Suwen · The Great Discourse on the Five Constant Governments

The text

The Yellow Emperor asked: The Great Void is vast and empty; the five movements circle and press close. Decline and fullness are not the same; increase and decrease follow each other. I wish to hear of balanced qi — how it is named, how it is recorded. Qi Bo answered: How clear a question this is. Wood is called Laid-out Harmony; fire is called Lifted Brightness; soil is called Prepared Transformation; metal is called Examined Level; water is called Still Accordance. The Emperor said: And falling short? Qi Bo said: Wood is called Dropped Harmony; fire is called Hidden Brightness; soil is called Humble Watch; metal is called Following the Change; water is called Parched Flow. The Emperor said: What is excess called? Qi Bo said: Wood is called Giving Birth; fire is called Fierce Glow; soil is called Dense Height; metal is called Hard Completion; water is called Flooding Spread. The Emperor said: The records of the three qi — I wish to hear their signs. Qi Bo said: How thorough a question this is. In the record of Laid-out Harmony, wood's virtue travels the circuit; yang eases, yin spreads; the five transformations declare their level. Its qi is upright; its nature is to follow; its use is the bent and the straight; its transformation is birth and glory; its kind is grasses and trees; its government is to put forth and scatter; its season is mild warmth; its command is wind; its zang is the liver — the liver fears the clear; it governs the eyes; its grain is hemp; its fruit is the plum; its fruit-core is the pit; it answers spring; its creatures are the hairy; its livestock is the dog; its color is dark-green; it nourishes sinew; its illness is tightness within and a stretched fullness; its flavor is sour; its tone is jue; its things are hard within; its number is eight. In the record of Lifted Brightness, upright yang governs; virtue is given all around; the five transformations are even. Its qi is high; its nature is swift; its use is to burn and scorch; its transformation is lush growth; its kind is fire; its government is bright shining; its season is blazing summer-heat; its command is heat; its zang is the heart — the heart fears cold; it governs the tongue; its grain is wheat; its fruit is the apricot; its fruit-core is the network; it answers summer; its creatures are the feathered; its livestock is the horse; its color is red; it nourishes blood; its illness is aching spasm; its flavor is bitter; its tone is zhi; its things are the vessels; its number is seven. In the record of Prepared Transformation, qi accords with heaven's rest; virtue flows through the four governments; the five transformations are cultivated together. Its qi is level; its nature is to follow; its use is high and low; its transformation is abundance and fullness; its kind is soil; its government is quiet rest; its season is steaming moisture; its command is dampness; its zang is the spleen — the spleen fears wind; it governs the mouth; its grain is millet; its fruit is the jujube; its fruit-core is the flesh; it answers late summer; its creatures are the bare; its livestock is the ox; its color is yellow; it nourishes flesh; its illness is blockage; its flavor is sweet; its tone is gong; its things are the skin; its number is five. In the record of Examined Level, it gathers and does not contend; it kills and does not offend; the five transformations declare their brightness. Its qi is clean; its nature is hard; its use is to scatter and drop; its transformation is firm gathering; its kind is metal; its government is forceful and severe; its season is clear and keen; its command is dryness; its zang is the lung — the lung fears heat; it governs the nose; its grain is rice; its fruit is the peach; its fruit-core is the shell; it answers autumn; its creatures are the shelled; its livestock is the chicken; its color is white; it nourishes skin and hair; its illness is cough; its flavor is acrid; its tone is shang; its things are hard without; its number is nine. In the record of Still Accordance, it stores and does not harm; it governs and is good at being below; the five transformations are all in order. Its qi is bright; its nature is to go down; its use is to water and spread; its transformation is to freeze and harden; its kind is water; its government is to flow and extend; its season is frozen severity; its command is cold; its zang is the kidney — the kidney fears dampness; it governs the two yin; its grain is beans; its fruit is the chestnut; its fruit-core is the moist; it