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Huangdi Neijing · The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon
Lingshu 5 · Roots and Bindings
Read in English. Switch to Original for word notes, or select text to ask a question.
Qi Bo said: “Heaven and earth affect one another; cold and warmth shift in succession. In yin and yang’s Way, which is lesser and which greater? Yin’s Way is paired; yang’s Way odd.
“When illness arises in spring or summer, yin qi is lesser and yang qi greater. If they are unregulated, what is supplemented and what drained? In autumn or winter, yang qi is lesser and yin qi greater; yin flourishes while yang declines. Stems and leaves wither, and damp rain returns below. As yin and yang shift, what is drained and what supplemented?
“Unusual harmful influences departing from the channels are beyond counting. Without knowing roots and bindings, the five zang and six fu, joints break down, pivots fail, and opening and closing run astray. Yin and yang are greatly lost and can no longer be recovered by treatment. The mystery of the nine needles lies in beginning and end. Know them, and one statement finishes the matter; without them, the Way of the needle is entirely cut off.”
“Taiyang roots at Zhiyin and binds at the Gate of Life: here the Gate of Life means the eyes.
“Yangming roots at Lidui and binds at Sangda: Sangda means what clasps the ears.
“Shaoyang roots at Qiaoyin and binds at the Window Cage: this means within the ear.
“Taiyang is opening, Yangming closing and Shaoyang the pivot. If opening breaks, the flesh nodes become slack and sudden illness arises. Address Taiyang for sudden illness, observing excess or insufficiency. Slackness means skin and flesh are congested, scorched and weak.”
The Sangda and ear-clasping labels have differing older interpretations. They remain the source’s names rather than being silently assigned to a particular later point.
“If closing breaks, qi has nowhere to rest and wilting illness arises. Address Yangming, observing excess or insufficiency. Having nowhere to rest means true qi is detained and harmful qi occupies its place.
“If the pivot breaks, bones shake and cannot rest securely on the ground. Address Shaoyang, observing excess or insufficiency. Shaking bones means joints are loose and cannot draw in. It means shaking: seek its root fully.”
“Taiyin roots at Yinbai and binds at the Great Granary.
“Shaoyin roots at Yongquan and binds at Lianquan.
“Jueyin roots at Dadun, binds at Yuying and networks at the Center of the Chest.”
Yuying retains the displayed name without substitution from another point list.
“Taiyin is opening, Jueyin closing and Shaoyin the pivot. If opening breaks, the granaries have nowhere to transport and diaphragm-through-flow disorder arises. Address Taiyin, observing excess or insufficiency. Broken opening causes illness through insufficient qi.
“If closing breaks, qi is cut off and sorrow is frequent. Address Jueyin for sorrow, observing excess or insufficiency. If the pivot breaks, vessels bind and fail to pass. Address Shaoyin for nonpassage, observing excess or insufficiency. Where binding occurs, address the insufficient aspect.”
The diaphragm-through-flow term is retained at the source’s general level rather than assigned a new disease name.
“Foot Taiyang roots at Zhiyin, flows at Jinggu, pours at Kunlun and enters at Tianzhu and Feiyang.
“Foot Shaoyang roots at Qiaoyin, flows at Qiuxu, pours at Yangfu and enters at Tianrong and Guangming.
“Foot Yangming roots at Lidui, flows at Chongyang, pours at Xialing and enters at Renying and Fenglong.
“Hand Taiyang roots at Shaoze, flows at Yanggu, pours at Shaohai and enters at Tianchuang and Zhizheng.
“Hand Shaoyang roots at Guanchong, flows at Yangchi, pours at Zhigou and enters at Tianyou and Waiguan.
“Hand Yangming roots at Shangyang, flows at Hegu, pours at Yangxi and enters at Futu and Pianli.
“These are what are called the twelve channels. All abundant networks should be addressed.”
The source lists six named courses before calling them twelve. Shaohai in the Hand Taiyang row and all other supplied assignments are retained; missing courses are not invented.
“In one day and night there are fifty circuits, circulating the essence of the five zang. Failure to answer the number is called errant living. Fifty circuits means all five zang receive qi. Hold the pulse opening and count its arrivals.
“Fifty movements without one interruption: all five zang receive qi.
“One interruption in forty movements: one zang lacks qi.
“One in thirty: two zang lack qi.
“One in twenty: three lack qi.
“One in ten: four lack qi.
“One in fewer than ten: all five zang lack qi.
“In assigning a shortened term, the essential lies in beginning and end. Fifty movements without interruption is the ordinary rule. The shortened term of the five zang is known when the pulse is now rapid, now sparse.”
All counts remain the source’s historical pulse reckoning, without conversion into a modern rate or prognosis.
The Yellow Emperor said: “The discourse on opposing and following in the five bodily tissues describes large and small bones and joints, firm and brittle flesh, thick and thin skin, clear and turbid blood, slippery and rough qi, long and short vessels, much and little blood, and the counts of channels and networks. I know these, but they concern ordinary people in plain clothing. Princes, great officials and meat-fed lords have soft, delicate bodies, weak flesh and swift, fierce, smooth blood and qi. Can needling’s speed, depth and amount be the same for them?”
Qi Bo replied: “How could the flavors of rich fare and beans and bean leaves be alike? Slippery qi emerges swiftly; rough qi emerges slowly. Fierce qi calls for a small needle and shallow entry; rough qi for a large needle and deep entry. Depth calls for retention; shallowness for speed. Thus commoners are needled deeply with retention; great persons subtly and slowly. This follows their swift, fierce and smooth qi.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “How do bodily form and qi follow or oppose one another?”
Qi Bo said: “Insufficient bodily form and qi with excessive illness qi means harmful influence prevails: promptly drain it. Abundant bodily form and qi with insufficient illness qi calls for prompt supplementation. If both are insufficient, yin and yang qi are insufficient together: do not needle. Needling doubles insufficiency, exhausting yin and yang, blood and qi, emptying the five zang and drying sinews, bones and marrow. The old perish and the mature do not recover. If both are abundant, yin and yang have excess together: promptly drain the harmful influence and regulate emptiness and repletion.
“Thus it is said: ‘Drain excess; supplement insufficiency.’ Needling without knowing opposing and following makes true and harmful qi contend. Supplementing fullness makes yin and yang overflow, fills intestines and stomach, swells Liver and Lung within and disorders yin and yang. Draining emptiness empties channel vessels, exhausts blood and qi, leaves intestines and stomach collapsed, makes skin thin and adherent and scorches hair and interstices. The text assigns this a fatal term.
“The essential of needles lies in knowing how to regulate yin and yang. Then essence and qi shine, form and qi join, and spirit is stored within. The superior practitioner balances qi; the intermediate disorders vessels; the inferior cuts off qi and endangers life. Inferior practice must therefore be guarded against. Examine changing illness in the five zang, the five pulse responses, repletion and emptiness of channels and networks, and soft or coarse skin; only then address it.”
The supplied contrasting supplementation rule and anomalous internal-swelling and bowel-collapse graphs are retained contextually rather than rewritten into a different scheme.
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