Translator: Paul U. Unschuld and Hermann Tessenow in Collaboration with Zheng Jinsheng; University of California Press Berkeley Los Angeles
[Huang] Di:
“When someone is old in years and no [longer] has children, is it that his
strength is exhausted?39 Or is it that the heavenly numbers40 are such?”41
Qi Bo:
“In a female, at the age42 of seven, the qi of the kidneys abounds. The [first]
teeth are substituted and the hair grows long. With two times seven, the heaven
gui43 arrives,44 the controlling
vessel is passable and the great thoroughfare vessel45 abounds [with qi]. The monthly affair
moves down in due time and, hence, [a woman] may have children.46 With three times
seven, the qi of the kidneys has reached its normal level. Hence, the wisdom
teeth47 emerge and [females] grow to their full size. With four times seven, the
sinews and bones are firm and the hair has grown to its full extent. The body
and the limbs are in a state of abundance and strength. With five times seven,
the yang brilliance vessel weakens; the face begins to dry out; the hair begins
to fall off. 48 With six times seven, the three yang vessels weaken {in the upper
sections}. The face is all parched, 49 the hair begins to turn white.50 With seven times seven, the
controlling vessel is depleted and the great thoroughfare vessel is weak and
[its contents are] diminished. The heaven gui is exhausted.The way of the earth is
impassable. Hence, the physical appearance is spoilt and [a woman can] no
[longer] have children.51
In a male, at the age of eight, the qi of the kidneys is replete; his hair
grows and the [initial] teeth are substituted. With two times eight, the qi of
the kidneys abounds;52the heaven gui
arrives and the essence qi flows away. Yin and yang find harmony. 53 Hence, he can
have children. With three times eight, the qi of the kidneys has reached its
normal level. The sinews and the bones are firm and strong. Hence, the wisdom
teeth emerge and [men] grow to their full size of qi and a deficiency of blood,
because [the latter] is frequently drained by way of menstruation.” With four times eight, the sinews and
the bones prosper in abundance. The muscles and the flesh are full and
strong.With five times eight, the qi of the kidneys weakens; the hair falls off
and the teeth wither. With six times eight, the yang qi weakens and is
exhausted in the upper sections. The face dries out and the hair on the head
and on the temples shows streaks of white.54 With seven times eight, the qi in the
liver weakens; the sinews can no longer move.55 The heaven gui is exhausted. {The
[remaining] essence is diminished} The kidney depot is weak and the physical
body is completely exhausted.56 With eight times eight, the teeth and the hair go. The
kidneys rule the water; they receive the essence from the five depots and six
palaces and they store it. Hence, when there is abundance in the five depots,
[essence] can flow away. [At this age] now the five depots are all weak and the
sinews and the bones have become sluggish. The heaven gui is used up
entirely. Hence, the hair on the head and on the temples turns white and the
body and the limbs are heavy. [A male of that age] no [longer] walks upright
and no [longer] has children.”
[Huang] Di:
“It happens that someone who is already old in years nevertheless has
children, how can that be?”
Qi Bo:
“In this case the life span [allotted] by heaven exceeds the norm.57 The qi passes
through the vessels as usual and the qi of the kidneys has a surplus. Although
[someone] has children, males do not exceed the end reached at eight times
eight and females do not exceed the end reached at seven times seven, when the
essence qi of heaven and earth are all exhausted.” 58
[Huang] Di:
“Now, those [who follow] the Way, they all reach a number of one hundred
years. Can they have children?”
Qi Bo:
“Now, those [who follow] the Way, they can drive away old age and they
preserve their physical appearance. Although their body has lived a long life, they
are [still] able to produce children.” 59
39 Wang Bing: “材 is 材幹, that is, the
ability keep one’s body standing upright.” JJZG: “材 is identical with 才. 材(才)is 用, ‘function.’ ”
40 Ma Shi: “These are all the numbers bestowed upon
man by heaven.” 1551/65: “ ‘Numbers
of heaven’ is identical with ‘the
Way of heaven.’
