Suwen · Essentials of the Jade Tablet

The text

The Yellow Emperor asked: I have heard of measuring and of the extraordinary and the constant. What they point to is not the same. How are they used? Qi Bo replied: Measuring is measuring how shallow or deep the illness is. The extraordinary and the constant speak of extraordinary illness. Let me speak of the utmost numbers of the Dao. The five colors and the changes of the pulse, measuring and the extraordinary and the constant — the Dao lies in the one. The spirit turns and does not reverse; if it reverses it does not turn, and the mechanism is lost. The essentials of the utmost numbers press near to the subtle. Write them on the jade tablet; call it joining the jade mechanism. Guest color appears above and below, left and right — each has its essential place. When the color appears shallow, decoctions govern the treatment; in ten days it is done. When it appears deep, prepared medicines must govern; in twenty-one days it is done. When it appears very deep, fermented wine governs; in a hundred days it is done. When the color is withered and the face has fallen away, it is not treated; when a hundred days are spent, it is over. A short pulse and qi cut off: death. Warm illness with extreme vacuity: death. Color appears above and below, left and right — each has its essential place. Above is against; below is with. In women the right is against, the left is with; in men the left is against, the right is with. If these are exchanged: doubled yang, death; doubled yin, death. When yin and yang have turned against one another, treatment lies in the balance taking from one and giving to the other — this is a matter of the extraordinary and the constant, a matter of measuring. A beating pulse: impediment and inability to walk; the crossing of cold and heat. A lone pulse is the wasting of qi; vacuous draining is the seizing of blood. Lone is against; vacuous is with. In practicing the method of the extraordinary and the constant, begin from taiyin. Moving toward what one does not overcome is called against — against, then death. Moving toward what one overcomes is called with — with, then life. The overcoming of the eight winds and the four seasons ends and begins again. If one runs against them even once, it cannot be counted again. The essentials of the discourse are complete.

The line

The Yellow Emperor asked: I have heard of measuring and of the extraordinary and the constant. What they point to is not the same. How are they used?

The note

Measuring is taking the depth. The extraordinary and the constant is watching the departure. What the jade tablet wants is not a secret recipe. It is to measure first, then move.