unplc. that the size of a nun's 
pt·nis has noth ing to do with his sexual satisfaction or that of his 
partner� that the n1alc-on-top, face-to-t:Ke position in intercourse 
is not necessa rily the n1ost natural and satisfying; that sexual ab­
stinence for long periods tnay not be benefic ial� and that older 
peopk can continue sexual activity wdl into their eighties and 
nineties. Mast ers and Johnson 's successful treatn1ent for st·xually 
dysfunctioning couples, instead of hunting tor Freudian ghosts 13 
Recapture the Spring 
Exercises /or Sexual Vt"gor 
THRO UGHOUT THE CENTU RIES the Taoist Chinese have discreetly 
but avidly sought for the magic to enhance their sexuality. Among 
their efforts arc a variety of therapeutic mind-body exercises to 
invigorate then1 sexually. Erotic exercises and therapy, as noted 
before, are known as lwi-clllm, or "recapture the spring." (In classi­
cal Chinese, as has been n1cntioncd, the word tor "spring " not 
only denotes the season, but also alludes to youth and sexuality.) Contrary to what 1nany Westerners and even n1any Chinese 
believe today, the ancien t Chinese were concerned with physical 
cultur e, and engaged widely in dan cing. sports, and tnartial arts. Son1e ten centuries ago. however, when the in1perial systen1 of 
literary con1petition dotninated the aspirations of educated Chi­
nese, tnany of the1 n beg an neglecting physical activity. By the 
tenth and eleventh cen turies, scholars virtually scorned physical 
exer cise as unc outh. Son1e Taoist and Uuddhist priests. acrobats , 
kung fu rnasters, practitioner s of litl.·-nurturc, and devotees of 
sexual enhatKcnlent, thou gh. con tinu ed to practice and develop 
various forrns of physical cultur e wit h thL' n1ind-body approach. Sex ually orient ed exercis e and therapy arc believed to tune up 
sexual orga ns, t<..)rtif y sexual stat nina, sharpen sexual sensations, 
and generally incr ease pleasur e in the bedroon1. Because these 
tnainly r[loist exercises and th erapy \VL'rc often jealously guarded 
sccr l'ts, revealed only to funily n1e1nbcrs and trusted discipl es, 
tnany of thcn1 arc lost. l)thcrs have been preserved and now are public knowkdgt.'. These. nurnhering in the hundreds .. ut.· usdtJI 
and \vithin reach of everyont.'. If tht.·y an· practin·d propt·rly and 
t:tithfully , one tnay ted the eftC..·cts after st·vcra ltnonth s. 
As rnentioncd previously, two of tht.· best exercises, tai chi 
chuan and (lli-krm.l!. arc ainlt'd broadly at litC..·-nurturt· hut can 
strengthen spccitically sexual starnina. Instructions for tai chi 
chuan, a con1bination of shadowboxing, �yn1nastics. and ther a­
peutic ballet, an.· too cornplcx to he covt. ' rt.·d here. This art is best 
learned fron1 a tutor. Clli-krm.l! is so pott'nt, and its dTects so little 
understood by n1odcr n science, that unless it is practiced propt·rly 
under an experienc ed n1astcr, it can injure the body internally. But 
its dcn1entary stage. consisting of rncditativc deep diaphragm 
breathing. can be learned safely without a teacher. Instructions arc 
found in the following pages. The t'rotic exercises recon1n1cnded here include gymnastics, 
therapeutic rnassage, acupressure, and others. They have been 
practiced tor centuries to train the sexual muscles; to improve 
blood circulation in the pubic region; to stin1ulate the autonomic 
nervous systern, which controls many sexual functions; to pro­
nlote gonadal secretions; and to heighten sexual sensations. Faith­
fully practiced, these exercises may enhance and prolong a man's 
erection, and increase his sexual stamina by promoting the secre­
tion of semen. They may increase the elasticity and liveliness of a 
woman's vaginal orifice and canal, and heighten her orgasmic re­
sponse. Such results help bridge the gap between male and female 
capabilities, and improve sexual health and pleasure for both. Some Western-style exercises that involve chest, arm, and leg 
muscles can be done while one reads, watches television , or pon­
ders over the stock market. The exercises described here are more 
or less internal: they require some degree of mental concentration 
or meditation to be effective. Almost all of them involve directly or 
indirectly deep diaphragm breathing. Taoist purists believe that the best times to practice these sex­
ual gymnastics are I I :oo p.m. to 1:00 a.m.; s:oo to 7:00 a. n1. ; 
I I :oo a.m. to I :oo p.m.; and 5 :oo to 7=00 p.m. People with a busy 
lifestyle may do them anytime, except within fifteen minutes be­
fore a meal and within an hour after it. The best tirne to do them is 
right after getting up in the n1orning, or just before retiring at 
night-but not soon after a heavy meal or drinking. Most of the 
exercises may be done in loose-fitting clothes such as pajan1as; it is 
173 174 better not to do them in tight clothes that n1ay irnpede breath ing 
and circulation. Sorne of the exercises arc best practiced in the nude 
in the privacy of one's bed room . The following exe rcises were sele cted from Taoist kin esith er­
apy, which has been practiced for cen turies in China. Mo st of 
them arc taken directly from the Taoists, while some arc slightly 
modified. Unless designated otherwise, they are for both sexes. Warning: The recommended exercises, beneficial as they arc, 
come with no warranty. Avoid overdoing any of them, as too 
much of a good thing could be harmful. If you have any physical 
or mental health problem or arc taking any special medicati on, 
check with your physician before doing any of the exercises. DEEP DIAPHRAGM BREATH ING 
Deep diaphragm breathing is the key to all Taoist mind -body ac­
tivities, from health therapy to meditation, from martial arts to 
the Art of the Bedchamb er. Unlike thoracic deep breathing, which involves expansion of 
the upper chest, Taoist deep breathing is done by moving the di­
aphragm, the powerful sheet of muscle separating the chest cavity 
from the abdomen. In this form of breathing, the chest moves 
very little, while the abdomen alternately bulges and collapses. The advantage of abdominal or diaphragm breathing over chest 
breathing is known to every opera singer in the West, and every 
kung fu master in the East. It should be known to every bedroom 
sportsper son, East or West. Chest breathing , even deep chest breathing, involves the ex­
pansion and contraction of the rib cage. This empties the lungs 
partially, leaving much stale air inside. Diaphragm breathing is far 
more powerful, in that it enables the lungs to take in an amount of 
air-including oxygen-four to five times that inhaled in shallow 
chest breathing. Besides this aerobic advantage, the pulsing dia­
phragm gives a sort of internal n1assage to the vital organs in both 
the chest and the abdomen. Studies published by the Chinese in 
1958 revealed that respiration therapy actually enlarged patients' 
internal organs . You may practice deep diaphragm breathing indoors, or out­
doors in mild weather; wear loose clothing, without any tightly 
restraining belt around the waist. Sit on the front portion of a stool or stiff chair (not an upholstered sofa or armchair); a slightly 
padded dining chair is suitable. Avoid any distraction or noise, 
even music. Keep the body straight but relaxed. Put your hands 
on your knees, spread about a foot apart. Close your eyes or look 
at the tip of your nose. Close your mouth and breathe through 
your nostrils, with the tip of your tongue touching the palate or 
the roof of your mouth. Expel all extraneous thoughts. Exhale as n1uch stale air as possible by moving your diaphragm 
upward and your abdominal wall inward. Keep your lungs emp­
tied for a few seconds; then inhale by moving your diaphragm 
downward and your abdominal wall outward. Breathe as slowly 
as possible in a gentle, steady, silent stream. Concentrate your 
mind on the respiration. While inhaling, imagine a stream of life­
force entering your nostrils, then your lungs, and going all the 
way to the cinnabar field. While exhaling, imagine the vital stream 
leaving the cinnabar field and exiting your nostrils. Normally a 
man breathes about I6 to I 8 times a minute; a woman slightly 
faster. After enough practice, one can slow breathing down to 
two times a minute during the exercise. This should be done nat­
urally, not forced. After months of practice, any of the following symptoms may 
occur during the exercise: quivering of skin and muscle at certain 
spots; feeling of radiating warmth in the cinnabar field; sexual 
arousal; and even out-of-body sensations. Taoists masters believe 
these possible mind-body phenomena are normal reactions; but 
