素问·咳论 Treatise on Coughing
黄帝问曰：肺之令人咳，何也。歧伯对曰：五藏六府，皆令人咳，非独肺也。帝曰：愿闻其状。歧伯曰：皮毛者，肺之合也，皮毛先受邪气，邪气以从其合也。其寒饮食入胃，从肺脉上至于肺，则肺寒，肺寒则外内合，邪因而客之，则为肺咳。五藏各以其时受病，非其时，各传以与之。人与天地相参，故五藏各以治，时感于寒，则受病，微则为咳，甚者为泄为痛。乘秋则肺先受邪，乘春则肝先受之，乘夏则心先受之，乘至阴则脾先受之，乘冬则肾先受之。
帝曰：何以异之。歧伯曰：肺咳之状，咳而喘息有音，甚则唾血。心咳之状，咳则心痛。喉中介介如梗状，甚则咽肿喉痹。肝咳之状，咳则两脇下痛，甚则不可以转，转则两胠下满。脾咳之状，咳则右脇下痛阴阴引肩背，甚则不可以动，动则咳剧。肾咳之状，咳则腰背相引而痛，甚则咳涎。
帝曰：六府之咳柰何，安所受病。歧伯曰：五藏之久咳，乃移于六府，脾咳不已，则胃受之，胃咳之状，咳而呕，呕甚则长虫出。肝咳不已，则胆受之，胆咳之状，咳呕胆汁，肺咳不已，则大肠受之，大肠咳状，咳而遗失。心咳不已，则小肠受之，小肠咳状，咳而失气，气与咳俱失。肾咳不已，则膀胱受之，膀胱咳状，咳而遗溺。久咳不已，则三焦受之，三焦咳状，咳而腹满，不欲食饮，此皆聚于胃，关于肺，使人多涕唾而面浮肿气逆也。
帝曰：治之柰何。歧伯曰：治藏者，治其俞，治府者，治其合。浮肿者，治其经。帝曰：善。
Huangdi asked: How is it that the lung causes coughing? Qibo replied: All the five viscera and six bowels can cause coughing, not the lung alone. Huangdi said: I wish to hear their manifestations. Qibo said: The skin and body hair correspond to the lung; the skin and body hair receive the evil qi first, and the evil qi thereby follows into its corresponding organ. If cold food or drink enters the stomach, it travels along the lung vessel upward to the lung, causing the lung to become cold; when the lung is cold, the exterior and interior evils unite, and the evil qi accordingly lodges there, producing lung cough. Each of the five viscera receives disease according to its own season; when it is not that viscus's season, the disease is transmitted from another viscus to it. Since man corresponds to heaven and earth, each of the five viscera governs its own season, and when affected by cold at that season it contracts disease — if mild, this becomes cough; if severe, it becomes diarrhea or pain. When cold is encountered in autumn, the lung is affected first; when encountered in spring, the liver is affected first; when encountered in summer, the heart is affected first; when encountered at the height of yin (late summer), the spleen is affected first; when encountered in winter, the kidney is affected first.
Huangdi asked: How are these distinguished from one another? Qibo said: In lung cough, the patient coughs with wheezing breath that makes a sound; in severe cases there is spitting of blood. In heart cough, coughing brings pain in the heart, with a sensation in the throat as though something were stuck there; in severe cases the throat swells and there is throat obstruction. In liver cough, coughing brings pain beneath both flanks; in severe cases the patient cannot turn the body, and turning causes fullness beneath both sides. In spleen cough, coughing brings a dull, dragging pain beneath the right flank that pulls toward the shoulder and back; in severe cases the patient cannot move, and moving worsens the cough. In kidney cough, coughing brings pain that pulls between the lower back and the back; in severe cases the patient coughs up phlegm-saliva.
Huangdi asked: What of coughing in the six bowels, and from where do they receive the disease? Qibo said: When cough in the five viscera persists long, it is transmitted to the six bowels. When spleen cough does not resolve, the stomach receives it; in stomach cough, coughing brings vomiting, and in severe cases long roundworms are vomited up. When liver cough does not resolve, the gallbladder receives it; in gallbladder cough, coughing brings vomiting of bile. When lung cough does not resolve, the large intestine receives it; in large intestine cough, coughing brings involuntary loss of stool. When heart cough does not resolve, the small intestine receives it; in small intestine cough, coughing brings passing of gas, the gas escaping together with the cough. When kidney cough does not resolve, the bladder receives it; in bladder cough, coughing brings involuntary loss of urine. When cough persists long without resolving, the triple burner receives it; in triple burner cough, coughing brings abdominal fullness and lack of desire for food or drink. All these conditions gather in the stomach and connect with the lung, causing the patient to produce much phlegm and saliva, with facial swelling and counterflow of qi.
Huangdi asked: How should this be treated? Qibo said: To treat the viscera, treat their transport (shu) points; to treat the bowels, treat their uniting (he) points; for facial swelling, treat the channel points. Huangdi said: Good.