Suwen · The Great Discourse on the Five Movements

The text

The Yellow Emperor sat in the Bright Hall. He first set right the net of heaven, looked out over the eight extremes, examined and established the five constants, and invited the Heavenly Teacher, asking: The discourse says the stillness and motion of heaven and earth take spiritual brightness as their record; the ascent and descent of yin and yang take cold and heat as their signs. I have heard from you the numbers of the five movements. What you spoke of was only how each of the five qi governs a year. The first Jia sets the movement — and I have already discussed this. Gui Yuqu said: Soil governs Jia and Ji; metal governs Yi and Geng; water governs Bing and Xin; wood governs Ding and Ren; fire governs Wu and Gui. Above Zi and Wu, Shaoyin governs. Above Chou and Wei, Taiyin governs. Above Yin and Shen, Shaoyang governs. Above Mao and You, Yangming governs. Above Chen and Xu, Taiyang governs. Above Si and Hai, Jueyin governs. They do not match yin and yang. Why is this? Qi Bo said: This is the bright Dao; this is the yin and yang of heaven and earth. What can be counted as a number is the yin and yang within the person — and what can be joined as a number can be obtained. As for yin and yang: count them and they may be ten; extend them and they may be a hundred; count them and they may be a thousand; extend them and they may be ten thousand. The yin and yang of heaven and earth are not to be pushed by number; they are spoken of by image. The Emperor said: I wish to hear where they begin. Qi Bo said: How clear a question this is. I have looked at the text of the Book of the Great Beginning and Heaven's Origin: The qi of the cinnabar heaven passes through Ox and Girl, at the Wu divide. The qi of the yellow heaven passes through Heart and Tail, at the Ji divide. The qi of the dark-green heaven passes through Rooftop, House, Willow, and Ghost. The qi of the white heaven passes through Neck, Root, Pleiades, and Net. The qi of the dark heaven passes through Spread, Wing, Mound, and Stomach. What are called the Wu and Ji divides are Stride and Wall, Horn and Axletree — these are the gates of heaven and earth. Where the seasons begin, where the Dao is born: this cannot be left unpenetrated. The Emperor said: Good. The discourse says heaven and earth are the above and below of the ten thousand things, and left and right are the roads of yin and yang. I do not yet know what this means. Qi Bo said: What is called above and below is where yin and yang are seen in the year, above and below. Left and right belong to each case above. When Jueyin is seen, Shaoyin is on the left and Taiyang on the right. When Shaoyin is seen, Taiyin is on the left and Jueyin on the right. When Taiyin is seen, Shaoyang is on the left and Shaoyin on the right. When Shaoyang is seen, Yangming is on the left and Taiyin on the right. When Yangming is seen, Taiyang is on the left and Shaoyang on the right. When Taiyang is seen, Jueyin is on the left and Yangming on the right. This is facing north and naming the positions; it speaks of what is seen. The Emperor said: What is called below? Qi Bo said: When Jueyin is above, Shaoyang is below, Yangming on the left and Taiyin on the right. When Shaoyin is above, Yangming is below, Taiyang on the left and Shaoyang on the right. When Taiyin is above, Taiyang is below, Jueyin on the left and Yangming on the right. When Shaoyang is above, Jueyin is below, Shaoyin on the left and Taiyang on the right. When Yangming is above, Shaoyin is below, Taiyin on the left and Jueyin on the right. When Taiyang is above, Taiyin is below, Shaoyang on the left and Shaoyin on the right. This is facing south and naming the positions; it speaks of what is seen. Above and below meet; cold and heat come face to face. When the qi agree, there is harmony; when they do not agree, there is illness. The Emperor said: If the qi agree and there is still illness — why? Qi Bo said: Because what is below comes down upon what is above; the place is not the right one. The Emperor said: What of stillness and motion? Qi Bo said: What is above travels to the right; what is below travels to the left. Left and right complete the circuit of heaven, and with a remainder they meet again. The Emperor said: I heard Gui Yuqu say: what answers earth is still. Now you say what is below travels to the left. I do not know what this means. I wish to hear how it arises. Qi Bo said: The stillness and motion of heaven and earth, the shifting and return of the five phases — even Gui Yuqu, who watched only the signs above, still could not make it fully clear. As for the use of change: heaven hangs down images; earth completes forms. The seven luminaries weave through the void; the five phases cling to the earth. Earth is what carries the kinds of form that are born and completed. The void is what arrays the jing-qi that answers heaven. The motion of form and jing is like root and branch. Look up at the images: though far, they can be known. The Emperor said: That earth is below — is this not so? Qi Bo said: Earth is below the person, and it is within the Great Void. The Emperor said: Does it rest on something? Qi Bo said: The great qi holds it up. Dryness dries it; summer-heat steams it; wind moves it; dampness moistens it; cold hardens it; fire warms it. So wind and cold are below; dryness and heat are above; damp qi is in the middle; fire travels among them. Cold and heat enter by the six, and so the void is made, and transformation and birth take place. Therefore when dryness prevails the earth is dry; when summer-heat prevails the earth is hot; when wind prevails the earth moves; when dampness prevails the earth is mud; when cold prevails the earth splits; when fire prevails the earth is made firm. The Emperor said: The qi of heaven and earth — how does one watch for it? Qi Bo said: The qi of heaven and earth, the working of domination and return, do not take shape in the examination of the pulse. The Pulse Method says: The changes of heaven and earth are not to be examined by the pulse. This