41 Hu Shu: “將 is 抑, initial
particle.” Shen Zumian: “Hu Shu is wrong; 將 must not be interpreted as 抑. 將 is 順, ‘to comply with.’ ” Zhang Yizhi et al.: “Both sentences are
questions. Hence, to interpret 將 as 抑 is in accordance with the meaning. As for 材, the Shuo wen 說文 states ‘力 is 筋, ‘sinew.’’ Hence, 材力 ought to refer to the qi of the kidneys.”
42 384/58 points out
that the character 歲 was used in the sense of “years of life” not before the Han dynasty.
43 Wang Bing: “癸 is to say 壬癸, this is the water of the North, the name of one of the
[heavenly] branches. The controlling vessel and the thoroughfare vessel are
both extraordinary conduit vessels. When the qi of the kidneys is complete and
abundant, the thoroughfare and the controlling vessel are passed by a flow. The
menstrual blood gradually accumulates and moves down when its time comes. The
thoroughfare is the sea of blood; the controlling [vessel] governs uterus and
fetus. When both supply each other one may have children.” Zhang Jiebin: “All [earlier] authors have explained the term 天癸 as referring to [male] essence and [female] blood. But if
we analyse the text, where it states: ‘In females, with two times seven the 天癸 arrives; .. the monthly affair moves down periodically.
In males, with two times eight, the 天癸 arrives; .. the
essence qi flows off,’ then in both cases the 天癸 comes first and
is then followed by essence and blood, respectively. There is a clear
differentiation between what comes first and what comes second; each has its
own meaning. How then could anyone say that 天癸 is essence and
blood, or that blood and essence are 天癸! 癸, now, is the water of heaven; it is the name of a
[heavenly] stem. The stems are the yang of the branches.
The designation for the yang is qi. 癸 is the mate of 壬; the designation
for the mate is yin. Hence, 天癸 refers to the yin
qi of 天一. This qi changes to water. Hence, it is named 天癸.” Ma Shi: “天癸 is the yin
essence. The reason is, the kidneys belong to the water; the 癸, too, belongs to the water. It is generated from an
accumulation of qi of the earlier dependencies.” 2756/43: “The
text of 上古天真論 does not have the
two characters 天真. But these two characters in the
title must have been taken from the contents of this treatise. Hence, we cannot
but conclude that the two characters 天癸 must be a mistake
for 天真.” 925/13 agrees. 2756/44 and 2757/43 go further and interpret 天 as referring here to the “head” as
opposed to 地 which, in the phrase 地道, ‘the Way of the earth,’ refers to the
kidneys. Hence, according to 2756 and 2757,“heaven”and “earth” signify “above” and “below,” that is, head and kidneys/genital region, in the body. Su wen 05 has 天地者萬物之上下也, “Heaven and earth constitute above and below of all creatures.” Accordingly, 天真 is a “true qi produced in
the brain of the head.” Such a concept, though, is
attested nowhere else. Yang Shangshan: “天癸
is the essence
qi.” Zhongyi yanjiuyuan...: “ ‘Heaven’ stands for 天一; 癸 is one of the ten branches; it belongs to [the agent of]
water. Tian yi generates water; hence, the name is 天癸, ‘water of heaven.’ ” See also 1343.
44 496/54 quotes earlier commentators who have
interpreted 至 here as 充, “full,”“complete,” and agrees on the basis that a
meaning of “complete” is the
opposite of 竭,“exhausted”,
further down. In this case the passage should read: “when
the true [qi of]heaven is complete.” See also 1530.
45 L in Yi et al.: “Quan Yuanqi and Tai su, as well as Jia yi jing, have 伏衝之脈, ‘vessel of the hidden thoroughfare.’ ” 925/14
identifies “great thoroughfare vessel” as “thoroughfare vessel.” Yu Yue: “In the Han-era, the character 太 was occasionally written 㐲. ... Later on,
people did not recognize this character. They added a dot and wrote it as 伏, creating a different character.”
