Lingshu · Discourse on Great Confusion

The text

The Yellow Emperor asked Qi Bo: I once climbed the terrace of clear cold. Midway on the stairs I looked back; I crawled forward, and then was confused. I privately wondered at it; inwardly I found it strange. Alone I closed the eyes, alone I looked; I settled the heart and stilled the qi; long, and it did not loosen. Alone I was broad, alone I was dizzy. I loosed the hair and knelt long; I bowed and looked; afterward, long, it still would not stop. Suddenly it rose of itself. What qi made it so? Qi Bo answered: The jing-qi of the five zang and six fu all rise to the eyes and thereby become jing. The nest of jing is the eye. The jing of bone is the pupil; the jing of sinew is the black of the eye; the jing of blood is the networks; the jing of qi in that nest is the white of the eye; the jing of flesh is the binding. They wrap and gather the jing of sinew, bone, blood and qi, and together with the vessels become a tether, joining above to the brain, going out behind at the middle of the nape. Therefore when pathogen strikes the nape, and meets a vacancy in the body, if it enters deep it follows the eye-tether into the brain. Entering the brain, the brain turns; the brain turning draws the eye-tether tight; the eye-tether tight, the eyes are dizzy and turn. If pathogen strikes the jing, and what the jing is struck by does not match, then jing scatters; jing scattering, vision forks; vision forking, one sees two things. The eyes are the jing of the five zang and six fu, what ying and wei, hun and po, always tend; they are what spirit-qi gives birth to. Therefore when the spirit is labored, hun and po scatter, will and intention are disordered. Thus the pupil and the black of the eye take law from yin; the white of the eye and the red vessels take law from yang. Therefore when yin and yang join and are transmitted, there is jing-brightness. The eyes are what the heart employs; the heart is the lodging of the spirit. Therefore when spirit and jing are disordered and do not turn, one suddenly sees a place that is not ordinary; essence-spirit, hun and po, scatter and do not meet — therefore it is called confusion. The Yellow Emperor said: I doubt that it is so. Whenever I go to the eastern garden I am never not confused; when I leave it, I am restored. Do I alone labor the spirit for the eastern garden? How strange it is. Qi Bo said: It is not so. The heart has what it likes; the spirit has what it averses. Suddenly they confuse each other; then jing-qi is disordered, seeing is mistaken — therefore confusion. When the spirit shifts, one is restored. Thus the milder is being lost; the severe is confusion. The Yellow Emperor said: Those who are given to forgetting — what qi makes it so? Qi Bo said: Qi above is insufficient; qi below has surplus. The intestines and stomach are replete and the heart and lung are vacant. Vacant, ying and wei remain below; long, they do not rise in time — therefore one is given to forgetting. The Yellow Emperor said: Those who are given to hunger and have no relish for food — what qi makes it so? Qi Bo said: Jing-qi joins in the spleen; heat-qi remains in the stomach. Stomach-heat then melts grain; grain melting, one is given to hunger. Stomach-qi reverses upward; then the stomach-duct is cold — therefore there is no relish for food. The Yellow Emperor said: Those who are ill and cannot lie down — what qi makes it so? Qi Bo said: Wei qi cannot enter yin, and always remains in yang. Remaining in yang, yang qi is full; yang qi full, the yang qiao is abundant. Unable to enter yin, yin qi is vacant — therefore the eyes do not close. The Yellow Emperor said: Those who are ill in the eyes and cannot look — what qi makes it so? Qi Bo said: Wei qi remains in yin and cannot travel in yang. Remaining in yin, yin qi is abundant; yin qi abundant, the yin qiao is full. Unable to enter yang, yang qi is vacant — therefore the eyes are shut. The Yellow Emperor said: Those who lie down much — what qi makes it so? Qi Bo said: This person's intestines and stomach are large, the skin is damp, and the divisions of the flesh do not loosen. The intestines and stomach large, wei qi remains long; the skin damp, the divisions of the flesh do not loosen, and its travel is late. Now wei qi by day always travels in yang, by night travels in yin. Therefore when yang qi is exhausted one lies down; when yin qi is exhausted one wakes. Thus if the intestines and stomach are large, the travel of wei qi remains long; if the skin is damp and the divisions of the flesh do not loosen, the travel is late; it remains in yin a long time; its qi is not clear, and one wishes to close the eyes — therefore one lies down much. If the intestines and stomach are small, the skin slippery and slack, the divisions of the flesh loose and sliding, wei qi remains in yang a long time — therefore one closes the eyes little. The Yellow Emperor said: It is not the constant course: those who suddenly lie down much — what qi makes it so? Qi Bo said: Pathogenic qi remains in the upper jiao; the upper jiao is closed and does not pass. After eating, or if one drinks hot water, wei qi remains long in yin and does not travel — therefore one suddenly lies down much. The Yellow Emperor said: Good. How does one treat these various pathogens? Qi Bo said: First the zang and fu; punish the small excesses; afterward attune the qi. The abundant, drain; the vacant, supplement. You must first clearly know the bitterness and ease of form and will — settle that, then take.

The line

The Yellow Emperor asked Qi Bo: I once climbed the terrace of clear cold. Midway on the stairs I looked back; I crawled forward, and then was confused. I privately wondered at it; inwardly I found it strange. Alone I closed the eyes, alone I looked; I settled the heart and stilled the qi; long, and it did not loosen. Alone I was broad, alone I was dizzy. I loosed the hair and knelt long; I bowed and looked; afterward, long, it still would not stop.

The note

To climb a high terrace and be confused: spirit and jing have scattered. Great confusion is in the eyes; the root is in the brain, in the spirit. First ask whether the spirit is still at home.