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Chapter 9 of 10
难经
These seven difficult issues primarily center on the Five Transport Points (the five specific points on the twelve primary meridians located below the elbow and knee joints: Well, Spring, Stream, River, Sea, which analogize the meridian qi as flowing like water from shallow to deep, from small to large), Source Points, and Front Collecting Points. They represent the Classic of Difficult Issues' focused exposition of early meridian and acupoint theory.
Question: The meridians of the five viscera have five points—Well, Spring, Stream, River, Sea—whereas the meridians of the six yang organs uniquely possess six points. Why is this?
Answer: The yang organs are yang in nature. The Triple Burner (the channel system through which qi and fluids circulate in the body) traverses through all the yang meridians, and therefore an additional Stream Point is established beyond the five transport points, designated as the Source Point (a specific point where the primordial qi passes through and is retained). The six yang organ meridians have six points for the same reason—because they jointly receive the same qi as the Triple Burner.
Question: The Ten Transformations states that the Spring points and Sea points of the five viscera and six bowels all begin with the Well point. Why is this?
Answer: The Well point corresponds to the East, to spring—the season when all things begin to grow. All crawling, gasping, flying, and wriggling creatures that are destined to be born all begin their emergence in spring, without exception. Therefore, the beginning of the year is counted from spring, the beginning of days is counted from the Day of Jia, and thus the five transport points likewise take the Well point as their starting point.
Question: The Ten Transformations further states: the Well points of the yin meridians belong to Wood, while those of the yang meridians belong to Metal; the Spring points of the yin meridians belong to Fire, while those of the yang meridians belong to Water; the Stream points of the yin meridians belong to Earth, while those of the yang meridians belong to Wood; the River points of the yin meridians belong to Metal, while those of the yang meridians belong to Fire; the Sea points of the yin meridians belong to Water, while those of the yang meridians belong to Earth. The yin and yang meridians are all different—what does this mean?
Answer: This is the principle of harmonizing firm and soft. The Well point of yin meridians is paired with Acetate Wood (Yi Wood), and the Well point of yang meridians is paired with Tincture Metal (Geng Metal). The yang Well is Geng Metal; Geng is the "firm" counterpart of Yi. The yin Well is Yi Wood; Yi is the "soft" counterpart of Geng. Since Yi belongs to Wood, the yin Well is said to be Wood; since Geng belongs to Metal, the yang Well is said to be Metal. The remaining Spring, Stream, River, and Sea points follow the same pattern by extension.
Question: The classics state that "where qi emerges is the Well, and where qi enters is the Sea." What is the reasoning behind this?
Answer: "Where qi emerges is the Well"—the Well point corresponds to the East and spring, the season when all things begin their growth. Hence, the place where qi first emerges is called the Well. "Where qi enters is the Sea"—the Sea point corresponds to the North and winter, the season when yang qi retreats and stores within. Thus, the place where qi enters deeply and converges is called the Sea.
Question: The classics state that the Source Point of the Lung meridian emerges at Taiyuan; the Source Point of the Heart meridian emerges at Tailing (commonly rendered as "Daling" in circulating editions); the Source Point of the Liver emerges at Taichong; the Source Point of the Spleen emerges at Taibai (the original text reads "Dabai"); the Source Point of the Kidney emerges at Taixi; the Source Point of the Lesser Yin (Heart) meridian emerges at Duigu (later understood by most as the site of the Shenmen point of the Hand Lesser Yin Heart meridian); the Source Point of the Gallbladder emerges at Qiuxu; the Source Point of the Stomach emerges at Chongyang; the Source Point of the Triple Burner emerges at Yangchi; the Source Point of the Bladder emerges at Jinggu; the Source Point of the Large Intestine emerges at Hegu; and the Source Point of the Small Intestine emerges at Wangu. All twelve meridians use the Stream point as the Source point. Why is this?
Answer: The Stream points of the five viscera are places where the qi of the Triple Burner operates and where meridian qi is retained. The reason the Stream points through which the Triple Burner's qi travels are called "Source" is that the dynamic qi between the kidneys below the navel is the root of human life, and also the foundation of the twelve meridians—hence named "Source." The Triple Burner is the separate envoy of primordial qi, responsible primarily for conducting the qi of the upper, middle, and lower burners, traversing through the five viscera and six bowels. What is called "Source" is an honorific designation for the Triple Burner; therefore, places where the Triple Burner's qi is retained are called Source points. When the five viscera and six bowels are diseased, their respective Source points may be selected for examination and regulation.
Question: The Front Collecting points of the five viscera (specific points where the qi of visceral organs gathers in the chest and abdomen) are all located in the yin aspect of the chest and abdomen, whereas the Back Transport points (specific points on the back where visceral qi is infused) are all located on the yang aspect of the back. Why is this?
Answer: The pathological qi of yin meridians can reach the yang aspects, and the pathological qi of yang meridians can likewise reach the yin aspects—yin and yang qi mutually transfer. Therefore, the Front Collecting points are placed on the yin aspect of the chest and abdomen, and the Back Transport points are placed on the yang aspect of the back. In this way, through the coordination of front and back, yin and yang, the qi of the visceral organs can be regulated.
Question: The five viscera and six bowels all have the five transport points—Well, Spring, Stream, River, and Sea. What does each govern?
Answer: The classics state that the place where qi first emerges is the Well; where qi flows subtly is the Spring; where qi infuses is the Stream; where qi courses is the River; and where qi enters deeply and converges is the Sea. The ancients, having summarized their experience, held: the Well point governs fullness and oppression below the heart; the Spring point governs bodily fever; the Stream point governs heaviness of the body and painful joints; the River point governs wheezing and coughing with chills and fever; and the Sea point governs counterflow qi and diarrhea. This represents the traditional understanding of the five transport points—Well, Spring, Stream, River, and Sea—of both the viscera and bowels as described in the present passage.
