Lingshu · Against or With

The text

The Yellow Emperor asked Bo Gao: I have heard that qi has against and with, that the pulse has flourish and decline, that needling has a great measure. May I hear it? Bo Gao said: Qi against or with is how it answers heaven and earth, yin and yang, the four seasons and the five phases. Flourish and decline of the pulse is how one watches the empty and the full of blood and qi, the surplus and the not-enough. The great measure of needling: you must clearly know the illness that may be needled, and what may not yet be needled, and what already must not be needled. The Yellow Emperor said: How does one watch it? Bo Gao said: The art of war says: do not meet qi that comes in a rush; do not strike an array that stands in full display. The art of needling says: do not needle blazing heat; do not needle pouring sweat; do not needle a pulse in turmoil; do not needle when the illness and the pulse are against each other. The Yellow Emperor said: How does one watch what may be needled? Bo Gao said: The high craftsman needles what is not yet ill. The next needles what is not yet full. The next needles what has already declined. The low craftsman needles what is just now arriving, and what is full in form, and what is against between illness and pulse. Therefore it is said: while it is full, do not dare to break and wound; needle it when it has already declined, and the work will surely prosper. Therefore it is said: the high craftsman orders what is not yet ill, and does not order what is already ill. This is what is meant.

The line

Bo Gao said: Qi against or with is how it answers heaven and earth, yin and yang, the four seasons and the five phases.

The note

Qi against or with answers heaven and earth. The chapter is short: meet and take, follow and help. It is short because the principle is only this pair.