昔在黃帝。生而神靈。弱而能言。幼而徇齊。長而敦敏。成而登天。[2]
Long ago, when the Yellow Emperor was born his shen was of extraordinary ability. At an early age he learned to talk, as a child he was quick-witted, and as he grew older he was honest and clever. When he came of age he assumed the position of Sky Child.[2]
迺問於天師曰。余聞上古之人。春秋皆度百歲。而動作不衰。今時之人。年半百而動作皆衰者。時世異耶。人將失之耶。
Whereupon he asked his Sky Teacher: I have heard that the people of early antiquity all lived past a hundred years and yet their able-bodiedness did not deteriorate; but the able-bodiedness of all people today deteriorates once they reach fifty. Is the world itself different now, or is it that people have lost something?
歧伯對曰。上古之人。其知道者。法於陰陽。和於術數。食飲有節。起居有常。不妄作勞。故能形與神俱。而盡終其天年。度百歲乃去。
Qi Bo replied: The early ancients’ understanding of dao was thus: they followed the laws of yin and yang, and remained in harmony with the arts of divination; they ate and drank according to schedule, and worked and rested with regularity, not exerting themselves haphazardly. Therefore they were able to integrate body and shen, and live out their Sky-appointed lifespans to the utmost, passing a hundred years of age before departing from the world.
今時之人不然也。以酒為漿。以妄為常。醉以入房。以欲竭其精。以耗散其真。不知持滿。不時御神。務快其心。逆於生樂。[3]起居無節。故半百而衰也。
People today are different. They treat wine as if it were water, and their haphazard ways have become the norm. Entering their quarters drunk, in their lust they use up their jing, and in their heedlessness they dissipate their zhen qi. They do not understand conservation, and they use their shen indiscriminately; they chase after fleeting desires to please their hearts, living contrary to the happiness of life;[3] and there is no schedule to their work and rest. Therefore they deteriorate after they reach fifty.
夫上古聖人之教下也。皆謂之[4]虛邪[5]賊風。避之有時。恬惔虛无。真氣從之。精神內守。病安從來。
In early antiquity, the common people all implemented the teachings of the Sages:[4] they avoided empty pathogens[5] and harmful winds at the proper times; they were calm and tranquil, and adhered to the principles of emptiness and nothingness; so their zhen qi was obedient, and their jing shen was preserved within. Where could disease possibly come from?
是以志閑而少欲。心安而不懼。形勞而不倦。氣從以順。各從其欲。皆得所願。故美其食。任其服。樂其俗。[6]高下不相慕。其民故曰朴。
Thus their minds were tranquil and their desires few; their hearts were peaceful and without fear. They worked their bodies without becoming fatigued, so their qi was obedient and thus in proper order. Each of them followed his or her desires, and all obtained what they wished. Therefore they found delight in their food, a sense of duty in their social roles, and joy in their customs.[6] The high and low in status did not envy each other. Therefore these people can be likened to uncarved wood.
是以嗜欲不能勞其目。淫邪不能惑其心。愚智賢不肖不懼於物。故合於道。所以能年皆度百歲。而動作不衰者。以其德全不危也。
Thus hankerings and desires were unable to overwork their eyes, and vices and evils were unable to perplex their hearts. Whether foolish or wise, saintly or lowly, they had no fear of worldly things, and thus they were in union with dao. The reason they were all able to pass a hundred years of age without deteriorating in able-bodiedness, is that their de was complete and unwavering.
帝曰。人年老而無子者。材力盡邪。將天數然也。
Emperor: When people grow old, they are unable to have children. Is this because their abilities have been exhausted, or because this is simply the natural order of things?
歧伯曰。女子七歲。[7]腎氣盛。齒更髮長。二七而天癸至。任脉通。太衝脉盛。月事以時下。故有子。三七。腎氣平均。故真牙生而長極。四七。筋骨堅。髮長極。身體盛壯。五七。陽明脉衰。面始焦。髮始墮。六七。三陽脉衰於上。面皆焦。髮始白。七七。任脉虛。太衝脉衰少。天癸竭。地道不通。[8]故形壞而無子也。
Qi Bo: When a girl reaches the age of seven,[7] her Kidney qi flourishes, her teeth change and her hair grows long. At two-sevens, the Sky Water arrives, her Ren vessel opens, her Great Chong vessel flourishes, and her menses come according to schedule, and therefore she can have children. At three-sevens, her Kidney qi levels off, and therefore her wisdom teeth appear and grow to their full size. At four-sevens, her sinews and bones become firm, her hair grows to its full length, and her body is at the height of robustness. At five-sevens, her Yangming vessel declines, her face begins to wither, and her hair begins to fall out. At six-sevens, the three yang vessels decline in the upper [part of the body], her face is completely withered, and her hair begins to lighten. At seven-sevens, her Ren vessel becomes empty, her Great Chong vessel declines and lessens, the Sky Water is all used up, and the Earth Passage is no longer open;[8] therefore her body falls ill and she cannot have children.
