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Philosophy East and West, Volume 65, Number 3, July 2015, pp. 731-745
(Article)
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DOI: 10.1353/pew.2015.0061

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CAN COSMOLOGICAL MODELS EXPLAIN AND FORECAST

THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND PATTERNS OF SOMATIC
ALIGNMENTS?
Wei Zhang
Department of Philosophy, University of South Florida, Tampa
wzhang5@cas.usf.edu

The symbiotic resonance of the planetary and psychosomatic (as well as social)
bodies was one of the most ancient religious and philosophical assumptions in ancient China. A number of contemporary scholars have explored this assumption in
various branches of Chinese thought (Ames 2003, Graham 1989, Henderson 1984,
Major 1996, Sivin 1995). Here, I would like to investigate this ancient assumption
further in relation to the classical medical traditions, arguing that it was the medical
thinkers who first attempted a systematic treatment and modeling of the macrocosm
and the somatic body as a microcosm. Specifically, I suggest that the mutual trust
between cosmology and medicine yields a cosmological synthesis of nature and
value that enables the systematization of the energetic interrelations between planetary and somatic bodies.
Medical theorists devised complex cosmic-medical models for conceptualizing the somatic arrangement and for classifying the physiological and pathological behaviors and energetic configurations of the macrocosm into causal systems
of interrelations. Clinically, they deployed these models to explain and predict
thepatterns of irregularities of somatic energetic performance. A modern scholar of
Chinese medicine concluded that the cosmological scope of Chinese medical
thought could contribute to our contemporary understanding of public health as
well as the epidemic and pandemic diseases or the diseases affected by [the
irregular seasonal] timing known as shibing in the Neijing tradition (Por
kert 1974, p. 55). Indeed, in recent decades, a number of medical statistical studies
published in mainland China have provided a significant body of data on the cor
relations between irregular weather patterns, trends in public health, and the regularoccurrences of certain viscera problematics. These studies include cases where
irregular seasonal timing and either reduced or redundant seasonal energetic impact
could have had a significant adverse effect on public health. For instance, an extended winter season, resulting in prolonged or lingering cold temperatures and
overly dry air in the early spring, known as the inverse cold of the spring in the
Neijing tradition, could negatively affect patients with cardiovascular problems.
Other data sets from these studies have reported that there was also a correlationbetween energetic influence not appropriate to the spring season and a higher
rate of recurrence of the hepatic system problematic (Zhang and Cheng 2008,
pp.115117).

Philosophy East & West Volume 65, Number 3 July 2015 731745
2015 by University of Hawaii Press

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A detailed analysis of the present interdisciplinary research requires a separate

treatment. However, for our purpose here, the synthetic approaches of medical statistics and meteorological data have perhaps been partially inspired by the cosmological scope of classical medical thought, and partially driven by the interest to
verify the ancient cosmic-medical claims laid out in the Neijing. Hence, I suggest
that for a better understanding of the nature and scope of the emerging field of research and the hypotheses it yields, we have to become acquainted with the theory
of medical cosmology as found in the Neijing.
Ancient Chinese Conceptions of the Cosmos
Before discussing Neijing cosmography, a brief introduction to the ancient Chinese
conceptions of the cosmosin contrast to some of the proposals by the early Greeks
(see Daniel Graham 2006)seems to be in order here. If we were to retain the
original meaning of the word Kosmos as order or arrangement here (as in Homer),
we may see that the ancient Chinese cosmologists also retained the notion that the
cosmos was comprised of ordered events and processes (such as the patterned images in the Yijing tradition). However, there are important differences between the
Greek and Chinese conceptions of how the cosmic order came to be.
First, the ancient Chinese cosmologists offered no speculation as to an intelligent
being responsible for the ordered universe. The cosmos did not appear to be created
or made (by a creator God in Genesis, or by Aristotles carpenter or baker). Nor did
they propose an elemental reality from which the world comes into existence or the
world order comes to be. The concepts of water, fire, earth, air, and so on were not
the counterpart of the Greek notions of the elements.
Second, the cosmos was not projected as revolving around a centerit was not
regarded as either geocentric or heliocentric. As for the early Greeks, the celestial
bodies, spherically shaped, were moving along in circular orbits around the earth.
Such ancient Greek views evolved into the Aristotelian geocentric model of the
cosmos, which dominated the conception of the heavenly bodies and cosmic order
until the early modern eraonly to be succeeded by the Copernican heliocentric
view of the cosmos.
Third, contrary to the idea that the universe was a timeless eternity, as assumed
by some Greek thinkers (one thinks of Heraclitus notion of fire, which was regarded
as that which was, is, and shall be) as well as later Christian thinkers, Chinese cosmologists perceived the cosmos as something that was in constant flux or energetic
movement. While the authors of the Yijing claimed that the cosmos constantly
moves without pausing, the authors of the Neijing stated that the cosmos perpetually transforms itself without stopping (Neijing, section 66).
A Neijing Cosmology and Somatic Cosmography
The Neijing is the canonical medical text of ancient China comparable to the
Hippocratic Treatises in ancient Greece and Charakas Compendium in India. The