answers winter; its creatures are the scaled; its livestock is the pig; its color is black; it nourishes bone and marrow; its illness is reversal; its flavor is salt; its tone is yu; its things are the moist; its number is six. Therefore: give birth and do not kill; let grow and do not punish; transform and do not check; gather and do not harm; store and do not suppress. This is called balanced qi. In the record of Dropped Harmony, this is called prevailing over birth. Birth-qi does not govern; transforming qi then rises; growing qi levels itself; the command of gathering then comes early. Cool rain falls in season; wind and cloud rise together. Grasses and trees are late to flourish; dark-green things dry and drop. Things ear and set fruit; skin and flesh fill within. Its qi gathers in; its use is to collect; its stirring is slackness, twisting, tightness, and looseness; it puts forth as fright. Its zang is the liver; its fruits are jujube and plum; its fruit-cores are pit and shell; its grains are millet and rice; its flavors are sour and acrid; its colors are white and dark-green; its livestock are dog and chicken; its creatures are the hairy and the shelled; it governs fog, dew, and bleak chill; its tones are jue and shang; its illness is shaking, rushing, and fear. It follows metal's transformation. Lesser jue is the same as half shang; upper jue is the same as upright jue; upper shang is the same as upright shang. Its illness: wasted limbs, swelling, and sores; sweet things breed worms. The stray injures the liver. Upper gong is the same as upright gong. When the bleak and the killing come, then blaze and boil. The blight is at three — this is what is called return. It governs flying moths, maggots, and pheasants; then there is thunder. In the record of Hidden Brightness, this is called prevailing over growth. Growing qi is not declared; storing qi spreads in reverse; gathering qi governs of itself; the command of transformation then balances. Cold and clarity are often raised; the command of summer-heat then thins. Receiving transformation, things are born — born but they do not grow; they set fruit while still young; meeting transformation they are already old. Yang qi bends and hides; hibernating creatures store themselves early. Its qi is oppressed; its use is sudden; its stirring is showing, hiding, and shifting; it puts forth as pain. Its zang is the heart; its fruits are chestnut and peach; its fruit-cores are network and the moist; its grains are beans and rice; its flavors are bitter and salt; its colors are dark and cinnabar; its livestock are horse and pig; its creatures are the feathered and the scaled; it governs ice, snow, frost, and cold; its tones are zhi and yu; its illness is clouded confusion, grief, and forgetting. It follows water's transformation. Lesser zhi is the same as lesser yu; upper shang is the same as upright shang. The stray injures the heart. When freeze, bleakness, and biting cold come, then sudden rain and long wet. The blight is at nine. It governs sudden pouring, thunder that startles, and rain that sinks and soaks. In the record of Humble Watch, this is called reduced transformation. Transforming qi does not command; the government of birth shows alone. Growing qi is in order; rain then misses its time; gathering qi is level. Wind and cold rise together. Grasses and trees are glorious and beautiful; they ear but do not set fruit; what completes is husk. Its qi scatters; its use is still and settled; its stirring is sores that well, split, and swell; it puts forth as soggy stagnation. Its zang is the spleen; its fruits are plum and chestnut; its fruit-cores are the moist and the pit; its grains are beans and hemp; its flavors are sour and sweet; its colors are dark-green and yellow; its livestock are ox and dog; its creatures are the bare and the hairy; it governs angry blowing, shaking, and putting forth; its tones are gong and jue; its illness is lingering fullness and blocked stoppage. It follows wood's transformation. Lesser gong is the same as lesser jue; upper gong is the same as upright gong; upper jue is the same as upright jue. Its illness is undigested sloppy stool. The stray injures the spleen. When shaking, pulling, and blowing come, then dark-green things dry and scatter. Its blight is in the four corners. It governs ruin and breaking, tigers and wolves. Clear qi is then used; the government of birth is then shamed. In the record of Following the Change, this is called snapped gathering. Gathering qi then comes late; birth-qi then rises; growth and transformation join their