Difficulty 50

There are five kinds of pathogenic factors in disease: vacuity evil, repletion evil, thief evil, minor evil, and correct evil. How are they distinguished?

It is answered: That which comes from the later [i.e., the organ that generates me] is called vacuity evil; that which comes from the former [i.e., the organ I generate] is called repletion evil; that which comes from the one I cannot overcome [i.e., the organ that overcomes me] is called thief evil; that which comes from the one I can overcome [i.e., the organ I overcome] is called minor evil; and disease that arises from the organ itself is called correct evil. Why is this said? Suppose we take the case of heart disease: disease contracted from wind evil belongs to vacuity evil; disease contracted from summer-heat evil belongs to correct evil; disease contracted from immoderate eating and drinking or overexertion belongs to repletion evil; disease contracted from cold evil belongs to minor evil; and disease contracted from dampness evil belongs to thief evil.