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earlier layers of the Neijing text were being compiled possibly by the Warring States
period (ca. 403222 b.c.), and continuing on through the Han era (206 b.c.a.d.220).
However, the so called Seven Comprehensive Discourses (Qidalun ), known
as the Dalun, were perhaps later inserted in the main body of the Neijing text by
Wang Bing (710805) in 762. Although the Dalun was an integral part of the
Neijing textual tradition, the authors of the Dalun were distinct in their theoretical
interest in elaborating a mutual trust between cosmology and medicine, and in their
methodological commitment to the devising of the two cosmic-medical models.
Modern historians have debated the nature of the seven Dalun texts and their relation
to the earlier layers of the Neijing. Some have suggested that Wang had reworked
preexisting materials; thus, the Dalun was seen to be continuous with the main tradition of the Neijing. Others have argued that the Dalun could not have been available
earlier than the eleventh century, since some of the key concepts in the Dalun were
not fully developed until then, and thus it was not continuous with the Neijing (Despeux 2001). Despite this disagreement, there is a consensus among modern scholars
that the seven Dalun represented the latest development of classical Chinese medical
theories and cosmological thinking.
For our purposes, we shall begin with a passage from the first section of the
Dalun to see how the medical conception of the cosmos resonates with the general
cosmological thought of ancient China as outlined above:
[The cosmos] is vastly extensive and empty; with the initial emergence, myriad things
are engendered. While wuyun is cycling throughout the cosmos, qi vitalizes and per
meates everything in heaven and on earth. While the constellation of the nine stars is
hanging [over the sky] and shining, the other seven are revolving. All can be called yin or
yang or soft or firm. [As] brightness and darkness [day or night] taking their [proper] positions, the coming and going of winter and summer are in order. [As] all that are growing
and transforming ceaselessly, various things acquire their distinctive figures or shapes.
(section 66)

This passage discusses the emergence and order of the cosmos. With the help of the
commentary provided by Wang Bing, we can ascertain a few formal characteristics
of a Neijing cosmology. First, the cosmos, referred to as the primal emptiness (or
taixu), was without a temporal beginning, spatial boundary, or center. The binominal
term taixu, similar to terms that designate the cosmos as tiandi and qiankun in the
other received traditions of ancient China, had no specific referent. Second, the notion of qi, dissimilar to a category prior to the cosmos or cosmic order, refers rather
to the syntheses that made up the cosmological order. For it energized all there was
as it traversed the cosmos. Nor could qi be treated as an elemental reality from which
everything else derives its existence. Third, the notion wuyun here simply refers to
the five phases of the qi energy of the earth that were in constant energetic exchange
with the celestial bodies. Fourth, the orderly alternation of day and night and the succession of the seasons were spontaneousrequiring no higher being superimposing
order through alternation or change. Fifth, universal change was perceived as the
constant transformation of the qualities of things that could be determined as soft and

