Opening the chapter
Loading the text. Please wait.
Huangdi Neijing · The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon
Suwen 69 · Changes at the Meeting of Qi
Read in English. Switch to Original for word notes, or select text to ask a question.
The Yellow Emperor asked: “The five movements govern in turn, corresponding above to Heaven’s periods. Yin and yang go and return; cold and summer heat approach and follow. True and harmful qi press together, interior and exterior separate, six channels surge and five qi shift. There is excess and failure to reach, exclusive ascendancy and combined dominance. May I hear their beginnings and constant names?”
Qi Bo bowed twice and touched his head to the ground: “How illuminating the question! This is the clear Way, treasured by the High Sovereign and transmitted by former teachers. Though I am not clever, I heard its meaning long ago.”
The Emperor said: “I have heard that failing to teach a fitting person loses the Way, while transmitting to the unfit carelessly exposes Heaven’s treasure. My virtue is slight, unworthy of the ultimate Way. Yet people grieve that life does not reach its completion. Please preserve the teaching without end and let it flow without limit. I shall oversee its practice and follow its rules. How should this be done?”
Qi Bo said: “Let me explain fully. The Upper Canon says: ‘The Way means knowing heavenly patterns above, earthly order below and human affairs between. Through this one can endure.’ This is the meaning.”
The Emperor asked: “What does this mean?”
Qi Bo said: “Root qi concerns position. Positions in Heaven are heavenly patterns; positions on Earth earthly order. Understanding the transformations of human qi is human affairs. Thus excess precedes Heaven’s timing; insufficiency follows it. Governance and transformation occur, and people respond.”
The Emperor asked: “What is excess in the transformations of the five movements?”
Qi Bo said: “In an excessive Wood year, Wind qi circulates and Spleen Earth receives harmful influence. People suffer flux of undigested food, reduced eating, heaviness, vexation and distress, intestinal rumbling and spreading abdominal fullness. Above, this corresponds to Sui, the Year Star.
When severe, there is confusion, frequent anger, dizziness, clouded awareness and dian illness. Transforming qi fails to govern and generating qi alone rules. Clouds and things fly about; grasses and trees are unsettled, shaking and shedding when severe. Illness turns to flank pain and severe vomiting. If Chongyang’s pulse ceases, death follows beyond treatment. Above, this corresponds to Taibai, the Great White.”
In an excessive Fire year, blazing summer heat circulates and Metal Lung receives harmful influence. People suffer intermittent fever, scant qi, cough, panting, blood overflowing or discharging, pouring diarrhea, dry throat, deafness, internal heat and heat in shoulders and back. Above, this corresponds to Yinghuo.
Severe cases bring chest pain, spreading fullness and pain in the flanks, pain between breast, back and shoulder blades and inside both arms, bodily heat, bone pain and spreading lesions. Gathering qi does not move and growing qi alone manifests. Rainwater, frost and cold appear; above, the correspondence is Chen.
With Shaoyin or Shaoyang above, Fire burns and wearies, springs dry and things scorch and wither. Illness turns to delirium, frenzy and unrestrained movement, cough, panting and noisy breath; severe downward disease brings unceasing blood overflow and discharge. If Taiyuan’s pulse ceases, death follows beyond treatment. Above, this corresponds to Yinghuo.
Reading note: The five planetary names remain historical designations; their repeated and combined correspondences are retained. The supplied 燔倦 keeps burning and weariness.
In an excessive Earth year, rain and dampness circulate and Kidney Water receives harmful influence. People suffer abdominal pain, cold counterflow, unhappiness, heaviness, vexation and distress. Above, this corresponds to Zhen.
Severe cases bring withered flesh, wilting feet that cannot draw back, spasms while walking, pain beneath the feet, fullness from drink and reduced eating, and inability to lift the four limbs. Disruptive change gains its position; storing qi hides and transforming qi rules alone. Springs surge, rivers overflow, dried marshes produce fish, great wind and rain arrive, earth collapses and scaled creatures appear on land.
Illness brings abdominal fullness, loose diarrhea and intestinal rumbling. When the downward disorder instead becomes severe and Taixi’s pulse ceases, death follows beyond treatment. Above, this corresponds to Sui.
In an excessive Metal year, dry qi circulates and Liver Wood receives harmful influence. People suffer pain beneath both flanks and in the lower abdomen, red painful eyes, sores at their corners and inability to hear. Severe killing brings heaviness, vexation, distress, chest pain drawing to the back and painful flank fullness drawing into the lower abdomen. Above, this corresponds to Taibai.
Severe cases bring panting, cough, counterflow qi, shoulder and back pain, and illness of buttocks, private parts, thighs, knees, hips, calves, shins and feet. Above, this corresponds to Yinghuo.