they are more likely to emerge-if at all-only during the later, 
more advanced stages of chi-kung 
Practice deep diaphragm breathing for a minimum of I 5 min­
utes daily-again preferably right after arising or before retiring, 
never after a big meal or heavy drinking, and never with anger or 
grief. If you do this exercise faithfully and correctly , you will feel a 
noti ceable difference in a few months. Eventually you may de­
velop diaphragm breathing as an unconscious habit -and a big 
boost to your health. THE PUBIC SQUE EZE 
Cen turies ago, the life-n urtur ing eroticists desi gned an exer cise to 
increase mar ital happines s. The pubic squeeze, intendl·d to inject 
mor e life into the gen itals, is one of the most valut.·d and effective Recapture the Spring ANCIENT SECRE TS FOR MODERN LOVERS 
erotic exercises. The Taoists claimed that with sufficient practice 
of this exercise, a man could will an erection, increase his coital 
endurance, and bring his partner to orgasm without any bodily 
movement; a woman could "nip" or "milk" her partner to ejacu­
lation and intensify her own orgasm. There arc two versions: a 
quick and a slow. First, the quick squeeze: This can be done in any kind of 
clothing, anytime, anywhere. Contract as much as possible the 
pubococcyg eus muscles (in the genital and anal region), as if try­
ing to hold back or interrupt urination or defecation. You will feel 
the anus tightening and the genitals moving slightly. After a few 
seconds, relax the muscles completely. Alternately squeeze and 
relax, squeeze and relax, 50 times at first. Wh�n you are used to it, 
increase this to 100 per session. Each day do a minimum of 300 
squeezes-and-r elaxes-better still, 700 . Now, the slow squeeze: This version, much more powerful 
than the quick one, not only is done much more slowly but is 
combined with deep diaphragm breathing and requires mental 
concentration. Contract the pubic muscles while inhaling slowly. Hold the squeeze and the breath for several seconds. Then relax 
the muscles while exhaling . Do this 300 times daily, but not more 
than 100 times per session. If you feel dizzy, stop the exercise and 
resume later. The effectiveness of either version of this ancient exercise 
is supported by modern knowledge. Although male and tcmale 
genitals consist mostly of involuntary (smooth) muscles, they are 
surrounded by and intimately linked to voluntary (skeletal) mus­
cles in the pubic-coccygeal region. This cotnplex network of mus­
cles not only supports the genitals and other, internal organs, but 
is directly or indirectly responsible for sexual health and pleasure. Among the muscles benefitting fron1 the pubic squeeze arc the is­
chiocav ernosus, which helps in the erection of the penis and the 
clitoris, and the bulbocavernosus and ischiobulbosus, which have 
a cen tral role in n1ale t.•rection and t.'jaculation, and in female com­
pression of the vaginal oritlce and sphincter. This web of mus­
cles, centering around the perincun1 (the area between the anus 
and the genitals), is linked to several sacral and coccygeal nerve 
trunks.
vdoc.pub_the-yin-yang-butterfly-ancient-chinese-sexual-secrets-for-western-lovers.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

       's pritnevallitc-energy, front which 
pcoplt. · dt. ·rive their sexual vitality. Son1eday we n1ight find a genuine, sate aphrodisiac, one that 
brings instant sexual arousal without unwant ed side effects. Up 
to now. however. all known aphrodisiacs that create the illusion of 
arousal have been found to be hannful. Son1c-such as Spanish 
fly. and perhaps the palace grapes eaten by the otlicial in the story 
recounted carlier-n1ay n1on1entarily heighten "arousal" of the 
sexual organs, but they do not enhance genuine sexual desire. They stin1ulate the body in ways not intended by nature and drain 
it of its lin1ited vitality. and their long-tenn side effects n1ay in­
dude eventual in1potence and even death. The answer docs not lie in a pill that instantly gives people 
overworked sex organs and lat er rewards them with impotence 
and ill health. Perhaps the real aphrodisiac is something that first 
boosts sexual health, then in turn naturally arouses sexual desire. Up to now little has been studied in the modern laboratory, 
not even the long -term side effects of aphrodisiacs as defined in 
the classical sense. The ultimate laboratory is the human body 
itself The ancient Chinese, with their fervent though discreet 
pursuit of sexual vitality, have been at it more or less for several 
thousand years. Perhaps their interest in sexual nutrients can give 
us some hints in our own quest for the perfect aphrodisiacs. Foods and Herbs for Love 
145 11 
Sexual Vitality from 
the Sea of Chi 
The Taoist Fountain o/ Youth. IN THEIR SEARCH into the art of lovemaking, the ancient Chinese 
Taoists went beyond food and herbs, even beyond erotic tech­
niques. The quintessenc e of their Art of the Bedchamber was to 
generate and maxi mize sexual vitality by consciously maneuver­
ing the human body's chi, or life -energy. They did this to enhance 
sexual arousal, control orgasn1, and intensify ecstasy for both 
men and won1en. Was this pure mysticis m. Or can it be reconciled with modern 
science. The answer may con1e n1ore easily fron1 the rnodern bed­
roonl than fron1 the n1odern laboratory. Scientists have, it is true, 
stumbled on son1e intriguing findings in the laboratory, but in 
doing so they luvc con1e up with rnore questions than answers. This chapter, which exarnines Taoist ideas of sexual enhancen1cnt, 
touches on both the n1ystical and the scientific. In rnodern tenns, the Taoists' dri tnaneuver is a fonn of nlind­
body interaction in which the n1ind consciously attempts to direct 
the body. It is intriguing first to survey \Vhat ancient physicians 
and st·xologists tht·orized and practiced, on their tern1s and with 
their rationale, and then to kan1 about discoveries in this area by 
conternporary scientists, East and West, and finally to sec specifi-Srxual Vitality from tire Sea ��(Chi 
cally how the ancients used n1ind-body interaction to boost their 
sexual vitality. The notion that there is powerful, albeit elusive, life-t(Hce in 
the hurnan body has been n1aintained tlrrnly and continuously in 
China for rnore than three thousand years. Chinese traditionalists 
believe that this prirneval force of life can be controlled and nu­
nipulated not only to intensify sexual prowess, but also to rein­
force nurtial arts strength and irnprove health and longevity. According to the ancients, chi is generated and stored in a 
ntysterious reservoir inside the lower abdon1en between the navel 
and the pubic region. This reservoir, the ta11-ticn, or cinnabar field, 
however, is not an anatornical structure that can be found in 
surgery or by autopsy. It is rather an energy field whose role is in­
dicated indirectly and tenuously by many n1edical and health 
practices. Ancient Chinese meditation is aimed directly at the cin­
nabar field, as sugg ested by the colorf ul though inaccurate expres­
sion "contemplating the navel. " As long as a person is alive, his chi circulates ceaselessly in his 
body in a network of energy channels called meridians, which are 
linked to specific organs or physiological functions. Dotting these 
meridians like pumping stations are acupoints. The acupoint 
nearest the cinnabar field is called chi-hai (sea of chi) and is be­
lieved a key point connected to the cinnabar field. By selectively manipula ting specific acupoints with needles, 
burning herbs, or fingers, one can sedate or stimulate a particular 
organ or physiological function. According to the ancients, acu­
puncture cured diseases because it regulated the flow of chi and 
restored the balance of Yin and Yang for life-energy. Chinese physicians and acupuncturists, Zen Buddhists, Tao­
ists, kung fu masters, acrobats, dancers, and sexologists all have 
considered the cinnabar field of supreme significance in their re­
spective domains. They use various forms of physical exercise and 
mental therapy to cultivate and train it. CHI -KUNG 
Among the various Chinese practices to manipulate life-energy, 
the most potent is chi- kun g, or qi-,gotlJ. (life-energy skill), a com­
bination of meditation and diaphragm breathing that consciously Cot� temporary 
acupututure chart THE ART OF THE BE DCHAM BER 
harnesses vital energy. The practitioner sits on a stiff chair or in 
the lotus position on the floor, or stands, breathing slowly, while 
directing his mind on the circulation of life-energy to and from 