丈夫八歲。腎氣實。髮長齒更。二八。腎氣盛。天癸至。精氣溢寫。陰陽和。故能有子。三八。腎氣平均。筋骨勁強。故真牙生而長極。四八。筋骨隆盛。肌肉滿壯。五八。腎氣衰。髮墮齒槁。六八。陽氣衰竭於上。面焦髮鬢頒白。七八。肝氣衰。筋不能動。天癸竭。精少。腎藏衰。形體皆極。八八。則齒髮去。腎者主水。受五藏六府之精而藏之。故五藏盛。乃能寫。今五藏皆衰。筋骨解墮。天癸盡矣。故髮鬢白。身體重。行步不正。而無子耳。
When a boy reaches the age of eight, his Kidney qi is full, his hair grows and his teeth change. At two-eights, his Kidney qi flourishes, the Sky Water arrives, his jing-qi [i.e. semen] overflows and ejaculates, and yin and yang combine [during intercourse]; therefore he is able to have children. At three-eights, his Kidney qi levels off, his sinews and bones are powerful, and therefore his wisdom teeth grow and reach their full size. At four-eights, his sinews and bones are flourishing, and his muscles are at their full strength. At five-eights, his Kidney qi declines, his hair falls out and his teeth weaken. At six-eights, the yang qi is exhausted in the upper [part of the body], his face withers, and his hair and sideburns become spotted with gray or white. At seven-eights, his Liver qi declines, his sinews cannot move, the Sky Water is exhausted, the jing is scarce, his Kidney zang declines, and [the different components of] his physical body all reach their limit. At eight-eights, his teeth and hair fall out. The Kidney governs water, and receives the jing of the five zang and six fu and stores it; therefore, when the five zang are flourishing, a man is able to ejaculate. Now the five zang have all declined, the sinews and bones have come apart, and the Sky Water has been exhausted; therefore, his hair and sideburns become white, his body becomes heavy, his steps become uneven, and he cannot have children.
To be continued...
1. The Huangdi neijing suwen (Suwen for short) is one of the most ancient Chinese medical classics, comprising part of the Huangdi neijing (Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic) along with the Lingshu. Consisting of writings from a number of anonymous authors over a period of several centuries, it was first compiled in the 1st cen. BC (Han dynasty) and later edited, reorganized, annotated, and expanded by a Daoist named Wang Bing in the 8th cen. AD (Tang dynasty), and again edited by a team of scholars in the 11th cen. (Song dynasty) to form what today is considered the standard version. This present version likely contains material written from about the 3rd cen. BC to about the 11th cen. AD, but the bulk of it probably dates to the 1st cen. BC and earlier. The text on this page is based a modern replica of a Ming-dynasty reprinting of the standard Song-dynasty version: Huangdi neijing suwen 黄帝内经素问. Beijing: Renmin weisheng chubanshe, 1982. (go back)
2. Here 天 (tian, “Sky”) is generally interpreted as meaning “天子之位” (tian zi zhi wei, “the position of Sky Child”). Sky Child (tian zi 天子, usually translated as “Son of Heaven”) is a title that was customarily claimed by Chinese emperors. According to several commentaries, when compiler/editor Wang Bing reordered the chapters, he placed this chapter first and inserted this entire paragraph (previously not a part of this chapter) at the beginning. This paragraph is almost identical to a passage in the Shi ji 史記, the work of the great Han-dynasty historian Sima Qian (predating Wang Bing by several centuries). (go back)
3. “生樂”: Here sheng can be interpreted as referring to life—indeed, the people described here lived in a way that was directly contrary to life-nourishing (yangsheng) practices. It can also be interpreted as meaning “natural” or “unadulterated”—in other words, the happiness that comes from leading a life in accord with the natural order. Since, according to the view advocated in this passage, life-nourishing is in fact dependent on leading a life in accord with the natural order, these two interpretations agree with each other and need not be mutually exclusive.(go back)
4. “夫上古聖人之教下也。皆謂之” is an unusual sentence grammatically, and different commentators throughout the ages have come up with different speculations regarding the original words of this apparently adulterated passage. The discussion gets quite complicated, and I have chosen the interpretation that makes the most sense to me. The other main interpretation could be translated as: “In early antiquity, the sages all taught the common people, telling them: ...” For a relatively comprehensive discussion of this sentence, see: Zang, Shouhu 臧守虎. “‘Fu shanggu shengren zhi jiao xia ye, jie wei zhi’ ju jiaokan xinjian ‘夫上古圣人之教下也,皆谓之’句校勘新见.” Zhongyi wenxian zazhi 中医文献杂志 (2004, issue 2, pp. 23–24). (go back)
5. “虛邪” (“empty pathogens”): Described by commentators as either pathogens that invade a person whose qi is empty, or as essentially the same thing as “harmful winds.”(go back)
6. “故美其食。任其服。樂其俗。” Cf. Chapter 80 of the Dao de jing.(go back)
7. According to traditional Chinese age reckoning, a baby is already one year old at birth, and the age increases not with each birthday but with each lunar New Year. Therefore, “the age of seven” (七歲 qi sui) is really more like what the modern Western world knows as six years old. The same principle applies to all the ages in the passage that follows. (go back)
8. “the Earth Passage is no longer open”: Commentators explain this in various ways. Wang Bing says it means the menses come to an end. Zhang Zhicong says: “‘Earth Passage’ refers to the vessel-passage of the lower region [of the body]. [Chapter 20 of the Suwen], the ‘Treatise on the Three Regions and Nine Examinations,’ says: ‘The lower region corresponds to Earth, and to the Foot Shaoyin [Kidney channel].’ The [Sky] Water is stored in the Kidneys; when the Sky Water is all used up, this Foot Shaoyin vessel-passage of the lower region is no longer open.” (go back)