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Huangdi Neijing · The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon
Lingshu 49 · Five Colors
Read in English. Switch to Original for word notes, or select text to ask a question.
Lei Gong asked the Yellow Emperor: “Are the five colors judged solely in the Bright Hall? This pupil does not understand what is meant.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “The Bright Hall is the nose; the Palace Gate is between the brows; the Court is the forehead; the Screen is the side of the cheek; and the Protection is the ear opening. The spaces between should be square and broad, with their outer forms visible from ten paces away. Such a person is long-lived and is said to reach a hundred years.”
Lei Gong said: “How are the five officers distinguished?”
The Yellow Emperor said: “The Bright Hall bone rises high, level and straight. The five zang are arranged in the center and the six fu flank them. Head and face are above at the Gate and Court, and the royal palace is at the lower extreme. When the five zang are settled in the chest, true color arrives and illness color does not appear. With the Bright Hall moist, lustrous and clear, how could the five officers fail to be distinguished?”
Lei Gong said: “May I hear about those that are not distinguished?”
The Yellow Emperor said: “Each of the five colors appears in its own division. Where the division’s bone is sunken, illness cannot be avoided. Where the color divisions take over and succeed one another, even severe illness is said not to be fatal.”
Lei Gong said: “How are the five colors read through the officers?”
The Yellow Emperor said: “Blue-green and black indicate pain; yellow and red, heat; white, cold. These are called the five officers.”
Lei Gong said: “How can one know whether illness is worsening or beginning to decline?”
The Yellow Emperor said: “Both exterior and interior must be considered. If the pulse at Maikou is slippery, small, tight and sinking, illness is worsening within. If Renying qi is large, tight and floating, illness is worsening outside. A floating, slippery Maikou pulse means illness advances daily. A sinking, slippery Renying pulse means illness diminishes daily. A slippery, sinking Maikou pulse means illness advances daily within; a slippery, abundant, floating Renying pulse means illness advances daily outside.
“When the pulses are equal in floating and sinking and Renying and Cunkou qi equal in size, illness is hard to end. In zang illness, a sinking, large pulse makes recovery easier; a small one is contrary. In fu illness, a floating, large pulse makes recovery easier. Abundant, firm Renying indicates injury by cold; abundant, firm Qikou indicates injury by food.”
Maikou, Cunkou and Qikou retain the pulse-site names supplied in their respective clauses. The repeated comparisons are kept rather than condensed away.
Lei Gong said: “How does color show relief or severity in illness?”
The Yellow Emperor said: “A clear, manifest color is contrasted with a sunken, withered color, which marks severity. Color moving upward means illness worsens; color moving downward and dispersing like clearing clouds means illness is ending. Each of the five colors has a zang division, an outer division and an inner division. Movement from the outer to the inner division means illness moves inward; movement from inner to outer means illness moves outward.
“For illness arising within, first treat yin and afterward yang; reversing this worsens it. For illness arising in yang, first treat the exterior and afterward the interior; reversing this worsens it. A pulse that is slippery, large, intermittent and long means illness comes from outside. The eyes see things and intention feels aversion: this is yang qi gathering together. It can be changed and ended.”
The opening comparison omits an explicit verdict for the bright color in this source; no missing Chinese words are restored. The final vision-and-aversion phrase is retained without assigning a modern psychiatric diagnosis.
Lei Gong said: “This pupil has heard that wind begins the many illnesses and reversal counterflow arises from cold and damp. How are they distinguished?”
The Yellow Emperor said: “Regularly observe the center of the Palace Gate. A thin, lustrous appearance indicates wind; a deep, turbid appearance indicates obstruction; appearance in the earthly region indicates reversal. These are the ordinary signs. Speak of each illness according to its color.”
Lei Gong said: “How can one know of sudden death in a person who is not ill?”
The Yellow Emperor said: “When great qi enters the zang and fu, sudden death may occur without preceding illness.”
Lei Gong said: “How can one know of sudden death after an illness has slightly improved?”
