Lingshu · Discourse on the Five Flavors

The text

The Yellow Emperor asked Shao Yu: The five flavors enter the mouth; each has a road it walks; each has an illness it makes. Sour walks to the sinews; eaten much, it makes a person unable to pass water. Salty walks to the blood; eaten much, it makes a person thirsty. Acrid walks to qi; eaten much, it makes the heart feel hollow. Bitter walks to the bone; eaten much, it makes a person turn to vomiting. Sweet walks to the flesh; eaten much, it oppresses the heart. I know it is so; I do not know from what it comes. I wish to hear the reason. Shao Yu answered: Sour enters the stomach. Its qi is astringent and gathering. It rises to the two burners and cannot go in or out. Not going out, it stays in the stomach. When the stomach is even and warm, it pours down to the bladder. The bladder is brittle, thin, and yielding; meeting sour it contracts and coils, binds and does not open; the water-road does not walk — therefore one cannot pass water. The yin is where the gathered sinews come to their end; therefore sour enters and walks to the sinews. The Yellow Emperor said: Salty walks to the blood; eaten much, it makes a person thirsty. Why? Shao Yu said: Salty enters the stomach. Its qi walks up to the middle burner and pours into the vessels; then blood and qi walk to it. Blood and salt meeting, they clot; clotting, the juices of the stomach pour to it; pouring, the stomach is exhausted; exhausted, the throat-road is scorched — therefore the root of the tongue is dry, and there is ready thirst. The blood vessels are the road of the middle burner; therefore salty enters and walks to the blood. The Yellow Emperor said: Acrid walks to qi; eaten much, it makes the heart feel hollow. Why? Shao Yu said: Acrid enters the stomach. Its qi walks to the upper burner. The upper burner receives qi and ying-s the various yang. The qi of ginger and chive fumes it; ying and wei do not receive it in their time; it stays long below the heart — therefore the heart feels hollow. Acrid walks together with qi; therefore acrid enters and comes out together with the sweat. The Yellow Emperor said: Bitter walks to the bone; eaten much, it makes a person turn to vomiting. Why? Shao Yu said: Bitter enters the stomach. The qi of the five grains none can overcome bitter. Bitter enters the lower stomach; the roads of the triple burner all close and do not open — therefore one turns to vomiting. The teeth are where the bone comes to its end; therefore bitter enters and walks to the bone. That it enters and comes out again is how one knows it walks to the bone. The Yellow Emperor said: Sweet walks to the flesh; eaten much, it oppresses the heart. Why? Shao Yu said: Sweet enters the stomach. Its qi is weak and small, and cannot rise to the upper burner. With the grain it stays in the stomach, and makes a person soft and moist. The stomach soft, then slack; slack, then the worms stir; the worms stirring, the heart is oppressed. Its qi opens outward to the flesh; therefore sweet walks to the flesh.

The line

The Yellow Emperor asked Shao Yu: The five flavors enter the mouth; each has a road it walks; each has an illness it makes.

The note

Each has a road it walks; each has an illness it makes. Too much sour stops the water. Excess of a flavor is one road filled past what it can hold.