Biographies of Bian Que and the Duke of Cang

扁鵲者，勃海郡鄭人也，姓秦氏，名越人。少時為人舍長。舍客長桑君過，扁鵲獨奇之，常謹遇之。長桑君亦知扁鵲非常人也。出入十餘年，乃呼扁鵲私坐，閒與語曰：「我有禁方，年老，欲傳與公，公毋泄。」扁鵲曰：「敬諾。」乃出其懷中藥予扁鵲：「飲是以上池之水，三十日當知物矣。」乃悉取其禁方書盡與扁鵲。忽然不見，殆非人也。扁鵲以其言飲藥三十日，視見垣一方人。以此視病，盡見五藏癥結，特以診脈為名耳。為醫或在齊，或在趙。在趙者名扁鵲。

Bian Que was a native of Zheng in the Commandery of Bohai. His surname was Qin, and his given name was Yueren. In his youth, he served as the manager of a guesthouse. A guest named Lord Changsang once stayed at the lodging house. Bian Que alone recognized something extraordinary about him and always treated him with the utmost courtesy. Lord Changsang, for his part, also recognized that Bian Que was no ordinary man. After coming and going for over ten years, he called Bian Que to sit privately, and casually said to him: "I have secret prescriptions. I am old and wish to pass them to you, do not leak them." Bian Que said: "I respectfully accept." Then he took medicine from his bosom and gave it to Bian Que: "Drink this with water from an upper pond, after thirty days you will perceive things." He then took out all of his secret medical texts and gave every last one of them to Bian Que. Then he vanished without a trace—he was likely not a mortal being. Bian Que followed his instructions and drank the medicine for thirty days, after which he could see the people on the other side of a wall. He used this ability to examine the sick, perceiving every obstruction within the five organs, though he employed pulse diagnosis merely as a cover for his true method. He practiced medicine sometimes in Qi and sometimes in Zhao. When he was in Zhao, he went by the name Bian Que.

當晉昭公時，諸大夫彊而公族弱，趙簡子為大夫，專國事。簡子疾，五日不知人，大夫皆懼，於是召扁鵲。扁鵲入視病，出，董安于問扁鵲，扁鵲曰：「血脈治也，而何怪！昔秦穆公嘗如此，七日而寤。寤之日，告公孫支與子輿曰：『我之帝所甚樂。吾所以久者，適有所學也。帝告我：「晉國且大亂，五世不安。其後將霸，未老而死。霸者之子且令而國男女無別。」』公孫支書而藏之，秦策於是出。夫獻公之亂，文公之霸，而襄公敗秦師於殽而歸縱淫，此子之所聞。今主君之病與之同，不出三日必閒，閒必有言也。」

During the reign of Duke Zhao of Jin, the great ministers had grown powerful while the ducal house had weakened. Zhao Jianzi, who served as a minister, had taken sole command of the affairs of state. Jianzi fell gravely ill and lay unconscious for five days. The other ministers grew alarmed, and so they summoned Bian Que. Bian Que entered to examine the illness, then came out. Dong Anyu asked Bian Que, who said: "The blood vessels are in order, what is there to be surprised about! In the past, Duke Mu of Qin once suffered the same condition, and after seven days he awoke. On the day he awoke, he told Gongsun Zhi and Ziyv: "I was very happy in the emperor's place. The reason I was gone so long was that I had something yet to learn there. The emperor told me: "Jin state will soon have great chaos, five generations without peace. Afterward, your heir will rise to hegemony but will die before reaching old age. The hegemon's son will cause his state to have no distinction between men and women."" Gongsun Zhi wrote it all down and stored the record away, and from this the Stratagems of Qin came into being. The disorders under Duke Xian, the hegemony under Duke Wen, and Duke Xiang's defeat of the Qin army at Xiao followed by his return to indulge in excess—all of this is what you have already heard. Now my lord's illness is the same as his, within three days he must awaken, and when he awakens he will certainly have words."

居二日半，簡子寤，語諸大夫曰：「我之帝所甚樂，與百神游於鈞天，廣樂九奏萬舞，不類三代之樂，其聲動心。有一熊欲援我，帝命我射之，中熊，熊死。有羆來，我又射之，中羆，羆死。帝甚喜，賜我二笥，皆有副。吾見兒在帝側，帝屬我一翟犬，曰：『及而子之壯也以賜之。』帝告我：『晉國且世衰，七世而亡。嬴姓將大敗周人於范魁之西，而亦不能有也。』」董安于受言，書而藏之。以扁鵲言告簡子，簡子賜扁鵲田四萬畝。

After two and a half days, Jianzi awoke and spoke to the various ministers: "I was very happy in the emperor's place, wandering with the hundred spirits in the Grand Heaven, broad music with nine performances and myriad dances, unlike the music of the Three Dynasties, its sound moved the heart. A bear lunged at me, and the Emperor commanded me to shoot it. My arrow struck the bear, and it fell dead. Then a great brown bear came at me, and I shot it as well. My arrow struck true, and it too fell dead. The Emperor was greatly pleased and bestowed upon me two baskets, each with a matching pair. I saw a child at the emperor's side, the emperor entrusted me with a Di dog, saying: "When your son grows strong, grant it to him." The emperor told me: "Jin state will decline generation by generation, after seven generations it will perish. The Ying surname will greatly defeat the Zhou people west of Fan Kui, but will also not be able to possess it."" Dong Anyu received the words, wrote them and hid them, told Jianzi according to Bian Que's words, Jianzi granted Bian Que four thousand mu of fields. Afterward passing through Guo, the Guo crown prince died. Bian Que came to the Guo palace gate and asked the palace attendant Xi Fang: "What illness did the crown prince have, that the state's treatment was so elaborate beyond all other matters?"

其後扁鵲過虢。虢太子死，扁鵲至虢宮門下，問中庶子喜方者曰：「太子何病，國中治穰過於眾事？」中庶子曰：「太子病血氣不時，交錯而不得泄，暴發於外，則為中害。精神不能止邪氣，邪氣畜積而不得泄，是以陽緩而陰急，故暴蹷而死。」扁鵲曰：「其死何如時？」曰：「雞鳴至今。」曰：「收乎？」曰：「未也，其死未能半日也。」「言臣齊勃海秦越人也，家在於鄭，未嘗得望精光侍謁於前也。聞太子不幸而死，臣能生之。」中庶子曰：「先生得無誕之乎？何以言太子可生也！臣聞上古之時，醫有俞跗，治病不以湯液醴灑，鑱石撟引，案扤毒熨，一撥見病之應，因五藏之輸，乃割皮解肌，訣脈結筋，搦髓腦，揲荒爪幕，湔浣腸胃，漱滌五藏，練精易形。先生之方能若是，則太子可生也；不能若是而欲生之，曾不可以告咳嬰之兒。」終日，扁鵲仰天嘆曰：「夫子之為方也，若以管窺天，以郄視文。越人之為方也，不待切脈望色聽聲寫形，言病之所在。聞病之陽，論得其陰；聞病之陰，論得其陽。病應見於大表，不出千里，決者至眾，不可曲止也。子以吾言為不誠，試入診太子，當聞其耳鳴而鼻張，循其兩股以至於陰，當尚溫也。」

The palace attendant said: "The crown prince's illness was that his vital energies were irregular, entangled and could not be released, suddenly erupting outward, becoming internal harm. The spirit could not stop the evil energies, evil energies accumulated and could not be released, therefore yang was sluggish and yin was urgent, thus he suddenly collapsed and died." Bian Que said: "When did he die?" He said: "From cockcrow until now." He said: "Has he been encoffined?" He said: "Not yet, his death has not been half a day." The Zhao crown prince said: "I have heard that physicians are like Duke Mu of Qin and Duke Ping, do not go if not requested." Arriving in the state, he examined the crown prince and was shocked, saying: "The crown prince is not dead. Bian Que then had his disciple Ziyang sharpen the needle on stone, to take the outer three yang and five convergence points. After a while, the crown prince revived. Then he had Zibao make a five-part compress, mixed and boiled with an eight-reduction formula, to alternately compress both sides below the ribs. The crown prince sat up. He adjusted yin and yang, but after taking the decoction for twenty days he recovered as before. Therefore all under heaven considered Bian Que able to bring the dead back to life. Bian Que passed through Qi, Duke Huan of Qi hosted him. Entering court to see him, he said: "Your lordship has an illness in the skin texture, if not treated it will go deep." Duke Huan said: "I have no illness." Bian Que left, Duke Huan said to those at his sides: "Physicians love profit, wanting to claim merit with those who have no illness." Yueren's method of medicine did not require feeling the pulse, observing the complexion, listening to the voice, or examining the body to identify the location of a disease. Hearing the illness's yang, he discussed and obtained its yin; When he heard the hidden aspects of a disease, he could deduce its outward manifestations. The signs of a disease manifest on the body's surface, and his diagnoses proved accurate across a thousand li. The cases he resolved were innumerable, and his reputation could not be contained. You consider my words insincere, try entering to diagnose the crown prince, you should hear his ears ringing and nose flaring, following his two thighs to reach the yin, it should still be warm."

