Therefore, in spring and summer, if one pertains with Yang, this is life if one pertains to autumn and winter, it is death That is why whenever an elderly person declines above, the end can be known whenever of a young and strong person declines below, the beginning can be known they are both indications of counterflow. Iin brief, the vital Qi of the heavens must ascend from below, and thus the Qi of humans is also as such. The Qi of the young and strong first flourishes below, which is why it is favourable for it to follow the flow downwards. ZJY: The Qi of the elderly first declines below, which is why it is favourable for it to follow the flow upwards. What ‘follows the flow’ is favourable, while the unfavourable is ‘counterflow to the flow.’ Yin Qi governs descending, which is why it follows from the right. Yang Qi governs ascending, which is why it follows from the left. Zhang Jing Yue : ‘Abundance and scarcity’ – this speaks of flourishing and debilitation. Lei Gong asked politely: ‘With regard to the abundance and scarcity of Qi, what is the counterflow to the flow ? What follows the flow?’ The Yellow Emperor answered: ‘Yang follows on the left, while Yin follows on the right. ![]() ( Simplified Questions – Discussion of the Measurement of Flourishing and Decline ) ![]() The entirety of chapter 84 is reproduced here to provide the background to the Chinese concept of ‘Reversal’, which lays the foundation for the understanding of interpreting dreams for clinical diagnoses. In the English rendition the commentary is signposted by indentation. ![]() The Classic of Categories’ layout is to first state the original lines from The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic followed by Zhang Jing Yue’s commentary in brackets in the Chinese text. The Classic of Categories (1624) is in essence an annotated commentary on The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic, a treatise allegedly written in the Han Dynasty by the Yellow Emperor, upon which the theoretical framework for Daoist and Chinese Medicine was erected, hence a seminal text and fundamental reading for any medical student in China and abroad. ‘Dreams Caused by the Counterflow Reversal of Yin and Yang’įor a further insight into the way in which dreams were interpreted in imperial China, one chapter from The Classic of Categories by Zhang Jing Yue are included in this section: chapter 84, ‘Dreams Caused by the Counterflow Reversal of Yin and Yang’.
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