Lingshu · Where Nutritive and Defensive Meet

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The Yellow Emperor asked Qi Bo: Where does a person receive qi? Where do yin and yang meet? Which qi is ying? Which qi is wei? From where is ying born? Where does wei meet? The old and the strong do not have the same qi; yin and yang have different seats. I wish to hear of their meeting. Qi Bo replied: A person receives qi from grain. Grain enters the stomach and is passed to the lung; the five zang and six fu all receive qi from this. The clear is ying; the turbid is wei. Ying is inside the vessel; wei is outside the vessel. Ying circles without rest; at fifty it meets in a great assembly again. Yin and yang pass through each other, like a ring with no end. Wei-qi travels yin twenty-five measures and yang twenty-five measures, divided into day and night. Thus when qi reaches yang, one rises; when it reaches yin, one stops. Therefore it is said: at midday yang crests — this is doubled yang. At midnight yin crests — this is doubled yin. Thus taiyin governs the inner; taiyang governs the outer; each travels twenty-five measures, divided into day and night. Midnight is the crest of yin; after midnight yin declines; at dawn yin is exhausted and yang receives qi. At midday yang crests; as the sun moves west yang declines; at sunset yang is exhausted and yin receives qi. At midnight there is the great assembly; all the people lie down — this is called joined yin. At dawn yin is exhausted and yang receives qi. So it goes without cease, sharing the calendar of heaven and earth. The Yellow Emperor said: The old do not close their eyes at night — what qi makes this so? The young and strong do not close their eyes by day — what qi makes this so? Qi Bo replied: In the strong, blood and qi are abundant, the flesh is slippery, the roads of qi communicate, and ying and wei travel without losing their constant. Thus by day they are clear and at night they close their eyes. In the old, blood and qi have declined, the flesh is withered, the roads of qi are rough, the qi of the five zang clash, ying-qi is scant, and wei-qi raids within. Thus by day they are not clear, and at night they do not close their eyes. The Yellow Emperor said: I wish to hear the roads by which ying and wei travel — from what Dao do they all come? Qi Bo replied: Ying issues from the middle burner; wei issues from the lower burner. The Yellow Emperor said: I wish to hear where the three burners issue. Qi Bo replied: The upper burner issues from the upper mouth of the stomach, joins the throat and rises, pierces the diaphragm and spreads in the chest, runs to the armpit, follows the portion of taiyin, returns to yangming, rises to the tongue, and descends foot yangming. It always travels with ying: twenty-five measures on yang, twenty-five measures on yin — one circuit. Thus at fifty measures they meet again in a great assembly at hand taiyin. The Yellow Emperor said: When a person takes hot food and drink down into the stomach, before that qi has settled, sweat comes out — sometimes on the face, sometimes on the back, sometimes on half the body. It does not follow the road of wei-qi. Why? Qi Bo said: This is injury by wind from without, and the texture of the skin opening within. The hair steams and the texture leaks; wei-qi runs to it, and so cannot follow its own road. This qi is fierce, slippery, and swift; seeing an opening, it goes out, and so cannot follow its road. Therefore it is called leaking discharge. The Yellow Emperor said: I wish to hear where the middle burner issues. Qi Bo replied: The middle burner also joins the stomach, issuing after the upper burner. What receives qi here strains off the dregs, steams the fluids, transforms the refined and subtle, and pours it upward into the lung vessel, where it is transformed into blood, to serve the living body. Nothing is more precious than this. Thus it alone may travel the channel tunnels. It is called ying-qi. The Yellow Emperor said: Blood and qi have different names but are of the same kind — what does this mean? Qi Bo replied: Ying and wei are jing-qi; blood is spirit-qi. Thus blood and qi have different names but are of the same kind. Therefore one whose blood has been taken cannot have sweat; one whose sweat has been taken cannot have blood. Thus a person has two ways of dying, and not two ways of living. The Yellow Emperor said: I wish to hear where the lower burner issues. Qi Bo replied: The lower burner diverges at the winding intestine, pours into the bladder, and seeps in. Thus water and grain always dwell together in the stomach; they become dregs and descend together to the large intestine, and form the lower burner. They seep and descend together; the clear is strained off and the juices are distinguished; they follow the lower burner and seep into the bladder. The Yellow Emperor said: When a person drinks wine, the wine also enters the stomach; the grain is not yet ripe, yet the urine descends first, alone. Why? Qi Bo replied: Wine is the fluid of already-ripened grain. Its qi is fierce and clear. Thus it enters after the grain, and its fluid comes out before the grain. The Yellow Emperor said: Good. I have heard that the upper burner is like mist, the middle burner like a ferment, the lower burner like a drain. This is what was meant.

The line

Qi Bo replied: A person receives qi from grain. Grain enters the stomach and is passed to the lung; the five zang and six fu all receive qi from this. The clear is ying; the turbid is wei. Ying is inside the vessel; wei is outside the vessel. Ying circles without rest; at fifty it meets in a great assembly again. Yin and yang pass through each other, like a ring with no end.

The note

Ying is inside the vessel; wei is outside it. The old and the strong differ; sleep and waking differ. Where they meet asks where they change the watch.