命門實質之探討

A Study of Relative Position of Mingmen and Its Function

命門一辭始見於內經，難經發揮其義，其後歷經漢、晉、隋、唐、宋的沈寂，到了金、元醫家才又開始論述命門，但都不夠詳細。直到明、清才見醫家對命門有較深入的論述。民國以來，眾多醫家對命門功能的描述漸趨一致，大抵認為命門是人體生命之根本，並強調命門為腎陽之部份體現，然而對命門位置的描述則仍眾說紛紜，莫衷一是。本文將歷代醫家對命門部位與作用之論述加以分析，可知難經對命門生理功能之描述最為後世醫家所宗，根據難經所述，命門為「五臟六腑之主」。徵之現代醫學，命門之功能與腦幹網狀形成之功能（包括上升系統與下降系統及交感神經一腎上腺髓質系統）相當。

The term 'Mingmen' Life gate was first seen in Nei-Ching, and the meaning of the term was further explored in the Nan-Ching. Unfortunately, discussion of Mingmen ceased from the Han dynasty to the Sung. It was not until the Ming and Ching dynasties that medical professionals begin to gain a deeper understanding of Mingmen in. In this century, medical professionals' description of the function of Mingmen gradually unified. Most of them believed that Mingmen is the most Essential part of human life, and that Mingmen is expressed as part of Kidney Yang （腎陽） .However, regarding the position of Mingmen an agreement has not yet achieved among the medical professionals. According to the analysis of Mingmen's position and function by ancient medical professionals, one can deduce that the description of Mingmen's phyiological function came by the work of recent medical professionals. Nan-Ching denoted Mingmen as the chief of the viscerae, and modern medicine has proved that the function of Mingmen is comparable to the function of reticular formation in the brain stem.