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Huangdi Neijing · The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon
Lingshu 33 · The Four Seas
Read in English. Switch to Original for word notes, or select text to ask a question.
The Yellow Emperor asked Qi Bo: “I have heard needling methods from you, and all your words concern nutritive and defensive qi, blood and qi. The twelve channel vessels connect internally to the fu and zang and externally network the limbs and joints. Do you also join them to the four seas?”
Qi Bo replied: “A person also has four seas and twelve channel waters. The channel waters all pour into the seas. The seas lie east, south, west and north, and are named the four seas.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “How does the person correspond to them?”
Qi Bo said: “A person has a sea of marrow, a sea of blood, a sea of qi and a sea of water and grain. These four correspond to the four seas.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “Far-reaching is your joining of the person with heaven, earth and the four seas! I wish to hear how they correspond.”
Qi Bo replied: “One must first clearly know yin and yang, exterior and interior, and where the spring and transporting sites lie. The four seas can then be established.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “How are they established?”
Qi Bo said: “The Stomach is the sea of water and grain. Its transporting sites are above at Qijie and below at Sanli. The Chong vessel is the sea of the twelve channels. Its transporting sites are above at Dazhu and below at the upper and lower borders of Juxu. Danzhong is the sea of qi. Its transporting sites are above at the upper and lower sides of the pillar bone and in front at Renying. The brain is the sea of marrow. Its transporting sites are above at its cover and below at Fengfu.”
The supplied bone and cover terms remain in the historical account; they are not replaced with additional modern locations.
The Yellow Emperor said: “For each of these four seas, what brings benefit or harm, life or failure?”
Qi Bo said: “Accord brings life; counterflow brings failure. Knowing regulation brings benefit; not knowing it brings harm.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “What are counterflow and accord in the four seas?”
Qi Bo said: “Excess in the sea of qi fills the chest with qi, producing oppressed breathing and a red face. Insufficiency leaves too little qi for speech.
“Excess in the sea of blood makes a person continually imagine the body to be large, feeling distressed without knowing what is ill. Insufficiency likewise makes the person continually imagine the body to be small and constrained, without knowing what is ill.
“Excess in the sea of water and grain causes abdominal fullness. Insufficiency causes hunger with inability to receive grain and food.
“Excess in the sea of marrow makes the body light, strong and powerful, going beyond its usual measure. Insufficiency causes a spinning sensation in the brain, ringing ears, aching shins, dizziness and obscured vision, inability to see, lassitude and a wish to lie down.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “I have heard about counterflow and accord. How are they regulated?”
Qi Bo said: “Carefully attend to their transporting sites and regulate emptiness and repletion without incurring harm. Accord allows restoration; counterflow necessarily brings failure.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “Good.”
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