中庶子聞扁鵲言，目眩然而不瞚，舌撟然而不下，乃以扁鵲言入報虢君。虢君聞之大驚，出見扁鵲於中闕，曰：「竊聞高義之日久矣，然未嘗得拜謁於前也。先生過小國，幸而舉之，偏國寡臣幸甚。有先生則活，無先生則棄捐填溝壑，長終而不得反。」言末卒，因噓唏服臆，魂精泄橫，流涕長潸，忽忽承睫，悲不能自止，容貌變更。扁鵲曰：「若太子病，所謂『尸蹷』者也。夫以陽入陰中，動胃繵緣，中經維絡，別下於三焦、膀胱，是以陽脈下遂，陰脈上爭，會氣閉而不通，陰上而陽內行，下內鼓而不起，上外絕而不為使，上有絕陽之絡，下有破陰之紐，破陰絕陽，（之）色［已］廢脈亂，故形靜如死狀。太子未死也。夫以陽入陰支蘭藏者生，以陰入陽支蘭藏者死。凡此數事，皆五藏蹙中之時暴作也。良工取之，拙者疑殆。」

When the palace attendant heard Bian Que's words, his eyes went wide and did not blink, his tongue hung slack and would not retract. He then went inside to relay Bian Que's message to the Lord of Guo. The Guo ruler heard and was greatly shocked, came out to see Bian Que at the middle gate, saying: "I have secretly heard of your noble righteousness for a long time, yet never once obtained to bow and visit before you. That you, sir, should pass through our small state and deign to take up this matter—our remote kingdom and its humble ministers are most fortunate indeed. With sir then he lives, without sir then he is abandoned and thrown to fill the ravines and valleys, eternally ended and cannot return." Before the lord could finish speaking, he broke into heaving sobs, clutching his breast. His spirit seemed to drain from him, tears streamed unceasingly down his cheeks, brimming along his lashes, and his grief became so overwhelming that he could not restrain it. His very countenance was transformed. Bian Que said: "The crown prince's illness is what is called 'corpse convulsions.' What happened is that yang energy entered the yin regions, agitating the stomach and entangling the vessels. It passed through the central channels and connecting networks, then descended separately to the triple burner and the bladder. As a result, the yang pulses sank downward while the yin pulses surged upward in contention. Where the vital energies converged, they became blocked and could not circulate—yin rose while yang turned inward. Below, the inner organs churned without the strength to rise; above, the outer connections were severed and could not function. Above there were severed yang channels, below there were ruptured yin junctures. With yin broken and yang cut off, the complexion faded and the pulse fell into disorder. Thus the body lay still as though dead. The crown prince is not dead. When yang energy enters the yin branch vessels and reaches the organs, the patient lives; when yin energy enters the yang branch vessels and reaches the organs, the patient dies. All such cases arise from sudden seizures that occur when the five organs are thrown into spasm. Good craftsmen take it, clumsy ones doubt and hesitate."

扁鵲乃使弟子子陽厲鍼砥石，以取外三陽五會。有閒，太子蘇。乃使子豹為五分之熨，以八減之齊和煮之，以更熨兩脅下。太子起坐。更適陰陽，但服湯二旬而復故。故天下盡以扁鵲為能生死人。扁鵲曰：「越人非能生死人也，此自當生者，越人能使之起耳。」

Bian Que then had his disciple Ziyang hone a needle against a whetstone and apply it to the outer Three Yang and Five Convergence acupuncture points. After a short while, the crown prince revived. He then had Zibao prepare a five-part compress, blending and boiling it with an eight-reduction decoction, and applied the hot compresses alternately beneath both flanks. The crown prince sat up. He further regulated the balance of yin and yang, and after the prince took the medicinal broth for twenty days, he made a full recovery. And so all the world came to believe that Bian Que could raise the dead. Bian Que said: "Yue Ren cannot bring the dead to life, these are people who should live themselves, Yue Ren can only make them rise."

扁鵲過齊，齊桓侯客之。入朝見，曰：「君有疾在腠理，不治將深。」桓侯曰：「寡人無疾。」扁鵲出，桓侯謂左右曰：「醫之好利也，欲以不疾者為功。」後五日，扁鵲復見，曰：「君有疾在血脈，不治恐深。」桓侯曰：「寡人無疾。」扁鵲出，桓侯不悅。後五日，扁鵲復見，曰；「君有疾在腸胃閒，不治將深。」桓侯不應。扁鵲出，桓侯不悅。後五日，扁鵲復見，望見桓侯而退走。桓侯使人問其故。扁鵲曰：「疾之居腠理也，湯熨之所及也；在血脈，鍼石之所及也；其在腸胃，酒醪之所及也；其在骨髓，雖司命無柰之何。今在骨髓，臣是以無請也。」後五日，桓侯體病，使人召扁鵲，扁鵲已逃去。桓侯遂死。

Bian Que once passed through the state of Qi, and Marquis Huan of Qi received him as a guest. Entering court to see him, he said: "Your lordship has an illness in the skin texture, if not treated it will go deep." Duke Huan said: "I have no illness." Bian Que left, Duke Huan said to those at his sides: "Physicians love profit, wanting to claim merit with those who have no illness." After five days, Bian Que saw him again, saying: "Your lordship has an illness in the blood vessels, if not treated I fear it will go deep." Duke Huan said: "I have no illness." After Bian Que withdrew, the marquis was displeased. After five days, Bian Que saw him again, saying: "Your lordship has an illness in the space between intestines and stomach, if not treated it will go deep." The marquis made no reply. Once again Bian Que withdrew, and the marquis was displeased. Five days later, Bian Que came to see the marquis again, but the moment he caught sight of him, he turned and hurried away. The marquis sent someone to ask him why. Bian Que said: "When the illness resides in the skin texture, it is where soup compresses can reach; In the blood vessels, it is where needles and stones can reach; When it is in the intestines and stomach, it is where wine medicinals can reach; Once the disease has reached the bone marrow, even the god who governs fate can do nothing about it. Now it is in the bone marrow, therefore I have no request." Five days later, the marquis fell ill. He sent someone to summon Bian Que, but the physician had already fled. The marquis died soon after.

使聖人預知微，能使良醫得蚤從事，則疾可已，身可活也。人之所病，病疾多；而醫之所病，病道少。故病有六不治：驕恣不論於理，一不治也；輕身重財，二不治也；衣食不能適，三不治也；陰陽并，藏氣不定，四不治也；形羸不能服藥，五不治也；信巫不信醫，六不治也。有此一者，則重難治也。

If only the wise could perceive the subtle signs early and allow a skilled physician to intervene in time, then the disease could be cured and the patient's life could be saved. What people suffer from illness, illnesses and diseases are many; What physicians truly suffer from is that there are too few paths to healing. Therefore illnesses have six that are not treated: arrogant indulgence not discussed according to principle, first not treated; Lightening the body but valuing wealth heavily, second not treated; Clothing and food cannot be adapted, third not treated; Yin and yang confused, visceral energies not settled, fourth not treated; Body emaciated cannot take medicine, fifth not treated; The sixth is when the patient trusts shamans rather than physicians—such a person cannot be treated. If even one of these conditions applies, the case becomes exceedingly difficult to treat.

扁鵲名聞天下。過邯鄲，聞貴婦人，即為帶下醫；過雒陽，聞周人愛老人，即為耳目痹醫；來入咸陽，聞秦人愛小兒，即為小兒醫：隨俗為變。秦太醫令李醯自知伎不如扁鵲也，使人刺殺之。至今天下言脈者，由扁鵲也。

Bian Que's fame spread throughout the realm. Passing through Handan, hearing that noble women had ailments, he then became a physician for women's diseases; Passing through Luoyang, hearing that Zhou people loved the elderly, he then became a physician for ear and eye ailments; Coming to enter Xianyang, hearing that Qin people loved children, he then became a children's physician: following customs he changed. Li Xi, the Chief Physician of Qin, knew in his heart that his own skills could not match those of Bian Que. He sent someone to assassinate him. To this day, whenever anyone in the realm speaks of pulse diagnosis, it traces back to Bian Que.

太倉公者，齊太倉長，臨菑人也，姓淳于氏，名意。少而喜醫方術。高后八年，更受師同郡元里公乘陽慶。慶年七十餘，無子，使意盡去其故方，更悉以禁方予之，傳黃帝、扁鵲之脈書，五色診病，知人死生，決嫌疑，定可治，及藥論，甚精。受之三年，為人治病，決死生多驗。然左右行游諸侯，不以家為家，或不為人治病，病家多怨之者。

The Grand Granary Master was the director of the state granary of Qi. He was a native of Linzi, with the surname Chunyu and the given name Yi. From a young age, he took delight in the art and techniques of medicine. In the eighth year of Empress Gao's reign, he took on a new teacher: Yang Qing, a man of the Gongcheng rank from Yuanli in the same commandery. Qing was over seventy years old and had no sons. He made Yi discard all of his old prescriptions and in their place gave him every one of his secret formulas. He transmitted to Yi the pulse texts of the Yellow Emperor and Bian Que, the method of diagnosing illness through the five colors, the art of determining life and death, the resolution of ambiguous cases, the identification of treatable conditions, and the theory of pharmacology—all of it extraordinarily refined. After three years of study, when he treated patients, his predictions of life and death proved correct more often than not. Yet he wandered here and there among the feudal lords, never settling down at home, and at times refused to treat patients. Many families with sick members came to resent him for this.

文帝四年中，人上書言意，以刑罪當傳西之長安。意有五女，隨而泣。意怒，罵曰：「生子不生男，緩急無可使者！」於是少女緹縈傷父之言，乃隨父西。上書曰：「妾父為吏，齊中稱其廉平，今坐法當刑。妾切痛死者不可復生而刑者不可復續，雖欲改過自新，其道莫由，終不可得。妾願入身為官婢，以贖父刑罪，使得改行自新也。」書聞，上悲其意，此歲中亦除肉刑法。

In the fourth year of Emperor Wen's reign, someone submitted a memorial denouncing Yi, and as a result he was sentenced to corporal punishment and was to be transported west to Chang'an. Yi had five daughters, and they followed after him, weeping. Yi was angry, cursed saying: "Giving birth to children but not giving birth to males, in times of urgency there's no one to use!" His youngest daughter, Tiying, was pained by her father's words and followed him west. She submitted a memorial saying: "My father serves as official, in Qi he is called clean and fair, now convicted by law he should be punished. I am deeply grieved that the dead cannot be brought back to life and that those who have suffered mutilation can never be made whole again. Though they may wish to reform their ways and start anew, there is no path left to them, and such a chance can never be obtained. I wish to enter my body as an official slave, to redeem my father's punishment crime, so he may obtain to change his conduct and renew himself." When her memorial reached the throne, the emperor was moved by her devotion. In the course of that same year, he abolished the laws prescribing mutilating punishments.

