素问·逆调论 Discourse on Counterflow Regulation
黄帝问曰：人身非常温也，非常热也，为之热而烦满者何也。歧伯对曰：阴气少而阳气胜，故热而烦满也。
帝曰：人身非衣寒也，中非有寒气也，寒从中生者何。歧伯曰：是人多痹气也，阳气少，阴气多，故身寒如从水中出。
帝曰：人有四支热，逢逄风寒，如灸如火者，何也。歧伯曰：是人者，阴气虚，阳气盛，四支者阳也，两阳相得而阴气虚少，少水不能灭盛火，而阳独治，独治者不能生长也，独胜而止耳，逢风而如灸如火者，是人当肉烁也.
帝曰：人有身寒，汤火不能热，厚衣不能温，然不冻栗，是为何病。歧伯曰：是人者，素肾气胜，以水为事，太阳气衰，肾脂枯不长，一水不能胜两火，肾者水也，而生于骨，肾不生，则髓不能满，故寒甚至骨也。所以不能冻栗者，肝一阳也，心二阳也，肾孤藏也，一水不能胜二火，故不能冻栗，病名曰骨痹，是人当挛节也。
帝曰：人之肉苛者，虽近衣絮，犹尚苛也，是谓何疾。歧伯曰：荣气虚，卫气实也，荣气虚则不仁，卫气虚则不用，荣卫俱虚，则不仁且不用，肉如故也，人身与志不相有，曰死.
帝曰：人有逆气不得卧而息有音者，有不得卧而息无音者，有起居如故而息有音者，有得卧行而喘者，有不得卧不能行而喘者，有不得卧卧而喘者，皆何藏使然，愿闻其故。歧伯曰：不得卧而息有音者，是阳明之逆也，足三阳者下行，今逆而上行，故息有音也。阳明者，胃脉也，胃者六府之海，其气亦下行，阳明逆不得从其道，故不得卧也。下经曰：胃不和则卧不安，此之谓也。夫起居如故而息有音者，此肺之络脉逆也，络脉不得随经上下，故留经而不行，络脉之病人也微，故起居如故而息有音也。夫不得卧卧则喘者，是水气之客也，夫水者循津液而流也，肾者水藏，主津液，主卧与喘也。帝曰：善。
Huangdi asked: When a person's body is not unusually warm and not unusually hot, yet the patient experiences heat with vexation and fullness — why is this? Qibo replied: This is because the yin qi is diminished while the yang qi prevails; hence there is heat with vexation and fullness.
Huangdi said: When a person's clothing is not cold and there is no cold qi within, yet cold arises from within — why is this? Qibo said: This is a person with abundant impediment qi; the yang qi is diminished and the yin qi abundant, and so the body feels as cold as if just emerged from water.
Huangdi said: There are people whose four limbs are hot, and when they encounter wind and cold, the limbs feel as if scorched by fire — why is this? Qibo said: In such a person, the yin qi is deficient and the yang qi exuberant. The four limbs belong to yang; when yang meets yang, while the yin qi is scant and deficient, the scant water cannot extinguish the exuberant fire, so that yang alone governs. Where yang alone governs, it cannot properly generate and nurture growth — it only prevails alone until it exhausts itself. When such a person encounters wind and the limbs feel as if scorched by fire, this signifies that his flesh is being consumed away.
Huangdi said: There are people whose bodies are cold, whom neither hot broths nor fire can warm, nor thick clothing make warm, and yet they do not shiver from the cold — what disease is this? Qibo said: In such a person, the kidney qi has habitually prevailed, given over to the affairs of water, so that the Greater Yang qi has declined, and the kidney's fat has withered and ceased to grow; a single portion of water cannot overcome two portions of fire. The kidney belongs to water and generates the bones; when the kidney fails to generate, the marrow cannot be filled, and so the cold penetrates severely even into the bones. The reason such a person does not shiver is that the liver is one yang and the heart is a second yang, while the kidney is a solitary viscus; one portion of water cannot overcome two portions of fire, and so the patient cannot shiver. This disease is called bone impediment, and such a person is bound to suffer contracture of the joints.
Huangdi said: There are people whose flesh feels numb and unresponsive, so that even wrapped close in padded clothing it remains numb — what illness is this called? Qibo said: This is when the nutritive qi is deficient while the defensive qi is excess. When the nutritive qi is deficient, there is numbness; when the defensive qi is deficient, there is loss of function. When both nutritive and defensive qi are deficient, there is both numbness and loss of function, though the flesh appears outwardly unchanged. When the person's body and will no longer belong to one another, this is called death.
Huangdi said: There are people with counterflow qi who cannot lie down and whose breathing makes a sound; there are those who cannot lie down yet whose breathing makes no sound; there are those whose rising and resting are as usual yet whose breathing makes a sound; there are those who can lie down and walk about yet pant; there are those who cannot lie down and cannot walk yet pant; and there are those who cannot lie down, and when they do lie down, they pant. What viscus in each case brings this about? I wish to hear the explanation. Qibo said: Those who cannot lie down and whose breathing makes a sound suffer from counterflow of the Yang Brightness. The three yang channels of the foot normally flow downward; now, in counterflow, they flow upward, and so the breath makes a sound. Yang Brightness is the vessel of the stomach, and the stomach is the sea of the six bowels, its qi likewise flowing downward normally; when Yang Brightness rebels and cannot follow its proper path, the patient cannot lie down. As the Lower Canon states: when the stomach is not in harmony, sleep is not peaceful — this is what is meant. As for those whose rising and resting are as usual yet whose breathing makes a sound, this is counterflow in the network vessels of the lung; the network vessels cannot follow the channels in their upward and downward movement, and so the qi lingers in the channel and fails to move on; disease of the network vessels affects a person only mildly, and so rising and resting remain as usual even while the breath makes a sound. As for those who cannot lie down, and who pant when they do lie down, this is due to a visitation of water qi; water flows along with the body fluids, and the kidney is the viscus of water, governing the body fluids, and thus governing both the ability to lie down and the occurrence of panting. Huangdi said: Good.