通天/Tong Tian

(The Different Types of Man)

黄帝问于少师日:余尝闻人有阴阳，何谓阴人，何谓阳人?少师日:天地之间，六合之内[六合之内:《甲乙》卷一第十六无此四字]，不离于五，人亦应之，非徒一阴一阳而已也，而略言耳，口弗能褊明也。黄帝日:愿略闻其意，有贤人圣人，心能备而行之乎，少师日:盖有太阴之人，少阴之人，太阳之人，少阳之人，阴阳和平之人。凡五人者，其态不同，其筋骨气血各不等。

Yellow Emperor asked Shaoshi and said: "I am told that there are different kinds of men belonging to Yin and Yang. What is called the man belongs to Yin and what is called the man belongs to Yang?" Shaoshi said:"Between the heaven and earth, all things can not be divorced from the scope of the five elements, and the human body corresponds to the five elements also, but this is only an approximate speaking, as there are not only the oppositing one Yin and one Yang, and the complicated condition can hardly be expounded by words." Yellow Emperor said:"I hope to hear about the general condition. For the sages and the saints, can they attain the state of keeping the Yin and Yang in complete balance?" Shaoshi said:“Generally speaking, some people belong to Taiyin, some people belong to Shaoyin, some people belong to Taiyang, some people belong to Shaoyang, and some people belong to both mild in Yin and Yang. In a word, in the five types of people, their appearances are different, the strong and weak conditions of their tendons and bones are different, and the overabundant or the debilitative condition of their energy and blood are also different."

黄帝日:其不等者，可得闻乎?少师日:太阴之人，贪而不仁，下齐[齐:《甲乙》巻一第十六作“济”]湛湛，好内而恶出，心和[和:《甲乙》卷一第十六作“抑”]而不发，不务于时，动而后之[之:《甲乙》卷一第十六作“人”]，此太阴之人也。

Yellow Emperor asked:"Can you tell me the different conditions?" Shaoshi said: "A man of the Taiyin type is greedy, being not sincere and not generous, avaricious to his subordinates, be fond of taking and have an aversion to giving, he restrains his heart activities to be unexposed, does not care about doing anything good, being time-serving and behaves after others. This is the type of man who belongs to Taiyin like.

少阴之人，小贪而贼心，见人有亡，常若有得，好伤好害，见人有荣，乃反慑怒，心疾[疾:《甲乙》巻一第十六作“嫉”]而无恩，此少阴之人也，

"A man of the Shaoyin type kecps on gaining petty advantages and harbours the intention of harming others, he is happy when someone is injured as if he has gained something for paying nothing, he is fond of doing harm to others, angry at the honour of others, jealous and has no sympathy with others. This is the type of man who belongs to Shaoyin like.

太阳之人，居处于于，好言大事，无能而虚说，志发于四野，举措不顾是非，为事如常自用，事虽败而常无悔，此太阳之人也。

"A man of the Taiyang type is usually self-satisfied, he is fond of talking about major events, he is incompetent but often talks big Without the slightest hesitancy. He disregards the right or wrong of his behaviour and considers himself being always in the right, when he fails, he usually does not repent. This is the type of man who belongs to Taiyang like.

少阳之人，諟谛好自贵，有小小官，则高自宜[宜:《甲乙》卷一第十六作“宣”]，好为外交而不内附，此少阳之人也。

"A man of the Shaoyang type is usually cautious in dealing with things, he likes to boast his prestige, when he has a lower official post, he thinks he is remarkable and publicizes externally, he likes social communication, but he fails to keep close to the one he should love. This is the type of man who belongs to Shaoyang like.

阴阳和平之人，居处安静，无为惧惧，无为欣欣，婉然从物，或与不争，与时变化，尊则谦谦[尊则谦谦:《甲乙》卷一第十六作“尊而谦让”]，谭而不治[谭而不治:《甲乙》卷一第十六作“卑而不谄”]，是谓至治。古之善用针艾者，视人五态乃治之，盛者泻之，虚者补之。

"A man of the both mild in Yin and Yang type is calm, he has no accidental fright and excessive joy. he is concordant in submitting to work. if there is some small advantages, he does not bother about striving for it. he accommodates himself to the changes of the situation. when he is in the honourable status, he remains modest, when he is in a lower position, he is not subservient to the higher authorities. The version about the five types of men state above is really a wonderful truth. In ancient times, the physician who is good at acupuncture examines the appearances of the five types of man in advance, then he treats according to the different conditions respectively, purges the patient whose energy is overabundant and invigorates the patient whose energy is debilitative."