The Yellow Emperor said: “Red patches the size of a thumb appearing on both cheekbones are said to bring sudden death despite slight improvement. A black patch the size of a thumb appearing in the Court is said to bring sudden death even without apparent illness.”
Lei Gong bowed twice: “Excellent. Does that death have a fixed time?”
The Yellow Emperor said: “Examine the color to speak of its time.”
Lei Gong said: “Good. I wish to hear it in full.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “The Court corresponds to head and face. Above the Gate corresponds to throat; the center of the Gate, to Lung; the lower extreme, to Heart. Directly below corresponds to Liver; to the Liver’s left, Gallbladder. Below corresponds to Spleen; the upper side region, to Stomach. The center corresponds to Large Intestine; beside the Large Intestine, Kidney; opposite the Kidney, navel. Above the Face King corresponds to Small Intestine; below it, Bladder and the child’s dwelling.
“The cheekbones correspond to shoulders; behind them, arms; below the arm division, hands. Above the inner canthus corresponds to chest and breasts. Upward beside the cord-like border corresponds to back. Following below the jaw corresponds to thighs; the center, knees; below the knees, shins; below and opposite the shins, feet. The great divisions correspond to inner thighs; the great bends, knees and kneecaps. These are the divisions of the five zang, six fu, limbs and joints.”
Face King is the source’s named nasal region; “child’s dwelling” is its reproductive-region term. The relative locations are retained without constructing a new anatomical diagram.
Each has its division. Knowing the divisions, use yin to harmonize yang and yang to harmonize yin. Understand the divisions clearly and every action can fit. Distinguishing left and right is called the great Way. Men and women have different positions, hence the naming of yin and yang. Careful observation of luster and withering marks the good practitioner.
Sunken, turbid color indicates the interior; superficial, lustrous color, the exterior. Yellow and red indicate wind; blue-green and black, pain; white, cold. Yellow with oily moisture indicates pus. Extreme redness indicates blood; extreme pain brings contraction; extreme cold brings numb skin. Each color appears in its division. Observe whether it floats or sinks to know depth, whether it is lustrous or withered to judge success or failure, whether scattered or gathered to know recent or longstanding illness, and whether above or below to know the site. Gather spirit in the heart to know past and present. Without subtle observation of qi one cannot distinguish right from wrong; keep attention fixed to know new and old.
The source next says that color is bright but not conspicuous, while sunken withering marks severity; absence of brightness and luster alone does not mark severe illness. Scattered color, moving loosely without gathering, means illness is dispersed and qi causes pain, with no completed accumulation. When the Kidney overcomes the Heart, the Heart is ill first and the Kidney provides the response; all colors are read in this way.
In men, color at the Face King indicates lower-abdominal pain; below it, testicular pain. A rounded, straight form indicates penile pain: high corresponds to the root and low to the tip. These belong to fox shan and the named yin disorder. In women, color at the Face King indicates illness of the Bladder or child’s dwelling. Scattering indicates pain and gathering indicates an accumulation. Square or round, left or right, the condition follows the color’s shape. If it follows downward to the di region, there is excessive discharge; moisture like grease is attributed to sudden eating of what is unclean or unsuitable.
Left indicates left and right indicates right. Deviant color gathers or scatters irregularly; its direction on the face indicates the site. Blue-green, black, red, white and yellow each have their proper, full appearance and distinct region. Red appearing in a different region, the size of an elm seedcase at the Face King, is described as “not a day.” If the color has an upward-pointing tip, the head region is empty and the tendency upward; a downward tip points downward. Apply the same rule left and right.
Name the zang by the five colors: blue-green is Liver, red Heart, white Lung, yellow Spleen and black Kidney. Liver joins sinews, Heart vessels, Lung skin, Spleen flesh and Kidney bone.
Several supplied phrases remain uncertain: “bright but not conspicuous,” the yin-disorder graph, the di region and the relation of greasy discharge to unclean or unsuitable eating. The final “不日” has conflicting older readings, including a variant “不月”; no single recovery time, fatal time or menstrual interpretation is asserted here. The full color-and-region sequence and historical claims remain without modern diagnostic endorsement.
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