Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen Paul Unschuld(1)

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.{The stomach is the source of the five depots.}The qi of the depots cannot arrive by itself at the hand great yin [conduit];it is only in conjunction with the stomach qi that it can arrive at the hand greatyin.347Hence,[the qi of] each of the five depots,when its time [of dominance has come],it is in its specific manner that it arrives at the hand great yin.Hence,when evil qi dominates,the essence qi is weakened.Hence,in the case of severe diseases, the stomach qi cannot arrive together with it atthe hand great yin.Hence,the true qi of the depot appears alone.When it appears alone, the disease has dominated the depot.Hence,this is called fatal. 348We do not need to go into further detail to explain these paragraphs; thefull extent of their meaning is discussed in the notes added to their transla-tion.What is of interest here, however, is a gradual transition to elaboratenotions of qi movements in the organism.The many different conceptuallayers of the Su wen permit neither the presentation of its contents as onecoherent system nor at least for the time being the tracing of a histori-cal development.It is legitimate, though, to distinguish between various ex-planatory models and to analyze their respective degrees of theorization.Oc-casionally attempts are visible in the Su wen to bridge the models, forexample when an ancient commentary in Su wen 7 states:{As for the so-called yin [qi], these are the true [qi of the] depots.As for the so-called yang [qi], this is the yang [qi] of the stomach duct.}349The Su wen is full of references to the yang qi and to the yin qi and totheir importance for the life cycles of the myriad beings.In general, yang qiis defined as the qi bestowed by heaven, yin qi is the qi bestowed by the earth.Together with the changing qi influencing the myriad beings in the courseof the seasons, the differentiation between yin and yang qi may have con-stituted an early, rather general model to explain health and disease, gen-eration, growth, and decay.Hence Su wen 2 concludes:Yin [qi], yang [qi], and the four seasons,they constitute end and beginning of the myriad beings,Unschuld,Huang Di nei jing 12/2/02 1:34 PM Page 160160 survey of the contents of the su wenthey are the basis of death and life.Opposing them results in catastrophe and harms life.If one follows them, severe diseases will not emerge.This is called to achieve the Way. 350As clear as such a statement may be, it leaves open the question how theqi enter the organism and how they are distributed in the body.It is herethat the stomach-as-source model was developed.As we have seen, though,the qi transmitted from the stomach to the various body parts are not theonly qi forming the movement in the vessels; the latter are also filled withthe true qi of the depots. It is nowhere specified, though, whether the trueqi of the depots was supplied to the depots by the stomach in the first place,whether it was produced by the depots, or whether it was presumed to haveanother origin.At any rate, the author of the ancient commentary quotedfrom Su wen 7 above attempted to link the general model of yin and yang qimoving through the vessels with the dualism of stomach qi and true qi ofthe depots. It is doubtful whether this is what the author of the commen-tary had in mind when he wrote:The [movement in the] vessels may be yin or yang.If one knows the yang [nature of a movement], one [also] knows the yin [na-ture of a movement];if one knows the yin [nature of a movement], one [also] knows the yang [na-ture of a movement].351Similarly, one may conclude to quote one final example that the au-thor of a statement based on the general model in Su wen 17 certainly didnot think of stomach qi and of the true qi of the depots when he distinguishedbetween the different effects of yang qi and yin qi surplus on the organism:In the case of rough [movements in the vessels], the yang qi is present in sur-plus;in the case of smooth [movements], the yin qi is present in surplus.When the yang qi is present in surplus, the body will be hot without sweating;when the yin qi is present in surplus, one will sweat a lot and the body will becold.352We have examined general effects of yin and yang qi, originating in heavenand earth, on the organism, and we have discussed some aspects of the move-ment of yin and yang qi in the organism [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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