灵枢经·病传 The Transmission of Disease
黄帝曰：余受九针于夫子，而私览于诸方，或有导引行气，乔摩、灸、熨、刺、焫、饮药之一者，可独守耶，将尽行之乎？歧伯曰：诸方者，众人之方也，非一人之所尽行也。
黄帝曰：此乃所谓守一勿失，万物毕者也。今余已闻阴阳之要，虚实之理，倾移之过，可治之属，愿闻病之变化，淫传绝败而不可治者，可得闻乎？歧伯曰：要乎哉问也,昭乎其如日醒，窘乎其如夜瞑，能被而服之，神与俱成，毕将服之，神自得之，生神之理，可著于竹帛，不可传于子孙。
黄帝曰：何谓日醒？歧伯曰：明于阴阳，如惑之解，如醉之醒。黄帝曰：何谓夜瞑？歧伯曰：喑乎其无声，漠乎其无形，折毛发理，正气横倾，淫邪泮衍，血脉传溜，大气入藏，腹痛下淫，可以致死，不可以致生。
黄帝曰：大气入藏，奈何？歧伯曰：病先发于心，一日而之肺，三日而之肝，五日而之脾，三日不已，死。冬夜半，夏日中。
病先发于肺，三日而之肝，一日而之脾，五日而之胃，十日不已，死。冬日入，夏日出。
病先发于肝，三日而之脾，五日而之胃，三日而之肾，三日不已，死。冬日入，夏蚤食。
病先发于脾，一日而之胃，二日而之肾，三日而之膂膀胱，十日不已，死。冬人定，夏晏食。
病先发于胃，五日而之肾，三日而之膂膀胱，五日而上之心，二日不已，死，冬夜半，夏日昳。
病先发于肾，三日而之膂膀胱，三日而上之心，三日而之小肠，三日不已，死。冬大晨，夏晏晡。
病先发于膀胱，五日而之肾，一日而之小肠，一日而之心，二日不已，死。冬鸡鸣，夏下晡。
诸病以次相传，如是者，皆有死期，不可刺也；间一藏及二、三、四藏者，乃可刺也。
Huangdi said: "I have received instruction in the nine needles from you, Master, and have also privately studied various other methods of treatment — daoyin exercises to guide the qi, qiaomo massage, moxibustion, hot compresses, puncture, cauterization, and the drinking of medicinal decoctions. Should one hold to a single one of these exclusively, or ought one to practice all of them together?" Qibo said: "These various methods are methods suited to different people; no single person can practice all of them at once."
Huangdi said: "This, then, is what is meant by holding to the one without losing it, whereby the myriad things are all accomplished. I have already heard of the essentials of yin and yang, the principles of deficiency and excess, the errors that come from their tipping and shifting out of balance, and the categories of what can be treated. I now wish to hear of the transformations of disease — of how it spreads and overwhelms until it becomes fatal and untreatable. May I hear of this?" Qibo said: "How essential a question this is! Bright, it is like waking from sleep into daylight; obscure, it is like being lost in the darkness of night. If one can take this in and put it into practice, the spirit will develop together with it; once one has fully absorbed it, the spirit will naturally attain it of itself. The principle by which the spirit is generated can be written down on bamboo and silk, but it cannot be truly handed down to one's own descendants without their own realization of it."
Huangdi said: "What is meant by 'waking into daylight'?" Qibo said: "To be clear about yin and yang is like having one's confusion resolved, like waking from drunkenness." Huangdi said: "What is meant by 'the darkness of night'?" Qibo said: "It is mute, without sound; vast and indistinct, without form. The hair and skin's texture are damaged, the upright qi is thrown into disorder, the invasive evil spreads and overflows, and is transmitted through the blood vessels. When the great evil qi enters the viscera, causing abdominal pain that spreads downward, this can bring about death and cannot bring about life."
Huangdi said: "What happens when the great qi enters the viscera?" Qibo said: "If disease first arises in the heart, in one day it moves to the lung, in three days it moves to the liver, in five days it moves to the spleen; if after three more days it is not resolved, the patient dies. In winter, death occurs at midnight; in summer, at midday."
If disease first arises in the lung, in three days it moves to the liver, in one day it moves to the spleen, in five days it moves to the stomach; if after ten more days it is not resolved, the patient dies. In winter, death occurs at sunset; in summer, at sunrise.
If disease first arises in the liver, in three days it moves to the spleen, in five days it moves to the stomach, in three days it moves to the kidney; if after three more days it is not resolved, the patient dies. In winter, death occurs at sunset; in summer, at early mealtime.
If disease first arises in the spleen, in one day it moves to the stomach, in two days it moves to the kidney, in three days it moves to the spinal muscles and bladder; if after ten more days it is not resolved, the patient dies. In winter, death occurs when people have settled to rest; in summer, at late mealtime.
If disease first arises in the stomach, in five days it moves to the kidney, in three days it moves to the spinal muscles and bladder, in five days it rises to the heart; if after two more days it is not resolved, the patient dies. In winter, death occurs at midnight; in summer, in the early afternoon.
If disease first arises in the kidney, in three days it moves to the spinal muscles and bladder, in three days it rises to the heart, in three days it moves to the small intestine; if after three more days it is not resolved, the patient dies. In winter, death occurs in the early morning; in summer, in the late afternoon.
If disease first arises in the bladder, in five days it moves to the kidney, in one day it moves to the small intestine, in one day it moves to the heart; if after two more days it is not resolved, the patient dies. In winter, death occurs at the cock's crow; in summer, in the late afternoon.
When diseases are transmitted in this sequence, one after another, in every such case there is a fixed time of death, and needling cannot be applied. But when the disease skips over one viscus, or two, three, or four viscera in its transmission, then it can be treated with needling.