virtue; fire's government is then declared; the many kinds grow lush. Its qi rises; its use is restless and keen; its stirring is ringing in the throat, a locked jaw, dimness, and reversal; it puts forth as cough and panting. Its zang is the lung; its fruits are plum and apricot; its fruit-cores are shell and network; its grains are hemp and wheat; its flavors are bitter and acrid; its colors are white and cinnabar; its livestock are chicken and sheep; its creatures are the shelled and the feathered; it governs bright shining and scorching blaze; its tones are shang and zhi; its illness is sneezing, cough, blocked nose, and nosebleed. It follows fire's transformation. Lesser shang is the same as lesser zhi; upper shang is the same as upright shang; upper jue is the same as upright jue. The stray injures the lung. When blazing light is fierce and burning, then ice, snow, frost, and hail. The blight is at seven. It governs scaled things that hide, pigs and rats. The year's qi arrives early; then great cold is born. In the record of Parched Flow, this is called reversed yang. The command of storing is not raised; transforming qi then flourishes; growing qi is declared and spread; hibernating creatures do not store themselves. The soil is moist, springs lessen; grasses and trees are long and lush; glory and fruit are full and abundant. Its qi stagnates; its use is to seep and leak; its stirring is hard stoppage; it puts forth as dryness and withering. Its zang is the kidney; its fruits are jujube and apricot; its fruit-cores are the moist and the flesh; its grains are glutinous millet and millet; its flavors are sweet and salt; its colors are yellow and dark; its livestock are pig and ox; its creatures are the scaled and the bare; it governs dusty oppression and dim haze; its tones are yu and gong; its illness is wilting, reversal, and hardness below. It follows soil's transformation. Lesser yu is the same as lesser gong; upper gong is the same as upright gong. Its illness is blocked and closed water. The stray injures the kidney. When dusty dark and sudden rain come, then shaking, pulling, breaking, and uprooting. The blight is at one. It governs the hairy that show themselves, foxes and badgers. Change and transformation do not store. Therefore they travel by riding danger, arrive uninvited, are violent and without virtue — and disaster turns back upon them. The slight returns as slight; the severe returns as severe. This is the constant of qi. In the record of Giving Birth, this is called Opening the Packed. Soil loosens and drains; dark-green qi arrives; yang harmony spreads and transforms; yin qi then follows. Birth-qi transforms in purity; the ten thousand things take their glory. Its transformation is birth; its qi is beautiful; its government is to scatter; its command is long easing; its stirring is shaking, spinning, and illness at the crown; its virtue is singing, spreading, opening what was cracked; its change is shaking, pulling, breaking, and uprooting. Its grains are hemp and rice; its livestock are chicken and dog; its fruits are plum and peach; its colors are green, yellow, and white; its flavors are sour, sweet, and acrid; its image is spring; its channels are foot Jueyin and Shaoyang; its zang are liver and spleen; its creatures are the hairy and the shelled; its things are hard within and hard without; its illness is anger. Great jue is the same as upper shang. When upper zhi, its qi goes against; its illness is vomiting and leakage. If it does not tend its virtue, gathering qi returns. Autumn qi is forceful and keen; when severe, the bleak kill. Clear qi arrives in force; grasses and trees wither and drop. The stray then injures the liver. In the record of Fierce Glow, this is called Lush Growth. Yin qi transforms within; yang qi is glorious without. Blazing summer-heat gives transformation; things are able to flourish. Its transformation is growth; its qi is high; its government is motion; its command is to sound and show; its stirring is burning scorch and reckless disturbance; its virtue is warm heat and steaming press; its change is fierce blaze and boiling. Its grains are wheat and beans; its livestock are sheep and pig; its fruits are apricot and chestnut; its colors are red, white, and dark; its flavors are bitter, acrid, and salt; its image is summer; its channels are hand Shaoyin and Taiyang, hand Jueyin and Shaoyang; its zang are heart and lung; its creatures are the feathered and the scaled; its things are the vessels and the moist; its illness is laughter, intermittent heat, sores, flowing blood, frantic