意家居，詔召問所為治病死生驗者幾何人也，主名為誰。

When Yi was living at home, an imperial edict summoned him and asked how many patients he had treated whose outcomes of life and death he had accurately predicted, and what their names were.

詔問故太倉長臣意：「方伎所長，及所能治病者？有其書無有？皆安受學？受學幾何歲？嘗有所驗，何縣里人也？何病？醫藥已，其病之狀皆何如？具悉而對。」臣意對曰：

The edict asked the former granary director Minister Yi: "What are your medical arts skilled in, and what illnesses can you treat?" Do you have its books or not? Where did you all receive your studies? How many years did you receive study? What verifications have you had, what county and quarter people? What was the illness? After doctor and medicine, what was the condition of the illness like? Fully and completely answer." Minister Yi replied:

自意少時，喜醫藥，醫藥方試之多不驗者。至高后八年，得見師臨菑元里公乘陽慶。慶年七十餘，意得見事之。謂意曰：「盡去而方書，非是也。慶有古先道遺傳黃帝、扁鵲之脈書，五色診病，知人生死，決嫌疑，定可治，及藥論書，甚精。我家給富，心愛公，欲盡以我禁方書悉教公。」臣意即曰：「幸甚，非意之所敢望也。」臣意即避席再拜謁，受其脈書上下經、五色診、奇咳術、揆度陰陽外變、藥論、石神、接陰陽禁書，受讀解驗之，可一年所。明歲即驗之，有驗，然尚未精也。要事之三年所，即嘗已為人治，診病決死生，有驗，精良。今慶已死十年所，臣意年盡三年，年三十九歲也。

From the time I was young, I took delight in medicine, but the many remedies I tried in those days rarely proved effective. It was not until the eighth year of Empress Gao's reign that I was able to study under the master Yang Qing, a man of the Gongcheng rank from Yuanli in Linzi. Qing was over seventy years old, and I was permitted to attend and serve him. He said to Yi: "Completely abandon your prescription books, they are not this. Qing possessed the ancient teachings transmitted from antiquity: the pulse texts of the Yellow Emperor and Bian Que, the method of diagnosing illness through the five colors, the art of determining life and death, the resolution of ambiguous cases, the identification of treatable conditions, and treatises on pharmacology—all extraordinarily refined. My family is wealthy and comfortable, I love you in my heart, I desire to teach you all my secret prescription books completely." Minister Yi then said: "Very fortunate, not something Yi dared hope for." I then rose from my seat, prostrated myself twice in gratitude, and received from him the pulse texts of the Upper and Lower Classics, the Five-Color Diagnosis, the Art of Treating Unusual Coughs, the Measurement of External Changes in Yin and Yang, the Treatise on Pharmacology, the Divine Properties of Mineral Remedies, and the Forbidden Texts on the Union of Yin and Yang. I received, read, interpreted, and tested them over the course of approximately one year. The following year I put them to the test, and the results proved valid, though my skills were still far from refined. After roughly three years of intensive study, I began treating patients in earnest, diagnosing their illnesses and predicting life or death. My results were verified and had grown refined and reliable. It has now been about ten years since Qing's death. I have been studying for a full three years and am thirty-nine years of age.

齊侍御史成自言病頭痛，臣意診其脈，告曰：「君之病惡，不可言也。」即出，獨告成弟昌曰：「此病疽也，內發於腸胃之閒，後五日當擁腫，後八日嘔膿死。」成之病得之飲酒且內。成即如期死。所以知成之病者，臣意切其脈，得肝氣。肝氣濁而靜，此內關之病也。脈法曰「脈長而弦，不得代四時者，其病主在於肝。和即經主病也，代則絡脈有過」。經主病和者，其病得之筋髓里。其代絕而脈賁者，病得之酒且內。所以知其後五日而擁腫，八日嘔膿死者，切其脈時，少陽初代。代者經病，病去過人，人則去。絡脈主病，當其時，少陽初關一分，故中熱而膿未發也，及五分，則至少陽之界，及八日，則嘔膿死，故上二分而膿發，至界而擁腫，盡泄而死。熱上則熏陽明，爛流絡，流絡動則脈結發，脈結發則爛解，故絡交。熱氣已上行，至頭而動，故頭痛。

The Qi Imperial Secretary Cheng himself said he had headache illness, Minister Yi diagnosed his pulse, told him: "Your lordship's illness is serious, cannot be spoken of." Then he left, alone told Cheng's brother Chang: "This illness is a carbuncle, internally developing in the space between intestines and stomach, after five days it should swell and gather, after eight days vomit pus and die." Cheng's illness arose from excessive drinking and sexual indulgence. Cheng died precisely when predicted. The way I identified Cheng's illness was by feeling his pulse: I detected a liver energy pattern. The liver energy was turbid yet still—this is the disease called Inner Obstruction. The pulse method says "pulse long and tense, unable to substitute for the four seasons, the illness mainly resides in the liver. Harmony then the classic governs the illness, substitution then the network vessels have fault." When the primary channels govern a disease in its harmonious phase, the illness originates deep within the sinews and marrow. When there is intermittent cessation and the pulse surges, the illness arises from drinking and sexual indulgence. The reason I knew the swelling would develop after five days and that he would vomit pus and die after eight was that when I felt his pulse, the Lesser Yang channel had just begun to show intermittent cessation. Intermittent cessation signifies a disease of the primary channels. When the disease overwhelms the patient, the patient dies. The connecting vessels govern this disease. At that time, the Lesser Yang had just closed by one division, which is why there was internal heat but the pus had not yet formed. At five divisions it would reach the boundary of Lesser Yang, and after eight days he would vomit pus and die. Thus, at two divisions the pus erupted; at the boundary the swelling massed; and when the flow was fully discharged, he died. As the heat rose, it scorched the Yang Brightness channel, causing corruption to flow through the connecting vessels. When the corrupted connecting vessels were agitated, knotted eruptions formed in the pulse. Once these knotted eruptions burst, the corruption dissolved, and so the connecting vessels became entangled. The hot energy had already risen upward, reaching the head and stirring there, which caused the headaches.

齊王中子諸嬰兒小子病，召臣意診切其脈，告曰：「氣鬲病。病使人煩懣，食不下，時嘔沫。病得之（少）［心］憂，數忔食飲。」臣意即為之作下氣湯以飲之，一日氣下，二日能食，三日即病愈。所以知小子之病者，診其脈，心氣也，濁躁而經也，此絡陽病也。脈法曰「脈來數疾去難而不一者，病主在心」。周身熱，脈盛者，為重陽。重陽者，逿心主。故煩懣食不下則絡脈有過，絡脈有過則血上出，血上出者死。此悲心所生也，病得之憂也。

The Qi king's middle son Zhu Ying'er Xiaozi fell ill, summoned Minister Yi to diagnose and cut his pulse, told him: "Diaphragm energy illness. The illness caused the patient to feel agitated and suffocated, unable to keep food down, and at times he would vomit foam. The illness comes from heart sorrow, frequently sighing while eating and drinking." I prepared a Descending Energy Decoction for him to drink. After one day the energy subsided, after two days he could eat again, and by the third day the illness was cured. The way I identified the young man's illness was by reading his pulse—it revealed a heart energy pattern that was turbid and agitated yet still in the primary channel. This is the disease known as Connecting Yang. The pulse method says "pulse comes rapid and urgent goes difficult and not uniform, illness mainly at heart". Xingyang Yan's grandson's daughter suffered dizziness, diagnosed her and said: "Take medicine, illness will leave body warm, six days cured." Indeed as predicted cured. The reason I knew the girl's illness was diagnosing her pulse—liver energy, strong and substantial, this pulse method says "pulse comes substantial and strong, illness internal heat and deaf". Strong then mother has pregnancy, strong becomes heat, heat becomes deaf, deaf becomes dizzy, dizzy becomes classic reversal, classic reversal then deficient, ear deaf."

齊郎中令循病，眾醫皆以為蹙入中，而刺之。臣意診之，曰：「湧疝也，令人不得前後溲。」循曰：「不得前後溲三日矣。」臣意飲以火齊湯，一飲得前［后］溲，再飲大溲，三飲而疾愈。病得之內。所以知循病者，切其脈時，右口氣急，脈無五藏氣，右口脈大而數。數者中下熱而湧，左為下，右為上，皆無五藏應，故曰湧疝。中熱，故溺赤也。

Diagnosed her, six months pregnant. Pregnant six months, should solidify, autumn energy arrives and solidifies, solidifies then heat, heat then mute, mute then deaf, deaf then dizzy. Pregnant six months, you pregnant two months, remaining four months then mute, girl ill, pregnant three months then dizzy, pregnant three months then heat, heat becomes deaf, deaf becomes dizzy. Therefore mute becomes heat, heat becomes deaf, deaf becomes dizzy. Pregnant mother, her pulse strong and substantial, strong becomes heat, heat becomes mute, mute becomes deaf, deaf becomes dizzy, therefore woman's pulse should be strong, strong becomes heat, heat becomes mute, mute becomes deaf, deaf becomes dizzy. The way I identified Xun's illness was that when I felt his pulse, the energy at the right wrist was urgent, the pulse showed no response from the five organs, and the right wrist pulse was large and rapid. A rapid pulse indicates heat in the middle and lower regions with surging energy—the left pulse corresponds to the lower body, the right to the upper. Since neither showed any response from the five organs, the diagnosis was Surging Hernia. The internal heat caused the urine to turn red.

