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Huangdi Neijing · The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon
Lingshu 46 · Five Changes
Read in English. Switch to Original for word notes, or select text to ask a question.
The Yellow Emperor asked Shao Yu: “I have heard that the many illnesses begin in wind and rain, cold and summer heat, entering along the fine hairs into the interstices. Some turn back, some remain; some cause wind swelling and sweat, some wasting heat, some cold and heat, some lingering obstruction and some accumulations. Unusual harmful influences spread in more forms than can be counted. I wish to hear why. People fall ill at the same time, yet one has this illness and another that. Does heaven produce wind for human beings? Why are the effects so different?”
Shao Yu said: “Heaven does not produce wind to favor particular people. Its movement is impartial, even and upright. Those who encounter it receive it; those who avoid it escape danger. It does not seek people: people themselves encounter it.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “People meet wind at one time and fall ill together, yet their illnesses differ. I wish to hear why.”
Shao Yu said: “Excellent is the question! Let us compare this with a craftsperson sharpening an axe or adze and honing a knife to trim timber. Even within a tree’s yin and yang sides there are firm and brittle parts. The firm resists entry; the brittle has loose bark. At a joined knot, the axe or adze is notched. Within one tree firmness and brittleness differ: the firm is hard, the brittle easily damaged. How much more must different timbers differ in bark thickness and amount of sap!
“Trees that flower and put out leaves early lose flowers and wither when spring frost and fierce wind arrive. With prolonged sun and great drought, brittle trees with thin bark have little sap in their branches and withering leaves. With prolonged cloud and excessive rain, trees with thin bark and much sap suffer breaking, leaking bark. A sudden violent wind breaks the branches and damages the stems of hard, brittle trees. Autumn frost and swift wind shake their roots and strip their leaves. Each of these five conditions has its particular injury. How much more is this so for people!”
The Yellow Emperor said: “How do people correspond to trees?”
Shao Yu replied: “Injury to trees concerns their branches, yet whether branches are hard, brittle or firm is present before injury occurs. Recurring illnesses in people likewise depend on bones, joints, skin and interstices that are not firm and secure. These are dwellings for harmful influence, so illness recurs.”
The supplied branch clause is compressed. The distinction between constitution and later injury is retained without adding a missing anatomical analogy.
The Yellow Emperor said: “How can one recognize a person prone to wind, reversal and pouring sweat?”
Shao Yu replied: “Those whose flesh is not firm and whose interstices are loose are prone to wind illness.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “How is lack of firmness in the flesh recognized?”
Shao Yu replied: “The flesh behind the knee is not firm and has no distinct divisions. Its texture is coarse; coarse texture with skin that is not dense means loose interstices. This describes their general, undifferentiated condition.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “How can one recognize a person prone to wasting heat?”
Shao Yu replied: “Those whose five zang are all soft and weak are prone to wasting heat.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “How can softness and weakness of the five zang be known?”
Shao Yu replied: “Where there is softness and weakness, there must also be hardness and strength. The hard and strong are often angry; what is soft is easily injured.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “How are softness and weakness distinguished from hardness and strength?”
Shao Yu replied: “Such a person has thin skin and firm, deep-set eyes, with long, straight, upward-directed features. The heart is hard; hardness brings frequent anger. Anger makes qi counterflow upward and collect in the chest; blood and qi reverse and linger, filling skin and flesh. Blood vessels do not move freely and turn to heat. Heat consumes skin and flesh, producing wasting heat. This describes a person fiercely hard in temper but weak in flesh.”
The phrase describing long, straight, upward-directed features lacks an explicit object in this source. No missing eyebrow or eye measurement is inserted. The appearance–temperament relation remains the source’s historical claim.
The Yellow Emperor said: “How can one recognize a person prone to cold and heat illnesses?”
Shao Yu replied: “Those with small bones and weak flesh are prone to cold and heat illnesses.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “How can one assess the size of bones, firmness or brittleness of flesh, and differences of color?”
Shao Yu replied: “The cheekbones are the basis for judging bone. Large cheekbones indicate large bones; small cheekbones, small bones. Thin skin, flesh without distinct masses and soft, weak arms, with an earthly region of distressed color differing conspicuously from its heavenly region, are the signs. Thin arms then indicate marrow that is not full, hence susceptibility to cold and heat.”
The source’s heavenly and earthly color regions are retained as named regions, without a reconstructed modern facial map.
The Yellow Emperor said: “How can one recognize a person prone to obstruction?”
Shao Yu replied: “Those with coarse texture and flesh that is not firm are prone to obstruction.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “Does obstruction have particular sites above and below?”
Shao Yu replied: “To know whether it is above or below, inspect the corresponding division.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “How can one recognize a person prone to accumulations in the intestines?”
Shao Yu replied: “Thin skin without luster, flesh that is not firm but soft and moist—these indicate poorly conditioned intestines and Stomach. Harmful qi then lingers and accumulations cause injury. Between Spleen and Stomach, cold and warmth lose their proper order; harmful qi gradually arrives, gathers and remains, and a great accumulation arises.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “I have heard and understood the bodily forms of illness. I wish to hear their timing.”
Shao Yu replied: “First establish the year to know its time. When the time is high or favorable, recovery occurs; when low, there is danger. Even without a decline, a clash opening a passage in the relevant year must bring illness into manifestation. This is illness arising according to bodily form, the ordering of the five changes.”
The closing year-and-clash clause is compressed and has differing readings. “Recovery” and “illness arising” retain the contextual senses of its repeated qi graph; no calendar calculation or unstated favorable-year schedule is supplied.
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