五变/Wu Bian

(The Five Kinds of Affections)

黄帝问于少俞曰:余闻百疾之始期也，必生于风雨寒暑，循毫毛而入媵理，或复还，或留止，或为风肿汗出，或为消瘅，或为寒热，或为留痹，或为积聚，奇邪淫溢，不可胜数，愿闻其故。夫同时得病，或病此，或病彼，意者天之为人生风乎，何其异也?少俞日:夫天之生风者，非以私百姓也，其行公平正直，犯者得之，避者得无殆，非[非:孙鼎宜日:“‘非’上脱‘风’字”]求人而人自犯之。

Yellow Emperor asked Shaoyu: "I am told at the beginnings of various diseases, they must be affected by exogenous evils of wind, rain, cold and summer-heat; when the evil-energy moves along the fine hair and enters into the striae, it can be transformed or retained at the same place; it may cause the swelling due to wind-evil with perspiration, or burst into diabetes, alternating episodes of chills and fever, protracted bi-syndrome and abdominal mass; when the abnormal evil energy disperses all over the body, the diseases will be in thousands of ways to be capricious, I hope to hear the reason about it. As the diseases are contracted by people simultanneously, why is it that the diseases are different since the diseases are all caused by the wind from nature?" Shaoyu said: "The wind from nature blows universally, it is fair and upright which will not be impartial to certain people, when one offends it, he will become ill, when one keeps away from it, he will have no danger; it is not the wind that seeks and injures the people, but the people who offend it on their own accord will become ill."

黄帝日:一时遇风，同时得病，其病各异，愿闻其故。少俞日:善乎哉问!请论以比匠人。匠人磨斧斤，砺刀削，斫材木。木之阴阳，尚有坚脆，坚者不入，脆者皮昕，至其交节，而缺斤斧焉。夫一木之中，坚脆不同，坚者则刚，脆者易伤，况其材木之不同，皮之厚薄，汁之多少，而各异耶。夫木之早花先生叶者，遇春霜烈风，则花落而叶萎;久曝大旱，则脆木薄皮者，枝条汁少而叶萎;久阴淫雨，则薄皮多汁者，皮溃而漉;卒风暴起，则刚脆之木，枝折杌伤;秋霜疾风，则刚脆之木，根摇而叶落。凡此五者，各有所伤，况于人乎。

Yellow Emperor said:"When different people encounter wird evil and contract diseases simultanneously, but the diseases contracted are different, I hope to hear the reason abut it. " Shaoyu siad: "You have asked a very good question. Let me take the craftman to analogize it. When a craftman sharpens his axe and knife for chopping the wood, the firmness and the softnes of the Yang side (the side facing the sun of the tree) and the Yin side (the back side of the tree) are different, when chopping or cutting the wood, the firm part can hardly be split and the soft part can easily be cracked, as to the part which has knots, it can even damage the axe or knife. Among the pieces of wood, some are tough and some are crisp, the tough ones are strong and the crisp ones are casy to be broken, let alone the kinds of wood which are different, they have different thickness in the bark, and have different amount of juice inside. For a tree which blooms and grows the leaves early, when encounters the frost in spring or violent winds, the flowers will be falling and the leaves withered; when a tree is scorched by the violent sun or encounters the severe drought, if the wood is weak and the bark is thin, the moisture content in the branches will be reduced, causing the leaves to become withered; when the protracted cloudy days and the long spell of wet weather are encountered, if the bark is thin and has plenty moisture content in the trunk, the bark will become deteriorated with water seeping out; when the sudden gale is encountered, if the wood is hard and crisp, the branches will be broken and the trunk injured; when the autumn frost and swift wind are encountered, if the wood is hard and crisp, its root will be wavering and the leaves falling. In the five different conditions of wood stated above, all of them have different damages respectively, let alone man."

黄帝日:以人应木奈何?少俞答日:木之所伤也，皆伤其枝，枝之刚脆而坚[刚脆而坚:按“脆”字疑误，似应作“刚而坚者”]，未成伤也。人之有常病也，亦因其骨节皮肤腠理之不坚固者，邪之所舍也，故常为病也。

Yellow Emperor asked:"What is the condition when comparing the man with a tree?" Shaoyu said: "When a tree is injured, the injury is in the branches, if the branches are sturdy and firm, they may not be injured at all. When a man is ill often, it is usually due to the infirmity of the bone and the striae of skin, and the bone joint and the striae are the places where the evil-energy often retains to cause diseases."

黄帝日:人之善病风厥漉汗者，何以候之?少俞答曰:肉不坚，腠理疏，则善病风。黄帝日:何以候肉之不坚也?少俞答曰:朋肉不坚，而无分理，理者粗理[理者粗理:《甲乙》卷第二上作“肉不坚”]，粗理而皮不致者，媵理疏。此言其浑然者。

Yellow Emperor asked: "How to examine the reasons when one contracts jue-syndrome due to wind-evil often?" Shaoyu answered: "When one's muscle is not firm and substantial and his striae of skin are loose, he will contract syndrome due to wind often." Yellow Emperor asked: "How to examine when the muscle is not firm and substantial?" Shaoyu answered: "When the muscles of the shoulder, elbow, thigh and knee are not firm and substantial without texture of skin, it shows the infirmity and insubstantiality of them. When one's muscle is not firm, and has coarse and thin skin, his striae of skin must be loose and he is apt to contract wind evil. This is the approximate condition about it."