齊中御府長信病，臣意入診其脈，告曰：「熱病氣也。然暑汗，脈少衰，不死。」曰：「此病得之當浴流水而寒甚，已則熱。」信曰：「唯，然！往冬時，為王使於楚，至莒縣陽周水，而莒橋梁頗壞，信則擥車轅未欲渡也，馬驚，即墮，信身入水中，幾死，吏即來救信，出之水中，衣盡濡，有閒而身寒，已熱如火，至今不可以見寒。」臣意即為之液湯火齊逐熱，一飲汗盡，再飲熱去，三飲病已。即使服藥，出入二十日，身無病者。所以知信之病者，切其脈時，并陰。脈法曰「熱病陰陽交者死」。切之不交，并陰。并陰者，脈順清而愈，其熱雖未盡，猶活也。腎氣有時閒濁，在太陰脈口而希，是水氣也。腎固主水，故以此知之。失治一時，即轉為寒熱。

Qi's central imperial storehouse director Xin fell ill, Minister Yi entered and diagnosed his pulse, told him: "Heat illness energy. But summer sweat, pulse slightly declines, will not die." He said: "This illness comes from bathing in flowing water and extreme cold, afterward then heat." Xin said: "Yes, indeed! In winter, serving as king's envoy to Chu, reaching Ju county Yangzhou waters, and the Ju bridge piers quite damaged, Xin then grasped the carriage shaft not wanting to cross, horse startled, then fell, Xin's body entered the water, nearly died, officials then came to save Xin, pulled him out of the water, clothes all soaked, after interval body cold, then hot like fire, until now cannot see cold." I then prepared a Liquid Decoction with a Fire Formula to drive out the heat. After one dose, the sweating ceased entirely; after the second, the heat subsided; and after the third, the illness was cured. I then had him continue taking medicine, and after roughly twenty days of treatment, his body was free of illness. The way I identified Xin's illness was that when I felt his pulse, I found Concurrent Yin. The pulse method says "heat illness where yin and yang intersect, dies". When I felt the pulse, it did not alternate—it was Concurrent Yin. In the case of Concurrent Yin, the pulse runs smooth and clear, and recovery follows. Though the heat may not have fully dissipated, the patient will survive. The kidney energy was at times intermittently turbid, appearing at the Taiyin pulse point but sparse—this indicated a condition of Water Energy. Since the kidneys inherently govern water, I was able to identify the condition from this. If treatment were missed even once, the condition would turn into alternating chills and fever.

齊王太后病，召臣意入診脈，曰：「風癉客脬，難於大小溲，溺赤。」臣意飲以火齊湯，一飲即前後溲，再飲病已，溺如故。病得之流汗出循。循者，去衣而汗晞也。所以知齊王太后病者，臣意診其脈，切其太陰之口，溼然風氣也。脈法曰「沈之而大堅，浮之而大緊者，病主在腎」。腎切之而相反也，脈大而躁。大者，膀胱氣也；躁者，中有熱而溺赤。

Qi king's queen mother fell ill, summoned Minister Yi to enter and diagnose pulse, said: "Wind seizure guest bladder, difficult with large small urination, urine red." Minister Yi then moxibusted her foot shaoyin pulse, left and right each one place, illness quickly cured. Illness comes from drinking wine and sexual excess, wine descends into stomach, energy heat ascends from stomach to face, from face to head, heat ascends, heat ascends then pulse ascends, flows into brain, brain receives heat and becomes seizure. Heat enters center, upper burner stagnant, lower burner hot, stagnant again ascends, reaches hand taiyin, enters bladder, bladder permeated astringent, enters bladder, heat then urine red, cold then urine white. Minister Yi went to diagnose pulse, following to taiyin's place, diagnosed saying: "Heat." Minister Yi then cooled her body in water, heat exhausted then stopped, urination normal, urination as before. Illness cured, stopped. Minister Yi then arose and further made pulse method: Pulse examination method says: "Heat illness sometimes acts, sometimes goes sometimes comes, sometimes happy sometimes angry, sometimes high sometimes low, pulse agitated dies.

齊章武里曹山跗病，臣意診其脈，曰：「肺消癉也，加以寒熱。」即告其人曰：「死，不治。適其共養，此不當醫治。」法曰「後三日而當狂，妄起行，欲走；後五日死」。即如期死。山跗病得之盛怒而以接內。所以知山跗之病者，臣意切其脈，肺氣熱也。脈法曰「不平不鼓，形獘」。此五藏高之遠數以經病也，故切之時不平而代。不平者，血不居其處；代者，時參擊并至，乍躁乍大也。此兩絡脈絕，故死不治。所以加寒熱者，言其人尸奪。尸奪者，形獘；形獘者，不當關灸鑱石及飲毒藥也。臣意未往診時，齊太醫先診山跗病，灸其足少陽脈口，而飲之半夏丸，病者即泄注，腹中虛；又灸其少陰脈，是壞肝剛絕深，如是重損病者氣，以故加寒熱。所以後三日而當狂者，肝一絡連屬結絕乳下陽明，故絡絕，開陽明脈，陽明脈傷，即當狂走。後五日死者，肝與心相去五分，故曰五日盡，盡即死矣。

Qi Zhangwu quarter Cao Shanfu fell ill, Minister Yi diagnosed his pulse and said: "Lung wasting seizure, plus alternating cold and heat." Then he told his family: "He will die, cannot be treated. Adjust his shared care, this should not be medically treated." The law says "after three days he will certainly go mad, wildly rise and walk, wanting to run; He will die within five days." He died precisely on schedule. Shanfu's illness arose from extreme anger combined with sexual indulgence. The way I identified Shanfu's illness was by feeling his pulse—the lung energy was hot. The pulse law says "not level not drumming, form withered". This was a case where the five organs had grown elevated, causing a distant and rapid pulse pattern associated with a disease of the primary channels. Therefore, when I felt the pulse, it was irregular with intermittent cessations. Not level means blood does not reside in its place; Intermittent cessation in this case meant that at times the pulses struck in clusters, arriving together—now agitated, now surging. Both of these connecting vessels had been severed, and so the patient died—the case was beyond treatment. The reason his condition worsened into alternating chills and fever was that his body had been seized by a Corpse Deprivation syndrome. Corpse deprivation means form withered; When the body is so wasted, one should not apply moxibustion, acupuncture, or mineral remedies, nor administer strong medicines. When Minister Yi had not yet gone to diagnose, the Qi chief physician first diagnosed Shanfu's illness, moxibusted his foot shaoyang pulse mouth, and had him drink banxia pills, the patient then had diarrhea and leakage, abdomen internally empty; Furthermore, they applied moxibustion to his Shaoyin channel, which damaged the liver's tendon connection and severed it deep within. This inflicted severe harm on the patient's vital energy, which is why the alternating chills and fever worsened. The reason he would go mad after three days was that one of the liver's connecting vessels links to and ties off at the Yang Brightness channel below the nipple. When this connecting vessel was severed, it opened a pathway into the Yang Brightness channel. Once the Yang Brightness channel was injured, the patient would inevitably run about in a frenzy. The reason he would die after five days was that the liver and the heart are separated by five divisions. Therefore I said that in five days the energy would be exhausted, and once exhausted, he would die.

齊中尉潘滿如病少腹痛，臣意診其脈，曰：「遺積瘕也。」臣意即謂齊太仆臣饒、內史臣繇曰：「中尉不復自止於內，則三十日死。」後二十餘日，溲血死。病得之酒且內。所以知潘滿如病者，臣意切其脈深小弱，其卒然合合也，是脾氣也。右脈口氣至緊小，見瘕氣也。以次相乘，故三十日死。三陰俱摶者，如法；不俱摶者，決在急期；一摶一代者，近也。故其三陰摶，溲血如前止。

Qi Colonel Pan Manru fell ill with lower abdomen pain, Minister Yi diagnosed his pulse and said: "Abandoned accumulation abdominal mass." Minister Yi then told Qi Grand Coachman Minister Rao, Interior Minister Minister You: "The Colonel will not again be able to control himself internally, thus will die in thirty days." After more than twenty days, he passed blood in his urine and died. The illness arose from excessive drinking and sexual indulgence. The way I identified Pan Manru's illness was by feeling his pulse: it was deep, small, and weak, contracting abruptly in a clenching pattern—this was a sign of spleen energy. The energy at the right wrist pulse was extremely tight and small, revealing the presence of an abdominal mass. With each organ being overwhelmed by the next in succession, death would come in thirty days. Three yin all knotted means, like the law; Not all knotted means, decided at urgent period; When the pulse alternates between one knotted beat and one skipped beat, death is near. Therefore, when all three yin pulses became knotted, the blood in the urine ceased just as before.

