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Chapter 11 further Discourse on the five Depots 11-77-3 Huang Di asked: “I have heard: of the prescription masters1 some consider the brain and the marrow to be depots; 2 others consider the intestines and the stomach to be depots; still others consider them to be palaces. May I3 ask about these contradictions;4 all say of themselves they are right.5 I do not know the Way of their [reasoning]; I should like to hear an explanation for this.” Qi Bo responded: “The brain, the marrow, the bones, the vessels, the gallbladder,6 and the female uterus,7 these six are generated by the qi of the earth. Their storing is associated with yin; their image is that of the earth. 1 Wang Bing: “方士 are scholars knowledgable of the prescription arts.” see also Harper 1998, 51. 2 The Tai su has 或以為府 following 或以為腦髓為藏. In this case the opening statement reads: “some consider the brain and the marrow to be depots; others consider them as palaces. some consider the intestines and the stomach to be depots; others consider them to be palaces.” 3 704/49: “敢 should be interpreted as 冒昧地, ‘bold.’ ” fu Weikang & Wu Hongzhou /272: “敢 has the meaning of confessing one’s own ignorance.” 4 shanghai zhongyi xueyuan../12: “更 is 互相, ‘mutual.’ ” 5 583/40: “皆自謂是 is a Han dynasty usage [of 是] in the meaning of 正確, ‘correct .’ ” 6 2269/37 identifies a misplacement of the character 膽, “gallbladder,” here and suggests that it should be moved down to precede the character 胃, “stomach.”This way the text would speak of only five “extraordinary palaces” and of altogether six palaces transmitting the transformed. for details of the argument see there. 7 Zhang Jiebin: “女子胞 is 子宮, ‘uterus.’ ” 1209: “女子胞 is also named 子宮. It brings forth and accepts essence qi and completes the fetus.” 204 Huang Di nei jing su wen Hence, they store and do not drain;8 they are called extraordinary palaces.9 11-77-7 now, the stomach, the large intestine, the small intestine, the triple burner, and the urinary bladder, these five are generated by the qi of heaven. Their qi resembles heaven. Hence, they drain and do not store. They receive the turbid qi of the five depots.10 They are called palaces of transmission and transformation. 8 fu Weikang & Wu Hongzhou/272: “瀉 has the meaning of 傳瀉, ‘transmit and drain.’ ” 9 Wang Bing: “even though the brain, the marrow, the bones, and the vessels are called ‘palaces,’ they do not really constitute outside and inside with the spirit depots. The gallbladder is related to the liver, but [its function] is different from transmission and drainage performed by the six palaces. even though the uterus emits and receives − it receives in that it receives essence qi, and it emits in that it emits physical appearance ’, … still, this operation of emitting and receiving is different from that of the six palaces. Hence [the text] states: ‘store but do not drain. They are called extraordinary palaces.’ ” Zhang Jiebin: “all these six were originally not counted among the six palaces . Because they store yin essence they are said to have been generated by the earth qi and they are called palaces. The gallbladder is one of the six palaces. But because it stores and does not drain it is different from the remaining [five palaces with their functions of] transmitting the transformed. The uterus is different, too, because it emits and receives essence qi and completes the fetus.” Ma shi: “These palaces are single; they have nothing to be paired with.” Cheng shide et al./175: “奇 is 异, ‘differen ;’ 恆 is 常, ‘normal.’ The extraordinary palaces are ‘different from the normal’ palaces.” 2091/39 proposes that the gallbladder should not be counted among the ‘extraordinary palaces,’ and that the character 膽 is a mistake here for 卵, “testicles.” one reason is that the six extraordinary palaces list a [female] uterus, but no male equivalent. Hence if males are supposed to have the same number of extraordinary palaces as females, the “gallbladder” is to be replaced by the “testicles.” second, the author sees a similarity between the ancient writings of the characters 胆 and 卵. for details of the argument, see there. for a detailed refutation of this argument, see 2938/38. 2755/9-11 suggests that the character 膽 should be 胸中,“chest center.”for details of the lengthy argument see there. see also 2261/34 and 2228/150. 10 2379/17-18 suggests on grounds of the structure and of the meaning of the text to move the six characters 此受五藏濁氣 behind the statement ‘they are called ex...

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