Suwen · Zang-Qi Following the Seasons

The text

The Yellow Emperor asked: To join the human form to the law of the four seasons and the five phases, and so treat — what is with, and what is against? The meaning of gain and loss: I wish to hear the matter. Qi Bo replied: The five phases are metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. They take turns at being noble and base, by which one knows death and life, decides success and failure, and settles the qi of the five zang, the times of mildness and severity, and the dates of death and life. The Emperor said: I wish to hear it to the end. Qi Bo said: The liver governs spring; foot-jueyin and shaoyang govern the treatment. Its days are jia and yi. The liver suffers from urgency; quickly eat the sweet to slacken it. The heart governs summer; hand-shaoyin and taiyang govern the treatment. Its days are bing and ding. The heart suffers from slackness; quickly eat the sour to gather it. The spleen governs late summer; foot-taiyin and yangming govern the treatment. Its days are wu and ji. The spleen suffers from damp; quickly eat the bitter to dry it. The lung governs autumn; hand-taiyin and yangming govern the treatment. Its days are geng and xin. The lung suffers from qi rising against; quickly eat the bitter to drain it. The kidney governs winter; foot-shaoyin and taiyang govern the treatment. Its days are ren and gui. The kidney suffers from dryness; quickly eat the acrid to moisten it — to open the textures, bring the fluids, and communicate the qi. When the illness is in the liver, it heals in summer. If it does not heal in summer, it grows severe in autumn. If it does not die in autumn, it holds through winter, and rises in spring. Forbid facing the wind. In those with liver illness, healing is on bing and ding. If it does not heal on bing and ding, it increases on geng and xin. If it does not die on geng and xin, it holds through ren and gui, and rises on jia and yi. In those with liver illness, there is clarity at the calm dawn, severity in the late afternoon, and quiet at midnight. The liver desires to scatter; quickly eat the acrid to scatter it. Use the acrid to fill it, the sour to drain it. When the illness is in the heart, it heals in late summer. If it does not heal in late summer, it grows severe in winter. If it does not die in winter, it holds through spring, and rises in summer. Forbid warm food and hot clothes. In those with heart illness, healing is on wu and ji. If it does not heal on wu and ji, it increases on ren and gui. If it does not die on ren and gui, it holds through jia and yi, and rises on bing and ding. In those with heart illness, there is clarity at midday, severity at midnight, and quiet at the calm dawn. The heart desires to be made soft; quickly eat the salty to soften it. Use the salty to fill it, the sweet to drain it. When the illness is in the spleen, it heals in autumn. If it does not heal in autumn, it grows severe in spring. If it does not die in spring, it holds through summer, and rises in late summer. Forbid warm food, eating to fullness, damp ground, and wet clothes. In those with spleen illness, healing is on geng and xin. If it does not heal on geng and xin, it increases on jia and yi. If it does not die on jia and yi, it holds through bing and ding, and rises on wu and ji. In those with spleen illness, there is clarity in the declining sun, severity at sunrise, and quiet in the late afternoon. The spleen desires to be slackened; quickly eat the sweet to slacken it. Use the bitter to drain it, the sweet to fill it. When the illness is in the lung, it heals in winter. If it does not heal in winter, it grows severe in summer. If it does not die in summer, it holds through late summer, and rises in autumn. Forbid cold drink and food, and cold clothes. In those with lung illness, healing is on ren and gui. If it does not heal on ren and gui, it increases on bing and ding. If it does not die on bing and ding, it holds through wu and ji, and rises on geng and xin. In those with lung illness, there is clarity in the late afternoon, severity at midday, and quiet at midnight. The lung desires to gather; quickly eat the sour to gather it. Use the sour to fill it, the acrid to drain it. When the illness is in the kidney, it heals in spring. If it does not heal in spring, it grows severe in late summer. If it does not die in late summer, it holds through autumn, and rises in