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Huangdi Neijing · The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon
Lingshu 47 · The Root Zang
Read in English. Switch to Original for word notes, or select text to ask a question.
The Yellow Emperor asked Qi Bo: “Blood, qi, essence and spirit nourish life and sustain one’s nature and lifespan. Channel vessels move blood and qi, nourish yin and yang, moisten sinews and bones and free the joints. Defensive qi warms the divisions of flesh, fills the skin, enriches the interstices and governs opening and closing. Intention and thought govern essence and spirit, gather hun and po, adjust cold and warmth and harmonize joy and anger.
“Thus, when blood is harmonious, channel vessels flow, yin and yang are nourished and sheltered, sinews and bones are strong and joints clear and free. When defensive qi is harmonious, the divisions of flesh are relaxed and free, skin is supple and the interstices dense. When intention and thought are harmonious, essence and spirit are focused and upright, hun and po do not scatter, regret and anger do not arise and the five zang receive no harmful influence. When cold and warmth are harmonious, the six fu transform grain, wind obstruction does not arise, channel vessels are open and limbs and joints settled. This is a person’s ordinary balance.
“The five zang store essence, spirit, blood, qi, hun and po. The six fu transform water and grain and move jin and ye fluids. All people receive these from heaven: the wise and foolish, worthy and unworthy, have no partial allotment. Yet some alone fulfill their heavenly lifespan, free of deviant illness and undiminished at a hundred years. Even wind and rain, sudden cold and great heat cannot harm them. Others never leave their sheltered rooms and have no alarming fears, yet cannot escape illness. Why? I wish to hear the reason.”
Qi Bo said: “Difficult indeed is the question! The five zang participate in heaven and earth, correspond to yin and yang, move with the four seasons and transform with the five seasonal divisions. They inherently differ in size, height, firmness or brittleness, uprightness or tilt. The six fu likewise differ in size, length, thickness, knottedness or straightness, relaxation or tension. These twenty-five conditions differ, some good and some bad, some favorable and some unfavorable. Let me describe their patterns.”
A small Heart is settled and cannot be injured by harmful influence, but is easily injured by anxiety. A large Heart cannot be injured by anxiety but is easily injured by harmful influence. A high Heart fills the Lung region, bringing a bowed posture, forgetfulness and difficulty being opened by words. A low Heart lies outside the zang, is easily injured by cold and easily frightened by words. A firm Heart is settled and keeps secure. A brittle Heart is prone to wasting heat and internal heat. An upright Heart is harmonious, free and hard to injure. A tilted Heart brings inconsistent conduct and no steady keeping or governance.
The supplied description “outside the zang” is retained without reconstructing a different location.
A small Lung takes little drink and does not suffer panting or loud breathing. A large Lung takes much drink and is prone to chest obstruction, throat obstruction and counterflow qi. A high Lung brings rising qi, panting and cough. A low Lung lies at the ben region and presses on the Lung, often bringing pain beneath the rib-sides. A firm Lung does not suffer cough or rising qi. A brittle Lung suffers wasting heat and is easily injured. An upright Lung is harmonious, free and hard to injure. A tilted Lung brings pain on one side of the chest.
The low-Lung clause repeats “Lung” in the supplied text. This is not silently replaced with another organ. Ben remains the historical gate-region term.
A small Liver is settled and brings no pain beneath the rib-sides. A large Liver crowds the Stomach and presses toward the throat, causing distress in the diaphragm and pain beneath the rib-sides. A high Liver props upward at the ben region and presses against the ribs, producing oppressive, obstructed breathing. A low Liver crowds the Stomach and leaves emptiness beneath the rib-sides; this emptiness readily receives harmful influence. A firm Liver is settled and hard to injure. A brittle Liver is prone to wasting heat and easily injured. An upright Liver is harmonious, free and hard to injure. A tilted Liver brings pain beneath the rib-sides.
A small Spleen is settled and hard for harmful influence to injure. A large Spleen brings painful crowding at the side and prevents rapid walking. A high Spleen draws painfully toward the lowest ribs. A low Spleen presses downward on the Large Intestine, exposing the zang to harmful influence. A firm Spleen is settled and hard to injure. A brittle Spleen is prone to wasting heat and easily injured. An upright Spleen is harmonious, free and hard to injure. A tilted Spleen is prone to fullness and distension.
The side-region wording contains damaged graphs written “湊噛” and “噛.” Their contextual relation to the rib-side pain is retained without adding a precise modern structure.
A small Kidney is settled and hard to injure. A large Kidney is prone to lower-back pain, prevents bending forward and backward and is easily injured by harmful influence. A high Kidney brings back and spinal pain preventing bending. A low Kidney brings pain in waist and rump, prevents bending and produces fox shan. A firm Kidney does not suffer waist and back pain. A brittle Kidney suffers wasting heat and is easily injured. An upright Kidney is harmonious, free and hard to injure. A tilted Kidney brings pain in waist and rump. These twenty-five changes are the recurring illnesses people suffer.
The text calls these “twenty-five” both here and in its introduction; its fuller lists of paired characteristics are retained without changing that stated count. Fox shan remains a historical disorder name.
The Yellow Emperor said: “How can these conditions be known?”
Qi Bo said: “Red color and fine texture indicate a small Heart; coarse texture, a large Heart. Absence of the breastbone tip indicates a high Heart. A small, short, raised tip indicates a low Heart; a long tip, a low and firm Heart. A weak, small and thin tip indicates a brittle Heart. One descending straight without rising indicates an upright Heart; one leaning to a side, a tilted Heart.”
