Where the evil gathers · xie zhi suo cou

At a glance

Pinyin

xié zhī suǒ còu

Simplified

邪之所凑

Literal

邪 xié, evil, the disease-causing influence; 之 zhī, of; 所 suǒ, the place where; 湊 còu, to gather, to crowd together. Where the evil gathers, the qi there is inevitably vacuous. Eight characters, and among the most quoted in the whole of Chinese medicine: the claim is not that evil is strong but that it finds the empty place. The chapter states it and then spends the rest of its length demonstrating it sign by sign.

Shuowen

《說文解字》：湊，水上人所會也，从水奏聲——聚也。**「邪」讀 xié，本篇六見**；「之」讀 zhī；「所」讀 suǒ；**「湊」讀 còu，本篇二見**（邪之所湊、陽必湊之），不作「凑」。「其」讀 qí；「氣」讀 qì；「必」讀 bì；「虛」此從底本作「虚」讀 xū；「陰」讀 yīn；「者」讀 zhě；「陽」讀 yáng；「故」讀 gù；「少」讀 shǎo；「時」讀 shí；「熱」讀 rè；「而」讀 ér；「汗」讀 hàn；「出」讀 chū；「也」讀 yě。**此八字是《素問》傳世最廣之格言之一**，與「正氣存內，邪不可干」（《刺法論》）互為表裡：一言邪之來由，一言正之可恃。**本篇即以之統攝風水之諸證**：陰虛則陽湊之而少氣時熱汗出，水氣湊於腹則目下腫，氣上迫肺則不能正偃而欬甚——**皆「邪之所湊，其氣必虛」之逐證注腳**。讀者當知：此語非泛論，乃本篇釋證之總綱。