winter. Forbid offending scorched heat, hot food, and warmed roasted clothes. In those with kidney illness, healing is on jia and yi. If it does not heal on jia and yi, it grows severe on wu and ji. If it does not die on wu and ji, it holds through geng and xin, and rises on ren and gui. In those with kidney illness, there is clarity at midnight, severity at the four seasonal hours, and quiet in the late afternoon. The kidney desires to be firm; quickly eat the bitter to firm it. Use the bitter to fill it, the salty to drain it. When pathogenic qi lodges in the body, it adds by overcoming. It heals on reaching that which it generates; it grows severe on reaching that which it does not overcome; it holds on reaching that which generates it; it rises when it obtains its own seat. One must first settle the pulses of the five zang, and only then can one speak of the times of mildness and severity, and the dates of death and life. In those with liver illness, pain under both flanks draws to the lesser abdomen, and makes a person easily angry. In vacuity the eyes shimmer and see nothing; the ears hear nothing; there is much fear, as if someone were about to seize him. Take their channels: jueyin and shaoyang. If qi goes against, there is headache, deafness, unhearing, and swelling of the cheeks — take the blood. In those with heart illness, there is pain in the chest, fullness along the flanks, pain under the flanks, pain between the breast, the back, and the shoulder-blades, and pain on the inner arms. In vacuity the chest and abdomen are large; pain under the flanks and in the waist draw upon one another. Take their channels: shaoyin and taiyang, and the blood under the tongue. In their changed illness, needle the blood at Xizhong. In those with spleen illness, the body is heavy; the flesh wilts easily; the feet will not gather; walking easily spasms; there is pain under the feet. In vacuity the abdomen is full, the intestines sound, there is food-diarrhea, and food does not transform. Take their channels: taiyin, yangming, and the blood of shaoyin. In those with lung illness, there is panting, coughing, reverse qi, pain in the shoulders and back, sweat coming out, and pain in the sacrum, the yin, the inner thigh, the knee, the hip, the lower leg, the shin, and the foot. In vacuity there is little qi, unable to answer the breath, deafness, and a dry throat. Take their channels: taiyin, and the blood outside foot-taiyang and inside jueyin. In those with kidney illness, the abdomen is large, the shins swollen; there is panting, coughing, heaviness of the body, sweat in sleep, and hatred of wind. In vacuity there is pain in the chest, pain in the great abdomen and the lesser abdomen, clear reversal, and a will that is not glad. Take their channels: the blood of shaoyin and taiyang. The liver's color is green; it is fitting to eat the sweet. Non-glutinous rice, beef, dates, and mallow are all sweet. The heart's color is red; it is fitting to eat the sour. Small beans, dog meat, plums, and chives are all sour. The lung's color is white; it is fitting to eat the bitter. Wheat, mutton, apricots, and scallions are all bitter. The spleen's color is yellow; it is fitting to eat the salty. Soybeans, pork, chestnuts, and bean-leaves are all salty. The kidney's color is black; it is fitting to eat the acrid. Yellow millet, chicken, peaches, and onions are all acrid. The acrid scatters; the sour gathers; the sweet slackens; the bitter firms; the salty softens. Strong medicines attack the pathogenic. The five grains are for nourishment, the five fruits for assistance, the five livestock for increase, the five vegetables for filling. Flavors and qi are joined and taken, to fill the jing and increase the qi. These five have the acrid, the sour, the sweet, the bitter, and the salty, each with what it benefits — now scattering, now gathering, now slackening, now urgent, now firming, now softening. In the four seasons and the five zang, illness follows what is fitting among the five flavors.

The line

The Yellow Emperor asked: To join the human form to the law of the four seasons and the five phases, and so treat — what is with, and what is against? The meaning of gain and loss: I wish to hear the matter.

The note

With and against are not attitudes. They are the season. Liver-qi in spring is not a figure of speech. To follow the time is to set a person back into the season they are already living.