Lingshu · The Channel Waters

The text

The Yellow Emperor asked Qi Bo: The twelve channel vessels join without to the twelve channel-waters, and within they belong to the five zang and six fu. The twelve channel-waters differ in size, depth, breadth, and distance; the five zang and six fu also differ in height and lowness, in small and large, and in how much grain they receive. How do they answer to one another? The channel-waters receive water and set it moving. The five zang join spirit-qi, hun and po, and store them. The six fu receive grain and set it moving; they receive qi and lift it. The channel vessels receive blood and make it flourish. Joined, how does one treat? The depth of the needle, the number of moxa cones — may I hear this? Qi Bo replied: A good question. Heaven is so high it cannot be measured; earth is so broad it cannot be gauged — this is what is meant. A person is born between heaven and earth, within the six directions: this is the height of heaven and the breadth of earth, and no human strength can measure it to its end. But an eight-chi body has skin and flesh here: without, one may measure, press, and follow, and obtain it; when the person has died, one may cut open and look. The firmness and brittleness of the zang, the size of the fu, how much grain they hold, the length of the vessels, the clear and turbid of the blood, the more and less of qi, which of the twelve channels have much blood and little qi, which have little blood and much qi, which have much of both, which have little of both — all have their great numbers. Treatment by needle and moxa regulates the channel-qi of each; there is always a joining with what is constant. The Yellow Emperor said: I have heard this, and it is pleasing to the ear, but it is not yet clear to the heart. I wish to hear it to the end. Qi Bo replied: This is how the person stands with heaven and earth and answers to yin and yang. It must be examined. Foot taiyang joins without to the Qing waters, belongs within to the bladder, and communicates with the water-roads. Foot shaoyang joins without to the Wei waters, belongs within to the gallbladder. Foot yangming joins without to the sea, belongs within to the stomach. Foot taiyin joins without to the lakes, belongs within to the spleen. Foot shaoyin joins without to the Ru waters, belongs within to the kidney. Foot jueyin joins without to the Sheng waters, belongs within to the liver. Hand taiyang joins without to the Huai waters, belongs within to the small intestine, and the water-roads issue there. Hand shaoyang joins without to the Ta waters, belongs within to the sanjiao. Hand yangming joins without to the Jiang waters, belongs within to the large intestine. Hand taiyin joins without to the He waters, belongs within to the lung. Hand shaoyin joins without to the Ji waters, belongs within to the heart. The hand heart-governor joins without to the Zhang waters, belongs within to the envelope of the heart. All these five zang, six fu, and twelve channel-waters have a source-spring without and that from which they are endowed within. Outer and inner pass through one another, like a ring with no end; the person's channels are the same. Thus heaven is yang, earth is yin; above the waist is heaven, below the waist is earth. North of the sea is yin; north of the lakes is yin within yin; south of the Zhang is yang; from north of the He to the Zhang is yin within yang; from south of the Ta to the Jiang is great taiyang within yang. This is the yin and yang of one corner — how the person and heaven-and-earth answer to each other. The Yellow Emperor said: The channel-waters answer to the channel vessels, yet their far and near, shallow and deep, the more and less of water and blood, are not the same. Joined, how does one needle them? Qi Bo replied: Foot yangming is the sea of the five zang and six fu. Its vessel is large, its blood much, its qi abundant. When heat is strong and one needles this, if one does not go deep it will not scatter; if one does not leave the needle, it will not drain. Foot yangming: needle six fen deep, leave for ten breaths. Foot taiyang: five fen deep, leave for seven breaths. Foot shaoyang: four fen deep, leave for five breaths. Foot taiyin: three fen deep, leave for four breaths. Foot shaoyin: two fen deep, leave for three breaths. Foot jueyin: one fen deep, leave for two breaths. The yin and yang of the hand: the road by which they receive qi is near, and the qi comes swiftly; none of their deep needlings should pass two fen, and none of their leavings should pass one breath. For the young and the old, the large and the small, the fat and the thin, gauge them by the heart — this is called taking heaven's constant as the law. Moxa is the same. If moxa exceeds this, one meets malign fire, and the bones wither and the vessels grow rough. If needling exceeds this, qi slips away. The Yellow Emperor said: The size of the channel vessels, the more and less of blood, the thickness of the skin, the firmness and brittleness of the flesh, and the size of the hollow of the knee — can these be measured? Qi Bo replied: What can be measured is taken from those of middle measure — those who have not much lost their flesh, and whose blood and qi have not declined. As for those wasted and thin, whose form and flesh have slipped away — how can one measure and needle them? Examine by pressing, following, feeling, and palming; look at their cold and warmth, their abundance and decline, and regulate them. This is called doing what is true by according with what fits.

The line

The Yellow Emperor asked Qi Bo: The twelve channel vessels join without to the twelve channel-waters, and within they belong to the five zang and six fu.

The note

Without, they join the twelve channel-waters; within, they belong to the five zang and six fu. Waters have clear and turbid, deep and shallow; so do the channels. A person is not dry land. A person is a system of waters.