Yin and yang (陰陽)

夫天布五行以運萬類人禀五常以有五藏經絡府俞隂陽㑹通玄冥幽㣲變化難極

Heaven spreads out the Five Phases to keep all things moving. People receive the five constants, and so they have the five organs. The channels and the acupoints, and the ways yin and yang meet and flow together, are dark, deep, and subtle, and their changes are almost impossible to fathom.

此乃隂陽失位寒暑錯時是故生疫

What happened is this: yin and yang had left their proper places, and cold and heat had come at the wrong times. That is why the epidemic arose.

其感之深者中而即發感之淺者邪不勝正未能頓發或遇饑飽勞碌憂思氣怒正氣被傷邪氣始得張溢榮衞運行之機乃為之阻吾身之陽氣因而屈曲故為熱其始也格陽於内不及於表故先凛凛惡寒甚則四肢厥逆陽氣漸積鬱極而通則厥回而中外皆熱至是但熱而不惡寒者因其陽氣之通也

Those who catch it deeply fall ill as soon as it strikes. Those who catch it lightly do not fall ill at once, because the harmful qi cannot overcome the healthy qi. But if they meet with hunger or overeating, hard work, worry, or anger, the healthy qi is harmed, and the harmful qi can at last spread. Then the flow of the nourishing and defensive qi is blocked, and the yang qi of the body is bent back on itself. That is why there is fever. At first the yang is shut up inside and does not reach the surface. So first there is shivering and a dread of cold, and at worst the hands and feet go cold. The yang qi slowly builds up, and when it is pent up to the limit it breaks through. Then the hands and feet warm again, and the body is hot inside and out. From then on there is only fever, without the dread of cold, because the yang qi has broken through.

種痘之時要細閲小兒氣血冲和臟腑均平内無痰熱食積所傷外無六淫之氣相侵方可用上好痘痂種之一嵗者用二十餘粒三四嵗者用三十餘粒置於淨磁鍾内以栁木作杵碾為細末以淨水滴三五㸃入鍾内春温用冬熱用乾則再加水幾㸃總以調匀為度不燥不濕用新棉些須攤極薄片裹所調痘屑在内揑成棗核様以紅線拴定仍留寸許長則剪去将苗納入鼻孔分男左女右不可離人時時㸔守倘小兒用手拈弄急禁止之或被𡁲出急将苗塞鼻内不可稍緩恐洩苗氣下苗後必以六個時辰為度然後取出如遇天氣嚴寒多留數刻若遇時令和暖早取數刻亦可要在臨時斟酌痘苗取出之後其苗氣漸次而入傳遍五藏至七日始𤼵熱發熱三日而苗見見苗三日而出齊出齊三日而灌漿漿足三日而回水結痂大功成矣

At the time of planting, examine the child closely. Its qi and blood must be in harmony and its organs in balance. Inside, it must not be troubled by phlegm, heat, or undigested food. Outside, it must not be under attack from the qi of the six excesses. Only then plant it, using the best scabs. For a child of one year, use twenty-some pieces of scab; for a child of three or four, thirty-some. Put them in a clean porcelain cup and grind them to a fine powder with a willow-wood pestle. Drip three to five drops of clean water into the cup, warm in spring and hot in winter. If the mixture is dry, add a few drops more. What matters is to mix it evenly, neither dry nor wet. Spread a little new cotton into a very thin sheet, wrap the mixed scab powder in it, and pinch it into the shape of a jujube pit. Tie it with red thread, leaving about an inch of thread, and cut off the rest. Put the seed into the nostril, the left for a boy and the right for a girl. Someone must stay with the child and watch it all the time. If the child plays with the seed, stop it at once. If the child sneezes it out, put it back in the nose at once, without the least delay, or the seed’s qi may leak away. Once the seed is in, leave it for six double hours, then take it out. In bitter cold, leave it in a little longer; in mild, warm weather, it may come out a little earlier. The point is to judge at the time. After the seed is taken out, its qi enters little by little and passes through all five organs. On the seventh day, fever begins. After three days of fever, the spots appear. Three days later, all the spots are out. Three days after that, they fill with fluid. Three days after they are full, the fluid dries up and they form scabs, and the great work is done.

旱苗種法用銀管約長五六寸曲其頸碾痘痂極細納於管端按男左女右對凖鼻孔吹入之至七日而亦𤼵熱今時多用此法蓋取其簡便㨗入不致脱落而有透洩苗氣之患也苐恐後人用之不善輕吹之則不驟入重吹之則迅烈難當且恐流涕過多苗隨涕去往往不騐今欲垂法後世當取其法之和平稳當萬全者而則效之此所以獨取於水苗也

For the dry-seed method, use a silver tube about five or six inches long, bent near the end. Grind the smallpox scabs very fine and put the powder in the end of the tube. Aim it carefully at the nostril, the left for a boy and the right for a girl, and blow the powder in. By the seventh day there is fever, [as with the water seed]. Many people use this method nowadays. It is simple and quick, and the seed cannot fall out and let its qi escape. But we fear that later people will use it badly. Blown too lightly, the powder does not go in at once; blown too hard, it acts too fast and violently for the child to bear. Then too, if the nose runs too much, the seed washes out with the mucus, and often it does not take. Since we wish to hand down a method to later ages, we should choose the gentle, safe, and wholly reliable one and follow it. That is why we choose only the water seed.

擇小兒出痘之順者取其痘漿以棉拭之分男左女右塞入鼻中亦能發痘但取痘漿之時不令本家知覺揑破痘漿盜以作種使彼真氣宣洩毒不能解此忍心害理不仁之事也同志者切宜深惡而痛絶之又豈可尤而效之也哉

Choose a child whose smallpox is going smoothly. Wipe up the fluid from its pustules with cotton, and put the cotton into the nose, the left for a boy and the right for a girl. This too can bring out the pox. But when they take the fluid, people pinch the pustules open without the family knowing, and steal it to use as seed. This lets the sick child’s true qi leak out, so that its poison cannot be cleared. It is a cruel, wrong, and inhumane thing to do. All who agree with us should hate it deeply and put a complete stop to it. How could anyone condemn it and then do it himself?