Lingshu · The Five Flavors

The text

The Yellow Emperor said: I wish to hear of the five flavors of grain-qi, and how they enter the five zang and are told apart. Bo Gao said: The stomach is the sea of the five zang and the six fu. Water and grain all enter the stomach; the five zang and the six fu all receive qi from the stomach. Each of the five flavors walks to what it loves. The sour of grain first walks to the liver; the bitter of grain first walks to the heart; the sweet of grain first walks to the spleen; the acrid of grain first walks to the lung; the salty of grain first walks to the kidney. When the fluids of grain-qi have already moved, ying and wei are greatly open; then the dregs are transformed, and passed down in order. The Yellow Emperor said: How do ying and wei walk? Bo Gao said: Grain first enters the stomach. Its fine and subtle part first comes out at the two burners of the stomach, to irrigate the five zang, and goes out separately on two roads — the roads of ying and wei. The great qi that clumps and does not walk gathers in the chest; it is named the sea of qi. It comes out at the lung and follows the throat. Thus on the out-breath it goes out; on the in-breath it comes in. Of the jing qi of heaven and earth, the great count is always three going out and one coming in. Therefore if grain does not enter for half a day, qi declines; for a whole day, qi is little. The Yellow Emperor said: May I hear of the five flavors of grain? Bo Gao said: Let me speak them all. The five grains: non-glutinous rice is sweet; hemp is sour; the great bean is salty; wheat is bitter; yellow millet is acrid. The five fruits: jujube is sweet; plum is sour; chestnut is salty; apricot is bitter; peach is acrid. The five animals: ox is sweet; dog is sour; pig is salty; sheep is bitter; chicken is acrid. The five vegetables: mallow is sweet; chive is sour; bean-leaf is salty; Chinese onion is bitter; scallion is acrid. The five colors: yellow is fitting for sweet; green is fitting for sour; black is fitting for salty; red is fitting for bitter; white is fitting for acrid. These five, each has what is fitting. What are called the five colors: one ill in the spleen is fittingly fed non-glutinous rice, beef, jujube, and mallow. One ill in the heart is fittingly fed wheat, mutton, apricot, and Chinese onion. One ill in the kidney is fittingly fed the great bean and yellow sprouts, pork, chestnut, and bean-leaf. One ill in the liver is fittingly fed hemp, dog meat, plum, and chive. One ill in the lung is fittingly fed yellow millet, chicken, peach, and scallion. The five prohibitions: liver illness forbids acrid; heart illness forbids salty; spleen illness forbids sour; kidney illness forbids sweet; lung illness forbids bitter. The liver's color is green — it is fitting to eat sweet: non-glutinous rice, beef, jujube, and mallow are all sweet. The heart's color is red — it is fitting to eat sour: dog meat, hemp, plum, and chive are all sour. The spleen's color is yellow — it is fitting to eat salty: the great bean, pork, chestnut, and bean-leaf are all salty. The lung's color is white — it is fitting to eat bitter: wheat, mutton, apricot, and Chinese onion are all bitter. The kidney's color is black — it is fitting to eat acrid: yellow millet, chicken, peach, and scallion are all acrid.

The line

Bo Gao said: The stomach is the sea of the five zang and the six fu. Water and grain all enter the stomach; the five zang and the six fu all receive qi from the stomach.

The note

The stomach is the sea; the five flavors each walk to their zang. Flavor is not a preference. It is the sea's ration to each office. Ration it wrong, and the office is the first to disorder.