Lingshu · Following Qi Through the Day as Four Seasons

The text

The Yellow Emperor said: The first birth of the hundred illnesses must rise from dry and damp, cold and heat, wind and rain, yin and yang, joy and anger, food and drink and dwelling. Qi joins and has form; obtaining a zang, it has a name. I know that it is so. Yet of the hundred illnesses, many are clear at dawn, at ease by day, increased at evening, severe at night. Why? Qi Bo said: The qi of the four seasons makes it so. The Yellow Emperor said: I wish to hear of the qi of the four seasons. Qi Bo said: Spring gives birth, summer grows, autumn gathers, winter stores — this is the constant of qi; a person also answers to it. Divide one day into four seasons: morning is spring, midday is summer, sunset is autumn, midnight is winter. In the morning the person's qi begins to be born, illness-qi declines — hence at dawn there is clarity. At midday the person's qi grows; growing, it overcomes the pathogen — hence ease. In the evening the person's qi begins to decline, pathogen-qi begins to be born — hence it increases. At midnight the person's qi enters the zang, pathogen-qi dwells alone in the body — hence it is severe. The Yellow Emperor said: Those whose times go against this — why? Qi Bo said: This is not answering to the qi of the four seasons; the zang alone govern the illness. Then it must grow severe in the season the zang-qi cannot overcome, and rise in the season it overcomes. The Yellow Emperor said: How does one treat them? Qi Bo said: Follow heaven's time, and the illness can be given a date. Those who follow are craftsmen; those who go against are coarse. The Yellow Emperor said: Good. I have heard that needling has five changes, by which the five transports are governed. I wish to hear their count. Qi Bo said: A person has five zang; the five zang have five changes; the five changes have five transports; thus five fives are twenty-five transports, answering to the five seasons. The Yellow Emperor said: I wish to hear of the five changes. Qi Bo said: The liver is a male zang; its color is green, its season spring, its tone jiao, its flavor sour, its days Jia and Yi. The heart is a male zang; its color is red, its season summer, its days Bing and Ding, its tone zhi, its flavor bitter. The spleen is a female zang; its color is yellow, its season long-summer, its days Wu and Ji, its tone gong, its flavor sweet. The lung is a female zang; its color is white, its tone shang, its season autumn, its days Geng and Xin, its flavor pungent. The kidney is a female zang; its color is black, its season winter, its days Ren and Gui, its tone yu, its flavor salt. These are the five changes. The Yellow Emperor said: How do they govern the five transports? The zang govern winter; in winter needle the wells. Color governs spring; in spring needle the brooks. The seasons govern summer; in summer needle the shu. Tone governs long-summer; in long-summer needle the channels. Flavor governs autumn; in autumn needle the unions. This is called the five changes, by which the five transports are governed. The Yellow Emperor said: How do all the origins join, so as to make the six transports? Qi Bo said: The origins alone do not answer to the five seasons; join them by the channels, to answer to their count — hence six sixes are thirty-six transports. The Yellow Emperor said: What is meant by the zang governing winter, the seasons governing summer, tone governing long-summer, flavor governing autumn, color governing spring? I wish to hear the reason. Qi Bo said: Illness in the zang: take the wells. Illness that changes in color: take the brooks. Illness now at ease, now severe: take the shu. Illness that changes in tone: take the channels. When the channels are full and have blood, the illness is in the stomach, and those who take illness from food and drink without measure: take the unions — therefore it is said flavor governs the unions. These are called the five changes.

The line

Divide one day into four seasons: morning is spring, midday is summer, sunset is autumn, midnight is winter. In the morning the person's qi begins to be born, illness-qi declines — hence at dawn there is clarity.

The note

One day is divided into four seasons. Morning is spring, midday summer, evening autumn, night winter. The hundred illnesses are clear at dawn, at ease by day, increased at evening, severe at night — because a person also passes through the four seasons.