1. The five transport points form a "meridian qi as water flow" model.
The Classic of Difficult Issues analogizes the movement of meridian qi in the extremities below the elbow and knee joints to the process of water flowing from source to confluence: the Well point is like spring water first emerging; the Spring point is like water trickling; the Stream point is like water channeling; the River point is like water coursing; and the Sea point is like water entering the sea. This model explains the pattern of meridian qi moving from shallow to deep, from small to great.
2. The five-element classifications of yin and yang meridians embody "mutual reinforcement of firm and soft."
The yin meridians' Transport Points match Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water, while the yang meridians' Transport Points match Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth. This is not arbitrary but is rooted in the union of Heavenly Stems: Acetate (Yi) combines with Tincture (Geng); Butylene (Ding) combines with Water (Ren); Caproic (Ji) combines with First (Jia); Acrid (Xin) combines with Third (Bing); Decanoate (Gui) combines with Tenth (Wu). The yin meridians represent the soft, the yang meridians represent the firm; the firm and soft complement each other, reflecting the ideas of yin-yang interdependence and the generation and control cycles of the Five Elements.
3. Source points are intimately linked to the "primordial qi—Triple Burner" system.
Difficult Issue Sixty-Six connects the Source points with the Triple Burner and the dynamic qi between the kidneys below the navel, holding that primordial qi is the root of human life, that the Triple Burner is the channel through which primordial qi circulates throughout the body, and that Source points are places where primordial qi passes and is retained. Consequently, Source points are regarded as key sites for the manifestation and transmission of the primordial qi of the viscera, and early physicians considered that illness in the viscera could be examined or regulated at Source points.
4. Front Collecting points and Back Transport points correspond to one another from front to back and from yin to yang.
The Front Collecting points lie on the chest and abdomen, which are yin, while the Back Transport points lie on the back, which is yang. The ancients explained that "yin disorders move through yang, and yang disorders move through yin"—that is, qi of a diseased yin meridian or yin aspect may affect the yang aspects, and qi of a diseased yang meridian or yang aspect may affect the yin aspects. Hence, Front Collecting and Back Transport points are arranged one at the front and one at the back, one yin and one yang, constituting a method of therapy by drawing from yin to regulate yang and from yang to regulate yin.
5. The indication patterns of the five transport points are an early prototype of syndrome identification, pattern classification, and meridian selection.
Difficult Issue Sixty-Eight associates the five Transport points with corresponding symptom patterns: the Well treats subcardiac fullness, the Spring treats heat conditions, the Stream treats heaviness of body and painful joints, the River treats panting, cough, chills, and fever, and the Sea treats counterflow q i with diarrhea. This is a relatively ancient summary, in the tradition of classical acupuncture, of "differentiating by point" in treating; it reflects the idea of correlating the depth of meridian qi with the depth of disorder.
1. Theoretical value: systematic categorical thinking.
The organization of the five Transport points, Source points, Front Collecting points, and Back Transport areas represents the ancient skill of fitting complex phenomena into theorized frameworks of the Five Elements, yin–yang, and Triple Burner. Such systems thinking strongly shaped the later development of acupuncture–moxibustion theory and remains foundational to contemporary acupuncture study.
2. Limitations of modern research.
Contemporary science has yet to locate meridians and acupoints as discrete anatomical structures. The five-phase pairings of the Transport points, the firm– and–soft complementarities, and so forth also prove difficult to validate through experiments in biomedical terms. These constructs belong, conceptually, to the "theoretical models" of a heritage medical system—important for cultural and clinical experience—but they cannot be equated with results of modern anatomy or physiopathology.
3. Some tentative practical reference in the experiential domain.
For subsetting pain disorders or functional adjustments of gastric and intestinal movement, certain points used directly in specific treatment contexts have the support of small-scale or more extended clinical practice and review, however, evaluation has not yielded consistently strong conclusions. The listed patterns of "each Transport adds another treatable angle" do not necessarily define a protocol of "modern indications," e.g., "the Spring governs high fever" to imply that. Choosing or applying which method to follow in real practice takes place on clearer diagnostic grounds.
4. Critical clarification regarding "mystification."
Constructions of life-breaths and core physiologic meaning—such as "dynamic qi between the kidneys below the navel" being " the foundation of the twelve trunks"— should be read as part of a cosmological view of medicine current at the time. We should respect cultural history, search.
1. Aligning oneself with the dormancy-in-spring and contraction-in-winter circle.
Because Difficult Issues Sixty-Three could glimpse starting-point essence via Well-as-Eastern and seasonal quality (63), and couple together Via-the-Weeds entries such as Well, Fire of lesser representation with correspondence in the capacity of Six-Years. Even within short Daily regular guides appear plausible — regular awakening in spring accordingly slight motion is built briefly: stabilize approach – up slight earlier if people suffering nightly brief gains — likewise go till at sun downward habit that’ shift.
2. Proliferate our sense of resource care ("original breath").
Intimation lies in 66 relation to Renal continuity Bounded low-abdomen → translation discipline of strength: maintain adequate sleep in sleeping so maybe avoidance of outright high physical strain setting though benefits stays general conceptual wellness.
3. Qi orders flattering tuning whether is correct as openness.
Original: 5-transport map based only generally beyond patient one to dynamic real matter simply balancing daily kinetics: lifestyle accordingly break inactive patterns — mobilizing partially adequate activity (2 hours seated should breaks), paced step position supports tuned qi-normal to guidance rather need points of pressure not judged without review of modern field practitioner—require advice diagnosing professional touching only present-day framework.
Associated Concepts
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