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Huangdi Neijing · The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon
Suwen 49 · Explanations of the Pulse
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Taiyang’s swelling and pain in waist and buttocks concern the first month and the Yin branch. Yin is Taiyang. In the first month yang qi emerges above while yin remains abundant; yang has not yet found its proper sequence. Thus swelling and waist–buttock pain occur.
One-sided deficiency producing lameness concerns first-month yang qi thawing the frozen ground and Earth qi emerging. One-sided deficiency means winter cold left some insufficiency; thus deficiency on one side causes lameness. Stiffness above drawing into the back means yang qi rises greatly and contends.
Ringing ears occur as yang qi and the myriad things flourish upward and leap. Severe frenzy and dian illness mean yang is entirely above while yin follows below: deficiency below and repletion above produce them. Floating that produces deafness concerns qi throughout.
Entry into the center producing muteness means abundant yang has declined. Internal depletion with counterflow produces muteness and weakness: this is Kidney deficiency. Failure of Shaoyin to arrive is counterflow.
Reading note: Yin here names the earthly branch 寅, not 陰. The supplied 喑俳 is rendered broadly as muteness with weakness without choosing a disputed specific impairment.
Shaoyang’s pain at Heart and flanks means Shaoyang is abundant. Its abundance manifests at Heart’s exterior. In the ninth month yang qi is exhausted and yin abundant, so Heart and flank pain arise.
Inability to turn from side to side means yin qi stores things. Stored things do not move, so turning is impossible. Severe illness producing leaping concerns the ninth month, when all things decline and grasses and trees finish shedding and falling. Qi leaves yang for yin; qi becomes abundant and yang grows below. Thus leaping is spoken of.
Yangming’s shivering cold concerns the Wu branch and yin within abundant yang in the fifth month. Yang flourishes while yin qi is added, causing shivering. Swollen shins and thighs unable to draw back likewise concern this fifth-month yin. Yang declines then; One Yin rises and begins contending with it, so shins swell and thighs cannot be drawn back.
Panting above with Water illness means yin qi descends and then rises again. Rising harmful influence lodges between zang and fu organs and produces Water. Chest pain with scant qi means Water qi is in those organs. Water is yin qi; yin qi within produces chest pain and scant qi.
Severe counterflow, aversion to people and fire, and alarm at wooden sounds arise when yang and yin press against one another. Water and Fire dislike one another, bringing alarm. Wishing to close doors and windows and remain alone likewise means yin and yang pressing together: yang is exhausted and yin abundant.
Wishing during illness to climb high and sing, cast off clothing and run means yin and yang contend again, combining with yang outside. Thus clothing is cast off and the person runs.
Lodging in the fine branch vessels, with headache, nasal obstruction and discharge, and abdominal swelling, means Yangming has combined above. Above, its fine networks connect with Taiyin; thus these manifestations arise.
Reading note: Wu names the earthly branch 午. The supplied Taiyin connection is retained rather than regularized into a different channel account.
Taiyin’s distention concerns the Zi branch. In the eleventh month, the qi of all things is stored within, hence illness with distention. Rising to Heart and producing belching means abundant yin rises into Yangming. Yangming’s networks belong to Heart, hence rising to Heart with belching.
Vomiting on eating means abundant contents fill and overflow upward. Relief after stool and wind, as though the illness has declined, concerns the twelfth month: yin qi declines below while yang is about to emerge. Thus passing stool and wind brings relief as though the illness has declined.
Reading note: The supplied twelfth month remains, even where another classical edition gives the eleventh.
Shaoyin’s waist pain concerns Kidney. In the tenth month the yang qi of all things is injured, so the waist is painful. Vomiting, cough, upward qi and panting mean yin qi is below and yang above. The yang influences float with nothing to rely on, producing those manifestations.
Restlessness, inability to stand long, and dim vision seeing nothing on rising after prolonged sitting mean the yin and yang of all things are unsettled and lack a governing influence. Autumn qi is just arriving; slight frost first falls and begins killing all things. Yin and yang are depleted within, so vision becomes dim and sees nothing.
Scant qi and frequent anger mean yang qi is not governing and cannot emerge. Liver qi should govern but has not obtained its place, producing anger. This frequent anger is called seething counterflow, jian jue. Fear as though someone is about to capture the person means autumn qi has not entirely departed from the myriad things. Yin qi is scant, yang enters and the two press against one another: thus fear.
Aversion to the smell of food means Stomach has no qi. A face black like earth means autumn qi depletes within and changes the color. Blood on coughing means injury to the yang vessels. Yang qi is not yet abundant above, yet the vessels are full. Fullness causes cough, so blood appears at the nose.”
Jueyin’s tui hernia and swelling of the lower abdomen in women concern the Chen branch. In the third month, harmful yin within yang occupies the center: thus tui hernia and lower-abdominal swelling.
Waist and spine pain preventing bending and straightening concern the third month’s single stirring that brings flourishing to all things. They bend once and do not rise again. Tui swelling, retention, hernia and swollen skin mean yin too is abundant and the vessels distended and blocked. Thus these patterns are named.
Severe dry throat and internal heat mean yin and yang press together and produce heat, hence the dry throat.
Reading note: The supplied 贋 in these illness names is read through the classical 頹 form, tui. It is not rendered as counterfeit or identified as a modern surgical diagnosis.
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