陽虛侯相趙章病，召臣意。眾醫皆以為寒中，臣意診其脈曰：「迵風。」迵風者，飲食下嗌而輒出不留。法曰「五日死」，而後十日乃死。病得之酒。所以知趙章之病者，臣意切其脈，脈來滑，是內風氣也。飲食下嗌而輒出不留者，法五日死，皆為前分界法。後十日乃死，所以過期者，其人嗜粥，故中藏實，中藏實故過期。師言曰「安穀者過期，不安穀者不及期」。

Zhao Zhang, the chancellor of the Marquis of Yangxu, fell ill and summoned me. All doctors considered it cold center, Minister Yi diagnosed his pulse and said: "Straight wind." Penetrating Wind is a condition in which food and drink pass down the throat but are immediately expelled, unable to remain in the body. The law says "five days die", but after ten days then died. The illness arose from excessive drinking. The way I identified Zhao Zhang's illness was by feeling his pulse: it came slippery, indicating internal Wind Energy. When food and drink pass down the throat but are immediately expelled and cannot be retained, the standard prognosis is death within five days—this follows the method of boundary demarcation. He did not die until ten days had passed. The reason he outlived the prediction was that he was fond of congee, which kept his internal organs nourished. Because his organs remained nourished, he exceeded the expected time. The master said "Those who settle grain exceed the period, those who do not settle grain do not reach the period".

濟北王病，召臣意診其脈，曰：「風蹶胸滿。」即為藥酒，盡三石，病已。得之汗出伏地。所以知濟北王病者，臣意切其脈時，風氣也，心脈濁。病法「過入其陽，陽氣盡而陰氣入」。陰氣入張，則寒氣上而熱氣下，故胸滿。汗出伏地者，切其脈，氣陰。陰氣者，病必入中，出及瀺水也。

Jibei King fell ill, summoned Minister Yi to diagnose his pulse, said: "Wind reversal chest fullness." I prepared a medicinal wine for him, and after he had consumed three dan of it, his illness was cured. He contracted the illness from sweating while lying face down on the ground. The way I identified the King of Jibei's illness was that when I felt his pulse, I found a Wind Energy pattern and the heart pulse was turbid. Illness law "excess enters its yang, yang energy exhausted then yin energy enters". When yin energy enters and expands, cold energy rises while hot energy sinks, which causes a sensation of fullness in the chest. That the illness came from sweating while prostrate on the ground was confirmed when I felt his pulse—the energy was yin. When yin energy predominates, the illness inevitably penetrates deep into the body's interior and manifests outwardly as dribbling urine.

齊北宮司空命婦出於病，眾醫皆以為風入中，病主在肺，刺其足少陽脈。臣意診其脈，曰：「病氣疝，客於膀胱，難於前後溲，而溺赤。病見寒氣則遺溺，使人腹腫。」出於病得之欲溺不得，因以接內。所以知出於病者，切其脈大而實，其來難，是蹶陰之動也。脈來難者，疝氣之客於膀胱也。腹之所以腫者，言蹶陰之絡結小肮也。蹶陰有過則脈結動，動則腹腫。臣意即灸其足蹶陰之脈，左右各一所，即不遺溺而溲清，小肮痛止。即更為火齊湯以飲之，三日而疝氣散，即愈。

The wife of the Director of Works at the Northern Palace in Qi developed a prolapse condition. The other physicians all believed that wind had entered the body and that the disease was centered in the lungs, so they needled her Foot Shaoyang channel. Minister Yi diagnosed her pulse and said: "Illness energy hernia, guest at bladder, difficult with front back urination, urine red. Illness seeing cold energy then incontinence, makes a person's abdomen swell." The prolapse condition arose from being unable to urinate despite the urge, compounded by sexual indulgence. The way I identified the prolapse condition was that her pulse was large and solid, arriving with difficulty—this is the characteristic movement of the Jueyin channel. When the pulse arrives with difficulty, it indicates hernia energy lodged in the bladder. The reason for the abdominal swelling was that the Jueyin connecting vessel had knotted around the small intestine. When the Jueyin channel is in excess, the pulse becomes knotted and agitated; when it is agitated, the abdomen swells. I applied moxibustion to the Foot Jueyin channel, one point on each side. The incontinence ceased, her urine ran clear, and the pain in the lower abdomen subsided. I then prepared a Fire Formula Decoction for her to drink, and after three days the hernia energy dispersed and she was cured.

故濟北王阿母自言足熱而懣，臣意告曰：「熱蹶也。」則刺其足心各三所，案之無出血，病旋已。病得之飲酒大醉。

Therefore Jibei King's wet nurse herself said feet hot and oppressed, Minister Yi told her: "Heat reversal." I then needled the center of each foot in three places, pressing afterward so that no blood issued forth. The illness was quickly cured. The illness had arisen from becoming severely intoxicated.

濟北王召臣意診脈諸女子侍者，至女子豎，豎無病。臣意告永巷長曰：「豎傷脾，不可勞，法當春嘔血死。」臣意言王曰：「才人女子豎何能？」王曰：「是好為方，多伎能，為所是案法新，往年市之民所，四百七十萬，曹偶四人。」王曰：「得毋有病乎？」臣意對曰：「豎病重，在死法中。」王召視之，其顏色不變，以為不然，不賣諸侯所。至春，豎奉劍從王之廁，王去，豎後，王令人召之，即仆於廁，嘔血死。病得之流汗。流汗者，（同）法病內重，毛發而色澤，脈不衰，此亦（關）內［關］之病也。

The King of Jibei summoned me to examine the pulses of his female attendants. When I came to the woman named Shu, she showed no illness. Minister Yi told the rear palace director: "Shu injured spleen, cannot labor, by law should vomit blood and die in spring." Minister Yi spoke to the king: "The talented woman Shu what is she able to do?" The king said: "This one is good at methods, many skills and abilities, becomes what is approved by law as new, from the previous year market among the people, four hundred seventy thousand, Cao Ou four people." The king said: "Does she not have illness?" Minister Yi replied: "Shu's illness is heavy, within the death laws." The king summoned her for inspection, but since her complexion had not changed, he thought my diagnosis was wrong and did not sell her to another lord's household. When spring came, Shu was carrying a sword and following the king to the privy. The king left, and Shu fell behind. When the king sent someone to summon her, they found that she had collapsed in the privy, vomiting blood, and was dead. The illness arose from profuse sweating. Flowing sweat means, by law illness internal heavy, hair issues yet complexion lustrous, pulse not declining, this is also barrier internal barrier illness.

齊中大夫病齲齒，臣意灸其左大陽明脈，即為苦參湯，日嗽三升，出入五六日，病已。得之風，及臥開口，食而不嗽。

A palace grandee of Qi was suffering from tooth decay. I applied moxibustion to his left Greater Yang Brightness channel, then prepared a Bitter Sophora Decoction. He gargled with three sheng per day, and after five or six days of treatment the ailment was cured. The condition had come from exposure to wind, sleeping with the mouth open, and eating without rinsing the mouth afterward.

菑川王美人懷子而不乳，來召臣意。臣意往，飲以莨碭藥一撮，以酒飲之，旋乳。臣意復診其脈，而脈躁。躁者有餘病，即飲以消石一齊，出血，血如豆比五六枚。

A consort of the King of Zichuan was pregnant but unable to produce milk, and so I was summoned. I went to her and administered a pinch of langdang medicine dissolved in wine. She promptly began to produce milk. I examined her pulse again and found it still agitated. An agitated pulse indicates a residual illness. I gave her one dose of a mineral salt formula, and she expelled blood—five or six clots the size of beans.

齊丞相舍人奴從朝入宮，臣意見之食閨門外，望其色有病氣。臣意即告宦者平。平好為脈，學臣意所，臣意即示之舍人奴病，告之曰：「此傷脾氣也，當至春鬲塞不通，不能食飲，法至夏泄血死。」宦者平即往告相曰：「君之舍人奴有病，病重，死期有日。」相君曰：「卿何以知之？」曰：「君朝時入宮，君之舍人奴盡食閨門外，平與倉公立，即示平曰，病如是者死。」相即召舍人（奴）而謂之曰：「公奴有病不？」舍人曰：「奴無病，身無痛者。」至春果病，至四月，泄血死。所以知奴病者，脾氣周乘五藏，傷部而交，故傷脾之色也，望之殺然黃，察之如死青之茲。眾醫不知，以為大蟲，不知傷脾。所以至春死病者，胃氣黃，黃者土氣也，土不勝木，故至春死。所以至夏死者，脈法曰「病重而脈順清者曰內關」，內關之病，人不知其所痛，心急然無苦。若加以一病，死中春；一愈順，及一時。其所以四月死者，診其人時愈順。愈順者，人尚肥也。奴之病得之流汗數出，（灸）［炙］於火而以出見大風也。

A servant in the retinue of the Chancellor of Qi was on his way from court into the palace. I happened to see him eating outside the inner gate and noticed from his complexion that he bore the signs of illness. I informed the eunuch Ping of what I had observed. Ping was good at pulse, studied under Minister Yi, Minister Yi then showed him the retainer slave's illness, told him: "This injures spleen energy, should reach spring diaphragm blocked not through, cannot eat and drink, by law reach summer bleed blood and die." Eunuch Ping then went to tell the chancellor: "Your lordship's retainer slave has illness, illness heavy, death period has days." The chancellor said: "How do you know it?" He said: "Your lordship morning time entered palace, your lordship's retainer slaves all eating outside the palace gate, Ping and Cang Gong stood, then showed Ping saying, illness like this dies." The chancellor then summoned the retainer slave and said to him: "Do you have illness or not?" The retainer said: "Slave has no illness, body has no pain." When spring came, the servant indeed fell ill, and by the fourth month he was bleeding profusely and died. The way I identified the servant's illness was that the spleen energy had overwhelmed all five organs, damaging each in turn as it crossed between them. This injured the spleen's characteristic color: from a distance it appeared a sickly yellow, and on close examination it took on the livid hue of deathly blue-green. The other physicians failed to recognize the condition and diagnosed it as a parasitic worm, not realizing that the spleen had been injured. The reason the fatal illness arrived in spring was that the stomach energy was yellow, and yellow corresponds to the element of earth. Earth cannot overcome wood, and since spring is the season of wood, the patient died at that time. The reason reaching summer dies is pulse law says "illness heavy yet pulse smooth clear called inner barrier", inner barrier illness, person does not know its painful place, heart urgently yet no suffering. If adding one illness, dies in mid-spring; One sign of smooth recovery extends the prognosis by one season. The reason he died in the fourth month was that when I examined him, his condition still appeared to be running its smooth course. That the condition appeared smooth meant simply that the man was still well-nourished. The slave's illness came from flowing sweat frequently out, roasted by fire and with going out saw great wind.

