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Huangdi Neijing · The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon
Suwen 25 · Treasuring Life and Preserving Form
Read in English. Switch to Original for word notes, or select text to ask a question.
The Yellow Emperor asked: “Heaven covers and Earth bears; all things are provided, and none is more precious than the human being. People live through the qi of Heaven and Earth and take form through the laws of the four seasons. Rulers and ordinary people alike wish to preserve their form. Yet when that form is ill, its condition goes unrecognized. Lingering disorder deepens daily and lodges in bone and marrow. I ponder this privately. I wish to remove their illnesses with the needle: how is it done?”
Qi Bo replied: “Salt tastes salty, and its qi makes moisture seep from its vessel. A severed string gives a hoarse, broken sound. A flourishing tree puts forth leaves. Deep illness produces retching sounds. When these three signs appear in a person, this is called ruined receptacles. Potent medicinals cannot treat it; short needles find no purchase. In all these cases skin is broken, flesh injured, and blood and qi contend and turn dark.
Reading note: The supplied text lists the comparisons and then says three signs; that count is preserved rather than silently reconciled.”
The Emperor said: “Thinking of their pain confuses and distresses my heart, making it worse. Their suffering cannot be borne in their place. When the people hear of such treatment, they take it for cruelty and harm. What should be done?”
Qi Bo said: “People are born on Earth, with their lives suspended from Heaven. Heaven and Earth combine qi: this is called the human being. For those able to respond to the four seasons, Heaven and Earth are father and mother. One who understands the myriad things is called Heaven’s son.
Heaven has yin and yang; people have twelve divisions. Heaven has cold and heat; people have deficiency and repletion. One able to follow the transformations of Heaven, Earth, yin and yang does not miss the four seasons. One who understands the twelve divisions cannot be deceived even by the sagely and wise. One who keeps in view the changes of the eight movements sees the five overcoming influences take their turns. One who penetrates the measures of deficiency and repletion can move inward and outward independently; the finest opening of the mouth or groaning, even an autumn hair, is before the eyes.”
The Emperor said: “Human life has form and never departs from yin and yang. Heaven and Earth combine qi, differentiated into nine regions and divided into four seasons. Months are short or long, and days brief or extended. The myriad things arrive together, beyond calculation. Deficiency and repletion, opening the mouth and groaning: may I ask the method?”
Qi Bo said: “Wood meeting Metal is cut; Fire meeting Water is extinguished; Earth meeting Wood is penetrated; Metal meeting Fire is damaged; Water meeting Earth is cut off. All things follow such relations, beyond exhaustive enumeration.
Thus needling has five foundations displayed throughout the world. Ordinary people share their food yet do not understand them. First, regulate spirit. Second, know how to nourish the body. Third, know the true nature of potent medicinals. Fourth, fashion stone lancets large and small. Fifth, know how to examine the fu and zang organs, blood and qi. Once the five methods are established, each has its proper priority.
Practitioners of later times supplement deficiency and discharge fullness: all craftsmen know this much. But to model oneself on Heaven and Earth, act as their changes require, harmonize like an answering echo and follow like a shadow—this Way involves no ghosts or spirits, coming and going on its own.”
The Emperor said: “I wish to hear this Way.”
Qi Bo said: “The truth of needling requires first regulating spirit. Determine the five zang organs and complete the nine examinations before considering the needle. Let the many distracting pulse appearances disappear and the many ominous reports go unheard. Exterior and interior must accord; do not let outward form lead. Study the coming and going before applying the method to a person.
People have deficiency and repletion. Do not approach the five deficiencies; do not remain distant from the five repletions. When the proper moment to act arrives, no interval can be allowed. Hands move as though through mist; the needle gleams and moves evenly. Still intention and observe what is appropriate; watch the changes encountered. This is called the obscure and subtle: its form is unknown. One sees its dark massing, sees its crowded stirring and follows its flight, yet does not know what it is. At rest it is like a crossbow held level; in motion, like a released trigger.
Reading note: The unusual supplied 篭 in the timing phrase is not turned into a measurement. The hand-motion phrase is read through the customary mist image; the ensuing obscure images remain images rather than invented diagnostic signs.”
The Emperor asked: “What is done for deficiency, and what for repletion?”
Qi Bo said: “When needling deficiency, wait for fullness to arrive. When needling repletion, wait for it to become empty. Once channel qi arrives, carefully guard it and do not lose it. Depth and shallowness are held in the intent; far and near are treated as one. Be as though standing above a deep abyss, the hand as though holding a tiger. Let spirit attend to none of the multitude of other things.”
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