灵枢经·五阅五使 The Five Inspections and Five Offices
黄帝问于歧伯曰：余闻刺有五官五阅，以观五气。五气者，五藏之使也，五时之副也。愿闻其五使当安出？歧伯曰：五官者，五藏之阅也。黄帝曰：愿闻其所出，令可为常。歧伯曰：脉出于气口，色见于明堂，五色更出，以应五时，各如其常，经气入藏，必当治理。
帝曰：善。五色独决于明堂乎？歧伯曰：五官已辨，阙庭必张，乃立明堂，明堂广大，蕃蔽见外，方壁高基，引垂居外，五色乃治，平搏广大，寿中百岁，见此者，刺之必已，如是之人者，血气有馀，肌肉坚致，故可苦以针。
黄帝曰：愿闻五官。歧伯曰：鼻者，肺之官也；目者，肝之官也；口唇者，脾之官也；舌者，心之官也；耳者，肾之官也。
黄帝曰：以官何候？歧伯曰：以候五藏。故肺病者，喘息鼻张；肝病者，眦青；脾病者，唇黄；心病者，舌卷短，颧赤；肾病者，颧与颜黑。
黄帝曰：五脉安出，五色安见，其常色殆者如何？歧伯曰：五官不辨，阙庭不张，小其明堂，蕃蔽不见，又埤其墙，墙下无基，垂角去外。如是者，虽平常殆，况加疾哉。
黄帝曰：五色之见于明堂，以观五藏之气，左右高下，各有形乎？歧伯曰：藏府之在中也，各以次舍，左右上下，各如其度也。
Huangdi asked Qibo: 'I have heard that in needling there are five offices and five inspections, by which the five qi are observed. The five qi are the messengers of the five viscera, the deputies of the five seasons. I wish to hear from where these five messengers ought to be observed.' Qibo said: 'The five offices are the means by which the five viscera may be inspected.' Huangdi said: 'I wish to hear where they emerge, so that this may serve as a constant standard.' Qibo said: 'The pulse emerges at the qi opening, and the complexion appears at the bright hall, the bridge of the nose; the five colors emerge in turn, each corresponding to its own season, each according to its constant pattern. When the channel qi enters the viscera in disorder, it must certainly be treated and set in order.'
Huangdi said: 'Good. Are the five colors determined by the bright hall alone?' Qibo said: 'When the five offices are already clearly discernible, the glabella and forehead must be broad and expansive, and only then is the bright hall well established. When the bright hall is broad and expansive, when the flanking screens of the cheeks can be seen from without, when the walls are squared and the foundation high, and the drooping structures extend outward properly, then the five colors will be well ordered — level, full, and broad — and such a person may live to a hundred years. When one sees such signs, needling will certainly succeed, for a person of this kind has abundant blood and qi, and firm, dense flesh and muscle, and so can withstand vigorous needling.'
Huangdi said: 'I wish to hear of the five offices.' Qibo said: 'The nose is the office of the lung; the eyes are the office of the liver; the mouth and lips are the office of the spleen; the tongue is the office of the heart; the ears are the office of the kidney.'
Huangdi said: 'What do these offices allow one to observe?' Qibo said: 'They allow one to observe the five viscera. Thus when the lung is diseased, there is labored breathing with flaring of the nostrils; when the liver is diseased, the corners of the eyes turn green-blue; when the spleen is diseased, the lips turn yellow; when the heart is diseased, the tongue curls and shortens, and the cheekbones turn red; when the kidney is diseased, the cheekbones and forehead turn black.'
Huangdi said: 'From where do the five pulses emerge, and where do the five colors appear, and what is it like when even the ordinary complexion is precarious?' Qibo said: 'When the five offices cannot be clearly discerned, when the glabella and forehead are not broad, when the bright hall is small, when the flanking screens cannot be seen, when moreover the walls are low, the foundation beneath the walls absent, and the drooping corners fall away outward — in such a case, even in ordinary health the person is precarious, how much more so when illness is added.'
Huangdi said: 'When the five colors appear at the bright hall, allowing one to observe the qi of the five viscera, do their positions — left and right, high and low — each have their own distinct form?' Qibo said: 'The viscera and bowels, as they are arranged within the body, each occupy their own place in sequence; their positions left and right, above and below, on the face each correspond to their proper measure.'