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Huangdi Neijing · The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon
Lingshu 28 · Oral Questions
Read in English. Switch to Original for word notes, or select text to ask a question.
While the Yellow Emperor was at leisure, he dismissed the attendants and asked Qi Bo: “I have heard the canon of the nine needles, its discussion of yin and yang, counterflow and favorable flow, and the six channels in full. I wish now to ask questions orally.”
Qi Bo rose from his mat and bowed twice: “Excellent is the question! This is what earlier teachers transmitted by word of mouth.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “I wish to hear the oral transmission.”
Qi Bo replied: “The many illnesses first arise from wind and rain, cold and summer heat, yin and yang, joy and anger, food and drink, dwelling and activity, or great fright and sudden fear. Blood and qi then separate, yin and yang break apart, channels and networks are interrupted, vessel pathways are blocked, yin and yang oppose each other, defensive qi lingers, channel vessels become empty, and blood and qi lose their order. Their normal condition is lost. I ask leave to explain the methods for matters not discussed in the canon.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “What qi makes a person yawn?”
Qi Bo replied: “Defensive qi travels in yang during daytime and in yin at midnight. Yin governs night, and night brings lying down. Yang governs above and yin below. Thus yin qi accumulates below while yang qi is not yet exhausted: yang draws upward and yin downward. Their drawing against each other produces repeated yawning. When yang qi is exhausted and yin qi abundant, the eyes close. When yin qi is exhausted and yang qi abundant, one wakes. Drain Foot Shaoyin and supplement Foot Taiyang.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “What qi makes a person retch?”
Qi Bo said: “Grain enters the Stomach, and Stomach qi pours upward into the Lung. When old cold qi and newly received grain qi both return into the Stomach, old and new disturb each other; true qi and harmful qi attack one another. Their qi combines in counterflow and emerges again from the Stomach, producing retching. Supplement Hand Taiyin and drain Foot Shaoyin.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “What qi makes a person sob?”
Qi Bo said: “Yin qi is abundant and yang qi empty; yin qi moves swiftly and yang qi slowly. When yin qi is abundant and yang qi cut off, sobbing occurs. Supplement Foot Taiyang and drain Foot Shaoyin.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “What qi makes a person shiver with cold?”
Qi Bo said: “Cold qi lodges in the skin; yin qi is abundant and yang qi empty, so shivering and trembling cold occur. Supplement the yang channels.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “What qi makes a person belch?”
Qi Bo said: “Cold qi lodges in the Stomach. Reversal counterflow disperses upward from below and emerges again from the Stomach, producing belching. Supplement Foot Taiyin and Yangming. Another account says to supplement the root of the eyebrow.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “What qi makes a person sneeze?”
Qi Bo said: “Yang qi is harmonious and free, fills the heart and emerges through the nose, producing sneezing. Supplement Foot Taiyang at the spring, at the root of the eyebrow; another account says above the eyebrow.”
The source compresses its spring-site and eyebrow-root wording. Both location readings are preserved without replacing them with a modern point identification.
The Yellow Emperor said: “What qi makes a person become slack?”
Qi Bo said: “When the Stomach is not replete, the vessels are empty. When the vessels are empty, sinews and vessels become slack. With sinews and vessels slack, exertion through yin leaves qi unable to recover, producing slackness. According to its location, supplement between the divisions of flesh.”
The supplied “行陰用力” is compressed. Its reference to exertion through yin is retained without adding an account absent from the displayed source.
The Yellow Emperor said: “What qi makes tears and nasal fluid flow when a person grieves?”
Qi Bo said: “The Heart is ruler of the five zang and six fu. The eyes are where the gathering vessels meet and the route by which fluid rises. Mouth and nose are the gates of qi. Sadness, grief, distress and anxiety stir the Heart. When the Heart stirs, all five zang and six fu shake; their shaking affects the gathering vessels and opens the fluid pathways. Tears and nasal fluid then flow. Fluid carries essence and moistens the openings. When the upward fluid pathway opens, tears come. If tears do not stop, fluid is exhausted; essence is no longer carried, and the eyes can no longer see. This is called loss of essence. Supplement the Tianzhu channel beside the neck.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “What qi makes a person sigh deeply?”
Qi Bo said: “Anxiety and thought tighten the Heart connections. Their tension constricts the qi pathway and prevents free passage, so a deep sigh stretches and releases it. Supplement Hand Shaoyin and the Heart Ruler, and retain at Foot Shaoyang.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “What qi makes saliva drip from a person’s mouth?”
Qi Bo said: “Food and drink all enter the Stomach. Heat within the Stomach makes worms move; their movement slackens the Stomach. Its slackening opens Lianquan, so saliva drips. Supplement Foot Shaoyin.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “What qi makes a person’s ears ring?”
Qi Bo said: “The ears are where the gathering vessels meet. When the Stomach is empty these vessels become empty, and their qi flows downward. Where a vessel is exhausted, ringing occurs. Supplement Kezhuren and the junction of nail and flesh on the hand’s great digit.”
The compressed juxtaposition of Kezhuren and the thumb site is retained as two supplied references, without relocating either to make them the same point.
The Yellow Emperor said: “What qi makes a person bite his own tongue?” This is reversal counterflow rushing upward, with vessel qi arriving in succession. Shaoyin qi arriving causes biting of the tongue; Shaoyang qi arriving causes biting of the cheek; Yangming qi arriving causes biting of the lip. Observe which governs the illness and supplement it.
These twelve harmful influences are unusual influences running through the openings. Wherever they lodge there is insufficiency. Insufficient qi above leaves the brain unfilled, troubles the ears with ringing, makes the head droop and causes visual dizziness. Insufficient middle qi changes urine and stool and troubles the intestines with rumbling. Insufficient qi below produces wilting reversal and heart oppression. Supplement below the outer ankle and retain.
The Yellow Emperor said: “How are these treated?”
Qi Bo said: “The Kidney governs yawning: address Foot Shaoyin. The Lung governs retching: address Hand Taiyin. In sobbing, Foot Shaoyin’s yin is cut off from yang: supplement Foot Taiyang and drain Foot Shaoyin. For shivering cold, supplement the yang channels. For belching, supplement Foot Taiyin and Yangming. For sneezing, supplement Foot Taiyang at the root of the eyebrow. For slackness, supplement between the divisions of flesh at its location.
“For flowing tears, supplement the Tianzhu channel beside the neck; the sides of the neck correspond to the head’s central division. For deep sighing, supplement Hand Shaoyin and the Heart Ruler, retaining at Foot Shaoyang. For drooling, supplement Foot Shaoyin. For ringing ears, supplement Kezhuren and the junction of nail and flesh on the hand’s great digit. For biting one’s own tongue, observe which governs the illness and supplement it. For visual dizziness and a drooping head, supplement below the outer ankle and retain. For wilting reversal and heart oppression, needle two cun above the interval at the great toe and retain. Another account says below the outer ankle, retaining there.”
This summary retains its repeated and alternate locations. The placement of “Foot Shaoyin” near sobbing is compressed in the source; it is not reassigned to a different channel.
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