经水/Jing Shui

(The Water of Channels)

黄帝问于岐伯曰:经脉十二者，外合于十二经水，而内属于五脏六腑。夫十二经水者，其有大小、深浅、广狭、远近各不同，五脏六腑之高下、大小、受谷之多少亦不等，相应奈何?夫经水者，受水而行之;五脏者，合神气魂魄而藏之;六腑者，受谷而行之，受气而扬之;经脉者，受血而营之[营:《灵枢略.六气论篇》作“荣”]合而以治奈何?刺之深浅，灸之壮数，可得闻乎?

Yellow Emperor asked Qibo : "When viewing the twelve channels of a man from outside, they are like the twelve waters, when viewing them from inside , they link the five solid organs and the six hollow organs. The twelve channels reccive water from the source and flow to various places, the five solid organs combine and store the spirit, energy, soul, and inferior spirit respectively; the six hollow organs receive the five cereals, transfer and transform them, and spread the energy of the refined substances all over the body: the channels receive the blood and pass the blood to nourish the whole body. When treating, how to coordinate with these conditions such as controlling the depth of pricking, managing the times of moxibustion, etc. , can you tell me about them?"

岐伯答曰:善哉问也!天至高，不可度，地至广，不可量，此之谓也。且夫人生于天地之间，六合之内，此天之高、地之广也，非人力之所能度量而至也。若夫八尺之士，皮肉在此[在此:据《太素》卷五《十二水》杨注“在此”二字似应作“色脉”]，外可度量切循而得之，其死可解剖而视之，其脏之坚脆，腑之大小，谷之多少，脉之长短，血之清浊，气之多少，十二经之多血少气，与其少血多气，与其皆多血气，与其皆少血气，皆有大数。其治以针艾，各调其经气，固其常有合乎?

Qibo answered; "What a good question you have asked! The sky is so high that one can hardly infer, the earth is so vast that one can hardly measure, and this is the saying that has always been so. When a man exists between the heaven and earth and situates within the three dimensions , he can hardly measure the acurate height of heaven and the extent of

carth artificially. The body of a grown-up man has the skin, muscle and channel: to a living man, one can inspect him by touching, tò a dead body, one can examine it carefully by autopsy;there is a definite standard of the firm and fragile in each of the five solid organs, the sizes of the six hollow organs, the quantity of the cereals received, the length of the channels, the clearness or turbidity of blood, the abundance or deficiency of the channel energy and the different conditions of the blood and energy in the channel. In the channels, some have plenty of blood and less energy, some have less blood and plenty of energy, some have plenty of blood and plenty of energy and some have less blood and less energy. When one adjusts the asthenic or sthenic channel energy of a patient with acupuncture or moxibustion, the handling of the depth of pricking and the times of moxibustion should correspond with the deep or shallow, and the plenty or less of the water of the twelve channels."

黄帝曰:余闻之，快于耳，不解于心，愿卒闻之。岐伯答曰:此人之所以参天地而应阴阳也，不可不察。足太阳外合清水，内属膀胱，而通水道焉。足少阳外合于渭水，内属于胆。足阳明外合于海水，内属于胃。足太阴外合于湖水，内属于脾。足少阴外合于妆水，内属于肾。足厥阴外合于渑水，内属于肝。手太阳外合淮水，内属小肠，而水道出焉。手少阳外合于漯水，内属三焦。手阳明外合于江水，内属于大肠。手太阴外合于河水，内属于肺。手少阴外合于济水，内属于心。手心主外合于漳水，内属于心包。凡此五脏六腑十二经水者，外有源泉而内有所察，此皆内外相贯，如环无端，人经亦然。故天为阳，地为阴，腰以上为天，腰以下为地。故海以北者为阴，湖以北者为阴中之阴，漳以南者为阳，河以北至漳者为阳中之阴，漯以南至江者为阳中之太阳[阳中之太阳:《甲乙》卷一第七“阳中之”下并无“太”字]，此一隅之阴阳也，所以人与天地相参也。

Yellow Emperor said: "Your speech is pleasing to the ears, but it is still perplexing me. I hope you can tell me in details." Qibo said:“This is the fact of human being coordinates with the heaven and earth and adapting the Yin and Yang, and one must understand it. The Foot Taiyang Channel coordinates with the water of Jing River outside and links the hollow organ of bladder inside, and it communicates with the watercources which run all over the body. The Foot Shaoyang Channel coordinates with the water of Wei River outside, and links the hollow organ of gallbladder inside. The Foot Yangming coordinates with the water of the sea outside, and links the hollow organ of stomach inside. The Foot Taiyin Channel coordinates with the water of the lake outside, and links the solid organ of spleen inside. The Foot Shaoyin Channel coordinates with the water of Ru River outside, and links the solid organ of kidney inside. The Foot Jueyin Channel coordinates with the water of the Mian River outside, and links the solid organ of liver inside. The Hand Taiyang Channel coordinates with the water of the Huai River outside and links the hollow organ of small intestine inside, and the small intestine separates the lucid and turbid substances and leads out the turbids through the watercource. The Hand Shaoyang Channel coordinates with the water of the Luo River outside and links the triple warmer inside. The Hand Yangming Channel coordinates to the water of the river outside and links the hollow organ of large intestine inside. The Hand Taiyin Channel coordinates with the water of the stream outside and links the solid organ of lung inside. The Hand Shaoyin Channel coordinates to the water of Ji River outside and links the solid organ of heart. The Hand Jueyin coordinates to the water of Zhang River outside and links the pericardium. In a word, the water of the twelve channels of the five solid organs and the six hollow organs all have sources outside and they receive water respectively inside. They connect and communicate with each other outside and inside, like a ring goes round without end, and the condition of the human channel is the same. The heaven is above and it is Yang, the earth is down below and it is Yin; the upper part of the body above the loins is heaven and it belongs to Yang, the lower part of the body below the loins is earth and it belongs to Yin. Therefore the location north of the water of the sea(stomach) is called Yin, the location north of the water of the lake (spleen) is called Yin in the Yin, the location south of the water of Zhang River (pericardium) is called Yang, the region from north of the water of the stream (lung) to the water of Zhang River is called Yin in the Yang, the region from south of the water of Luo River (triple warmer  to the water of the streem is called Yang in the Yang. These are the examples illstrated with part of the waters in certain location, and it is the principle of the correspondence of a man to the heaven and earth."