菑川王病，召臣意診脈，曰：「蹶上為重，頭痛身熱，使人煩懣。」臣意即以寒水拊其頭，刺足陽明脈，左右各三所，病旋已。病得之沐發未乾而臥。診如前，所以蹶，頭熱至肩。

Zaichuan King fell ill, summoned Minister Yi to diagnose pulse, said: "Reversal upward is heavy, headache body hot, makes person vexed and oppressed." I applied cold water to his head and needled the Foot Yang Brightness channel at three points on each side. The illness was quickly cured. The illness had arisen from going to sleep with his hair still wet after washing. The diagnosis was as before: the cause was a reversal of energy, with heat in the head extending down to the shoulders.

齊王黃姬兄黃長卿家有酒召客，召臣意。諸客坐，未上食。臣意望見王后弟宋建，告曰：「君有病，往四五日，君要脅痛不可俛仰，又不得小溲。不亟治，病即入濡腎。及其未舍五藏，急治之。病方今客腎濡，此所謂『腎痹』也。」宋建曰：「然，建故有要脊痛。往四五日，天雨，黃氏諸倩見建家京下方石，即弄之，建亦欲效之，效之不能起，即復置之。暮，要脊痛，不得溺，至今不愈。」建病得之好持重。所以知建病者，臣意見其色，太陽色乾，腎部上及界要以下者枯四分所，故以往四五日知其發也。臣意即為柔湯使服之，十八日所而病愈。

Huang Changqing, the brother of the King of Qi's consort Huang Ji, held a wine banquet at his home and invited guests, including myself. The guests were all seated, though the food had not yet been served. Minister Yi caught sight of the queen's younger brother Song Jian and told him: "You have illness, in four or five days, your waist and ribs will pain so you cannot bend or straighten, and you will not be able to urinate. If not treated urgently, the illness would penetrate into the kidneys. While the disease has not yet settled in the five organs, it must be treated at once. The illness is currently guesting in the moist kidney, this is what is called 'kidney blockage.' Song Jian said: "Yes, Jian indeed had waist and spine pain. Four or five days earlier, it had rained. The women of the Huang family caught sight of a large square stone in Jian's courtyard and amused themselves by lifting it. Jian tried to imitate them but could not straighten up after lifting, so he set the stone back down. In the evening, waist and spine pain, could not urinate, until now not cured." Jian's illness arose from his fondness for lifting heavy objects. The way I identified Jian's illness was by observing his complexion: the Taiyang region was dry, and the kidney zone from above the waist boundary down to below it appeared withered over an area of about four divisions. From this I knew the condition had erupted four or five days earlier. I prepared a Softening Decoction for him to drink, and after roughly eighteen days his illness was cured.

濟北王侍者韓女病要背痛，寒熱，眾醫皆以為寒熱也。臣意診脈，曰：「內寒，月事不下也。」即竄以藥，旋下，病已。病得之欲男子而不可得也。所以知韓女之病者，診其脈時，切之，腎脈也，嗇而不屬。嗇而不屬者，其來難，堅，故曰月不下。肝脈弦，出左口，故曰欲男子不可得也。

Han Nv, an attendant of the King of Jibei, fell ill with pain in her lower back and alternating chills and fever. The other physicians all diagnosed her condition as simply alternating chills and fever. Minister Yi diagnosed the pulse and said: "Internal cold, monthly affairs not descending." I administered the medicine by means of a suppository, and it brought immediate expulsion. The illness was cured. The illness had arisen from sexual desire that went unfulfilled. The way I identified Han Nv's illness was by reading her pulse: it showed a kidney pattern, constricted and discontinuous. A constricted, discontinuous pulse means the pulse arrives with difficulty and feels firm—this indicates that the menses have stopped. The liver pulse was taut, presenting at the left wrist—this indicated sexual longing that had gone unfulfilled.

臨菑氾里女子薄吾病甚，眾醫皆以為寒熱篤，當死，不治。臣意診其脈，曰：「蟯瘕。」蟯瘕為病，腹大，上膚黃麤，循之戚戚然。臣意飲以芫華一撮，即出蟯可數升，病已，三十日如故。病蟯得之於寒溼，寒溼氣宛篤不發，化為蟲。臣意所以知薄吾病者，切其脈，循其尺，其尺索刺麤，而毛美奉發，是蟲氣也。其色澤者，中藏無邪氣重病。

A woman named Bo Wu from Fanli in Linzi was gravely ill. The other physicians all considered her condition to be a severe case of alternating chills and fever, and they declared she would die and could not be treated. Minister Yi diagnosed her pulse and said: "Pinworm abdominal mass." The illness was a pinworm-induced abdominal mass: her belly was distended, and the skin over it was yellow and coarse, tender to the touch. I had her drink a pinch of daphne flower medicine, and she expelled several sheng of pinworms. The illness was cured, and within thirty days she was fully restored to her former health. The pinworm condition arose from cold dampness. When cold, damp energy accumulates and stagnates without being discharged, it transforms into worms. The way I identified Bo Wu's illness was by feeling her pulse and examining her chi position: the chi pulse felt ropy, stabbing, and coarse, yet her body hair was luxuriant and flourishing—this is a sign of worm energy. The healthy luster of her complexion indicated that her internal organs had not been invaded by any serious pathogenic energy.

齊淳于司馬病，臣意切其脈，告曰：「當病迵風。迵風之狀，飲食下嗌輒後之。病得之飽食而疾走。」淳于司馬曰：「我之王家食馬肝，食飽甚，見酒來，即走去，驅疾至舍，即泄數十出。」臣意告曰：「為火齊米汁飲之，七八日而當愈。」時醫秦信在旁，臣意去，信謂左右閣都尉曰：「意以淳于司馬病為何？」曰：「以為迵風，可治。」信即笑曰：「是不知也。淳于司馬病，法當後九日死。」即後九日不死，其家復召臣意。臣意往問之，盡如意診。臣即為一火齊米汁，使服之，七八日病已。所以知之者，診其脈時，切之，盡如法。其病順，故不死。

Qi Chunyu Sima fell ill, Minister Yi cut his pulse and told him: "Should fall ill with straight wind. The symptoms of Penetrating Wind are that food and drink pass down the throat but are promptly expelled. Illness comes from eating full and running quickly." Chunyu Sima said: "I at the king's home ate horse liver, ate very full, saw wine come, then went walking, drove quickly to quarters, then leaked dozens of times." Minister Yi told him: "Make fire elixir rice juice to drink it, in seven or eight days should be cured." At the time doctor Qin Xin was at the side, Minister Yi left, Xin told the left and right deputy colonel: "Yi considers Chunyu Sima's illness to be what?" He said: "Considers it straight wind, can treat." Xin then laughed and said: "This is not knowing. Chunyu Sima's illness, by law should die after nine days." Nine days later, however, he had not died, and his family summoned me again. I went and examined him, and everything was exactly as I had diagnosed. I then prepared a Fire Formula Rice Broth and had him drink it. After seven or eight days, the illness was cured. The way I identified the condition was that when I felt his pulse, the readings corresponded exactly with the textbook patterns. His illness was following a favorable course, and so he did not die.

齊中郎破石病，臣意診其脈，告曰：「肺傷，不治，當後十日丁亥溲血死。」即後十一日，溲血而死。破石之病，得之墮馬僵石上。所以知破石之病者，切其脈，得肺陰氣，其來散，數道至而不一也。色又乘之。所以知其墮馬者，切之得番陰脈。番陰脈入虛里，乘肺脈。肺脈散者，固色變也乘也。所以不中期死者，師言曰：「病者安穀即過期，不安穀則不及期」。其人嗜黍，黍主肺，故過期。所以溲血者，診脈法曰「病養喜陰處者順死，養喜陽處者逆死」。其人喜自靜，不躁，又久安坐，伏几而寐，故血下泄。

Qi central colonel Po Shi fell ill, Minister Yi diagnosed his pulse and told him: "Lung injured, cannot treat, should after ten days Dinghai urinate blood and die." Eleven days later, he passed blood in his urine and died. The illness of the man called Po Shi arose from falling off a horse and landing rigidly on a stone. The way I identified Po Shi's illness was by feeling his pulse: I detected a yin energy pattern in the lungs, arriving in a scattered fashion along several pathways without unifying. His complexion also confirmed the diagnosis. The reason I knew he had fallen from a horse was that when I felt his pulse, I detected a Reversed Yin pattern. The Reversed Yin pulse enters the Vacuity Interior point and overwhelms the lung pulse. When the lung pulse becomes scattered, the complexion inevitably changes as the condition intensifies. The reason not mid-period died is master said: "Illness people settle grain then exceed period, not settle grain then not reach period". The patient was fond of millet, and since millet corresponds to the lungs, this sustained him beyond the predicted time. The reason urinated blood is diagnose pulse law says "illness raising likes yin place smooth dies, raising likes yang place contrary dies". The man was fond of solitude and calm, never agitated. Moreover, he sat still for long periods, resting his head on a table to sleep. Because of this, the blood leaked downward.