Gathering qi is harsh; generating qi sinks. Grasses and trees contract, turn blue-green and dry, wither and fall. Illness turns to sudden pain, inability to turn because of flank pain, severe coughing counterflow and overflowing blood. If Taichong’s pulse ceases, death follows beyond treatment. Above, this corresponds to Taibai.
Reading note: The supplied 鴎 and 鴬 in the body-region list follow the earlier contextual calf and shin readings.
In an excessive Water year, cold qi circulates and harmful influence injures Heart Fire. People suffer bodily heat, vexation at Heart, agitation and palpitations, yin counterflow and cold above, below and within, delirium and Heart pain. Cold arrives early. Above, this corresponds to Chen.
Severe cases bring an enlarged abdomen, swollen shins, panting, cough, sweating in sleep and aversion to wind. Great rain arrives; dust and mist become dark and oppressive. Above, this corresponds to Zhen.
With Taiyang above, rain, ice, snow and frost fall out of season and damp qi changes things. Illness turns to abdominal fullness, intestinal rumbling, loose diarrhea, undigested food, thirst, confusion and clouded awareness. If Shenmen’s pulse ceases, death follows beyond treatment. Above, this corresponds to Yinghuo and Chen.
The Emperor said: “Good. What of failure to reach?”
Qi Bo said: “How comprehensive the question! In an insufficient Wood year, dryness spreads greatly. Generating qi loses its proper response and grasses and trees flourish late. Severe killing makes hard trees split and lie exposed; all wither and turn blue-green and dry. Above, this corresponds to Taibai.
People suffer internal cold, flank and lower-abdominal pain, intestinal rumbling and loose diarrhea. Cool rain arrives at times. Above, this corresponds to Taibai; its grain is blue-green. With Yangming above, generating qi loses governance, grasses and trees flourish again and transforming qi becomes urgent. Above, this corresponds to Taibai and Zhen; its governing grain is blue-green and early.
Counteraction brings blazing summer heat and flowing Fire. Damp natures dry; tender, brittle grasses and trees scorch. The lower parts grow again; flowers and fruits transform together. Illness brings cold and heat, sores, ulcers, heat rash, eruptions, abscesses and pustules. Above, this corresponds to Yinghuo and Taibai; its grain is white and firm.
White dew falls early, gathering and killing qi move, cold rain harms things and insects eat the sweet and yellow. Spleen Earth receives harmful influence. Red qi transforms later; Heart qi governs late and overcomes Lung Metal above. White qi retreats and its grain fails to form. People cough with nasal obstruction and discharge. Above, this corresponds to Yinghuo and Taibai.”
In an insufficient Fire year, cold spreads greatly. Growing governance is inactive; things flourish but congeal below. Severe chill prevents yang qi from transforming and breaks their flourishing beauty. Above, this corresponds to Chen.
People suffer chest pain and spreading fullness, pain in both flanks, breast, back, between shoulder blades and inside both arms; oppressive clouding and obscurity; Heart pain and sudden loss of voice; enlarged chest and abdomen; and pain drawing between flanks, waist and back. Severe cases bend without being able to extend, with hips and thighs as though separated. Above, this corresponds to Yinghuo and Chen; its grain is red.
Counteraction brings oppressive dust and approaching great rain, humiliating black qi. Illness brings watery, duck-like stools, abdominal fullness, inability to take food and drink, internal cold, intestinal rumbling, pouring diarrhea, abdominal pain, sudden contraction, wilting and obstruction, with feet unable to bear the body. Above, this corresponds to Zhen and Chen; dark grain fails to form.
In an insufficient Earth year, Wind spreads greatly and transforming qi gives no command. Grasses and trees flourish and sway excessively, flowering without fruit. Above, this corresponds to Sui.
People suffer flux of undigested food, sudden vomiting and diarrhea, heaviness, abdominal pain, swaying sinews and bones, twitching and aching flesh, and frequent anger. Storing qi takes action; hibernating creatures settle early. Everyone suffers internal cold. Above, this corresponds to Sui and Zhen; its grain is ji millet.
Counteraction makes gathering governance severe. Fine trees turn blue-green and wither. Sudden chest and flank pain draws down to the lower abdomen, with frequent deep sighs. Insects eat the sweet and yellow; qi lodges in Spleen and millet diminishes. People eat little and lose taste; blue-green grain is damaged. Above, this corresponds to Taibai and Sui.
With Jueyin above, running water does not freeze, hibernating creatures appear and storing qi is inactive. White qi then gives no counteraction. Above, this corresponds to Sui, and people are well.
Reading note: The supplied 値 grain is read contextually through 稷, ji millet. The irregular 迩 in the flesh symptoms follows the classical twitching 瞤 reading, as in the later Water counteraction account.
In an insufficient Metal year, blazing Fire moves; generating qi takes effect and growing qi predominates. All things flourish while drying heat acts. Above, this corresponds to Yinghuo.
