China is a remedy of the plant kingdom, and in my understanding it is the main remedy of the malarial miasm. The malarial miasm lies between the acute and sycotic miasms. Malaria is characterized by intermittent fevers – sudden acute attacks of fever with chills, followed by periods of relative dormancy. There is therefore an acute phase, which is characterized by a feeling of threat, followed by longer periods of fixed states of being that are of a sycotic nature, i.e. there is a fixed sensation of deficiency with the need to cover up.
The feeling in China is: “I am weak and so people attack, trouble and torture me”, a feeling of being persecuted. The patient feels he is weak, not good enough, that he is persecuted and hindered at his work by other people, that he is obstructed from achieving his ambition. So he fantasizes and in these fantasies he makes himself worthy and achieves his ambitions, and in this way uses fantasies to cover up the inherent feeling of not being good enough. This is the sycotic, fixed phase. The acute phase in China is characterized by acute fears and anxiety; notable among them is a fear of dogs. It is also often indicated in acute attacks of fever, loose motions, and asthma. The latter can be so bad that the patient may lose his consciousness as he gets breathless. This acute phase is usually in response to an external exciting factor.
The feeling of being tortured or persecuted can also be reflected in his words. For example he might say: “This headache troubles me so much, it does not allow me to work.” The patient feels frustrated, angry and hindered all the time, and develops a contemptuous attitude towards everyone. He does not have the courage to break away. He becomes indifferent and hopeless. He wants to commit suicide but lacks courage. He is frustrated, being unable to achieve his ambition; so he starts planning, fantasizing, theorizing. Unlike Cannabis indica, who slips into his fantasy world automatically, China is ambitious and plans step by step. He achieves his ambition by building castles in the air. He feels what he possesses is not good enough and that he would have possessed better things if he had not been obstructed and hindered. Therefore he fantasizes and imagines that he possesses finer and more expensive things than he actually does. He never really puts his plans into action. It is mere armchair planning. He is ambitious but indolent because he feels unfortunate and obstructed. For example he will say: “There are sound tracks in movies, why can’t there be smell tracks?” So he starts planning to put smell tracks in the films. In his fantasy world, he does the things he would have done had he not been hindered, but he knows that planning and theorizing are hopeless.
China is within all of us. We all have plans and goals, but somehow people and things come in our way and hinder us. We are frustrated but know that nothing can be done. We fantasize about what would have happened had we not been hindered; we feel unfortunate. China is probably the remedy for China itself: the students have been so frustrated by the government, they can do little but fantasize what they would have done had they not been so unfortunate.
Like other plant remedies, it has the sensation of being offended and hurt, and at this point it resembles Staphysagria. But while Staphysagria feels insulted and angry, China feels hindered in his ambition and starts fantasizing.
I have found China to be a good remedy in asthma when the symptoms agree. I have also found it useful in attacks of rheumatoid arthritis which are followed by a fixed stiffness in the joints. In allopathy, quinine is used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
The physical symptoms are all followed by tremendous weakness. It has ailments from loss of vital fluids, a tremendous weakness following discharges.
Physical symptoms:
o Desire for sweets.
o Periodicity.
o H/o intermittent fevers.
o Perspiration staining yellow.
o Bitter taste in the mouth.
o Flatulence and a bloated, distended abdomen.
Rubrics:
o Delusion, hindered at work, is.
o Delusion, persecuted, he is.
o Delusion, pursued by enemies, thought he was.
o Delusion, tormented, he is.
o Delusion, unfortunate, he is.
o Fancies, exaltation, of.
o Plans, making many.
o Indolence, aversion to work.
o Indifference, apathy, etc., alternating with vexation.
o Contemptuous, everything, of.
o Unworthy, objects seem.
o Offended easily.
o Suicidal disposition, but lacks courage.
Kent:
o Face: greasy.
o Food tastes bitter.
o Appetite, increased during fever.
o Desires refreshing things.
o Desires fruits.
o Desires sweets.
o Aggravation from eggs (China-a).
o Gallstone colic.
o Respiration asthmatic, 3:00 AM
