The moon's dying and living · yue si sheng

At a glance

Pinyin

yuè sǐ shēng

Simplified

月死生

Literal

月 yuè — the moon, and the month it measures; 死 sǐ — to die, and of the moon to wane; 生 shēng — to live, to be born, and of the moon to wax. The chapter uses the phrase four times, always as the rule by which a number is set: 以月死生爲數, 以月死生爲痏數. The count itself is spelled out once and then again at the end: 月生一日一痏，二日二痏，十五日十五痏，十六日十四痏 — as the moon grows, one insertion on the first day, two on the second, fifteen on the fifteenth; and after the full, one fewer each day, 漸少之. It is the only arithmetic in the chapter, and it is given to wandering obstruction, to the hip, to the low back — to the complaints that have no fixed place, which is what the chapter is about. And the chapter will not let it become mechanical; the line that follows is a caution: 用針者，隨氣盛衰，以爲痏數，針過其日數，則脱氣，不及日數，則氣不冩. The moon sets the count, and the qi has the last word.

Shuowen

**「月」讀 yuè，本篇6見；太陰之精，亦以為三十日之數**；**「死」讀 sǐ，本篇4見；月之虧曰死**；**「生」讀 shēng，本篇8見；月之盈曰生**；**「月死生」本篇4見：以月死生爲數三見、以月死生爲痏數一見**；**「爲」讀 wéi，本篇5見；底本作「爲」，不从「為」，本篇無「為」字**；**「數」此讀 shù（數目），本篇「數」12見，「數脊椎」一見讀 shǔ、「此新病數日已」「凡刺之數」讀 shù**；**「痏」讀 wěi，本篇26見，一刺為一痏**；**「漸」讀 jiàn，漸次也；「漸多之」「漸少之」各一見**；**「少」此讀 shǎo（減少），本篇「少」10見，經名與少腹之少讀 shào**；**「脱」讀 tuō、「氣」讀 qì；「冩」讀 xiè，本篇1見，「寫」之俗省**；**「針」讀 zhēn，本篇2見；同篇「鍼」3見，二形並存，各从底本**