As shown above, qi is a fundamental constituent of the human body. As a result, the movement of qi within one‘s body affects its condition.
Constantly think [of] the white qi between the Kidneys. Above, it rises reaching the head; below, it reaches the center of the soles of the feet and the tips of the fingers. Circulate it around the whole body twelve times and stop. Hands and feet will [become] hot. [You] will not get hungry, thirsty, or cold. [This] prevents people [from] ageing, white hair [becomes] black again.285
常思腎間白氣上升至頭中下至足心十指之端周行一身中十二遍而止手 足皆熱可以不飢不渴不寒令人不老白髮復黑
The nature of this practice is remarkably similar to modern Qigong practices.286 The LZZJ also contains passages of a medical diagnostic nature, declaring that the cause of different medical problems lies in the condition of one‘s qi:
[If] someone is slow, [it means that] the Gall Bladder qi is feeble; [if] someone is blind, [it means that] the Liver qi is feeble; [if] someone is timid,
283 I.e., the space above the diaphragm and below the tongue. 284 CT 1032, 18.13b10-1.14a1.
285 CT 1032, 18.14b1-4.
[it means that] the Lung qi is feeble; [if] someone is insane, [it means that] the Heart qi is feeble. If someone is sluggish, [it means that] the Kidney qi is feeble; [if] someone is dumb and deaf, [it means that] the Spleen qi is feeble.287
緩和者膽之氣衰也盲者肝之氣衰也懦者肺之氣衰也癲者心之氣衰也濡 者腎之氣衰也不肖喑聾者脾之氣衰也
Whereas the pair liver – eyes is standard in Chinese correlative thought, the ears are usually associated with the Kidneys and not with the Spleen.288 The text then proposes a treatment through visualization:
All those, whose Five Viscera are feeble, should see [the viscera] in themselves. [When] sorrowful [and] unhappy, then [one] hurts the Liver; [if one] hurts the Liver, then the eyes [become] weak-sighted [and] the head [becomes] white; [one] ought to think of the Kidneys and the Heart in order to nourish it.289 [When] wanton pleasures go too far, then [one] hurts the Kidneys; [if one] hurts the Kidneys, the waist hurts [and] the body [feels] heavy, [in] the feces and urine, [there is] pus and blood; [one should] think of the Liver and the Lungs in order to nourish them. [When one is] enraged, then [one] hurts the Heart; [if one] hurts the Heart, then [one] goes mad and spits blood; [one should] think of the Liver and the Spleen in order to nourish it. [When one] encounters suffering, is [in] worry and distress, then [one] hurts the Lungs; [if] one hurts the Lungs, [one should] think [of] the
287 CT 1032, 2.6b1-3.
288Christopher Cullen, ―Wuxing,‖ in EOT , 2: 1070.
289 It most probably refers to the Liver. In general, in each sentence within thi s paragraph, each ―it‖
Spleen [and] the Kidneys in order to nourish [them]. [When one] drinks and eats not reaching one‘s fill and [one‘s] drunkenness goes too far, then [one] hurts the Spleen. [If one hurts] the Spleen, then [one should] think of the Heart and Lungs in order to nourish it. Make the Child and the Mother jointly nourish them. (A person seeking numinous immortality loathes
hurting the Five Viscera; a scholar illuminates them).290
其五藏291衰者皆自見於己也憂悲不樂則傷肝傷肝則目瞑頭白當思腎心
以養之淫樂過度即傷腎傷腎則腰疼痛身沉重大小便膿血思肝肺 292以養
之恚怒則傷心傷心則病狂293吐血思肝脾以養之遭患憂難則傷肺傷肺則
思脾腎以養之飲食絕飽酒醉過度則傷脾傷脾則思心肺以養之令其子母
相養之即病癒疾除（求神仙之人惡傷五藏學士明照之）294
Let us note that the prescribed visualization seems to be based on the Mutual production order of the Five Phases.295
Wood Fire Soil Metal Water
Liver Heart Spleen Lungs Kidneys
In case any of the viscera is hurt, the viscera which should be visualized in order to nourish it are the one it generates and the one which generates it. At the end of
290 CT 1032, 19.6.b3-7a1.
291 The character zang臟 (viscera, organ) regularly appears as 藏in the CT 1032, the ―flesh‖
radical being omitted.
292 In the CT 1168, 2.6b1-2, instead of the character fei肺 (Lungs), there is a character gan肝
(Liver).肝肝 is clearly a tautology; moreover, in the whole passage, the Viscera of which the adept should think are mentioned in pairs. Therefore, I believe the CT 1032 version‘s 肝肺 is correct.
293 In the CT 1168, 2.6b2, instead of the character kuang狂 (mad), there is a character qiang 強
(strong). Since in the previous passage, feeble Heart qi is associated with insanity, I believe that 狂
is contextually more appropriate.
294 The phrase inside the parenthesis is written in a half-size font. As mentioned in Chapter 1, half-
size fonts appear in both versions of the LZZJ . It is not certain whether or not those are later commentaries.
the passage, it is said that the Mother and the Child can also help in nourishing the viscera, however, no particular method of invoking them is mentioned. This brings us back to investigating the role of the corporeal numina.