is what it means. The Emperor said: What of the intervening qi? Qi Bo said: Follow where the qi is, and await it on the left and the right. The Emperor said: How does one await it? Qi Bo said: Follow its qi and there is harmony; go against its qi and there is illness. Not in its proper place: illness. Shifting and exchanging its place: illness. Failing to keep its place: danger. When the chi and the cun are reversed: death. When yin and yang cross: death. First establish the year, so as to know its qi; left and right should appear; only then can one speak of death and life, of going against or going with. The Emperor said: Cold, heat, dryness, dampness, wind, and fire — how do they join in the person? And in the ten thousand things, how are they transformed and born? Qi Bo said: The east gives birth to wind; wind gives birth to wood; wood gives birth to sour; sour gives birth to the liver; the liver gives birth to sinew; sinew gives birth to the heart. In heaven it is the dark-and-far; in the person it is Dao; on earth it is transformation. Transformation gives birth to the five flavors; Dao gives birth to wisdom; the dark-and-far gives birth to spirit; transformation gives birth to qi. Spirit in heaven is wind, on earth is wood, in the body is sinew, in qi is softness, in the zang is the liver. Its nature is warmth; its virtue is harmony; its use is motion; its color is dark-green; its transformation is glory; its creatures are the hairy; its government is scattering; its command is to declare and put forth; its change is to break and pull down; its blight is to fall; its flavor is sour; its will is anger. Anger injures the liver; grief overcomes anger. Wind injures the liver; dryness overcomes wind. Sour injures sinew; acrid overcomes sour. The south gives birth to heat; heat gives birth to fire; fire gives birth to bitter; bitter gives birth to the heart; the heart gives birth to blood; blood gives birth to the spleen. In heaven it is heat, on earth is fire, in the body is the vessels, in qi is growth, in the zang is the heart. Its nature is summer-heat; its virtue is to show; its use is restlessness; its color is red; its transformation is lushness; its creatures are the feathered; its government is brightness; its command is to steam and press; its change is to scorch and melt; its blight is to burn and weary; its flavor is bitter; its will is joy. Joy injures the heart; fear overcomes joy. Heat injures qi; cold overcomes heat. Bitter injures qi; salt overcomes bitter. The center gives birth to dampness; dampness gives birth to soil; soil gives birth to sweet; sweet gives birth to the spleen; the spleen gives birth to flesh; flesh gives birth to the lung. In heaven it is dampness, on earth is soil, in the body is flesh, in qi is filling, in the zang is the spleen. Its nature is still and inclusive; its virtue is to moisten; its use is transformation; its color is yellow; its transformation is fullness; its creatures are the bare; its government is quiet; its command is cloud and rain; its change is to pour without cease; its blight is overflow and collapse; its flavor is sweet; its will is thought. Thought injures the spleen; anger overcomes thought. Dampness injures flesh; wind overcomes dampness. Sweet injures the spleen; sour overcomes sweet. The west gives birth to dryness; dryness gives birth to metal; metal gives birth to acrid; acrid gives birth to the lung; the lung gives birth to skin and hair; skin and hair give birth to the kidney. In heaven it is dryness, on earth is metal, in the body is skin and hair, in qi is completion, in the zang is the lung. Its nature is cool; its virtue is clarity; its use is to make firm; its color is white; its transformation is to gather in; its creatures are the shelled; its government is force; its command is fog and dew; its change is the bleak kill; its blight is dark-green falling; its flavor is acrid; its will is sorrow. Sorrow injures the lung; joy overcomes sorrow. Heat injures skin and hair; cold overcomes heat. Acrid injures skin and hair; bitter overcomes acrid. The north gives birth to cold; cold gives birth to water; water gives birth to salt; salt gives birth to the kidney; the kidney gives birth to bone and marrow; marrow gives birth to the liver. In heaven it is cold, on earth is water, in the body is bone, in qi is hardness, in the zang is the kidney. Its nature is harsh; its virtue is cold; its use is to store; its color is black; its transformation is severity; its creatures are the scaled; its government is stillness; its command is [missing from the text]; its change is to freeze and bite; its blight is hail; its flavor is salt; its will is fear. Fear injures the kidney; thought overcomes fear. Cold injures blood; dryness overcomes cold. Salt injures blood; sweet overcomes salt. The five qi take their stand in turn; each has what comes first. Not in its place, it is stray; in its place, it is upright. The Emperor said: How does illness arise and change? Qi Bo said: When the qi agree, it is slight; when they do not agree, it is severe. The Emperor said: What of governing the year? Qi Bo said: When qi has surplus, it checks what it already prevails over, and insults what it does not prevail over. When it falls short, what it does not prevail over insults it and rides upon it, and what it prevails over slights it and insults it. Insult turns back and receives the stray. To insult and then receive the stray is to have too little awe. The Emperor said: Good.

The line

The Yellow Emperor sat in the Bright Hall. He first set right the net of heaven, looked out over the eight extremes, examined and established the five constants, and invited the Heavenly Teacher, asking: The discourse says the stillness and motion of heaven and earth take spiritual brightness as their record; the ascent and descent of yin and yang take cold and heat as their signs.

The note

The five movements travel as a wheel turns. Stillness and motion have their record; spiritual brightness is inside them. To watch the movements is to watch how a year changes its own qi.