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Huangdi Neijing · The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon
Lingshu 57 · Water Distension
Read in English. Switch to Original for word notes, or select text to ask a question.
The Yellow Emperor asked Qi Bo: “How can one distinguish water swelling, skin distension, drum distension, intestinal tan, stone jia and stone water?”
Tan and jia retain the source’s historical mass-disorder names. Stone water is included in this question, but the supplied chapter gives it no separate answer.
Qi Bo replied: “Water first arises as slight swelling above the eye sockets, as though the person has just risen from sleep. The neck vessels move, there is occasional cough, cold between the inner thighs and swelling of feet and shins. When the abdomen enlarges, the water condition has formed. Press the abdomen and it rises with the withdrawing hand, like a bag of water: these are its signs.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “How is skin distension recognized?”
Qi Bo said: “In skin distension, cold qi lodges between the skin layers, making a soft, drum-like fullness that is not firm. The abdomen is large, the whole body swollen and the skin thick. Pressure on the abdomen leaves a hollow that does not rise again. Its color does not change. These are its signs.” What is drum distension like?
The repeated rare drum-related graph is rendered from its context of unfirm fullness. The following question has no new speaker label in the supplied record.
Qi Bo said: “The abdomen distends and the whole body enlarges to the same degree as in skin distension. The color is dusky yellow and abdominal sinews stand out. These are its signs.”
What is intestinal tan like?
Qi Bo said: “Cold qi lodges outside the intestines and strikes against defensive qi. Qi cannot circulate and becomes attached, forming a fixed, adhering accumulation within. Bad qi arises and fleshy growth develops. At first it is the size of a hen’s egg, then gradually enlarges until it resembles pregnancy. Longstanding, it stands apart from the zang. It feels firm under pressure but moves when pushed, while monthly bleeding still arrives on time. These are its signs.”
What is stone jia like?
Qi Bo said: “Stone jia arises in the womb. Cold qi lodges at the child gate, closing it so qi cannot pass. Bad blood that should drain does not drain; it congeals and remains, growing daily until it resembles pregnancy. Monthly bleeding does not arrive on time. This occurs in women, and the account says it can be guided downward.”
The Yellow Emperor said: “May skin distension and drum distension be needled?”
Qi Bo said: “First drain the distension’s blood networks, then regulate the channels, needling to remove blood from the networks.”
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