Suwen · Life-Qi Communicating with Heaven

The text

The Yellow Emperor said: "From of old, what communicates with Heaven is the root of life, and that root is in yin and yang. Between heaven and earth, within the six directions, the qi of the nine provinces and nine orifices, the five zang, the twelve joints — all communicate with Heaven's qi. Life is five; qi is three. Those who repeatedly offend this are harmed by pathogenic qi. This is the root of the span of years. The qi of the blue Heaven: when it is clear and quiet, will and intention are in order; follow it and yang qi is firm. Though thief pathogens are present, they cannot harm. This is by the sequence of the seasons. Therefore the sage transmits jing and spirit, takes in Heaven's qi, and communicates with spiritual brightness. Lose this, and within the nine orifices close, without the flesh is obstructed, wei qi scatters and comes apart. This is called wounding oneself — the paring away of qi. Yang qi is like Heaven and the sun. Lose its place, and the years are broken and not made bright. Heaven's movement should have the sun's light. Therefore yang, by this, goes upward and guards the outside. From cold: one would move like a pivot; rising and rest are as if startled; spirit-qi then floats. From summer-heat: sweat; when restless, panting and gasping; when still, much speech; the body as if burning charcoal; sweat goes out and it scatters. From damp: the head as if wrapped; if damp-heat is not driven off, the great sinews contract short, the small sinews slacken long; contracted short is constraint, slackened long is wilting. From qi: swelling; the four limbs take one another's place; yang qi is then exhausted. Yang qi, when worn by restless labor, stretches taut; jing is cut off; piled up through summer, it makes a person collapse as if boiled. The eyes are blind and cannot see; the ears are closed and cannot hear — crumbling as if a city wall were breaking, rushing as a flood that cannot be stopped. Yang qi, in great anger, cuts form and qi apart; blood stagnates above and makes a person collapse as if struck thin. If the sinews are harmed they go slack, as if the body would not contain them. Sweat on one side only makes a person wither on one side. Sweat meeting damp gives rise to boils and millet-rash. The change from rich and greasy food is enough to birth great sores — received as if holding an empty vessel. Labor-sweat facing wind: cold presses and becomes acne; when it stagnates, boils. Yang qi, when refined, nourishes the spirit; when soft, nourishes the sinews. If opening and closing miss their time, cold qi follows, and a great stoop is born. If it sinks into the vessels it becomes fistula, lingering in the flesh and interstices. If qi at the transport points transforms and presses, it is passed on as a tendency to fear, and as startle. If ying qi does not follow, but goes against the grain of the flesh, abscess and swelling are born. If the po-sweat is not finished, the form is weak and qi is scorched; the holes and transport points close, and wind-intermittent-heat arises. Thus wind is the beginning of the hundred illnesses. Be clear and still, and the flesh and interstices close and refuse; though there be great wind and harsh toxin, they cannot harm. This is by the sequence of the seasons. Illness long-standing then transmits and transforms; if above and below do not join, a good physician can do nothing. Yang accumulated to the point of death-illness — yang qi is then blocked. What is blocked should be drained. If one does not promptly set the treatment right, the crude hand ruins it. Yang qi governs the outside through the day. At dawn a person's qi is born; at midday yang qi is at its height; as the sun goes west yang qi is already vacant, and the gates of qi close. Therefore at dusk gather in and refuse; do not disturb sinew and bone; do not meet fog and dew. Go against these three times, and the form is worn thin." Qi Bo said: Yin stores jing and rises in answer; yang guards the outside and makes it firm. If yin cannot overcome its yang, the vessels flow thin and rapid; when they join, there is mania. If yang cannot overcome its yin, the qi of the five zang contend, and the nine orifices do not open. Therefore the sage sets yin and yang in their places; sinew and vessel are in accord, bone and marrow are firm, qi and blood both follow. Thus inside and outside are in harmony, pathogen cannot harm, ear and eye are keen, and qi stands as before. When wind is a guest and qi overflows, jing is then lost — pathogen has harmed the liver. If one then eats to fullness, sinew and vessel slacken across, and intestinal flux becomes hemorrhoid. If one then drinks heavily, qi reverses. If one then forces strength, kidney qi is harmed, and the high bones decay. The essential of yin and yang: when yang is held close, there is firmness. If the two are not in harmony, it is as if spring had no autumn, as if winter had no summer. To bring them to harmony — this is called the sage's measure. If yang is strong and cannot be held close, yin qi is then cut off. When yin is level and yang is held close, jing and spirit are in order. When yin and yang part and break, jing-qi is then cut off. From dew and wind, cold and heat are born. Thus if spring is harmed by wind, pathogenic qi lingers and becomes pouring discharge; if summer is harmed by summer-heat, autumn brings intermittent heat. If autumn is harmed by damp, it reverses upward as cough, and arises as wilting and reversal. If winter is harmed by cold, spring will have warm illness. The qi of the four seasons takes turns harming the five zang. What yin generates has its root in the five flavors. The five palaces of yin are harmed in the five flavors. If the flavor is too sour, liver qi becomes fluid, and spleen qi is cut off. If the flavor is too salty, the qi of the great bones is labored, the flesh shortens, heart qi is pressed down. If the flavor is too sweet, heart qi pants and fills, the color is black, kidney qi is not balanced. If the flavor is too bitter, spleen qi is not moistened, and stomach qi grows thick. If the flavor is too acrid, sinew and vessel slacken and fail, and jing and spirit are then ruined. Therefore carefully harmonize the five flavors: bone is upright, sinew is soft, qi and blood flow, the interstices are close. Thus bone-qi is refined. Keep to the Dao as to a method, and long possess the mandate of Heaven.

The line

If yang is strong and cannot be held close, yin qi is then cut off. When yin is level and yang is held close, jing and spirit are in order. When yin and yang part and break, jing-qi is then cut off.

The note

A person is not a body with the door shut. The nine provinces and nine orifices all communicate with Heaven's qi. When yang is held close there is firmness — close means it can be gathered in, not that it is stretched tight.