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Macro refers to the opposite of micro, focusing on the overall picture and atmosphere of the entire system rather than the minute details. For example, when people say it's sunny, cloudy, or rainy today, they are observing the macro state of the weather, not calculating how many water molecules are in the sky. When judging whether a piece of bread is fresh or moldy, people do not use a microscope to count the types or quantities of mold on the bread. Other examples, such as the abundance or dryness of lake water, the lushness or withering of trees, the seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and human emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, are all macro representations of macro systems. These representations cannot be observed in the micro world, just as you cannot see the appearance of rivers and seas from a single water molecule, you cannot see the changes of the four seasons from a single leaf, and you cannot see human emotions from a single cell.

A macro system can exist in multiple states, which are the intuitively observable aspects of the system. For example, local weather can be in a state of sunny, cloudy, or rainy. Similarly, human emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness are common states. A macro system can transition from one state to another due to external stimuli or changes in boundary conditions. For instance, when you are angry, that is one system state; if someone makes you laugh, you transition from the state of anger to the state of joy. The person or thing that makes you laugh is the external stimulus or regulator.

The states of a macro system can also be divided into normal (healthy) states or imbalanced (pathological) states. For example, a person experiencing joy, anger, or sorrow at different times is part of the normal spectrum of human emotions. However, if someone is in a state of sorrow for 365 days continuously, that is an abnormal, pathological state. Similarly, a balanced alternation of sunny and rainy weather is a normal state, promoting the vitality of all things. But if it doesn't rain for several consecutive years, that is an imbalanced, pathological state, leading to the withering and mass death of all things.

How to regulate a macro system from an imbalanced state back to a normal state? One must identify the cause of the system's imbalance, which is usually macro in nature, and the methods used to restore balance are also macro. For example, after years of drought, plants have withered, animals have died of thirst or starvation, and the land has cracked. The macro cause is the lack of rain from the heavens. Therefore, finding ways to make it rain, restoring normal weather patterns, or diverting rivers from elsewhere are macro solutions. When it rains or when river water arrives, all things will naturally return to their original prosperity. Once the macro conditions are restored, the various micro pathological states will automatically recover. This is macro regulation, also known as "treating root." Another approach is to personally water each plant, feed each animal, and fill each crack in the ground. However, once this effort stops, the pathological state of all things will quickly return. This is called micro regulation, or "treating symptom."

Just like the climate or a game of Go, the various systems within the human body are also extensive and diverse. To "simplify the complex," Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) uses the method of Tai Chi to initially divide the human body into two attributes: Yin and Yang. Yin: the visible flesh, body fluids, and various nutrients that nourish the body; Yang: energy, kinetic energy, heat energy, function, and information all belong to it. In any Tai Chi system, Yin and Yang are the foundation of each other, mutually contrasting and interdependent, just like blood nourishing the whole body, which belongs to Yin; the heart provides the power for blood flow, and cell oxidation produces heat to provide the temperature of the blood, both of which belong to Yang. Without power, blood is just dead blood; without blood, power and heat have nothing to rely on, and cannot exert their ability to push and warm. Blood and power-heat complement each other to normally nourish and warm the whole body, which is called Yin-Yang balance, the healthy state of the body. But if either Yin or Yang becomes excessive or deficient, it is the imbalance and pathological state of yin-yang, and various diseases arise. The symptoms may be very complex, but they can all be classified within several system states, namely:

• Diseases characterized by yin deficiency with normal yang.
• Diseases characterized by yang deficiency with normal yin.
• Diseases characterized by excessive yang with normal yin.
• Diseases characterized by deficiency of both yin and yang.

There are four methods of regulation: for yin deficiency, tonify the deficiency of yin; for yang deficiency, tonify the deficiency of yang; for excessive yang, suppress yang qi; for deficiency of both yin and yang, tonify both yin and yang. This is the macro-regulation in TCM, aiming to adjust the imbalanced state of disease to a balanced state of health. Macro-regulation often yields unexpected therapeutic effects. For example, a patient who is prone to dizziness is diagnosed with yang deficiency and given a yang tonic. Upon follow-up, the patient reports that not only has the dizziness improved, but also the cold hands and feet and tendency for loose stools have improved. This is the charm of macro-regulation and treating multiple conditions with a single formula.

Conditions such as yin deficiency and yang deficiency are referred to in TCM by a special term called "pattern" or "Zheng" (證) . A "pattern" represents a state of imbalance or disease in the body, a systemic state that gives rise to a series of symptoms. A "symptom" is a specific manifestation of disease in the body, such as a headache. "Pattern treatment" involves reversing the body's imbalanced system to a state of balance, a heroic effort; whereas "symptom treatment" is merely treating the head for a headache and the foot for foot pain, without regard to where the system is imbalanced. TCM practices "pattern-based treatment", while modern medicine is still in the developmental stage of "symptom-based treatment". The levels of the two are completely different and cannot be compared.

The simple dichotomy of yin and yang in the human body can already prevent and cure many diseases. If the dichotomy of yin and yang is insufficient to address complex conditions, the body can be further subdivided logically, such as into exterior and interior, upper and lower, qi and blood, nutrient and defense aspects, meridians, three jiaos, zang-fu organs, etc., each with its own yin and yang, and its own state of balance (health) and imbalance (disease). This process of logical division is the concept of "Tai Chi gives birth to two forms, two forms give birth to four phenomena, four phenomena give birth to eight trigrams (Bagua,八卦), and eight trigrams determines the universe". The unique aspect of TCM lies in its adaptation to the unique structure of the human body, employing methods of three, five, six, and twelve divisions, logically dividing the body into three jiaos, five or six zang organs, six fu organs, twelve pairs of meridians, and exploring the interactions, balance, imbalance, and treatment principles among these divisions. All of these are inseparable from the changes and applications of yin and yang. The twelvefold division reaches the limit of human intelligence's ability to freely apply; further subdivision would be too detailed and complex, losing the sophistication of simplifying complexity, and would be difficult to grasp with limited human intelligence.