Suwen · Making the Five Qi Clear

The text

Where the five flavors enter: the sour enters the liver, the acrid enters the lung, the bitter enters the heart, the salty enters the kidney, the sweet enters the spleen. These are called the five entries. Where the five qi become illness: the heart becomes belching, the lung becomes coughing, the liver becomes speech, the spleen becomes swallowing, the kidney becomes yawning and sneezing; the stomach becomes qi going against, hiccup, and fear; the large and small intestines become draining; overflow in the lower jiao becomes water; when the bladder is not free it becomes dribbling closure, when it does not bind it becomes leftover urine; the gallbladder becomes anger. These are called the five illnesses. Where the five jing join: when jing-qi joins in the heart there is joy; when it joins in the lung there is grief; when it joins in the liver there is worry; when it joins in the spleen there is dread; when it joins in the kidney there is fear. These are called the five joinings — they join by vacuity. What the five zang hate: the heart hates heat, the lung hates cold, the liver hates wind, the spleen hates damp, the kidney hates dryness. These are called the five hates. The fluids transformed by the five zang: the heart becomes sweat, the lung becomes snivel, the liver becomes tears, the spleen becomes drool, the kidney becomes spittle. These are called the five fluids. What the five flavors forbid: the acrid runs to qi — in illness of qi do not eat much that is acrid. The salty runs to blood — in illness of blood do not eat much that is salty. The bitter runs to bone — in illness of bone do not eat much that is bitter. The sweet runs to flesh — in illness of flesh do not eat much that is sweet. The sour runs to sinew — in illness of sinew do not eat much that is sour. These are called the five forbiddings: do not let there be much eating. Where the five illnesses issue: yin illness issues from the bone, yang illness issues from the blood, yin illness issues from the flesh, yang illness issues in winter, yin illness issues in summer. These are called the five issuings. How the five pathogens disorder: when the pathogenic enters yang there is mania; when the pathogenic enters yin there is impediment. Beating yang becomes vertex illness; beating yin becomes loss of voice. Yang entering yin becomes quiet; yin going out to yang becomes anger. These are called the five disorders. What the five pathogens show: obtaining an autumn pulse in spring, a winter pulse in summer, a spring pulse in late summer, a summer pulse in autumn, a late-summer pulse in winter — this is named yin going out to yang. The illness is much anger and is not treated. These are called the five pathogens; all share the same fate: death, not treated. What the five zang store: the heart stores the spirit, the lung stores the po, the liver stores the hun, the spleen stores intent, the kidney stores the will. These are called what the five zang store. What the five zang govern: the heart governs the vessels, the lung governs the skin, the liver governs the sinews, the spleen governs the flesh, the kidney governs the bones. These are called the five governings. What the five labors injure: long looking injures the blood, long lying injures the qi, long sitting injures the flesh, long standing injures the bone, long walking injures the sinews. These are called what the five labors injure. How the five pulses answer in image: the liver pulse is stringlike, the heart pulse is hooked, the spleen pulse is intermittent, the lung pulse is hairlike, the kidney pulse is stony. These are called the pulses of the five zang.

The line

Where the five flavors enter: the sour enters the liver, the acrid enters the lung, the bitter enters the heart, the salty enters the kidney, the sweet enters the spleen. These are called the five entries.

The note

The five entries, the five forbiddings, the five illnesses — all one net. To make clear is to look at qi that had been mixed, now apart. Apart, one may speak of harmony.