Evil Visiting

Yellow Emperor asked Bo Gao: “When pathogenic qi lodges in the human body, it sometimes causes the eyes not to close and prevents sleep. What qi causes this?” Bo Gao replied: “When the five grains enter the stomach, their waste, fluids, and ancestral qi are divided into three pathways. Thus, ancestral qi accumulates in the chest, emerges from the throat, penetrates the heart vessels, and governs respiration. Nutritive qi secretes fluids, enters the vessels, transforms into blood, nourishes the four limbs, flows inward to the five viscera and six bowels, and circulates according to the marked time intervals. Defensive qi is the fierce qi transformed from water and grains; it moves swiftly and smoothly, first circulating through the four limbs, intermuscular spaces, and between skin and flesh without pause. By day it circulates in the yang division, and by night it circulates in the yin division, always moving from the intermuscular spaces of the Foot Lesser Yin channel through the five viscera and six bowels. Now, when rebellious qi lodges in the five viscera and six bowels, defensive qi is confined to protecting the body surface, circulating in the yang division and unable to enter the yin division. Circulating in the yang division leads to an excess of yang qi; excess of yang qi causes the yang heel vessel qi to become abundant. Defensive qi cannot enter the yin division, resulting in yin deficiency, so the eyes cannot close.”

Yellow Emperor said: “Well spoken. How is it treated?” Bo Gao said: “Supplement what is deficient, drain what is excessive, harmonize deficiency and excess, dredge the pathways, and remove the pathogenic qi. Administer one dose of Pinellia decoction; once yin and yang qi are connected, the patient will immediately fall into peaceful sleep.” Yellow Emperor said: “Well spoken. This is what is meant by clearing blockages, making the channels and vessels greatly open, and harmonizing yin and yang. I wish to hear this prescription.” Bo Gao said: “For this decoction, use eight sheng of water that has flowed from a thousand li away, raise and pour it ten thousand times, take five sheng of its clear liquid, use reeds as fuel to boil it. After the water boils, add one sheng of broomcorn millet and five he of processed Pinellia. Slowly tend the fire, let the water reduce to one and a half sheng, remove the dregs. Drink one small cup of the liquid at a time, three times daily, gradually increasing the dose until effect is seen. Thus, if the disease is newly arisen, after drinking one cup, lie down; sweating will bring recovery. If the disease is chronic, after drinking three times, recovery will also occur.”

Yellow Emperor asked Bo Gao: “I wish to hear how the joints and limbs of humans correspond to heaven and earth.” Bo Gao replied: “Heaven is round, earth is square; thus, the human head is round and the feet are square, corresponding to heaven and earth. Heaven has sun and moon; humans have two eyes. Earth has nine provinces; humans have nine orifices. Heaven has wind and rain; humans have joy and anger. Heaven has thunder and lightning; humans have sound. Heaven has four seasons; humans have four limbs. Heaven has five tones; humans have five viscera. Heaven has six pitch-pipes; humans have six bowels. Heaven has winter and summer; humans have cold and heat. Heaven has ten days; humans have ten fingers. Earth has twelve earthly branches; humans have ten toes, the penis, and testicles; women lack two nodes (penis and testicles) but embrace the human form. Heaven has yin and yang; humans have husband and wife. One year has 365 days; humans have 360 joints. Earth has high mountains; humans have shoulders and knees. Earth has deep valleys; humans have armpits and popliteal fossae. Earth has twelve rivers; humans have twelve channels. Earth has spring veins; humans have defensive qi. Earth has clustered grasses and trees; humans have body hair. Heaven has day and night; humans have lying down and rising. Heaven has arrayed stars; humans have teeth. Earth has small hills; humans have small joints. Earth has mountain stones; humans have prominent bones. Earth has forests and trees; humans have fasciae and sinews. Earth has gathered towns; humans have popliteal muscles. One year has twelve months; humans have twelve joints. Earth has places where grass does not grow in four seasons; humans have those who cannot bear children. This is the correspondence between humans and heaven and earth.”