the cinnabar field. This becon1es more complex a·s the practi­
tioner progresses through half a dozen stages, including reverse 
diaphragm breathing, throat breathing, rectal breathing, and the 
most advanced, cinnabar field breathing. The catatonic appearance of chi-kung practitioners belies the 
powerful results of this purely internal exercise. Usually the first 
noticeable result is improved digestion; the next, enhanced sexual 
vitality; and finally, blooming health. The Chinese consider chi­
kung a rejuvenation exercise because it is believed to energize 
internal organs and thus to aid digestion, facilitate blood circula­
tion, and stimulate hormone secretion. It is a potent exercise-so 
potent that those practicing more advanced stages rnust be trained 
by a chi-kun. _� master to avoid possible serious injury. In recent years, Chinese scientists have been conducting ex­
periments on chi-kun g that border on the mystical. By consciousl y 
directing their chi toward specific acupoints of patients, medical 
technicians trained in chi- kun g have been successfully anesthetiz­
ing patients for thyroid and stomach surgery-without using 
drugs, acupuncture, or even human touch. Physicians with the 
proper training are popular in China for chi-krm. � treatments in 
which they direct their energy at patients, without touching thent, 
to cure certain ailments. How such seemingly outlandi sh prac­
tices are appraised by sotne scientists will be discussed later in this 
chapter. Chi-krm. � is the basis of all higher tonns of Chinl·se tnartial 
arts. Tai chi chuan (great ultin1ate fist) is a ntind-body exercise 
very popular for health and for self-defense. Its graceful, ball etlik e 
ntovctnents reinf(. lfce the flo\v of chi, so that when the practitioner 
docs strike, the blow can bl· dev astating. It also epitotnizes the 
Taoist philosophy of softness con qul·ring rigid ity: one uses the 
opponl ·nt's own force to attack hint. Japanese judo and jujitsu are 
sintplitil·d sdf:. dd(:nse systen1s derived front tai chi chuan. An esotl ·ric branch of tnartial arts kno\vn as tit'11-hs ud1 (point­
ing acup oin ts) is a lil·adly art in \vhich a kung fu fighter can tent­
por arily paralyzl'. or rl·ndcr unconscious. or even kill an opponent 
by pressing a spccit ic vulnerable acupoint with a tinge r whik· di­
recting thl· chi front his tdtl-tictl to his tingcr. These paralysis and St·xr4a l Vitality from the Sea of Chi 
death points arc carefully catalogue d in kung fu n1anuals. It is be­
lieved that sorne rnartial arts n1astcrs in China can still practice 
ticu-hsueh. MIND OVER Bonv. Can a person really direct his o\vn rnind to control son1c of his 
bodily functions. Curiously. quite a tcw mystical-sounding an­
cient n1ind-body practices arc being contirmed in the modern 
laboratory, either directly or indirectly. A few examples arc en­
lightening. In recent centuries, Western scientists have sharply separated 
the body from the mind. During much of this century, the physi­
cian took care of the body, and the psychologist took care of the 
mind. Each kept to his own territory, and neither realized that 
what was happening in his own realm could strongly affect what 
was happening in the other. Physicians have traditionally consid­
ered the human body like a machine, functioning mechanical ly, 
with the main causes of disease as bacteria, viruses, and other out­
side agents. This paradigm is changing. For some decades physicians have 
known that a few diseases are psychosomatic (affected by the 
mind), but their scope was thought to be limited. Recent re­
search, however, indicates that at least ninety percent of diseases 
are affected by the patient's mind. The most exciting development in contemporary health sci­
ences is the growing recognition of mind-body interaction. Since 
the 1 96os, American scientists have become increasingly inter­
ested in a phenomenon called biofeedback. Monitoring it in­
volves hooking a person to an array of electronic devices that 
record brain waves and physiological condition, then feed the in­
formation back to him. The electrical potential of the human brain varies according 
to different mental states, as is shown clearly by electroenceph­
alography. Scientists have found four principal types of brain 
waves: alpha (during deep relaxation), beta (during awake and 
alert states), theta (while dreaming), and delta (in deep sleep, or 
while under anesthesia). Biofeedback instruments enable a per­
son to keep himself in profound relaxation, when his brain emits 
149 mainly alpha waves. He can watch the mon itoring instru me nts 
and, with a little practice, keep himsd f on alpha waves for long 
stretches of time. It has been found that while in the alph a state one can con­
sciously control the autonomic nervous systen1, wh ich regul ates 
the normally automatic functioning of internal organs. Th is 1neans 
that with the help of biofeedback, a person can learn to control or 
at least influence his normally involuntary functions such as 
heartbeat, blood pressure, and skin teinperature. Patients on bio­
feedback programs have been able to "think" their way out of the 
syn1ptoms of many ailments, including migraine headaches, ir­
regular heartbeat, and high blood pressure. Biofeedback re­
searchers believe that people who have mastered the alpha state 
can keep in good physical health with little medicine. The findings on biofeedback, gathered from laboratories all 
over the United States and elsewhere, fly in the face of orthodox 
physiology, which claims that we cannot control our autonomic 
nervous system voluntarily. The evidence to the contrary was 
quite a discovery, but was it really. For many centuries Chinese 
Taoists, Chinese and Japanese Zen Buddhists, Tibetan lamas, and 
Indian yogis have been exer cising extraordinary mental control 
over their bodies through transcendental meditation, without 
using any instruments. As a matter of fact, the techniques of biofeedback were in­
vented after a Japanese scientist, intrigued by the remarkable 
mental state of Zen meditators, monitored their brain waves. As 
has been pointed out, Zen Buddhism originated in China, with 
its meditative practice inspired by Taoism. For thousands of years 
Chinese Taoists and Zen Buddhists have been using meditation as 
a mind-body means to improve their health and longevity. The firm link between the mind and the body has been estab­
lished further by contemporary scientists. In the 1980s a new 
science was born: psychoneuroimmunology, which studies the 
interplay an1ong the mind, the nervous system, and the immune 
system. Among its findings are that the mind and body are in 
constant dialogue. The n1any billions of neurons (nerve cells) of 
the human brain arc endlessly whispering and shouting to each 
other, and to cells elsewher e in the body. Our emotions can cause 
the brain to produce any of the fifty known neuropeptides, or 
brain chemicals. Sexual Vitality from the Sea ofChi 
Numerous laboratory experiments have shown that when a 
person becomes depressed or elated, angry or loving, when he is 
stressed or relaxed, when he meditates or prays, his brain releases 
specific neuropeptides into the bloodstream. These signal to 
defense forces in his immune system, such as scavenger macro­
phages and defensive "killer cells," and may strengthen or weaken 
his immune system. Spontaneous remissions from a fatal disease 
may be the work of the mind through neuropeptides. A person's 
health may be subtly, or even powerfully, affected. The ancient 
Chinese believed firmly that the body-mind approach could 
bring good health and longevity. Modern scientists are proving what Eastern mystics always 
believed: The mind is a powerful thing. For many centuries the 
ancient Chinese have advocated the use of the mind to control, 
discipline, and nurture the body for various purposes. In tradi­
tional China the mind-body approach was popular and highly re­
spected. Physicians emphasized mental hygiene and moderation 
in lifestyle as a means to good health. Philosophers preached the 
tranquility of the heart and the cultivation of the mind. Taoists 
and Zen Buddhists used meditation and deep breathing to elevate 
their consciousness and enrich their life-force. Martial arts mas­
ters have performed incredible ph ysical feats through intense men­
tal concentration. These feats, according to the ancient Chinese, 
were manifestations of all-important chi. ExPERIMENTS ON CHI 
Dir ect evidence of chi was collected in the late 1970s by Chi nese 
scien tists in Hong Kong. Researchers conducted experiments on 
