Under the direct influence of Neo-Confucianism

it became the common pursuit of Confucianists and TCM doctors to understand the tai chi principle of the universe by exploring tai chi of the body. Therefore

in order to understand and explain the body from a Confucian perspective

physicians in the Ming Dynasty re-explored the origin of life by applying the cosmological model of Neo-Confucianism to life. As they re-explored and reconstructed the origin of human body

they sought evidence from perspectives of both medicine and culture.From the medical perspective

they borrowed the term “

mingmen

” (life gate)

originally referring to “eyes”

from

Huangdi Neijing (Huangdi’s Internal Classic)

and the concept “the stirring qi of the kidney region”

which is regarded as fundamental to life from

Nanjing (Classic of Difficult Issues

). Through combination and transformation

mingmen

began to refer to the stirring qi of the kidney region and became the new origin of life

thus forming the textual support from medical classics.In terms of culture

TCM physicians’ re-exploration of the origin of life in the Ming Dynasty were motivated directly by the pursuit of the ontology of the universe by Neo-Confucianism at that time. Drawing on Yi-ology

especially Zhou Dunyi’s new interpretation

they reshaped

mingmen

and the two kidneys in a metaphysical way

which gained the medical theory support from Confucianism that was widely acknowledged by the society. However

the transformation of the concepts of body by TCM doctors in the Ming Dynasty represented by the

mingmen

theory was more an analogy to Confucianism than any real breakthrough in and transcendence over the traditional system of pattern differentiation and treatment.