素问·阴阳别论 Treatise on the Differentiation of Yin and Yang
黄帝问曰：人有四经十二从，何谓。歧伯对曰：四经应四时，十二从应十二月，十二月应十二脉。脉有阴阳，知阳者知阴，知阴者知阳。凡阳有五，五五二十五阳。所谓阴者，真藏也，见则为败，败必死也；所谓阳者，胃脘之阳也。别于阳者，知病处也；别于阴者，知死生之期。三阳在头，三阴在手，所谓一也。别于阳者，知病忌时；别于阴者，知死生之期。谨熟阴阳，无与众谋。所谓阴阳者，去者为阴，至者为阳；静者为阴，动者为阳；迟者为阴，数者为阳。凡持真脉之藏脉者，肝至悬绝急，十八日死；心至悬绝，九日死；肺至悬绝，十二日死；肾至悬绝，七日死；脾至悬绝，四日死。
曰：二阳之病，发心脾，有不得隐曲，女子不月；其传为风消，其传为息贲者，死不治。曰：三阳为病，发寒热，下为痈肿，及为痿厥腨㾓；其传为索泽，其传为颓疝。曰：一阳发病，少气善咳善泄；其传为心掣，其传为隔。二阳一阴发病，主惊骇背痛，善噫善欠，名曰风厥。二阴一阳发病，善胀心满善气。三阳三阴发病，为偏枯痿易，四支不举。
鼓一阳曰钩，鼓一阴曰毛，鼓阳胜急曰弦，鼓阳至而绝曰石，阴阳相过曰溜。阴争于内，阳扰于外，魄汗未藏，四逆而起，起则熏肺，使人喘鸣。阴之所生，和本曰和。是故刚与刚，阳气破散，阴气乃消亡。淖则刚柔不和，经气乃绝。死阴之属，不过三日而死；生阳之属，不过四日而死。所谓生阳死阴者，肝之心，谓之生阳。心之肺，谓之死阴。肺之肾，谓之重阴。肾之脾，谓之辟阴，死不治。结阳者，肿四支。结阴者便血一升，再结二升，三结三升。阴阳结斜，多阴少阳曰石水，少腹肿。二阳结谓之消，三阳结谓之隔，三阴结谓之水，一阴一阳结谓之喉痹。阴搏阳别谓之有子。阴阳虚肠辟死。阳加于阴谓之汗。阴虚阳搏谓之崩。三阴俱搏，二十日夜半死。二阴俱搏，十三日夕时死。一阴俱搏，十日死。三阳俱搏且鼓，三日死。三阴三阳俱搏，心腹满。发尽不得隐曲，五日死。二阳俱搏，其病温，死不治，不过十日死。
Huangdi asked: Man has four channels and twelve followers — what does this mean? Qibo replied: The four channels correspond to the four seasons, and the twelve followers correspond to the twelve months; the twelve months correspond to the twelve vessels. The pulse has yin and yang; one who knows yang knows yin, and one who knows yin knows yang. In yang alone there are five types, and five times five makes twenty-five yang manifestations. What is called the yin pulse is the true visceral pulse; when it appears nakedly, it signals defeat, and defeat inevitably means death. What is called the yang pulse is the yang of the stomach cavity, a pulse still carrying stomach qi. By distinguishing yang, one knows the location of the disease; by distinguishing yin, one knows the appointed time of death or life. The three yang are manifest at the head, and the three yin are manifest at the wrist — these are, in fact, one and the same principle. By distinguishing yang, one knows the times to be wary of in disease; by distinguishing yin, one knows the appointed time of death or life. One must carefully master yin and yang, and need not consult with the multitude. As for yin and yang in the pulse: that which recedes is yin, and that which arrives is yang; that which is still is yin, and that which moves is yang; that which is slow is yin, and that which is rapid is yang. Whenever one grasps the true visceral pulse, devoid of stomach qi: if the liver pulse arrives suspended, cut off, and tense, death comes in eighteen days; if the heart pulse arrives suspended and cut off, death comes in nine days; if the lung pulse arrives suspended and cut off, death comes in twelve days; if the kidney pulse arrives suspended and cut off, death comes in seven days; if the spleen pulse arrives suspended and cut off, death comes in four days.
It is said: when disease arises in the two yang, it manifests in the heart and spleen; there may be difficulty with private, hidden matters, and in women, absence of menstruation. If it progresses, it becomes wind-wasting; if it progresses further, it becomes panting-rushing — this is fatal and cannot be treated. It is said: when disease arises in the three yang, it manifests as chills and fever, and below as carbuncles and swellings, as well as wasting, reversal, and calf pain and numbness. If it progresses, it becomes a withering and loss of luster of the skin; if it progresses further, it becomes hernial swelling. It is said: when disease arises in the one yang, there is shortness of breath, frequent coughing, and frequent diarrhea. If it progresses, it becomes a clutching sensation in the heart; if it progresses further, it becomes obstruction. When disease arises in the two yang and one yin together, it chiefly causes fright, alarm, and back pain, frequent belching and yawning — this is called wind reversal. When disease arises in the two yin and one yang together, there is frequent distension, fullness in the heart region, and frequent belching. When disease arises in the three yang and three yin together, it causes hemiplegia, wasting and flaccidity, and inability to raise the four limbs.
When the pulse beats as one yang, it is called hook-like; when it beats as one yin, it is called downy; when the yang pulse beats forcefully and tense, it is called string-like; when the yang pulse arrives and then abruptly cuts off, it is called stone-like; when yin and yang pulses pass into one another smoothly, it is called flowing. When yin contends within and yang is disturbed without, the ethereal-soul sweat is not contained, the four limbs become cold and reversal arises; when this reversal arises it smokes and steams the lung, causing the person to pant and wheeze. That which yin generates, when harmonized with its root, is called harmony. Thus, when hardness meets hardness, the yang qi is shattered and dispersed, and the yin qi thereupon perishes. When it becomes turbid and disordered, the hard and the soft fail to harmonize, and the qi of the channels is thereupon cut off. Those of the category of dying yin die within no more than three days; those of the category of living yang die within no more than four days. As for what is called living yang and dying yin: transmission from the liver to the heart is called living yang; from the heart to the lung is called dying yin; from the lung to the kidney is called double yin; from the kidney to the spleen is called overturning yin, which is fatal and cannot be treated. Binding in the yang causes swelling of the four limbs. Binding in the yin causes bloody stool of one sheng; a second binding, two sheng; a third binding, three sheng. When yin and yang bind and become skewed, with more yin and less yang, this is called stone water, with swelling of the lower abdomen. Binding of the two yang is called wasting-thirst. Binding of the three yang is called diaphragm obstruction. Binding of the three yin is called water. Binding of one yin and one yang together is called throat blockage. When the yin pulse beats and the yang pulse is distinct and separate, this indicates pregnancy. When yin and yang are both deficient, and there is diarrhea with prolapse, it is fatal. When yang is added onto yin, this is called sweating. When yin is deficient and yang beats forcefully, this is called flooding. When the three yin all beat together, death occurs at midnight on the twentieth day. When the two yin both beat together, death occurs in the evening of the thirteenth day. When the one yin beats alone, death occurs on the tenth day. When the three yang all beat together and drum forcefully, death occurs on the third day. When the three yin and three yang all beat together, there is fullness of the heart and abdomen; if the eruption is complete and private, hidden functions cannot be attained, death occurs on the fifth day. When the two yang both beat together, and the disease is a warm disease, it is fatal and cannot be treated — death occurs within no more than ten days.