two groups of people engaged in the conscious manipulation of 
life-force. The first group includ ed Chinese physicians who treated 
pati ents with men ta] con centr ation of thei r chi, without touc hing 
their patients. The secon d group con sisted of kung fu masters 
who em ployed their chi to perf orm pow erful feats of intern al 
strength. The fir�t grc,up was made up of eight teams, each consisting 
of a physician and a patient. I )uring the physi cians' treatments, 
for every one of thl· teams, the tem per atu re of the tip of the physi­
cian \ nose lowered a dc:g rcc or two, wluk that of the patient was THE ART OF TH E BEDCHAMBER 
raised correspondingly. This temperature shift suggested an ex­
change of energy between physician and patient, and hinted at a 
flow of some form of energy from physician to patient. The find­
ings were confirmed and measured by infrared instruments. The same instruments, when employed to detect energy from 
the martial arts experts, failed to measure any change in the case of 
a practitioner of chi-kung. Instead, scientists detected that one acu­
point between his eyebrows was sending out an electrical charge 
measured at I X Io-14 coulomb. Such an electrical charge has 
never been detected in ordinary people. Another martial artist 
was found to give off a magnetic force measured at I o to I 5 
gausses, several hundred times that of the highest known emana­
tion from a norn1al person. The researchers were puzzled that the energy generated by the 
test groups appeared sometimes as heat and other times as elec­
tromagnetic waves. These detectable but unexplained phenom­
ena brought the scientists engaging in the research to coin the 
term "human body field"; this force field of the human body has 
yet to be explained by modern science. Whether one calls it ema­
nation, bioplasma, or life-force, it seems that the ancient Taoist 
concept of chi is not all hot air. CHI AND SEXUALITY 
Almost all the classics and manuals of the ancient Art of the Bed­
chamber directly advocate or subtly suggest the role of chi in 
sexual activities, the erotic and health value of certain bodily se­
cretions, the benefits of physical contact and sitnple proxin1ity 
between opp osite sexes. Although son1e of these concepts were 
cloaked in ancient super stition and the explanations couched in 
metaphysic a l tt. ·rnls, the basic appr oach scen1s quite valid to the 
n1odern obst. ·rver. In t:Kt, during the past few decades, medical 
scit. 'ntists and sexologists have, through expcrin1ents and tests, 
k·nt indirect support to son1c concepts of ancient Taoist sexology. Today we know that sex honnoncs arc essential to sexual ac­
tiviti es, which in turn sti tnulatc and increase the secretion of sex 
honn ones. Scientists arc awa rt. ' that we secr ete tnany enz yn1cs and 
and honno nes, in varying quantities. Perhaps the production of 
these substances in the body can be increased or decreased not by Sexual Vitality from the Sea of Chi 
taking harsh chernical drugs but through the ingestion of food 
and herbs. and even n1ore through physical and mental therapy. including sexual activity. Continuing sexual activity in n1iddlc and 
old age appears crucial in keeping people healthy and youthful. In light of the latest scientitlc findings. it is worthwhile to 
look at son1e points raised by ancient Chint•se physicians and sex­
ologists. As has been n1entioned. they believed that certain body 
fluids contained ingredients of lite essence. and they reconunended 
a generous exchange of fluids between sex partners. In the Art of 
the Three Peaks. for instance. the tnale was advised to drink or ab­
sorb the saliva. tnilk. and vaginal juices of a fen1ale sex partner. Won1en likewise were advised to reap the benefits of male saliva 
and genital emissions. Taoist life-nurture experts, incidentally. prescribed several ex­
ercises by which a person can increase the secretion of his own 
saliva, and then swallow it as a "tonic. " The one to two quarts of 
saliva we secrete each day not only help digestion, enhance the 
taste sensation, and kill bacteria, but also guard teeth against de­
cay and con1bat cancer-causing agents. Three Japanese scientists 
recently isolated from saliva a sex hormone that is abundant in the 
young; they believe it may help retard aging. A male secretion, semen, is rich in protein and contains many 
chemical substances, some of which benefit a woman's ovaries as 
water nurtures Rowers. Since this effect lasts four or five months, 
biologically speaking, it might suggest that semen should "irri­
gate" female sexual organs at least once every four or five months; 
otherwise her organs will slowly atrophy, and she will age faster. Modern researchers have found that wotnen who have sex weekly 
are more regular in their menstrual cycles than those who have it 
less frequently or not at all. It was the Taoist belief in the abundance 
of life essence in sexual fluids that led Empress Chia, mentioned 
earlier, to nourish herself with cocktails of semen collected from 
a stable of young men. TH E ExcHANG E OF LIFE-EN ERGY 
Ancient Chinese beliefs about sex, health, and longevity involved 
not only the exchange of body fluids but also the even n1ore 
n1ystical interaction of chi between individuals. The custom of 
153 polygan1y enabled affluent old men to have several young wives 
and concubines-an undesirable sexist practice, it is true, whose 
biological consequences should nevertheless be separated from its 
ethical implications. Sharing the vital energy of young women, it 
was believed, gave new life to hopeful elders. Such "rejuvenation" 
was achieved through copulation and sometimes mere physical 
contact, even proximity. So convinced of the interaction of chi 
between people are many elderly Chinese that they decline to 
sleep in the same bed with their very young grandchildren, be­
cause they believe they will sap the children's life-energy. Conventional Western knowledge of physiology might dis­
miss such a belief as simply an old wives' talc from an ancient 
culture. Some of the latest findings of modern biochemists and 
endocrinologists, however, should make us hesitate to pass judg­
ment that quickly. Both men and women secrete the male hormone testosterone 
and the female hormone estrogen, although in different quan­
tities. It is the former that fires both men and women with sexual 
desire. The level of testoster one in individuals fluctuates in daily 
and seasonal cycles. A team at the University of Pennsylvania studied the cycles of 
testosterone and sexual activity in eleven young n1arried couples 
and thirty older married couples. The researchers found that each 
partner had con1e to adjust his or her hormonal cycle so that the 
sexual desires and activities of each partner becatne synchronized. Even more fascinating is another experitnent, conducted by the 
Monell Chen1ical Senses Center in Philadelphia. The experitnent 
showed that won 1en who n1enstruated irregularly becan1e regular 
when exposed to nulc underann odor (satnples were attached 
to their upper lips and renewed regular ly) t(1r a period of three 
tnonths. In son1e cases physical con tact nuy not even be necessary. Scientists at the Sonot na State Hospit al Brain Behavior Research 
Center in Calit 'lHnia found that fcnule roon1nutes in college ar-. rived each t:1ll with their O\Vtl individual n1enstrual cycles. At the 
l'tH. i of an academic year, however, cycles often had beconH. ' syn­
chronized. Tests indicttcd that the young wotncn gave off odo r 
signals to each other and thus their tlll. 'nstrual cycks began to co­
incide. Scx14cll Vita/it)' frwu tllf' St'cl,�f Chi 
Through intinute contact or even proximity. then. and 
\vhether through exchange of body fluids. odor. or o ther signals. two individuals, especia lly of oppositl' sexes. nuy affect one an­
other physically. Such n1utual influences tend to bl·nd it both p. u­
ties physiologically, and probably also tnentally and emotion ally. But the benefits nuy not be equal if there is a large gap in age or 
health bet\Vl'l'n the parties. This is sugges ted by a study con­
ducted at the University of l)klahonu. Using data frmn the U. S. Census Bureau and a national n1ortal ity survey, the study showed 
that n1en between the ages of fifty and seventy-nine with n1uch 
younger wives had a death rate thirteen percent below average, 
while the dea th rate of those tnarried to older wor nen was twenty 
percent higher. This analysis lends support, albeit indirectly, to the ancient 
Taoist belief in the interaction of chi between two individuals: 