wildness, and red eyes. Upper yu is the same as upright zhi. Its gathering is even; its illness is a blocked nose. When upper zhi, gathering qi is late. If its government is sudden and violent, storing qi then returns. From time to time one sees freeze and bleakness; when severe, rainwater, frost, hail, and cutting cold. The stray injures the heart. In the record of Dense Height, this is called Broad Transformation. Thick virtue, clear and still; it follows growth to fullness. Utmost yin is full within; things transform, fill, and complete. Smoke and dust hang thick, seen upon the thick soil. Great rain travels in season; damp qi is then used; the government of dryness then withdraws. Its transformation is round; its qi is abundant; its government is still; its command is complete all around; its stirring is soggy accumulation that joins and soaks; its virtue is soft moisture and heavy mire; its change is startling shake, sudden blowing, and collapse. Its grains are millet and hemp; its livestock are ox and dog; its fruits are jujube and plum; its colors are yellow, dark, and dark-green; its flavors are sweet, salt, and sour; its image is late summer; its channels are foot Taiyin and Yangming; its zang are spleen and kidney; its creatures are the bare and the hairy; its things are muscle and pit; its illness is a full belly and four limbs that will not lift. A great wind arrives swiftly; the stray injures the spleen. In the record of Hard Completion, this is called Gathering In. Heaven's qi is clean; earth's qi is bright. Yang qi follows; yin governs transformation. Dryness walks its government; things take charge of completion. Gathering qi spreads in plenty; transformation's blending does not finish. Its transformation is completion; its qi pares away; its government is severe; its command is sharp and keen; its stirring is sudden breaking and lingering sores; its virtue is fog, dew, and the bleak; its change is the bleak kill and withered falling. Its grains are rice and glutinous millet; its livestock are chicken and horse; its fruits are peach and apricot; its colors are white, green, and cinnabar; its flavors are acrid, sour, and bitter; its image is autumn; its channels are hand Taiyin and Yangming; its zang are lung and liver; its creatures are the shelled and the feathered; its things are shell and network; its illness is panting with a shouted breath, the chest braced, breathing with the face up. Upper zhi is the same as upright shang. Its birth is even; its illness is cough. If government changes suddenly, famous trees do not flourish; the soft and brittle scorch at the head. Growing qi then rescues; a great fire flows; scorching blaze is about to arrive; vines are about to wither. The stray injures the lung. In the record of Flooding Spread, this is called Sealed Storage. Cold takes charge of the transformation of things; heaven and earth freeze hard. The government of storing is spread; the command of growth does not rise. Its transformation is harsh; its qi is hard; its government is quiet; its command is to flow and pour; its stirring is drifting leakage and gushing flood; its virtue is freeze, bleakness, and cold mist; its change is ice, snow, frost, and hail. Its grains are beans and millet; its livestock are pig and ox; its fruits are chestnut and jujube; its colors are black, cinnabar, and yellow; its flavors are salt, bitter, and sweet; its image is winter; its channels are foot Shaoyin and Taiyang; its zang are kidney and heart; its creatures are the scaled and the bare; its things are the moist and the full; its illness is distention. When upper yu, growing qi does not transform. If government goes too far, transforming qi is raised in force, and dusty dark meets at the crossing of qi; great rain falls in season. The stray injures the kidney. Therefore it is said: If virtue is not constant, what it prevails over comes and returns. If government keeps constant to its pattern, what it prevails over transforms as one. This is what it means. The Emperor said: Heaven is insufficient in the northwest — cold on the left, cool on the right. Earth is not full in the southeast — heat on the right, warmth on the left. Why is this? Qi Bo said: It is the qi of yin and yang, the pattern of high and low, the difference of the greater and the lesser. The southeast is yang. Yang: its jing descends below; therefore the right is hot and the left is warm. The northwest is yin. Yin: its jing is offered up above; therefore the left is cold and the right is cool. So the earth has high and low; qi has warm and cool. What