齊王侍醫遂病，自練五石服之。臣意往過之，遂謂意曰：「不肖有病，幸診遂也。」臣意即診之，告曰：「公病中熱。論曰『中熱不溲者，不可服五石』。石之為藥精悍，公服之不得數溲，亟勿服。色將發臃。」遂曰：「扁鵲曰『陰石以治陰病，陽石以治陽病』。夫藥石者有陰陽水火之齊，故中熱，即為陰石柔齊治之；中寒，即為陽石剛齊治之。」臣意曰：「公所論遠矣。扁鵲雖言若是，然必審診，起度量，立規矩，稱權衡，合色脈表裏有餘不足順逆之法，參其人動靜與息相應，乃可以論。論曰『陽疾處內，陰形應外者，不加悍藥及鑱石』。夫悍藥入中，則邪氣辟矣，而宛氣愈深。診法曰『二陰應外，一陽接內者，不可以剛藥』。剛藥入則動陽，陰病益衰，陽病益箸，邪氣流行，為重困於俞，忿發為疽。」意告之後百餘日，果為疽發乳上，入缺盆，死。此謂論之大體也，必有經紀。拙工有一不習，文理陰陽失矣。

Sui, an attendant physician to the King of Qi, fell ill. He personally refined a Five Mineral Powder and took it. Minister Yi went to visit him, Sui told Minister Yi: "I have illness, fortunately diagnose me." Minister Yi then diagnosed him and said: "Your lordship's illness is middle heat. The discussion says "middle heat without urination cannot take five stones". Mineral medicines are extremely potent. Since you, sir, have difficulty urinating frequently enough, you must stop taking them at once. Color will swell." Sui said: "Bian Que said 'yin stones treat yin illness, yang stones treat yang illness.' Because medicine stones have yin yang water fire preparations, therefore for middle heat, then use yin stones soft preparation to treat it; For middle cold, then use yang stones firm preparation to treat it." Minister Yi said: "What your lordship discusses is far-reaching. Though Bian Que spoke in this manner, one must still conduct a thorough examination: establish measurements, set up standards, weigh balances, and integrate the methods of reading complexion and pulse, distinguishing exterior and interior, excess and deficiency, favorable and unfavorable courses. One must also observe whether the patient's movements, stillness, and breathing correspond with one another—only then can a proper discussion of the case begin. The discussion says "yang illness resides internally, yin form responds externally, do not add fierce medicine and needles stones". When powerful medicines enter the body, they may drive out pathogenic energy, yet the stagnant energy only sinks deeper. Diagnosis method says "two yin respond externally, one yang connects internally, cannot use firm medicine". Firm medicine enters then moves yang, yin illness increasingly declines, yang illness increasingly attaches, evil energy flows, becomes heavily trapped at the transport points, anger erupts into carbuncle." More than a hundred days after I warned him, a carbuncle erupted on his breast and spread into the supraclavicular region. He died. This is the broad framework of medical reasoning—it must always be grounded in the classical texts and their principles. If an unskilled practitioner neglects even one aspect of his training, his grasp of the patterns, principles, and the interplay of yin and yang will be lost.

齊王故為陽虛侯時，病甚，眾醫皆以為蹷。臣意診脈，以為痹，根在右脅下，大如覆杯，令人喘，逆氣不能食。臣意即以火齊粥且飲，六日氣下；即令更服丸藥，出入六日，病已。病得之內。診之時不能識其經解，大識其病所在。

Before the King of Qi received his royal title, back when he was still the Marquis of Yangxu, he fell gravely ill. The other physicians all diagnosed it as a reversal condition. When I examined his pulse, I diagnosed it as a blockage condition. The root of the disease was located below the right ribs, as large as an overturned cup. It caused labored breathing, and the counterflow energy prevented him from eating. Minister Yi then with fire elixir congee to drink, six days energy descended; I then had him continue taking pill medicine, and after six days of treatment the illness was cured. The illness had arisen from sexual indulgence. At the time of my diagnosis, I could not identify the precise channel through which the illness would resolve, but I could clearly identify where the disease was located.

臣意嘗診安陽武都裏成開方，開方自言以為不病，臣意謂之病苦沓風，三歲四支不能自用，使人瘖，瘖即死。今聞其四支不能用，瘖而未死也。病得之數飲酒以見大風氣。所以知成開方病者，診之，其脈法奇咳言曰「藏氣相反者死」。切之，得腎反肺，法曰「三歲死」也。

I once examined Cheng Kaifang from the Wudu quarter of Anyang. Kaifang insisted he was not ill, but I told him he was suffering from a severe wind condition: within three years his four limbs would lose their function, he would become mute, and once mute, he would die. I have now heard that his four limbs have indeed lost their function and that he has gone mute, though he has not yet died. The illness arose from habitual drinking combined with exposure to strong wind energy. The reason I knew Cheng Kaifang's illness was diagnosing him, his pulse method strange cough said "visceral energies opposing die". Cut it, obtained kidney opposing lung, law says "three years die".

安陵阪裏公乘項處病，臣意診脈，曰：「牡疝。」牡疝在鬲下，上連肺。病得之內。臣意謂之：「慎毋為勞力事，為勞力事則必嘔血死。」處後蹴踘，要蹷寒，汗出多，即嘔血。臣意復診之，曰：「當旦日日夕死。」即死。病得之內。所以知項處病者，切其脈得番陽。番陽入虛裏，處旦日死。一番一絡者，牡疝也。

Anling Banli Gongcheng Xiang Chu fell ill, Minister Yi diagnosed pulse, said: "Male hernia." The firm hernia was located below the diaphragm, extending upward to connect with the lungs. The illness arose from sexual indulgence. Minister Yi told him: "Carefully do not do labor work, if do labor work then must vomit blood and die." Afterward, Chu played a game of kickball. His lower back went cold with a reversal, he broke into a heavy sweat, and then vomited blood. Minister Yi again diagnosed him and said: "Should tomorrow morning evening die." He died. The illness had originated from sexual indulgence. The way I identified Xiang Chu's illness was by feeling his pulse: I detected a Reversed Yang pattern. The Reversed Yang pulse had entered the Vacuity Interior point—Chu would die the next morning. When one pulse is reversed and one is in the connecting vessel, the diagnosis is a firm hernia.

臣意曰：他所診期決死生及所治已病眾多，久頗忘之，不能盡識，不敢以對。

Minister Yi said: Other diagnoses of period decisions death life and treated cured illnesses numerous, long somewhat forgot them, cannot completely identify, dare not answer.

問臣意：「所診治病，病名多同而診異，或死或不死，何也？」對曰：「病名多相類，不可知，故古聖人為之脈法，以起度量，立規矩，縣權衡，案繩墨，調陰陽，別人之脈各名之，與天地相應，參合於人，故乃別百病以異之，有數者能異之，無數者同之。然脈法不可勝驗，診疾人以度異之，乃可別同名，命病主在所居。今臣意所診者，皆有診籍。所以別之者，臣意所受師方適成，師死，以故表籍所診，期決死生，觀所失所得者合脈法，以故至今知之。」

Asked Minister Yi: "Diagnosed treated illnesses, illness names mostly same but diagnoses different, some die some not die, why?" Answered: "Illness names mostly similar, cannot know, therefore ancient sages made pulse method for it, to establish measurements, set rules, hang balances, press ink lines, regulate yin yang, distinguish people's pulses each name them, with heaven earth corresponding, examine combine with person, therefore then distinguish hundred illnesses to differentiate them, having numbers can differentiate them, no numbers make same. Yet the methods of pulse diagnosis are beyond exhaustive verification. One must examine each patient individually and differentiate them by degree, and only then can one distinguish diseases that share the same name and determine the true site where the illness resides. For all the patients I have examined, I keep case records. The reason to distinguish them is Minister Yi received teacher method just completed, teacher died, therefore made record table of diagnoses, period decisions death life, observed what lost what gained matched pulse method, therefore until now know it."

問臣意曰：「所期病決死生，或不應期，何故？」對曰：「此皆飲食喜怒不節，或不當飲藥，或不當鍼灸，以故不中期死也。」

Asked Minister Yi: "Diagnosed period illnesses decide death life, some not respond to period, why?" Answered: "This all eating drinking joy anger not regulated, or not proper drinking medicine, or not proper needle moxa, therefore not mid-period die."

問臣意：「意方能知病死生，論藥用所宜，諸侯王大臣有嘗問意者不？及文王病時，不求意診治，何故？」對曰：「趙王、膠西王、濟南王、吳王皆使人來召臣意，臣意不敢往。文王病時，臣意家貧，欲為人治病，誠恐吏以除拘臣意也，故移名數，左右不修家生，出行游國中，問善為方數者事之久矣，見事數師，悉受其要事，盡其方書意，及解論之。身居陽虛侯國，因事侯。侯入朝，臣意從之長安，以故得診安陵項處等病也。」

Asked Minister Yi: "Yi just able know illness death life, discuss medicine use appropriate, feudal lords kings ministers have ever asked Yi not? And when Wen Wang fell ill, why not seek Minister Yi to diagnose and treat?" Answered: "Zhao King, Jiaoxi King, Jinan King, Wu King all sent people to summon Minister Yi, Minister Yi dared not go. When King Wen fell ill, my family was poor. I wished to treat patients, but I genuinely feared that officials would seize me for practicing without authorization. Therefore I changed my registered name and residence, neglected my household affairs, and went traveling throughout the state. I sought out skilled practitioners of medicine and studied under them for long periods, attending several teachers and absorbing the essentials of their practice. I mastered the contents and reasoning of their medical texts and worked through their theoretical discussions. I took up residence in the fief of the Marquis of Yangxu, where I entered the marquis's service. Marquis entered court, Minister Yi followed him to Chang'an, therefore got to diagnose Anling Xiang Chu and others' illnesses."