The person with n1ore abundant life-force may boost the rela­
tively lower life-force of the other. In so doing, the individual's 
own life-force is of necessity decreased to a certain extent. This 
flow of vital energy seen1s to be affirmed by recent experiments 
on chi. The analysis of individuals married to much older spouses 
gives only part of the picture, however. On the basis of Taoist be­
liefs, people married to much older mates should fare better than 
people who are not married at all. This is due to the so-called har­
monizing of Yin and Yang, which in modern terms corresponds 
to the biological and psychological benefits derived from the sex­
ual stimulation enjoyed between spouses. SEXUAL EXERCISES 
In keeping with their concept of chi, ancient Chinese Taoists advo­
cated therapy and a bewildering number of mind-body exercises 
for better sex and better health. Some of these look dubious, 
while others are quite rational. They believed, for example, that 
during urination, hair follicles and capillaries were utterly vulner­
able to outside influence. When a man urinated, he should grit his 
teeth and stand on tiptoe to guard hin1sclf against outside harm; a 
woman should do the same while squatting or sitting. This pro­
tective maneuver would not only guard a person's health but also 
I) 5 TH E ART OF THE BEDCHA MBE R 
preserve his or her sexual strength. A man could strengthen his 
genitals by alternately warming and chilling his scrotum in a 
bathtub. Traditional Chinese physicians often check their male pa­
tients' big toes. Full and firm big toes indicate sound health. If it is 
pressed, the tip of the toe normally bounces back; if it does not 
spring back, but stays like a partially deflated ball, it means a 
problem not only of health but also of potency. A man suffering 
from impotence can be helped by massaging the big toes, which 
are linked by meridians to his glans. Both men and women can benefit from regularly exercising 
the pubococcygeal muscles, those of the pubis and coccyx. A 
woman can activate her vagina indirectly, and thus bring her part­
ner to orgasm without moving her body; she also can induce in­
tense orgasms in herself A man well trained in the same exercise 
can will an erection, vivify his organ, and give great pleasure to 
his bedmate. Such exercises are often euphemisti cally called lwi­
chun (recapture the spring; "spring" in classical Chinese implies 
youthfulness and sexual vigor). Several simple exercises aiming at 
enhancing sexual vitality are described in chapter 1 3. Both tai chi chuan and chi- kun g are used for health and sex­
uality. The latter has been practiced in China for more than three 
thousand years, by Taoists, Buddhists, and Confucians. Specially 
geared to sexuality arc chi exercises of the southern Taoist school, 
which rely on pluck-and- nurture techniques, and the eastern Tao­
ist school, which ain1 at dual training for shared pleasure. After diligent and sufficient training. a chi-krmg practitioner 
of either sex often discovers that sexual arousal is heightened and 
quickened, and sexuJl vigor greJtly increased. Anecdotes testify 
to the disappear ance or dirninution of such problcn1s as irnpo­
tencc, pren1ature ejaculation, and frigidity. And rnany n1en clain1 
to have achieved total orgasrn control; if required, they could 
carry on sexual intercourse as long as they want without ernitting. ()f course, dogged endurJnce tor a rnan dot. 's not necessarily 
rnean sexual pleasure t"lH his partner, but it is useful if net. ·ded. Many of the arnorous ernpcrors of the past learned thest. ' JS­
pects of the Art of Bl·lkharnber, to their ddight. And quite a few 
ancient Chincsl' royal wonll 'll were known atkpts of n1ind-body 
cont rol for sexual pkasurc. Two an1ong then1 were Chao Fci-yi, 
who successfully nusqucraded Js a virgin for three nig hts for the Sexu al Vitality from the Sea of Chi 
Han emperor Cheng, and Hsia Chi, the femme fatale whose lov­
ers flaunted her underwear in the royal court. By devotion to chi­
kung practices such as contracting the rectum while breathing in, 
and mentally willing the chi to sink into the sea of chi and the cin­
nabar field for regeneration and enrichment, they and others 
reaped bountiful rewards in bed. For sexual purposes, chi also can be manipulated externally 
with various techniques. Ancient Chinese erotic massage, for 
example, combines traditional therapeutic massage with acu­
pressure, to treat frigidity and impotence, strengthen sexual 
stamina, or arouse sexual desire. The theories of chi and acu­
pressure are intriguing. The ear, for instance, is said to have 120 
acupoints. Theoretically, a lazy person can avoid all those ex­
hausting gymnastics and still enjoy the benefits of whole-body 
exercises by simply pressing and massaging specific points on 
his ear. By massaging the top and middle cavities and the front wall of 
the ear canal with a finger daily, one can strengthen sexual vitality. A woman who massages her breasts daily stimulates production 
of sex hormones, thus heightening her sexuality and facilitating 
her milk production if she is nursing. Massaging the groin at the 
juncture of the lower abdomen and thighs is a recommended 
mind-body sexual therapy. Male masturbation, however, has al­
ways been discouraged in Chinese sexology, because of the loss of 
semen. There is yet another esoteric but effective practice of manip­
ulating chi for sexual purposes. A number of acupoints, when 
stimulated in the proper way, can effectively treat impotence, 
premature ejaculation, insufficient erection, frigidity, menstrual 
irregularity, and other dysfunctions. Most of these points are in­
volved also in strengthening sexual stamina and arousing desire. These sexually sensitive areas might be termed "sex points," 
or better, "love points. " Some of them are in the so-called erog­
enous zones, while others arc not; most are on the lower torso and 
legs. The mor e effectiv e ones, including the sea of chi, are imtne­
diatdy adjacent to the cinn abar field. When they arc stimulated 
with adroit acu pressu re and massa ge as part of love-play, a con­
summat e bedch amb er artist can do wonders with these love points. These arc not simple push- butt ons of lust, however: if some of 
the love poi nts arc pressed too heavily, or jabbed t(lrn:fully. scri-
,,� THE ART OF THE BE DCHAM BER 
ous injury or even death may result. Specific instructions on love 
points are given in chapter 15. All ancient Chinese mind-body practices to invigorate sex ­
uality are intitnately linked to the life-energy stored in the myste­
rious cinnabar field and the elusive sea of chi. This inner region of 
the lower torso is the fountainhead of life-force which benefits 
health and longevity in general, and sexual vitality in particular. Ancient Chinese physicians and sexologists emphasized the im­
portance of health tonics and mind-body practices. They believed 
they had found the Fountain of Youth somewhere in the cinnabar 
field. Whether this was wishful thinking or not remains to be 
s�n. Either way, in the spirit of scientific experiment, it is enjoy­
able to contemplate the navel and exchange chi with a beloved 
partner in a bedroom. Part Three 
AN CIE N T SEC RETS 
FOR MODE RN LOVERS 
THE COLORFUL SEXUAL MANNERS AND MORE S of a bygone age and 
the mystique of the ancient sexology classics deserve more than 
casual attention. Their universal themes may contain valuable hints 
for modern men and women. It should be noted that many of the 
"revolutionary" ideas of contemporary sexologists, including 
Masters and Johnson-so different from the traditional ones in 
the West only decades ago-appear to echo some of the tenets ad­
vocated by ancient Taoists. The relentless pursuit of sexual vitality in ancient China was 
inspired by the Taoist belief in physical itnmortality, and sustained 
by a pragmatic desire to satisfy all the spouses of a polygan1ous 
159 AN CIENT SECR ETS FO R MODERN LO VERS 
husband. These are not the goals of our times. The Art of the 
Bedchamber does, however, have a message for us. To nurture our 
life-energy and sexual chi with certain foods and herbs, to train 
our sexual muscles and nerves with exercise and therapy, and to 
use n1ind-body erotic techniques to make sexual unions benefi­
cial and pleasurable: these purposes and practices are universal 
and timeless. Modern lovers with a monogamous lifestyle can spice up their 
sex life immensely if they borrow some of the erotic techniques 
taught by the Taoists. These ancient secrets can be used directly or 
