Suwen · Essentials of Needling

The text

The Yellow Emperor asked: I wish to hear the essentials of needling. Qi Bo answered: Illness has the floating and the sunken; needling has the shallow and the deep. Each arrives at its pattern; do not go past its road. Go past it and the inside is wounded. Fall short and an outer dam is born; when there is a dam, what is irregular follows it. If the shallow and the deep are not gotten, it turns instead into a great thief. It stirs the five zang within, and afterward a great illness is born. Thus it is said: there is illness in the fine hairs and the interstices; there is illness in the skin; there is illness in the flesh; there is illness in the vessels; there is illness in the sinews; there is illness in the bone; there is illness in the marrow. Therefore in needling the fine hairs and the interstices, do not wound the skin. If the skin is wounded, the lung is stirred within; when the lung is stirred, in autumn there is warm intermittent heat, a shivering cold. In needling the skin, do not wound the flesh. If the flesh is wounded, the spleen is stirred within; when the spleen is stirred, in the seventy-two days of the four seasonal months there is abdominal distention and vexation, no relish for food. In needling the flesh, do not wound the vessels. If the vessels are wounded, the heart is stirred within; when the heart is stirred, in summer there is heart pain. In needling the vessels, do not wound the sinews. If the sinews are wounded, the liver is stirred within; when the liver is stirred, in spring there is heat and the sinews slacken. In needling the sinews, do not wound the bone. If the bone is wounded, the kidney is stirred within; when the kidney is stirred, in winter there is distention and lumbar pain. In needling the bone, do not wound the marrow. If the marrow is wounded there is melting and wasting; the shin is sore; the body slackens and is dulled, and it does not leave.

The line

Qi Bo answered: Illness has the floating and the sunken; needling has the shallow and the deep. Each arrives at its pattern; do not go past its road. Go past it and the inside is wounded. Fall short and an outer dam is born; when there is a dam, what is irregular follows it.

The note

Illness has the floating and the sunken; needling has the shallow and the deep. Go past and the inside is wounded; fall short and the outside dams up. The essential is measure. Measure comes before technique.