is high: its qi is cold. What is low: its qi is hot. Therefore those who go to the cold and cool have distention; those in the warm and hot have sores. Drain downward, and the distention ends; sweat it, and the sores end. This is the constant of the opening and closing of the grain of the flesh — only the difference of the greater and the lesser. The Emperor said: What of long life and early death? Qi Bo said: Where yin jing is offered up, people live long; where yang jing descends, people die early. The Emperor said: Good. When there is illness, how does one put it in order? Qi Bo said: The qi of the northwest: scatter it and make it cold. The qi of the southeast: gather it and make it warm. This is what is called the same illness, different governing. Therefore it is said: When qi is cold or cool, govern with cold and cool; move water and soak it. When qi is warm or hot, govern with warm and hot; strengthen the inner keeping. You must be the same as its qi, and it can be made level. If it is a false appearance, reverse this. The Emperor said: Good. In one province, qi, transformation and birth, long life and early death are not the same. Why? Qi Bo said: The pattern of high and low is made so by the lay of the land. What is lofty: yin qi governs it. What is low and sunk: yang qi governs it. When yang prevails, it is ahead of heaven; when yin prevails, it is behind heaven. This is the constant of earth's pattern, the Dao of transformation and birth. The Emperor said: Is there long life and early death in this? Qi Bo said: What is high: its qi lives long; what is low: its qi does not. Heaven and earth differ in the small and the great. The small differs a little; the great differs greatly. Therefore one who puts illness in order must first be clear about heaven's Dao and earth's pattern, the alternating prevailing of yin and yang, the before and after of qi, a person's long life or early death, the terms of transformation and birth — only then can one know a person's form and qi. The Emperor said: Good. In a year there are those who do not fall ill, yet zang-qi does not answer and is not used. Why? Qi Bo said: Heaven's qi checks it; qi has that which it follows. The Emperor said: I wish to hear it to the end. Qi Bo said: When Shaoyang governs heaven, fire qi arrives below; lung qi follows above. White arises; metal is used; grasses and trees take blight. Fire appears as burning weariness; changed metal is also spent. Great summer-heat travels: cough, sneezing, blocked nose, nosebleed, a stopped nose; sores; cold and heat and swollen flesh. Wind travels on the earth; dust and sand fly. Heart pain and pain at the stomach-pit; reversal going against, the midriff not open. What it governs is sudden and swift. When Yangming governs heaven, dry qi arrives below; liver qi follows above. Dark-green arises; wood is used and stands; soil then takes blight. Bleak chill arrives often; trees are felled, grasses wilt. Pain in the flanks, red eyes; shaking, trembling, drumming, and shivering; sinews wilt and cannot stand long. Sudden heat arrives; soil then is summer-heat; yang qi, oppressed, puts forth; the water of the bladder changes; cold and heat like intermittent heat; when severe, heart pain. Fire travels and the young wither; flowing water does not freeze; hibernating creatures then are seen. When Taiyang governs heaven, cold qi arrives below; heart qi follows above, and fire is also bright. Cinnabar arises; metal then takes blight. Cold and clarity are raised in season; when it prevails, water freezes. Fire qi is high and bright: heat in the heart, trouble, a dry throat; easy thirst, blocked nose, sneezing; easy grief, frequent yawning. Heat qi travels in vain; cold then returns; frost falls out of season; easy forgetting; when severe, heart pain. Soil then is moist; water is abundant and spreading. A cold guest arrives; sinking yin transforms into dampness; qi changes things; water and drink soak within. The center is full and there is no eating; the skin puckers, the flesh is numb; sinews and vessels do not move easily; when severe, swollen flesh and flat-abscesses behind the body. When Jueyin governs heaven, wind qi arrives below; spleen qi follows above, and soil is also raised. Yellow arises; water then takes blight. Soil's use is changed: heavy body, wasted flesh; food lessens, the mouth loses its freshness. Wind travels in the Great Void; clouds and things shake; the eyes spin, the ears ring. Fire lets its violence run; the earth then is summer-heat; great heat melts and dissolves; red washings go down. Hibernating creatures