modified for one's own lifestyle. They need no proof in the mod­
ern laboratory. To sophisticated modern lovers, every bedroom is 
a laboratory for love. 12 
The Mystic Master 
of the Grotto, 
and Masters and Johnson 
Where Ancient Taoists 
and Modern Sexologists Meet 
SOME OF THE LATE ST THEORIE S of modern sexologists agree with 
those propounded by Chinese Taoists one to two thousand years 
ago. This is all the 1nore ren1arkable when we compare the evolu­
tion of the two groups. The Taoists advanced their theories in a 
tolerant milieu for a thousand years; then they were swept away 
by the nco-Confucian tidal wave which covers China to this day. In the West, early sexologists had to contend with the Victorian 
social-religious attitude, which was extremely uneasy about hu­
man sexuality. Only in recent decades have sexologists been able 
to conduct their studies with relatively n1ore science and less so­
cial pressure. It is enlightening to view the similarities and differences be­
tween the observations of the ancients and those of the moderns. The basic pren1ise of the Taoists was that good sex pron1otes 
health and lon gev ity. Regular and enjoyable sexual activiti es hring 
health and long life to men and wom en. The 'T. 1oists advocated the 
golden 1nean, frowning on both celibacy and sexual excess. Early 
I(, I. N ( · I I' N l S f. ( R I' I S I I I R M I I I I I' R N I (I V t: f� S 
Taoists may have linked sex to immortality, and later pluck-and­
nur ture extremists may have been obsessed with one partner's ex­
trac ting orgasmic secr etions from the other without ejaculating, 
but mainstream Taoists advoca ted another golden mean �ex for 
health, youthfulness, and longevity. Thei r intuiti ve attitude ap­
pears to be confirmed by the latest findings of modern scientists 
about the link between sex on the one hand and health, aging, and 
longevity on the other. Admittedly, there is little direct laboratory proof, but proliferat­
ing indirect evidence has shown a strong correlation between sex 
and healthy longevity. Increasing numbers of sexologists and ger­
ontologists today are aware of such a correlation. SEX AND AGING 
In I635, when the English longevity champion Thomas Parr died 
at the reputed age of I 52, the celebrated English surgeon William 
Harvey performed an autopsy on him. Harvey reported that Parr 
had unusually heavy, well-developed testicles for his age. The 
twentieth-century Swiss gerontologist Paul Niehans had advo­
cated that the secretions of endocrine glands, especially the gonads 
(sexual glands), were related to longevity. Niehans claimed that 
Parr's long life was due to his unusually abundant and durable 
genital secretions from his oversized testicles. Serge Voronoff, a Russian aristocrat, was physician to the 
Egyptian khedive early in this century. The large harem in the royal 
palace was. guarded by eunuchs, and Voronoff reported that these 
unfortunate castrates as a rule were quite sickly and aged rapidly. None of them was known for longevity or creative achievement. Voronoff successfully transplanted testicular tissue of young 
animals, some rams and a bull, to the testicles of older creatures of 
the same species, and found apparent rejuvenation. By the I 920s 
he was ready to attempt human testicular transplants. Since for le­
gal and ethical reasons he could not obtain hun1an tissue, he tried 
to graft testicula� tissue from chimpanzees on men. Today we 
know why he failed, as transplantation between different species 
without an effective immunity-suppressing drug does not work. A man begins to grow old once he reaches his twenties. His 
secretion of testosterone, the principal male sex hormone, de­
clines gradually -but not abruptly-throughout his life. A man ages, and his SL'Xual power wanes steadily yet gradual ly. In con­
trast, a wotnan's secr etio n of estrogen, the principal tl. ·male sex 
honnone, dL·dines abruptly during tnenopausc, when tnenstrua­
tion ceases. ShL· experiences a host of drarnatic physiological and 
psychological chang es at n1enopause. The abrupt decr ease of es­
trogen production causc·s her ovaries to atrophy, her vaginal lubri­
cation to dry up. and her arteries to harden-in short, she ages 
t:1ster than a nun. Such conditions in a won1an, if severe, can be rcn1cdied with 
estrogen horr none therapy. Sirnilarly, a nun can be "rejuvenated" 
with chernically synthesi zed testosterone horn1one. But hormone 
ther apy disc ourages the production of natural hormones; the 
body' s feedba ck rnechanisn1 n1akcs the glands "lazy," and once 
horn1one therapy stops. the body's natural production of hor­
n1ones will be even less than before. Persistent hormone therapy. son1e fear, increases the chances of cancer. The production of sex hormon es can be increased and main­
tained at a higher level naturally. As was pointed out earlier, in 
recent years an increasing amount of evidence has shown that sex­
ual activity among healt hy men and women tends to boost the 
secretion of sex hormone s as well as other substances, such as beta­
endorp hine, the hormone responsib le for "runner's high" and 
other euphoric feelings. An experiment conducted at the famed 
Max Planck Institute in Munich in 1974 showed that even visual 
arousal in the form of a sex movie can raise the level of testoster­
one in n1ale test subjects. All these findings suggest that various forms of sexual arousal, 
ranging from visual stin1ulation to sexual int ercourse, tend to en­
courage the production of sex hormones, which improves sexual 
stamina and probably helps keep people more youthful and live 
longer. Here modern sexologists and gerontologists have had an 
unexpected encounter with ancient Taoists. SEX AND ENJOYME NT 
Whether the goal of sex is procreation only or pleasure depends 
on deeply entrenched religious and social attitudes in each cul­
ture. Althoug h the idea that the sole purpose of sex is to propagate 
the human race may seen1 a medieval concept few people now be­
lieve, it survives in some cultures. The idea that sex itself is in1-AN CIENT SECRE TS FO R MODERN LOV E RS 
moral and dirty lurks within certain segments of Western society, 
and perhaps in the subconscious of many who consider them­
selves sexually liberated. For many years this attitude toward sex, 
found often in the United States, has amazed and amused people 
from other lands. While Hollywood and Madison Avenue end­
lessly dish out titillating and suggestive images of voluptuous­
ness, the laws of some states treat any sexual activity other than 
conventional heterosexual intercourse as a crime. These laws, 
which vary somewhat from state to state, have labeled sodomy­
an umbrella term covering anal intercourse and genital kissing-a 
crime even in the marital bed. In certain states, technically it is un­
lawful for a husband to kiss his wife on Sundays. In spite of such laws and the attitudes behind them, however, 
many Americans have been practicing what they do not preach. They have experimented and diversified their sexual practices, al­
beit not with the rel ish of the French or ancient Chinese. This ex­
perimentation was revealed not long after World War II by the 
pioneering sexologist Alfred Kinsey, director of the Institute for 
Sex Research at Indiana University. His findings, based on in­
terviews with some five thousand men and an equal number of 
women, disconcerted. many when they were published. He re­
ported that many Americans practiced masturbation and homo­
sexuality, had premarital and extramarital relations, and engaged 
in other sexual activities then consider ed shocking. One of his 
more interesting findings was that heavy petting, oral sex, and 
prolonged foreplay were all comn1on atnong college-educated and 
high-income respondents, whereas those on the lower rungs of 
the education and incon1e ladders tended to skip such prelimin­
aries and go directly to intercourse. Kinsey stirred up a furor. He 
was denounced by church leaders, even n1ctnbcrs of the press, as 
offensive, an1oral, and antifatnily. The n1on1entun1 created by Kinsey paved the way for the cele­
brated tcan1 of Willian 1 Masters and Virginia Johnson, with their 
revolutionary approach to sexology. Their adtnittedly controver­
sial techniques of studying sex in the laboratory shed tnuch light 
on hitherto murky areas of hun1an sexuality, at least fron1 the 
physiological angle. The ancient Chinese considered food and sex as essentials to 
life; by thentsclves they were neither n1oral nor in11noral. Procrea­
tion was etnphasized because of the need for heirs, but there were Tlrt' AI)'Siic Almtcr ��r tire Grtltto, and A1tHias mrd Jolmson 
