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Huangdi Neijing · The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon
Lingshu 69 · Anxiety, Anger and Loss of Voice
Read in English. Switch to Original for word notes, or select text to ask a question.
The Yellow Emperor asked Shao Shi: “When sudden anxiety and anger leave a person speaking without sound, which pathway is blocked and which qi goes forth so that the voice is not clear? I wish to hear the pattern.”
The supplied “goes forth” has an older “does not travel” reading; the displayed wording remains unchanged.
Shao Shi replied: “The swallowing throat is the route of water and grain. The breathing throat is where qi rises and descends. The epiglottis is the gate of voice; mouth and lips are its door leaves; the tongue its mechanism; the hanging uvula its barrier. The hang-sang region releases the divided qi. The transverse bone, moved by spirit qi, governs raising and setting the tongue in motion.
“Thus, when nasal fluid pours out unrestrained, hang-sang does not open and divided qi has lost its function. A small, quick and thin epiglottis releases qi swiftly, opens and closes freely and lets qi emerge easily. A large, thick one opens and closes with difficulty and releases qi slowly, causing repeated or impeded speech. Sudden loss of voice occurs when cold qi lodges in the epiglottis. It cannot open and release, nor descend properly; opening and closing fail, so no sound emerges.”
Hang-sang and transverse bone retain historical regional names. The supplied failure to open and quick/thin wording are not replaced with different readings or a modern laryngeal mechanism.
The Yellow Emperor said: “How is it needled?”
Qi Bo said: “Foot Shaoyin connects above to the tongue, networks the transverse bone and ends at the epiglottis. Drain its blood vessels in the stated twofold manner and turbid qi clears. The epiglottis vessels network above to Ren. Address Tiantu and the epiglottis can open.”
The supplied speaker changes from Shao Shi to Qi Bo. The word “two” has older readings of twice or on both sides; no extra repeated treatment or point location is added.
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