People suffer oppressed heaviness in shoulders and back, nasal obstruction and discharge, sneezing, bloody stools and pouring diarrhea. Gathering qi comes late. Above, this corresponds to Taibai; its grain is firm and awned.
Counteraction brings sudden cold rain, hail, frost and snow that kill things. Yin counterflow blocks yang, which instead rises, causing head and Naohu pain extending to the crown with heat. Above, this corresponds to Chen. Red grain fails to form; people develop mouth sores and, when severe, Heart pain.
In an insufficient Water year, dampness spreads greatly. Growing qi instead acts and its transformation is swift; summer rain arrives often. Above, this corresponds to Zhen.
People suffer abdominal fullness, heaviness, watery diarrhea, cold ulcers leaking fluid, waist and thigh pain, impaired knee hollows, calves, thighs and knees, vexation, distress, wilting feet, cold counterflow and pain under the feet; severe cases have swollen insteps. Storing qi does not gather and Kidney qi loses balance. Above, this corresponds to Chen; its grain is black millet, ju.
With Taiyin above, great cold occurs repeatedly. Hibernating creatures hide early, hard ice accumulates on Earth and yang light does not govern. People suffer cold illness below and, when severe, abdominal fullness and swelling. Above, this corresponds to Zhen; its governing grain is ji millet.
Counteraction brings suddenly rising great Wind. Grasses bend, trees shed and growth lacks freshness. Facial color changes at times; sinews and bones draw together or bend; flesh twitches and convulses; sight dims. Things become sparse and cracked; eruptions appear in flesh. Qi gathers in the diaphragm, with Heart-region and abdominal pain. Yellow qi is damaged and its grain does not ripen. Above, this corresponds to Sui.
Reading note: The supplied 値 follows the same ji-millet reading; 鴎 and 迩 retain the disclosed calf and twitching contexts. Ju is the source’s 秬 grain name, not a modern commercial variety.
The Emperor said: “Good. I wish to hear their timing.”
Qi Bo said: “How comprehensive the question! With insufficient Wood, if spring has the transformation of sounding branches and freely moving pitch standards, autumn has mist, dew, clarity and coolness. If spring instead has the dominance of cruel, destructive cold, summer has the counteraction of blazing and scorching heat. Its calamity is east, its zang organ Liver; illness lodges within the flanks and outside in the joints.”
With insufficient Fire, if summer has bright, radiant transformation, winter has the governance of severe frost and cold. If summer has the dominance of chilling, freezing qi, counteraction brings dark dust and great rain out of season. Its calamity is south, its zang organ Heart; illness lodges within breast and flanks and outside in channels and networks.
With insufficient Earth, if the four corners have dusty clouds and moistening transformation, spring has the governance of sounding branches and breaking growth. If the four corners instead bring shaking, uprooting and flying change, autumn has counteraction through severe killing and prolonged rain. Its calamity is in the four corners, its zang organ Spleen; illness lodges within Heart region and abdomen and outside in flesh and four limbs.
With insufficient Metal, if summer commands radiant, oppressive steaming, winter answers with severe freezing and ordered restraint. If summer brings blazing, melting and scorching change, autumn brings counteraction through hail, frost and snow. Its calamity is west, its zang organ Lung; illness lodges within breast, flanks, shoulders and back and outside in skin and hair.
With insufficient Water, if the four corners have rushing moisture and dusty-cloud transformation, mild Wind and unfolding growth answer out of season. If the four corners bring dark dust and sudden downpour, counteraction through violent gusts, shaking and uprooting comes out of season. Its calamity is north, its zang organ Kidney; illness lodges within waist, spine, bone and marrow and outside in the streams, valleys, calves and knees.
The governance of the five movements resembles a balance: restrain what is high and lift what is low. Transformation has its response; disruptive change its returning counteraction. This is the principle of generation, growth, transformation, completion, gathering and storage, the constancy of qi. When constancy is lost, Heaven and Earth are blocked on all four sides.
Thus it is said: “Spiritual brightness orders Heaven and Earth’s movement and stillness; yin and yang go and return, and cold and summer heat display their signs.” This is the meaning.
The Emperor said: “Your explanation of the five qi’s changes and the four seasons’ responses is comprehensive. But qi’s disturbance arises through encounters and has no fixed meeting. Calamity may suddenly combine. How can it be assigned a period?”
Qi Bo said: “Qi’s movement and change do not remain fixed. Virtue, transformation, governance, commands, calamity and disruptive change have different signs.”
The Emperor asked: “What does this mean?”
Qi Bo said: “The east generates Wind and Wind Wood. Its virtue is spreading harmony; transformation generation and flourishing; governance opening and unfolding; command Wind; change shaking and outbreak; calamity scattering and falling.
The south generates heat and heat Fire. Its virtue is radiant manifestation; transformation abundant growth; governance bright illumination; command heat; change consuming and melting; calamity burning and weariness.