The rare paired bone graphs denote the breastbone-tip region. The supplied low-and-firm reading is retained rather than changed to another older reading.
“White color and fine texture indicate a small Lung; coarse texture, a large Lung. Large shoulders, a turned-back chest and a sunken throat indicate a high Lung. Close-set armpits and expanded rib-sides indicate a low Lung. Well-formed shoulders and a thick back indicate a firm Lung; thin shoulders and back, a brittle Lung. A thick back and chest indicate an upright Lung; unevenly spaced rib-sides, a tilted Lung.”
“Blue-green color and fine texture indicate a small Liver; coarse texture, a large Liver. A broad chest and outward-turned bony projections indicate a high Liver. Close-set ribs and withdrawn bony projections indicate a low Liver. Well-formed chest and rib-sides indicate a firm Liver; weak rib bones, a brittle Liver. A well-matched chest and abdomen indicate an upright Liver; rib bones raised to one side, a tilted Liver.”
The bony-projection expressions written with “骹” and “兔” are uncertain. Their contrasting outward and withdrawn forms are retained in the chest context, without substituting an unrelated limb joint.
“Yellow color and fine texture indicate a small Spleen; coarse texture, a large Spleen. Lifted lips indicate a high Spleen; lips hanging downward, a low Spleen. Firm lips indicate a firm Spleen; large but unfirm lips, a brittle Spleen. Well-matched upper and lower lips indicate an upright Spleen; lips lifted to one side, a tilted Spleen.”
“Black color and fine texture indicate a small Kidney; coarse texture, a large Kidney. High ears indicate a high Kidney; hollows behind the ears, a low Kidney. Firm ears indicate a firm Kidney; thin, unfirm ears, a brittle Kidney. Well-formed ears placed forward by the jaw indicate an upright Kidney; one ear higher than the other, a tilted Kidney. For all these variations, preserving their condition brings stability; diminution brings illness.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “Good, but this is not what I asked. I wish to hear why some people cannot be made ill and fulfill their heavenly lifespan: even deep anxiety, great fear and alarm cannot diminish them, and extreme cold and heat cannot injure them. Others never leave sheltered rooms and have no alarming fears, yet cannot escape illness. Why? I wish to hear the reason.”
Qi Bo said: “The five zang and six fu are dwellings of harmful influence. Let me explain. When all five zang are small, there is little illness but much anxious distress and worry. When all are large, one is slow in affairs and hard to trouble with anxiety. When all are high, one favors lofty conduct. When all are low, one likes to place oneself below others. When all are firm, there is no illness. When all are brittle, illness never departs. When all are upright, one is harmonious and wins people’s hearts. When all are tilted, the heart is deviant and prone to stealing; such a person cannot be regarded as steady or trustworthy and repeatedly changes his words.”
The final clause has irregular punctuation in this source. The connections drawn between organ form, conduct and illness are preserved as historical claims, not judgments about a person’s character from appearance.
The Yellow Emperor said: “I wish to hear the correspondences of the six fu.”
Qi Bo replied: “The Lung joins the Large Intestine, which corresponds to skin. The Heart joins the Small Intestine, which corresponds to vessels. The Liver joins the Gallbladder, which corresponds to sinews. The Spleen joins the Stomach, which corresponds to flesh. The Kidney joins the Triple Burner and Bladder, which correspond to interstices and fine hair.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “How do these correspond?”
Qi Bo said: “The Lung corresponds to skin. Thick skin indicates a thick Large Intestine; thin skin, a thin one. Relaxed skin and a large abdominal interior indicate a large, long Large Intestine. Tight skin indicates a tight, short one. Slippery skin indicates a straight Large Intestine. Skin and flesh that do not separate indicate a knotted one.”
“The Heart corresponds to vessels. Thick skin indicates thick vessels and thus a thick Small Intestine. Thin skin indicates thin vessels and thus a thin Small Intestine. Relaxed skin indicates relaxed vessels and thus a large, long Small Intestine. Thin skin with small surging vessels indicates a small, short Small Intestine. Many twists and bends in all the yang channel vessels indicate a knotted Small Intestine.”
“The Spleen corresponds to flesh. Large, firm fleshy masses indicate a thick Stomach. Slight masses indicate a thin Stomach; small, slight masses, an unfirm Stomach. Masses out of proportion to the body indicate a low Stomach, whose lower opening is constricted and obstructed. Unfirm masses indicate a relaxed Stomach. Masses without small wrapped bundles indicate a tense Stomach. Masses with varying small wrapped bundles indicate a knotted Stomach, whose upper opening is constricted and obstructed.”
The small-bundle phrases are compressed and graphically uncertain in the supplied text. Their stated tense/knotted distinctions are retained without silently replacing them with a different bundle count.
“The Liver corresponds to nails. Thick, yellow nails indicate a thick Gallbladder; thin, pink-red nails, a thin one. Firm, blue-green nails indicate a tense Gallbladder; soft, red nails, a relaxed one. Straight, white nails without constrictions indicate a straight Gallbladder. Poorly formed, black nails with many twists indicate a knotted one.”
“The Kidney corresponds to bone. Dense texture and thick skin indicate a thick Triple Burner and Bladder; coarse texture and thin skin, thin ones. Loose interstices indicate relaxed ones. Tight skin without fine hair indicates tense ones. Fine hair that is well-formed and coarse indicates straight ones. Sparse fine hair indicates knotted ones.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “Thickness and thinness, good and poor conditions all have visible forms. I wish to hear what illnesses they suffer.”
Qi Bo replied: “Observe their outward correspondences to know their inner zang, and the illness can be known.”
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