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Huangdi Neijing · The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon
Lingshu 56 · Five Flavors
Read in English. Switch to Original for word notes, or select text to ask a question.
The Yellow Emperor said: “I wish to hear how grain qi’s five flavors are distinguished as they enter the five zang.”
Bo Gao said: “The Stomach is the sea of the five zang and six fu. Water and grain all enter it, and all five zang and six fu receive qi from it. Each flavor goes where it prefers. Sour grain flavor first goes to the Liver; bitter to the Heart; sweet to the Spleen; acrid to the Lung; salty to the Kidney. Once grain qi and jin and ye fluids have moved and nutritive and defensive circulation are open, the dregs are transformed and transmitted downward in order.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “How do nutritive and defensive qi travel?”
Bo Gao said: “When grain first enters the Stomach, its refined subtleties first emerge from the Stomach’s two burners to irrigate the five zang. They separately form two courses, the pathways of nutritive and defensive qi. Great qi that gathers without traveling accumulates in the chest and is named the sea of qi. It emerges through the Lung and follows throat and pharynx: exhalation sends it out and inhalation takes it in. For heaven and earth’s essential qi, the general count is three out and one in. Thus half a day without grain makes qi decline; a whole day makes qi scant.”
The supplied two-burner statement and three-out/one-in count are retained without modern respiratory or nutritional conversion.
The Yellow Emperor said: “May I hear the five flavors of grain?”
Bo Gao said: “Let me give the full account.
“The five grains: non-glutinous rice is sweet, hemp sour, soybeans salty, wheat bitter and yellow millet acrid.
“The five fruits: jujubes are sweet, plums sour, chestnuts salty, apricots bitter and peaches acrid.
“The five domestic animals: cattle are sweet, dogs sour, pigs salty, sheep bitter and chickens acrid.
“The five vegetables: kui mallow is sweet, Chinese chives sour, huo bean leaves salty, xie allium bitter and scallions acrid.
“The five colors: yellow suits sweet, blue-green sour, black salty, red bitter and white acrid. Each of these five has what suits it.”
The named foods and historical flavor assignments are retained without replacing them with present-day taste classifications or therapeutic dietary advice.
The so-called five colors are explained as follows. For Spleen illness, the text favors cooked non-glutinous rice, beef, jujubes and kui mallow. For Heart illness, wheat, mutton, apricots and xie allium. For Kidney illness, soybean sprouts, pork, chestnuts and huo bean leaves. For Liver illness, hemp, dog meat, plums and Chinese chives. For Lung illness, yellow millet, chicken, peaches and scallions.
The five prohibitions are: Liver illness forbids acrid; Heart illness salty; Spleen illness sour; Kidney illness sweet; Lung illness bitter.
The Liver’s color is blue-green and sweet food is favored: cooked non-glutinous rice, beef, jujubes and kui mallow are all sweet. The Heart’s color is red and sour food is favored: dog meat, hemp, plums and Chinese chives are all sour. The Spleen’s color is yellow and salty food is favored: soybeans, pork, chestnuts and huo bean leaves are all salty. The Lung’s color is white and bitter food is favored: wheat, mutton, apricots and xie allium are all bitter. The Kidney’s color is black and acrid food is favored: yellow millet, chicken, peaches and scallions are all acrid.
All three lists are kept separately, including their different organ–flavor pairings. They are not harmonized into a new diet or modernized food prescription.
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