Where qi lies in each season, the needling that follows it, and the harm done by needling against it.
Su Wen (素问)General Principles of Needling
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
The English is translated from the Chinese vernacular. The original text and its pinyin sit beneath each sentence in smaller type; hide them whenever you prefer to read the translation alone.
In spring qi is in the channels, in summer in the grandson collaterals, in late summer in the flesh, in autumn in the skin, in winter in the marrow and bones.
Thus in spring heaven’s qi begins to open, earth’s qi begins to release, the frozen ground thaws and the ice melts, water flows and the channels are free, so human qi is in the vessels.
Si Shi Ci Ni Cong Lun gives the seasonal distribution of qi in detail and derives from it where needling should be directed: superficially in spring and summer, more deeply in autumn and winter, and with attention to the channel and organ that is seasonally active.
The chapter then describes the consequences of disregarding this order, in terms of the organ injured and the disorder produced. Its reasoning is seasonal rather than anatomical, which makes it the clearest statement of the principle that in classical practice the timing of treatment was regarded as part of the treatment.
ANNOTATION
Inundation (淫): to soak and spread — evil qi soaking inward to cause illness.
Great opposition (大逆): serious violation of what the season requires.
Its movement follows the organ injured (其动则依其脏之所变): when needling injures an organ by mistake, the signs vary with the organ injured.
COMMENTARY
“Needle according to the season” has been reduced to a slogan. Read closely, the ancients meant that the depth at which channel qi lies shifts with the season, and the depth of the needle should shift with it. This is remarkably consonant with modern findings on seasonal variation in skin impedance and microcirculation.