are often seen; flowing water does not freeze. What it puts forth is swift as a trigger. When Shaoyin governs heaven, heat qi arrives below; lung qi follows above. White arises; metal is used; grasses and trees take blight. Panting, vomiting, cold and heat, sneezing, blocked nose, nosebleed, a stopped nose. Great summer-heat travels abroad; when severe, sores that burn and scorch; metal melts, stone flows. The earth then is dry and clear; bleak chill arrives often. Pain in the flanks, frequent great sighs; the bleak kill travels; grasses and trees change. When Taiyin governs heaven, damp qi arrives below; kidney qi follows above. Black arises; water changes. Dust covers, cloud and rain. The chest is not easy; yin wilts; qi greatly declines and will not rise, will not be used. In its season, instead there is pain in the waist and the flesh of the seat; turning is not easy. Reversal going against: the earth then stores yin; great cold is about to arrive; hibernating creatures attach themselves early. Below the heart, blockage and pain; the ground splits, ice is hard; pain in the lower belly, at times harming food. When it rides metal, standing water increases; the flavor then is salt; moving water lessens. The Emperor said: In a year there is conceiving and there is not raising; governing is not complete. What qi makes this so? Qi Bo said: The six qi and the five kinds have prevailing and checking of one another. What is the same, they make full; what is different, they make decline. This is the Dao of heaven and earth, the constant of transformation and birth. Therefore when Jueyin governs heaven, the hairy creatures are still, the feathered are raised, the shelled do not complete. When it is at the spring: the hairy are raised, the bare are spent, the feathered are not raised. When Shaoyin governs heaven, the feathered creatures are still, the shelled are raised, the hairy do not complete. When it is at the spring: the feathered are raised, the shelled are spent and not raised. When Taiyin governs heaven, the bare creatures are still, the scaled are raised, the feathered do not complete. When it is at the spring: the bare are raised, the scaled do not complete. When Shaoyang governs heaven, the feathered creatures are still, the hairy are raised, the bare do not complete. When it is at the spring: the feathered are raised, the shelled are spent, the hairy are not raised. When Yangming governs heaven, the shelled creatures are still, the feathered are raised, the shelled do not complete. When it is at the spring: the shelled are raised, the hairy are spent, the feathered do not complete. When Taiyang governs heaven, the scaled creatures are still, the bare are raised. When it is at the spring: the scaled are spent, the bare are not raised. In all cases, when they ride a movement that does not complete them, it is severe. Therefore the governing of qi has that which it checks; the establishing of the year has that which it gives birth to. Earth's qi checks what it already prevails over; heaven's qi checks what prevails over it. Heaven checks color; earth checks form. The decline and fullness of the five kinds each follow what their qi finds fitting. Therefore there is conceiving and not raising, and governing that is not complete — this is the constant of qi. This is what is called the root within. What is rooted without is also five. Therefore the distinctions of transformation and birth have five qi, five flavors, five colors, five kinds, five fittings. The Emperor said: What does this mean? Qi Bo said: What is rooted in the middle is named the spirit-mechanism. When spirit leaves, the mechanism ceases. What is rooted without is named the standing of qi. When qi stops, transformation is cut off. Therefore each has its check, each has its prevailing, each has its birth, each has its completion. Therefore it is said: If you do not know what the year adds, or whether qi is the same or different, you are not sufficient to speak of transformation and birth. This is what it means. The Emperor said: Qi begins, and there is transformation and birth; qi scatters, and there is form; qi is spread, and there is lush raising; qi ends, and the image changes — they come to one. Yet what the five flavors supply, transformation and birth have the thin and the thick; ripening has more and less; end and beginning are not the same. Why? Qi Bo said: Earth's qi checks it. It is not that heaven does not give birth, or that earth does not let grow. The Emperor said: I wish to hear the Dao of this. Qi Bo said: Cold, heat, dryness, and dampness do not