still n1any ways to increase enjoyntent in bed, just as there were 
many ways to increase enjoyn1ent at the table. Modern Western 
attitudes abou t sex arc in this respect not so diffC. ·rcnt front ancien t 
Eastern attitudes. Early Western sexologists did not believe that won 1en enjoyed 
sex. Sir Williat n Aston, a prorn inent English Victorian physician 
and the author of severa l books on sexology. wrote: "The ntajor­
ity of wonten (happily tor thcnt) are not very n1uch troubled with 
sexual feeling of any kind. A rnodest wontan scldon1 desires 
any sexual gratitication. " He called the attribution of sexual feel­
ing to a wotnan a "vile aspersion. " Even the Gennan psychiatrist 
Richard von Krafft-Ebing. considered the founder of modern 
sexology. says in his Psychopathia Sexual is ( 1 886) that the sexual 
desire of a normal won1an was srnall; if it were not, "the whole 
world would becorne a brothel. " This Victorian dogtna was shattered by Sigmund Freud, fa­
ther of psychoanalysis, who boldly disagreed with the idea that 
"good" won1en had no sexual desire. More recent sexologists, in­
cluding Kinsey and Masters and Johnson, have listed many symp­
tonls of female sexual manifestatio ns before and during coitus. These include sexual flush, nipple erection, breast engorgement, 
muscular contractions, hyperventilation, increased heartbeat, el­
evated blood pressure, sweating, and lubrication of the vagina. These symptoms were observed and recorded more than a 
thousand years ago as the Arcane Maid's Nine Essences; as the El­
enlental Maid's Five Desires, Five Sytnptoms, and Ten Move­
ments; and as the manifestations described by the Mystic Master 
of the Grotto, all cited in earlier chapters. Ancient sexologists 
were convinced of the existence of fen1ale sexual desire and con­
sequently devised bedroom techniques for men to satisfy women 
at every sexual union. After all, some of these sexologists were 
women; they did not need men to tell them whether won1en had 
any sexual desire. LovE -PLAY 
Love-play includes a variety of well-known and little-known sex­
ual practices. It has been accidentally discovered, practiced, and 
refined by lovers from time to time here, there, and everywhere. Some never engage in such foreplay because they consider it taboo. \ N l. I 1-' N T S f- <. R f' l S I < ) R M ( ) I> 1: R N I ( ) V 1: N \ 
166 on religious or moral grounds. ( )thers feel the �arne, hut engage 
in it anyway-and enjoy the forbidden fruit. Still others do not 
practice it, out of ignorance or unin ug inativ e sex uality. Modern sexology has evolved consider ably from K rafft-Ebing, 
who lumped sexual deviation with sexual crin1c, to Masters and 
Johnson, who recommend sex play to treat impotence and other 
sexual dysfunctions that come between partners. Today's sexolo­
gists and sex therapists place increasing importance on sex play as 
part of healthy sexual union. Masters and Johnson introduced "sensate focus exercises"­
carefully regulated, progressive love-play designed to arouse the 
sexual desire of each partner. An important feature of their ther­
apy for the male's temporary impotence is the nondemanding na­
ture of the exercise. No matter how aroused partners are, they are 
not to have intercourse until the man's erections have become reg­
ular and reliable. This assuages the male fear of performance, the 
principal cause of this form of impotence. Masters and Johnson chan ged the term "foreplay," which has 
been used popularly, to "noncoital sex play. " As they and their 
cowriter, Robert Kolodny, explain in Masters and Johnson on Sex 
and Human Lovin g, such activities need not precede actual inter­
course. Sex play can be enjoyed before, during, or after coitus­
or even without it. This last poss ibility is indicated by a recent 
American poll in which many women responded that they found 
love-play essential in sex, and in many cases even preferable to in­
tercourse. While today's sexologists' ideas on love-play might have 
shocked early Western sexologists, they are in broad agreement 
with the teachings Taoist sexologists propounded centuries ago. The ancients put great emphasis on love-play, and came up with 
various means to harmonize the Yin and Yang embodied in the 
partners. This is evident in the graphic instructions in many an 
ancient sexology classic. As is stated explicitly at the opening of 
The Class ic of the Elemental Ma id, sex play was not only pleasurable 
by itself, but essential to avoid sexual dysfunction. SEXUAL Musc LEs 
In the 1940s, the gynecologist Arnold Kegel introduced a revolu­
tionary treatment for urinary stress incontinence (inability to con-trol urine) in his patients. Instead of pert'ilnning surgery, as was 
traditional. he taught the wonten to strengthen their puboror­
cygeus tnusdcs with exercise. These tnuscles, tound betwet·n the 
pubic bone and the coccyx, arc controlled in a cotnplex nunnt•r by 
the pudendal nerve, which is linked to the gt·nitals, and the pdvic 
nerve, which is linked to tht· uterus (the prostate in tnen) and the 
bladder. The exercise, which involvt·d contraction of the n1uscles, 
not only helped Kegel's patients control urination, but as a sur­
prise bonus enabled son1e of then1 to have orgasn1 for the first 
titne in their lives. Sexologists Be verly Whipple and John Perry 
claimed in 1980 that their research confirmed that this exercise, 
v. rhen done by both male and fetnale partners, greatly enhanced 
their sex lives, improving n1ale erection and female orgasmic ca­
paCity. How "revolutionary " was this discovery. For more than ten 
centuries, adherents of the Art of the Bedchamber had been ex­
ercising their genital area, including the pubococcygeus muscles, 
to enhance their sex lives. FEMALE ORGASM 
In the West, until the mid-twentieth century, many people still 
believed the Victorian myth that women were neither interested 
in nor capable of orgasm. Even some physicians and medical sci­
entists shared this belief Contempo rary sexologists, including 
Kinsey and Masters and Johnson, have found that women can 
have orgasm, and multiple orgasms. In the politically more authoritarian but sexually less inhib­
ited East, female orgasm has been taken for granted for centuries ; 
indeed, earnest efforts to bring it about resulted in the Taoist Art 
of the Bedchamber. As we have seen, the art revolves around the 
major technique of male orgasmic brinkmanship; such control by 
the male is necessary because, according to the Taoists, the female 
is the stronger sex. Since the male is temporarily incapacitate d by 
orgasmic ejaculations, and the female can "come, and come again," 
brinkmanship is essential to buttress male endurance, at least un­
til the female "rejoices," and at most so she can have repeated 
orgasms. AN CIENT SECRE TS FOR MODERN LOVERS 
MALE ORGASM AND EJACUL ATION 
There has been a considerable difference between the East and the 
West in the assessment of male orgasm as wel l. In the East, the 
various schools of Taoist sexologists were always cautious about 
male ejaculation ; this caution mi ght be extreme, as in the pluck­
and-nurturists' "never," or moderate, as in the mainstream advice 
for ejaculation regulated according to age and health. In the West, 
until recent years male ejaculation at orgasm was taken for granted 
as the logical denouemen t, and often the sole purpose, of sexual 
intercourse. The second-century Greek physician Galen advised 
men to ejaculate at every coitus; he believed the retention of sperm 
was harmful. This view was echoed adamantly by the gynecolo ­
gist Theodore Van de Velde in his 1928 bestseller Ideal Marriage. He criticized another doctor, Alice Stockham, for recommending 
male nonejaculation in her late-nineteenth-century book Karezza, 
and yet another, Marie Stopes, for mentioning but not condemn­
ing it in her book Married Love. "Karezza," also known by its Latin 
name, coitus reservatus, is a method mention ed also in Tantric litera­
ture, which, as was pointed out earlier, may have been inspired by 
Taoist sexology. It has been practiced by Arabs-including Aly 
Khan, whose sexual staying power was legendary-and by mem­
bers of the Oneida Communit y, a group engaging in communal 
polygamy in upstate New York during the second half of the 
1 8oos. The Oneida technique was a pale and listless version, in­
volving only occasional movement of the male organ. The Taoist 
version is much more dynamic. Van de Velde's "urgent warning against Karezza " was prob­
ably responsible in part for the consensus atnong Western sex­