問臣意：「知文王所以得病不起之狀？」臣意對曰：「不見文王病，然竊聞文王病喘，頭痛，目不明。臣意心論之，以為非病也。以為肥而蓄精，身體不得搖，骨肉不相任，故喘，不當醫治。脈法曰『年二十脈氣當趨，年三十當疾步，年四十當安坐，年五十當安臥，年六十已上氣當大董』。文王年未滿二十，方脈氣之趨也而徐之，不應天道四時。後聞醫灸之即篤，此論病之過也。臣意論之，以為神氣爭而邪氣入，非年少所能復之也，以故死。所謂氣者，當調飲食，擇晏日，車步廣志，以適筋骨肉血脈，以瀉氣。故年二十，是謂『易眢』。法不當砭灸，砭灸至氣逐。」

Asked Minister Yi: "Know Wen Wang's illness such that he could not rise condition?" Minister Yi answered: "Did not see Wen Wang's illness, but secretly heard Wen Wang's illness panting, head pain, eyes not clear. I considered the matter carefully and concluded that it was not an illness. I believed his condition was simply that he had grown fat and his essence had accumulated, leaving his body unable to move freely and his bones and muscles unable to support each other. This caused the shortness of breath, and it did not warrant medical treatment. Pulse method says "age twenty pulse energy should hasten, age thirty should quick step, age forty should peacefully sit, age fifty should peacefully lie, age sixty and above energy should greatly move". King Wen was not yet twenty years old. At his age, the pulse and vital energy should have been vigorous, yet his were sluggish—they did not respond to the seasonal rhythms of heaven. Later I heard that after a physician applied moxibustion, his condition turned critical. This was an error in the approach to his illness. I reasoned that his spirit energy was contending with the pathogenic energy that had entered, and that his youth was insufficient to restore the balance. For this reason, he died. The proper way to manage the vital energy is to regulate one's diet, choose restful days, take rides and walks to broaden the spirit, relax the sinews, bones, flesh, and blood vessels, and thus allow the energy to flow freely. Therefore age twenty, this is called 'easy storage.' Method not proper needle moxa, needle moxa causes energy to expel."

問臣意：「師慶安受之？聞於齊諸侯不？」對曰：「不知慶所師受。慶家富，善為醫，不肯為人治病，當以此故不聞。慶又告臣意曰：『慎毋令我子孫知若學我方也。』」

Asked Minister Yi: "Shi Qing received it from whom? Heard from Qi feudal lords not?" Answered: "Do not know Qing's teacher received from. Qing's family was wealthy. Though he was skilled in medicine, he was unwilling to treat patients, which is probably why he was never widely known. Qing moreover told Minister Yi: 'Carefully do not let my descendants know you studied my formulas.'"

問臣意：「師慶何見於意而愛意，欲悉教意方？」對曰：「臣意不聞師慶為方善也。意所以知慶者，意少時好諸方事，臣意試其方，皆多驗，精良。臣意聞菑川唐裏公孫光善為古傳方，臣意即往謁之。得見事之，受方化陰陽及傳語法，臣意悉受書之。臣意欲盡受他精方，公孫光曰：『吾方盡矣，不為愛公所。吾身已衰，無所復事之。是吾年少所受妙方也，悉與公，毋以教人。』臣意曰：『得見事侍公前，悉得禁方，幸甚。意死不敢妄傳人。』居有閒，公孫光閒處，臣意深論方，見言百世為之精也。師光喜曰：『公必為國工。吾有所善者皆疏，同產處臨菑，善為方，吾不若，其方甚奇，非世之所聞也。吾年中時，嘗欲受其方，楊中倩不肯，曰「若非其人也」。胥與公往見之，當知公喜方也。其人亦老矣，其家給富。』時者未往，會慶子男殷來獻馬，因師光奏馬王所，意以故得與殷善。光又屬意於殷曰：『意好數，公必謹遇之，其人聖儒。』即為書以意屬陽慶，以故知慶。臣意事慶謹，以故愛意也。」

Asked Minister Yi: "Shi Qing what saw in Yi yet loved Yi, wanted to completely teach Yi formulas?" Answered: "Minister Yi did not hear Shi Qing good at formulas. The way I came to know Qing was that from a young age I was devoted to the study of various medical formulas. When I tested his formulas, they proved effective in the great majority of cases—refined and reliable. I heard that Gongsun Guang from Tangli in Zichuan was skilled in the ancient transmitted formulas, and so I went to pay him a visit. I was permitted to attend him and received his formulas for transforming yin and yang, along with his orally transmitted methods. I received and recorded all of them in writing. Minister Yi wanted to completely receive other refined formulas, Gongsun Guang said: "My formulas exhausted, not for loving you withhold. My body has already declined, and there is nothing more I can offer you. These are my young age received marvelous formulas, all give to you, do not teach people." Minister Yi said: "Got to see and serve before you, all received forbidden formulas, fortunate very. Yi die dare not recklessly transmit to people." After some time, when Gongsun Guang was at leisure, I engaged him in a deep discussion of medical formulas. I saw from his words that these traditions had been refined over the course of a hundred generations. Teacher Guang happily said: "You must become state craftsman. All the truly skilled practitioners I know are far away. But there is one from my hometown who lives in Linzi—he is excellent at formulas, far beyond my own ability. His formulas are truly extraordinary, unlike anything the world has heard of. My middle years, once wanted to receive his formulas, Yang Zhongqian unwilling, said "you not that person". Let me take you to see him. He will surely recognize your love of medicine. That person also old, his family sufficient rich." Before we could make the visit, Qing's son Yin happened to come and present horses. Since Master Guang was presenting horses to the king at the same time, I had the opportunity to become acquainted with Yin. Guang moreover entrusted Yi to Yin: "Yi loves numbers, you must carefully treat him, that person sage confucian." Guang then wrote a letter commending me to Yang Qing, and this is how I came to know Qing. Minister Yi served Qing carefully, therefore Qing loved Yi."

問臣意曰：「吏民嘗有事學意方，及畢盡得意方不？何縣里人？」對曰：「臨菑人宋邑。邑學，臣意教以五診，歲餘。濟北王遣太醫高期、王禹學，臣意教以經脈高下及奇絡結，當論俞所居，及氣當上下出入邪［正］逆順，以宜鑱石，定砭灸處，歲餘。菑川王時遣太倉馬長馮信正方，臣意教以案法逆順，論藥法，定五味及和齊湯法。高永侯家丞杜信，喜脈，來學，臣意教以上下經脈五診，二歲餘。臨菑召裏唐安來學，臣意教以五診上下經脈，奇咳，四時應陰陽重，未成，除為齊王侍醫。」問臣意：「診病決死生，能全無失乎？」臣意對曰：「意治病人，必先切其脈，乃治之。敗逆者不可治，其順者乃治之。心不精脈，所期死生視可治，時時失之，臣意不能全也。」

Asked Minister Yi: "Officials people ever had matters study Yi formulas, and completely exhausted got Yi formulas not? What county quarter person?" Answered: "Linzi person Song Yi. He studied under me, and I taught him the Five Methods of Diagnosis over the course of more than a year. The King of Jibei sent the imperial physician Gao Qi and Wang Yu to study under me. I taught them the upper and lower channel pathways, the extraordinary connecting vessels and their junctures, the discussion of transport point locations, and the theory of how vital energy rises, descends, enters, and exits—whether in pathogenic or proper, adverse or favorable patterns—as well as the appropriate use of needles and stone instruments and the determination of acupuncture and moxibustion sites. This took over a year. The King of Zichuan at one time sent Feng Xin, the Director of Horses for the Imperial Granary, to study proper formulas. I taught him the pressing method and its favorable and adverse applications, the theory of pharmacology, and the determination of the five flavors and the preparation and harmonizing of decoctions. Du Xin, the household steward of the Marquis of Gaoyong, was devoted to pulse reading and came to study under me. I taught him the upper and lower channel pathways and the Five Methods of Diagnosis over the course of more than two years. Linzi Zhao quarter Tang An came study, Minister Yi taught with five diagnoses upper lower classic vessels, strange cough, four seasons respond yin yang heavy, not completed, appointed as Qi king attendant physician." Asked Minister Yi: "Diagnose illness decide death life, able completely no loss not?" Minister Yi answered: "Yi treats ill people, must first cut their pulse, then treat them. Those whose conditions have deteriorated into an adverse pattern cannot be treated; only those whose conditions follow a favorable course can be treated. Heart not refined pulse, what period death life consider can treat, sometimes lose it, Minister Yi cannot complete."

太史公曰：女無美惡，居宮見妒；士無賢不肖，入朝見疑。故扁鵲以其伎見殃，倉公乃匿跡自隱而當刑。緹縈通尺牘，父得以後寧。故老子曰「美好者不祥之器」，豈謂扁鵲等邪？若倉公者，可謂近之矣。

Grand Scribe said: Woman no beautiful ugly, reside palace see jealousy; Regardless of whether a man is virtuous or unworthy, upon entering the court he will be met with suspicion. Thus Bian Que, through his very skill, brought calamity upon himself, and the Grand Granary Master concealed his tracks and hid away, yet still faced criminal punishment. It was Tiying who delivered a letter on a foot-long bamboo slip, and thereby her father was able to find peace in the end. Therefore Laozi said "beautiful good ones inauspicious vessels", how speak Bian Que and such? A man such as the Grand Granary Master may be said to have come close to this ideal.

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