五味论/Wu Wei Lun

(On the Five Tastes)

黄帝问于少俞日:五昧入于口也，各有所走，各有所病。酸走筋，多食之[之:《千金》卷二十六《序论》作“酸”]，令人癃;咸走血，多食之[之:《千金》卷二十六《序论》作“咸”]，令人渴;辛走气，多食之[之:《千金》卷二十六《序论》作“辛”]，令人洞心;苦走骨，多食之[《千金》卷二十六《序论》作“苦”]令人变呕;甘走肉，多食之[《千金》卷二十六作“甘”]令人悗心。余知其然也，不知其何由，愿闻其故。

Yellow Emperor asked Shaoyu and said:"When the five tastes enter into the stomach, each of them prefers to go to the viscus of its similar property and each of them causes the specific disease; such as, the sour taste goes to the tendon, when one takes sour taste excessively, he will have dysuria; the salty taste goes to the blood, when one takes the salty taste excessively, he will be thirsty; the acrid taste goes to the energy, when one takes the acrid taste excessively, he will have the feeling of fumigation of the heart; the bitter taste goes to the bone, when one takes the bitter taste excessively, he will vomit; the sweet taste goes to the muscle, when one takes the sweet taste excessively, he will feel oppression of the heart. I have known the conditions already, but I don't understand what causes them, and I hope to hear the reasons about it."

少俞答日:酸入于胃，其气涩以收，上之两焦[上之两焦:《甲乙》卷巻六第九无此四字]，弗能出入也，不出即留于胃中，胃中和温，则下注膀胱，膀胱之胞薄以懦[懦:《太素》卷二《调食》作“濡”]，得酸则缩绻，约而不通，水道不行，故癃。阴者，积筋之所终[终:《甲乙》卷六第九“终下”并有“聚”字]也，故酸入[《甲乙》卷六第九“入”下有“胃”字]而走筋矣。

Shaoyu answered:"When the sour taste enters into the stomach, as it is puckery and harsh and has the function of restraint, it can not operate to go in and come out along with the activities of vital energy; since it can not come out, it retains in the stomach which is warm, and then permeats downwards and pours into the bladder. As the bladder is thin and soft, it will become shrinking when encountering the sour taste and the exit of the bladder will be controlled and obstructed, in this way, the urination will be unsmoothed and the syndrome of dysuria will occur. The external genital is the place where all the tendons of the body converge, and the sour taste enters into the stomach through the tendon."

黄帝日:咸走血，多食之，令人渴，何也?少俞曰:咸入于胃，其气上走中焦，注于脉，则血气走之，血与咸相得则凝，凝则胃中汁注之[注之:《千金》卷二十六第一《序论》作“泣”]，注之则胃中竭[竭:《千金》卷二十六第一《序论》作“乾渴”]，竭则咽路焦，故舌本干而善渴。血脉者，中焦之道也，故咸入而走血矣。

Yellow Emperor asked:"The excessive salty taste causes one thirsty and why is it?" Shaoyu said:"When the salty taste enters into the stomach, the energy transformed ascends to reach the middle warmer, and then, from the middle warmer, pours into the channel. The channel reflects the condition of the blood flow, when the channel encounters the salty taste, it will be obstructed and the fluid in the stomach will become stagnant and unsmoothed in the wake of it, when the fluid in the stomach is stagnant, the fluid in the stomach will be dry and exhausted, when the stomach fluid is dry and exhausted, the pharynx which is the passage of the saliva will be dry, and one will be thirsty and be swallowing dryly. The channel starts to communicate with the blood and energy from the middle warmer, when the salty taste enters into the stomach, it goes to the blood."