ologists that coitus without the tnan's orgastnic ejaculation was 
harn1ful to hin1. Masters and Jo hns on disputed this opinion. They 
also recognized that tnale org asn1 and tnalc tjaculation n1ay not be 
the sante. They not only suggested that a n1an need not tjaculate 
t•vt'ry titne. but even introduct'd their own techniqut'to delay 
tnale ej�Kulation. Their. squeeze technique," probably Tantric in 
inspi ration. requires the rnan to withdr aw when he tcels his eli­
nux is near, and then the won1�u1 to pinch his penis frenulun1 
(under the glans ridgt·) with her thun 1b and two tlngers. The best Taoist ntethod ditlcrs fron1 the "squeeze technique "-The Mystic Master of the Grotto, and Masters and Johnson 
and perhaps is superior to it-in that it does not require with­
drawal, or any effort by the woman, or-if the man wants to be 
discreet-even the woman's awareness. The art of male orgasmic 
brinkmanship will be described in detail in chapter 16. The mainstream Taoist concept of sexual health may have 
gotten support, however tenuous, from a recent experiment con­
ducted at the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Nancy Os­
trowski and other researchers found that male golden hamsters 
allowed to have sex on demand showed a weakening of defensive 
"killer cells" in their immune system. As this experiment was 
only tentative, it must be augmented by further tests. For now we 
can only assume from its findings that since the male hamsters 
probably ejaculated every time, the weakening of their immune 
system was a result of ejaculation. We might extrapolate further 
and apply this to ejaculation in men. It is conceivable that ex­
perimen tation on human beings will conclude that while sexual 
activities strengthen health in the long run, ejaculation lowers im­
munity, at least tem porarily. THE G SPOT 
Now that they agree that women do have orgasm, contemporary 
sexologists have found themselv es in a controversy about its exact 
nature. Freud distinguished clitoral from vaginal orgasm, calling 
the former immature and neurotic. Masters and Johnson, like 
Kinsey before them, stated that all female orgasms involved the 
clitoris directly or indirectly. The debate on clitoral versus vaginal orgasm, started by Freud 
and put to an end-for a while-by Masters and Johnson, was re­
kindled by sexologists Beverly Whipple and John Perry in 1980, 
when they announc ed the findings of their research on the G spot. In the early 1940s, while doing research on birth control, the Ger­
man gynecologist Ernst Grafenbcr g claimed to have discovered a 
bean -size spot on the front wall of the vagina, about two inches 
from the entrance. The wel l-hidden spot was difficult to locate 
in self-examination or dur ing mission ary-pos ition intercour se. Grafenberg fi>und this spot extremely sensitive to deep pressure; 
when stimu lated, orgasm resulted. Wh ipple and Perry termed 
lOt) ANC IENT SE CRE TS FOR MODERN LOVERS 
this little erogenous area "Grafenberg spot," or "G spot. " Of the 
approximately four hundred women volunteers their team exam­
ined, all were found to have the G spot. Whipple and Perry announced that stimulation of the G spot 
by deep pressure led to a deep "cervical" orgasm in the female, 
dissin1ilar to the usual clitoral orgasm, and that during such deep 
orgasm rnany women ejaculated a fluid, sometimes abundantly. In the past this ejaculation may have embarrassed some women 
because they thought, incorrectly, that it was urine. Whipple and Perry were joined by Alice K. Ladas, a psycholo­
gist and sexologist, and her husband, Harold, who had been on a 
similar track researching clitoral and vaginal orgasms. The findings 
of the four are still controversial today, but they seem to confirm 
some older beliefs formerly ignored or rejected by the scientific 
community. It will be interesting to see their confirmation by fu­
ture research. While the existence of the G spot and its function in relation 
to deep vaginal orgasm still have not been accepted by all sexol­
ogists, the ancients seem to have made use of the G spot either 
through experience or by instinct. The Taoists never described a 
specific feature that might be the G spot, but there is evidence they 
understood it all the same. The optimum intercourse positions 
for intense stimulati on of the G spot, as pointed out by Gr�iten­
berg, Whipple and Perry, and other sexologists, are rear entry 
and woman's feet on man's shoulders. These two lovemaking 
positions happened to be an1ong the most popular in China for 
centuries. When one considers a n1ajor goal of the Art of the 
Bedchamber, to excite and please won1en sexually, an empirical 
knowledge of the G spot seen 1s con finned. Mast ers and Johnson, perhaps the n1ost renowned atnong 
rnodern sexologists, exploded n1any sexualrnyths long held in the 
Western world. They clain1ed, tor ex�unplc. that the size of a nun's 
pt·nis has noth ing to do with his sexual satisfaction or that of his 
partner� that the n1alc-on-top, face-to-t:Ke position in intercourse 
is not necessa rily the n1ost natural and satisfying; that sexual ab­
stinence for long periods tnay not be benefic ial� and that older 
peopk can continue sexual activity wdl into their eighties and 
nineties. Mast ers and Johnson's successful treatn1ent for st·xually 
dysfunctioning couples, instead of hunting tor Freudian ghosts 13 
Recapture the Spring 
Exercises /or Sexual Vt"gor 
THRO UGHOUT THE CENTU RIES the Taoist Chinese have discreetly 
but avidly sought for the magic to enhance their sexuality. Among 
their efforts arc a variety of therapeutic mind-body exercises to 
invigorate then1 sexually. Erotic exercises and therapy, as noted 
before, are known as lwi-clllm, or "recapture the spring. " (In classi­
cal Chinese, as has been n1cntioncd, the word tor "spring " not 
only denotes the season, but also alludes to youth and sexuality. ) Contrary to what 1nany Westerners and even n1any Chinese 
believe today, the ancien t Chinese were concerned with physical 
cultur e, and engaged widely in dan cing. sports, and tnartial arts. Son1e ten centuries ago. however, when the in1perial systen1 of 
literary con1petition dotninated the aspirations of educated Chi­
nese, tnany of the1 n beg an neglecting physical activity. By the 
tenth and eleventh cen turies, scholars virtually scorned physical 
exer cise as unc outh. Son1e Taoist and Uuddhist priests. acrobats, 
kung fu rnasters, practitioner s of litl. ·-nurturc, and devotees of 
sexual enhatKcnlent, thou gh. con tinu ed to practice and develop 
various forrns of physical cultur e wit h thL' n1ind-body approach. Sex ually orient ed exercis e and therapy arc believed to tune up 
sexual orga ns, t<. )rtif y sexual stat nina, sharpen sexual sensations, 
and generally incr ease pleasur e in the bedroon1. Because these 
tnainly r[loist exercises and th erapy \VL'rc often jealously guarded 
sccr l'ts, revealed only to funily n1e1nbcrs and trusted discipl es, 
tnany of thcn1 arc lost. l)thcrs have been preserved and now are public knowkdgt. '. These. nurnhering in the hundreds. ut. · usdtJI 
and \vithin reach of everyont.
The author states that all known aphrodisiacs that create the illusion of arousal are harmful and may lead to long-term side effects, and instead, they believe that genuine sexual desire can be enhanced by boosting sexual health.
What is the author's stance on the effectiveness of known aphrodisiacs?
According to the text, chi is an energy field that is generated and stored in the lower abdomen, and can be manipulated through various techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, and acupressure. It is believed to be connected to the cinnabar field, and is used to enhance sexual vitality, health, and longevity.
What is the concept of "chi" in ancient Chinese culture?
The text does not explicitly state the purpose of chi-kung, but it implies that it is a practice aimed at generating and maximizing sexual vitality, as well as enhancing overall health and longevity.
What is the purpose of the "chi-kung" practice?
The text does not explicitly state the significance of the ear in ancient Chinese medicine, but it implies that the ear is an important area for the flow of chi and the manipulation of life-force.
What is the significance of the "ear" in ancient Chinese medicine?
The author suggests that the relationship between sex and health is more complex than previously thought, and that sex can have a positive impact on one's health, particularly in terms of longevity.
What is the author's stance on the relationship between sex and health?