Yellow Emperor asked Qi Bo: “I wish to hear the rules for holding the needle, the principles of inserting the needle, the intent of using the needle for supplementation or drainage, and the methods of separating the skin with the hand and opening the interstices—what are they? Where do the sinews and channels bend, turn, emerge, and enter? Where do they emerge, where do they stop, where are they slow, where are they fast, and where do they enter? The transport points of the six bowels throughout the body—I wish to hear all of them. Also, regarding the separate divisions and departures—departing from the channels to enter the yin division, and departing from the channels to enter the yang division—what pathways do they follow? I wish to hear all the principles.” Qi Bo said: “What Your Majesty asks encompasses the entirety of the needle technique.” Yellow Emperor said: “I wish to hear your full explanation.” Qi Bo said: “The Hand Greater Yin channel originates from the tip of the thumb, bends inward, follows the border of the white flesh, reaches the region behind the knuckle at Taiyuan point, pauses there to moisten the channel, bends outward, ascends to below the knuckle, bends inward, meets the collateral vessels of the yin channels at the thenar eminence, where multiple channels run together and pour in. Their qi is slippery, and they lie hidden beneath the wrist bone. Then they bend outward, emerge at the inch opening to flow, ascend to the inner side of the elbow, enter beneath the large sinew, bend inward, ascend to the inner side of the arm, enter the axilla, bend inward, and go to the lung. This is the bending and turning in forward and backward counting. The Heart Governor channel originates from the tip of the middle finger, bends inward, ascends along the inner side of the middle finger, pauses in the palm, lies hidden between the two bones, bends outward, emerges between the two sinews at the junction of bone and flesh. Its qi is slippery, ascends two inches, bends outward, emerges to flow between the two sinews, ascends to the inner side of the elbow, enters beneath the small sinew, pauses at the meeting of the two bones, ascends and enters the chest, and internally connects with the heart vessel.”

Yellow Emperor said: “The Hand Lesser Yin channel alone has no transport points—why is that?” Qi Bo said: “Lesser Yin is the heart vessel. The heart is the ruler of the five viscera and six bowels, the place where spirit is stored. This organ is firm, and pathogenic qi cannot be accommodated. If pathogenic qi invades, it harms the heart; harm to the heart causes the spirit to depart; when the spirit departs, a person dies. Thus, any pathogenic qi lodging in the heart is found in the heart’s envelope.”

Yellow Emperor said: “If the Lesser Yin alone has no transport points, does it not become ill?” Qi Bo said: “The external channels of this vessel may be diseased, but the internal organ is not. Thus, points are taken from the channel at the tip of the sharp bone behind the wrist (Shenmen point).”

Yellow Emperor said: “What are the methods of supplementation and drainage in holding the needle?” Qi Bo said: “One must first clearly know the beginning and end of the twelve channels, the cold and heat of the skin, and the abundance, deficiency, slipperiness, and roughness of the vessel qi. If the vessel is slippery and abundant, the disease progresses daily; if the vessel is deficient and thin, the disease is chronic and persistent; if the vessel is large and rough, it is painful impediment. If yin and yang are as one (both injured), the disease is difficult to treat. If the beginning and end of the channels still have heat, the pathogen remains; if the heat has already declined, the pathogen has also departed. Examine the skin of the forearm, observe the firmness or fragility, size, slipperiness or roughness, cold, warmth, dryness, and moisture of the muscles. Then observe the five colors of the eyes to understand the condition of the five viscera and judge life and death. Observe the blood vessels, examine the colors, to understand cold, heat, and painful impediment.”

Yellow Emperor said: “I have not yet grasped the meaning of the methods of supplementation and drainage in holding the needle.” Qi Bo said: “The rule for holding the needle is to be upright and steady, quiet and composed. First understand deficiency and excess, then apply techniques of speed and slowness. The left hand holds the bone joint, the right hand follows the point. Do not allow the needle to become entangled with the muscle. For drainage, the needle must be upright; for supplementation, the skin must be closed. Assist the needle to guide the qi, so that pathogenic qi scatters and overflows, and true qi rests in its place.”

Yellow Emperor said: “What is the method of separating the skin with the hand and opening the interstices?” Qi Bo said: “Follow the intermuscular spaces, separate the skin with the left hand, insert the needle gently and slowly keep it upright, so that the spirit qi is not disturbed and the pathogenic qi is removed.”

Yellow Emperor asked Qi Bo: “Humans have eight hollow joints. What does each serve to diagnose?” Qi Bo replied: “They serve to diagnose the five viscera.” Yellow Emperor said: “How are they diagnosed?” Qi Bo said: “If the lung and heart have pathogenic qi, the qi lodges in the two elbows. If the liver has pathogenic qi, the qi flows into the two axillae. If the spleen has pathogenic qi, the qi lodges in the two hip joints. If the kidney has pathogenic qi, the qi lodges in the two popliteal fossae. In all these eight hollow joints, they are important sites for joint movement, places where true qi passes, and where blood vessels circulate. Pathogenic qi and stagnant blood cannot remain there to begin with. If they remain, they damage the sinews, channels, and bone joints, so the joints cannot bend or extend, and thus contracture occurs.”