46 Wang Bing: “What is called ‘monthly affair’ is a normal, harmonious qi
that appears regularly every thirtieth day. When this period is extended, the
[respective woman] is said to have a disease.”
47 Wang Bing: “These are the teeth that grow at the
very end. When the kidney qi is balanced and the wisdom teeth grow, that shows
that the teeth are extensions of the bones.” Tanba: “真 is identical with 齻.”
48 Wang Bing: “The yang brilliance vessel supplies the
face with qi. Hence, when it weakens, the hair falls off and the face dries
out.”
49 Zhang Yizhi et al.: “焦
is 憔, ‘worn out by grief.’ The Han shu 漢書, Xuzhuan 敘傳, states: 朝為榮華, 夕而焦瘁. 焦瘁 is 憔瘁, ‘worn out by grief.’ ”
50 Wang Bing: “All the three yang vessels extend
upwards to the head. Hence, when the three yang vessels weaken, then the face
is all dried out and the hair begins to turn white. The reason for their
weakness lies in the nature of females. They have a surplus
51 Wang Bing: “The menstruation stops. This is called ‘the way of the earth is impassable.’
Both the thoroughfare and the controlling [vessel]
weaken. Hence, [the text]
states: the physical appearance is spoilt and a woman can
no longer have children.”
52 Gao Jiwu/236: “Guo Aichun-92 considers the three
characters 腎氣盛 to be a
later addition.”
53 Most Chinese authors interpret 陰陽和 as a reference to the sexual union of man
and woman. In contrast, the Japanese commentator 喜多村: “That is to say, in males,
with two times eight [years], yin and yang, that is, qi
and blood, are blended harmoniously.”
925 agrees.
54 Tanba: “Meng zi has 頒白. Zhao Qi 趙崎 commented: 頒 is 斑, ‘streaks.’ That is, half of the hair consists
of white streaks.” Zhang Yizhi et al.: “The Tai ping sheng hui fang 太平聖惠方, quoting [this
passage from the Su wen] does not have
the character 頒. Neither does the character 頒 appear in Wang Bing’s comment.”
55 A ccording to Ma Kanwen, the following text is “an example of obvious
disarrangement of the original bamboo strips.” He
suggests to insert here the two characters 八八 from further below. See Ma Kanwen p.11.
56 Wang Bing: “The qi of the liver nourishes the
sinews. [Now] the liver is weak, hence, the sinews can no longer move. The qi
of the kidneys nourishes the bones. [Now] the kidneys are weak, hence, the body
is extremely tired. The heaven gui is exhausted. Hence, only little
essence is left.” Zhang Yizhi et al.: “The Han shu 漢書, Xiong nu zhuan xia 匈奴傳下, states: 極 is 困, ‘distress.’ In a
commentary to the Lü shi chun qiu 呂氏春秋, Shi yin 適音, Gao You 高誘 stated: 極 is 病, ‘disease.’ ”
57 Wang Bing: “That is, the true qi allotted by heaven
is present in surplus from the very beginning.”
58 Wang Bing: “If one is old and begets children, the
age of the children will not exceed the numerical limits set by the heaven gui.” In contrast to Wang
Bing, most later commentators have interpreted the phrase “when the essence qi of heaven and earth are all exhausted” as characterizing the person who has children at a high age. 522/43
notices a contradiction here, because this same person is said to have a
surplus of kidney qi. On the basis of the meaning of “to
carry” attested for 竭 in the Shuo wen 說文 and other
sources, Guan Jisheng suggests a meaning of “load”, “stress” here:“males who
are beyond eight times eight, and females who are beyond seven times seven,
perceive reproduction as stress on their vigor.” See
also 772/34.
59 Wang Bing: “These are the so-called people who have
attained the Way.”
