Huangdi was seated and summoned Leigong to ask: "You who have received techniques and studied texts, if you can peruse miscellaneous studies and analogies, and comprehend the principles, tell me your expertise. The five zang and six fu organs, the gallbladder, stomach, small intestine, spleen, bladder, brain marrow, tears, saliva, weeping, sorrow, and the pathways of water—these are all aspects of human life. The errors in their treatment, you must clarify. If you can master this, you can achieve perfection. If you cannot, you will be blamed by the world." Leigong replied: "I have studied the Maijing extensively, but even with analogies, I have not achieved perfection. How can I fully understand it?" The Emperor said: "Try to explain the disorders of the five zang and the disharmony of the six fu organs, the failures of acupuncture and stones, the suitability of poisons, the flavors of decoctions. Describe their conditions in detail and answer fully. If you do not know, ask." Leigong said: "Liver deficiency, kidney deficiency, and spleen deficiency all cause heaviness and distress in the body. Poisonous drugs, acupuncture, stones, and decoctions are used, sometimes effective, sometimes not. I wish to understand why." The Emperor said: "You are old but ask such simple questions. I truly ask to correct my own errors. I ask about the profound, and you respond with the Maijing. Why? Spleen deficiency resembles lung deficiency, kidney deficiency resembles spleen deficiency, liver tension resembles kidney deficiency. These are often confused by practitioners, but with careful observation, they can be discerned. The three zang organs—earth, wood, and water—are known even to children. Why ask about them?"
Leigong said: "There is a person with headache, muscle spasms, heavy bones, timidity, shortness of breath, hiccups, abdominal distension, frequent fright, and insomnia. Which zang organ is affected? The pulse is floating and wiry, firm like stone. I do not understand. I ask again about the three zang organs to understand the analogy." The Emperor said: "This is what is meant by careful observation. For the elderly, examine the fu organs; for the young, examine the meridians; for the middle-aged, examine the zang organs. What you have said is all wrong. Bafeng (EX-LE10) is overheated, the five zang organs are consumed, and pathogens are transmitted. A floating and wiry pulse indicates kidney deficiency. A deep and stony pulse indicates kidney qi stagnation. Timidity and shortness of breath indicate Shuidao (ST28) blockage and depletion of form and qi. Coughing and distress indicate rebellious kidney qi. One person's qi is affected in one zang organ. To say three zang organs are involved is incorrect."Leigong said: "There is a person with weak limbs, coughing, blood discharge. I diagnosed lung injury, with a floating, large, and tight pulse. I dared not treat, but a crude practitioner used stones, causing more bleeding. After bleeding stopped, the body felt lighter. What is this?" The Emperor said: "You can treat many things, but you missed this. Like a swan flying to the sky, the sage treats disease by following the meridians, comparing things, transforming the obscure, following the upper and lower. Why stick to the classics? A floating, large, and empty pulse indicates spleen qi depletion, leaving the stomach and returning to yangming. Two fires cannot overcome three waters, hence the erratic pulse. Weak limbs indicate spleen essence stagnation. Coughing indicates water qi combining with yangming. Blood discharge indicates rapid pulse and blood stagnation. To think it is lung injury is a mistake. Without analogy, understanding is unclear. Lung injury involves spleen qi instability, stomach qi turbidity, meridian qi dysfunction, true zang collapse, meridian blockage, and fistula disease of the five zang organs, causing either nosebleeds or vomiting. These two are not similar. Like the formless sky and the groundless earth, white and black are far apart. This is my error. Since you know, I did not tell you. By carefully comparing and observing, this is called light diagnosis, the ultimate principle."