Many of the young expectant mothers who practice taijiao believe
the rigorous programs of stimulation currently in fashion are a
20th century Western invention.
However, according to the how-to books on taijiao crowding
the
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Mothers-to-be take a prenatal training class
in Wuhan, Hubei Province. |
shelves of Beijing bookstores, the concept itself dates from the
Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) and is mentioned in many classic texts
of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) such as the Classic of
Internal Medicine (Huangdi Neijing).
In these classics, the theory of taijiao is that the mother's
mood, thoughts, speech and actions are just as influential as her
nutrition and physical well-being in determining the health,
intelligence and character of the future child. Like most TCM
advice, the precepts of taijiao advise keeping balance in
temperature and food consumption and maintaining a peaceful
environment.
What sets apart old taijiao from new is the new active and
programmatic features. The new taijiao regimens laid out in popular
prenatal care manuals advocate not just sitting in a beautiful
garden, but verbally describing the flowers and trees to the fetus
to promote early language development; not just listening to music
but listening to an hour of Mozart every day; not just reading but
reading essays designed to stimulate happiness aloud to the fetus;
not just physical activity, but doing prenatal yoga and tracing
patterns on the belly with a flashlight to stimulate the fetus'
sense of vision; not just eating well, but taking vitamins and DHA
supplements.
In its most extreme form, taijiao advocates teaching specific
content, such as a song or vocabulary to the fetus so the baby will
be already be learned by birth.
Some taijiao manuals are cautious to the extreme and advocate
starting physical, emotional and environmental preparations for
pregnancy as long as a year before; some go even earlier than the
fetus, and maintain that fathers who wear tight pants can cause
damage to sperm that results in birth defects.
(China Daily August 22, 2007)