transform the same. Therefore when Shaoyang is at the spring, the toxin of cold is not born. Its flavor is acrid; what it governs is bitter and sour; its grains are dark-green and cinnabar. When Yangming is at the spring, the toxin of dampness is not born. Its flavor is sour; its qi is damp; what it governs is acrid, bitter, and sweet; its grains are cinnabar and white. When Taiyang is at the spring, the toxin of heat is not born. Its flavor is bitter; what it governs is bland and salt; its grains are yellow and black millet. When Jueyin is at the spring, the toxin of the clear is not born. Its flavor is sweet; what it governs is sour and bitter; its grains are dark-green and red. Its qi is single; its flavor is upright. When Shaoyin is at the spring, the toxin of cold is not born. Its flavor is acrid; what it governs is acrid, bitter, and sweet; its grains are white and cinnabar. When Taiyin is at the spring, the toxin of dryness is not born. Its flavor is salt; its qi is hot; what it governs is sweet and salt; its grains are yellow and black millet. When transformation is pure, salt keeps; when qi is single, the acrid transforms, and both govern together. Therefore it is said: To fill what is above and below, follow it. To put above and below in order, go against it. Tune it by the cold and heat, fullness and decline, of where it is. Therefore it is said: Take from above, take from below; take from within, take from without — so as to seek its transgression. Those who can bear the strong: use thick medicines. Those who cannot prevail over the strong: use thin medicines. This is what it means. When qi is reversed: illness above, take from below; illness below, take from above; illness in the middle, take from the sides. Put heat in order with cold, and walk it warm; put cold in order with heat, and walk it cool; put warmth in order with the clear, and walk it cold; put the clear in order with the warm, and walk it hot. Therefore dissolve it, pare it; make it come up, send it down; fill it, drain it. The old and the new share the same method. The Emperor said: Illness is in the middle, neither replete nor hard, now gathering, now scattering. What then? Qi Bo said: How thorough a question this is. If there is no accumulation, seek it in the zang. If vacant, fill it; use medicine to send it out; follow with food; move water and soak it. Harmonize the inner and the outer, and it can be made to end completely. The Emperor said: The toxic and the non-toxic — is there a measure in taking them? Qi Bo said: Illness has the old and the new; formulas have the large and the small. The toxic and the non-toxic indeed have their constant rule. With a great toxin used to put illness in order, stop when six parts in ten are gone. With an ordinary toxin, stop when seven parts in ten are gone. With a small toxin, stop when eight parts in ten are gone. With what has no toxin, stop when nine parts in ten are gone. Grain, flesh, fruit, and greens: finish it by food and nourishment. Do not let it go too far and injure what is upright. If it is not finished, walk it again by the same rule. You must first take the year's qi; do not attack heaven's harmony. Do not fill what is already full; do not empty what is already empty, and leave a person heaven's disaster. Do not bring on the stray; do not lose what is upright; do not cut off a person's long life. The Emperor said: Among those long ill, there are some whose qi follows and yet they are not well; the illness leaves and they are wasted. What then? Qi Bo said: How clear a question from a sage. Transformation cannot be stood in for; the season cannot be gone against. Let the channels and collaterals be open; let blood and qi follow; restore what is insufficient, and be even with the many. Nourish it, harmonize it; be still and wait for the time. Keep its qi carefully; do not let it tilt and shift. Then the form shows forth; birth-qi grows. This is named the sage king. Therefore the Great Essentials say: Do not stand in for transformation; do not go against the season. You must nourish; you must harmonize. Wait for it to return. This is what it means. The Emperor said: Good.

The line

The Yellow Emperor asked: The Great Void is vast and empty; the five movements circle and press close. Decline and fullness are not the same; increase and decrease follow each other. I wish to hear of balanced qi — how it is named, how it is recorded.

The note

Balanced qi, falling short, going too far: three ways government walks. Constant government asks whether this year's qi has already passed, or has not yet arrived.