The center generates dampness and dampness Earth. Its virtue is humid steaming; transformation abundant provision; governance quiet stability; command dampness; change sudden downpour; calamity prolonged rain and collapse.
The west generates dryness and dryness Metal. Its virtue is purity and clarity; transformation tight gathering; governance strength and sharpness; command dryness; change severe killing; calamity blue-green withering and fall.
The north generates cold and cold Water. Its virtue is chilling cold; transformation clear stillness; governance congealing severity; command cold; change piercing chill; calamity ice, snow, frost and hail.
Observe their movement: virtue and transformation, governance and command, change and calamity are all present. Things follow them, and people respond.”
The Emperor asked: “Your yearly account concerns insufficiency and excess, corresponding above to the five planets. Yet virtue, transformation, governance, commands, calamities and changes can vary unexpectedly and move suddenly. Do the planets also change for these?”
Qi Bo said: “They proceed under Heaven, so no movement is arbitrary and none lacks correspondence. Sudden movement belongs to changes in qi’s meeting; the planets do not answer it in that way. Thus the saying: ‘Responding to the constant, not to the sudden.’ This is the meaning.”
The Emperor asked: “How do they respond?”
Qi Bo said: “Each follows its own qi transformation.”
The Emperor asked: “How do their movements differ in slowness, swiftness, contrary and following courses?”
Qi Bo said: “Remaining long in the proper course, guarding in reverse motion and appearing small is called inspecting below. Leaving the proper course, departing and swiftly returning, passing it on a curved path, is called inspecting faults left behind. Remaining long and circling, now departing and now attaching, is called deliberating calamity and virtue. A near response is small; a distant response great.
With rays and an enlargement by one beyond the usual, its transforming effect is severe; enlarged by two, its calamity is close. Smaller than usual by one, its transformation diminishes; smaller by two is called approaching to inspect the faults and virtues below. Virtue receives blessing; wrongdoing punishment.
When the image appears high and far, it is small; low and near, large. Thus a large appearance brings joy or anger nearby, while a small appearance places misfortune or blessing far away. If the yearly movement is excessive, its planet passes northward beyond its course. If movement and qi accord, each travels its proper path.
In an excessive year, the planet it fears loses its color and also takes on its mother’s color. In an insufficient year, its color includes that of the influence it cannot overcome. Those merely imitating remain apprehensive and do not know the subtlety. Anxiously seeking the proper fit, who is truly good? Reckless action has no confirming sign. The closing wording is the uncertain ‘fear—observing—king.’
Reading note: The supplied one/two size comparisons and the distinct near/far response and near/far appearance statements are retained without invented angular units or a reconstructed astronomical model. The final 畏候王 is textually unclear; its literal words are disclosed rather than replaced with a confident new maxim.”
The Emperor asked: “How do their calamities respond?”
Qi Bo said: “Each likewise follows its transformation. Arrival at its time has flourishing and decline; encroachment has contrary and following courses; lingering has greater and lesser amounts; visible form has good and bad; belonging to a mansion has overcoming and defeat; confirming responses have favorable and ominous outcomes.”
The Emperor asked: “What is meant by good and bad?”
Qi Bo said: “There are joy and anger, worry and mourning, moisture and dryness. These are the ordinary images and must be carefully observed.”
The Emperor asked: “Do these six differ when high or low?”
Qi Bo said: “Whether the image appears high or low, its response is one. Thus people also respond.”
The Emperor said: “Good. What of movement and stillness, loss and gain in virtue, transformation, governance and commands?”
Qi Bo said: “Virtue, transformation, governance, commands, calamity and change cannot simply be added to one another. Overcoming, returning counteraction, flourishing and decline cannot exceed one another in amount. Coming and going, small and great cannot surpass one another. Rising and descending in their operation cannot dispense with one another. Each is answered according to its movement.”
The Emperor asked: “How does illness arise?”
Qi Bo said: “Virtue and transformation are qi’s auspicious expressions; governance and commands its display. Disruptive changes mark the order of returning counteraction; calamity and injury begin harm. Qi mutually overcoming in proper restraint brings harmony; failure of that restraint brings illness. Repeated exposure to harmful influence makes it severe.”
The Emperor said: “Good. This is a discourse of refined illumination, the work of great sages: revealing the great Way, communicating without limit and investigating without end. I have heard that good discourse on Heaven must answer in people; on antiquity must be verified now; on qi must be evident in things; on responses must share Heaven and Earth’s transformation; on transformation and change must penetrate spiritual brightness. Who but you could speak the ultimate Way?”
He selected an auspicious sign and stored the teaching in the numinous chamber, reading it each dawn. It was named Changes at the Meeting of Qi. He dared not open it without fasting and purification: its transmission was careful.
Use ← / → or swipe left or right to change chapters