Hot And Cold
Those of us who did not grow up in a traditional Chinese household are actually probably thankful to see things explained in such detail in Dream of the Red Chamber. Xue Baochai’s explanation to Jia Baoyu about why he should only drink warm wine is quite interesting:
要熱吃下去，發散的就快；要冷吃下去，便凝結在內，拿五臟去暖他，豈不受害？
If you drink it warm, it disperses quickly throughout your body. If you drink it cold, however, it congeals and simply sits in your stomach. All of your vital organs will have to work hard to warm it up. Wouldn’t that be harmful?
But, of course, there’s a lot more going on here than just traditional Chinese medicine values.
