阴阳离合论篇

Yin Yang Li He Lun

(The Individual Activities and the Mutual Functionings of Yin and Yang)

黄帝问曰：余闻天为阳，地为阴，日为阳，月为阴，大小月三百六十[《太素》“六十”有“五”字]日成一岁，人亦应之。今三阴三阳，不应阴阳，其故何也?岐伯对曰：阴阳者，数之可十，推之可百，数之可千，推之可万，万之大不[按《素问玄机原病式》引无“大”字]可胜数，然其要一也。

Yellow Emperor asked: "I was told that the heaven is Yang and the earth is Yin, the sun is Yang and the moon is Yin. The year of 365 days is formed by the lunar months of 29 and 30 days, and man is corresponding with the change of the Yin and Yang of the four seasons. But now the three Yins and Yangs of human body do not tally with the Yin and Yang of

heaven and earth, and why is it so?"

Qibo answerd:"Yin or Yang is only a name which has no shape. It can be applied to everything, can be counted from one to ten, can be inferred from ten to one hundred, can be counted from one hundred to one thousand, and inferred from one thousand to ten thousand and even to inriumerrable number. Although its change is infinite, but the process of Yin and Yang developement which is the unity opposites of things in the course of developement being one.

天覆地载，万物方生，未出地者，命日阴处，名日阴中之阴;则出地者，命日阴中之阳。阳子之正，阴为之主。故生因春，长因夏，收因秋，藏因冬，失常则天地四塞。阴阳之变，其在人者，亦数之可数[《太素》“数”作“散”，杨注:“散，分也”]。

"With the ceiling of heaven above and the load of earth below, all living things survive by the descending of heaven energy and the ascending of earth energy. The heaven is Yang which associates with movement, the earth is Yin which associates with motionless. All things that concealed under earth are in the position of static Yin, they are called the component parts of Yin in Yin; all things that appear above the ground level are of Yin that reveal outside. they are called the component parts of Yang in Yin.

"Yang is to spread the healthy energy of coldness and warmness, Yin is to take charge of the vitality of all things. So the birth of all things is owning to the warmness of the spring energy, the growth of all things is a result of the hotness of summer energy, the harvesting of all things is due to the elimination and kill of the autumn energy, and the shut and hiding

of all things are by the virtue of the coldness of winter energy. These are the regular pattern of the four seasonal weather change and the birth, growth, harvesting and hiding of all things. If this normal condition is diverged, the heaven and earth will not be harmonious and the Yin and Yang will be obstructed from each other. The change of a human body can also be inferred from the phenomena of nature."