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firm, and was represented by the symbols of yin and yang, which are the universals
representing the opposite but mutually entailing qualities and dynamic tendency of
all phenomena.
As part of the cosmic arrangement, the Neijing authors further postulated, human
beings were located somewhere below the sky and above the earth, suspended
bythe atmospheric air known as daqi (section 67). Yet this somewhere was not
perceived as a physical location within a larger cosmic parameter. Neither the
human body nor the macrocosm was perceived as a solid entity with spatial dimensions. Instead, humanitys cosmic positioning was visualized in dynamic terms. As
the qi of heaven descended toward the earth and the qi of the earth ascended toward
the sky, the communication and intermingling of qi energy took place. Such a cosmic
energetic exchange was referred to as qijiao in the Neijing text. And it was said that
it was in the midst of qijiao that humanity resides.
The conception of humanitys positioning in the cosmic order further aided the
development of an emerging somatic cosmography. The basic somatic constituents
were constituted by the five-viscera-system energetic of liver, heart, spleen, lungs,and
kidneys, respectively, along with their secondary organs and tissues. The five-viscera
system was perceived as provincially similar to the human physiological processes,
participating in energetic exchange, both intra-systematically with one another and
inter-systematically with the immediate geo-climatic influences. The somatic cosmography also consisted of complex pathways known as jinglo (analogous to an interstate highway system), along which the visceral system energetics communicated.
Along these pathways various strategic points were identified that allowed the external intervention of a traffic flow, which reset either the speed or the modality of
communication (the knowledge of these points helped develop the therapeutic principles of acupuncture).
Unlike the model of anatomy represented by the postmortem examination of
ahuman body comprised of various somatic constituents as substantial entities in
mutually isolating anatomical locations, the Neijing somatic cosmography was a
mapping of the network of energetic communication of the visceral system in a
living body.
Further, in modern biological and ecological terms, the human body was a living
organism, inhabiting a given environment and interacting with the immediate
geo-climatic influences. The following passages offer an idea of the ontogenesis of
various visceral system energetics:
From the east, wind arises. Wind enables the growth of wood [plants and vegetation],
which yields a sour flavor. The sour flavor [when ingested] develops the liver; and in turn
the liver develops the tendons and ligaments. [Participating in the development of the
liver system energetic], the heart [system energetic] is [also] developed.
From the north, cold arises. Cold gives rise to water, which yields a salty flavor. The
saltyflavor [when ingested] enables [the development of the] kidneys. Kidneys enable
[the growth of] bone marrow, which [in turn] develops the liver [system energetic].
(section 67)

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Here the language of the ontogenesis of the somatic constituents does not resort to
a metaphysical ground, but rather closely resembles the terms of modern evolutionary or developmental science. First, the initial emergence of the somatic constituents
was spontaneous. A key Chinese word designating the spontaneous growth and development of the somatic constituents is sheng. As both a verb and a verbal noun,
sheng can mean to grow or growth, birthing or birth, or to come to lifethus
to live or life itself. None of these usages implies the existence of a more primordial being that causes life or the life process to emerge and develop. Parallel to the
macrocosm, the human body is a microcosm that was also perceived of as selfemerging and self-organizing. A given visceral system emerges and develops while
interacting with the external geo-climatic influence, as well as other forms of life
(such as plant life or seasonal yield). Second, inter-systematically, the development
of a given visceral system simultaneously contributes to that of othersas a participating member of the dynamic development of the somatic energetic as a whole.
From the passages above, the development of the hepatic system simultaneously
contributes to the development of the cardiac system energetic. Likewise, as it
evolves, the renal-urinary system at the same time participates in the development of
the hepatic system energetic.
Interestingly, the conventional wisdom of modern evolutionary and developmental biological sciences lends itself to helping us better understand this unconventional conception of the human body in the ancient Chinese tradition. With the aid
of the relatively new disciplines, a living organism is perceived as that which inhabits
an environment that provides continuous physical, chemical and biological challenges, which enable organisms to adapt to their immediate environment (Azzone
1998, p. 14). The methodologies of these disciplines are thus oriented to investigating
the dynamic nature and behaviors of living organisms by looking at their ontogenetic adaptations as an information process (ibid., p. 13). Instead of focusing on
the permanent properties or unchanging identities of the cells of a given organism, biologists are now looking at the behavior patterns of the organism and the ways
in which it reacts to the stimuli of its immediate environment, that is, its capacity to
adapt, process, and transmit the ever-growing body of information. The method
ological refocus in turn leads to the redefinition of some key concepts of the discipline. For instance, the term evolution, originally used to explain the origin of the
species, is now used as an epistemic term explaining the mechanism and purposefulness of the living organismfrom the blind drive to increasingly organized structures, such as cognitive processes of the brain, and the immune responses of the body
(ibid., p. 14). The latter leads to a new theory of biology; that is, the information
transfer between an organism and its environment through self-adaptation can alter
its ontogenetic and developmental processes.
Two Cosmic-Medical Models of the Dalun
The methodical approach to quantifying, qualifying, and eventually modeling the
planetary energetic impact on the somatic body was most self-evident in the seven

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sections of the Dalun. Its writers must have realized that to correlate the energetic
performance of the human organism and planetary energetics required a conceptual
and methodological framework. The rise of an interest in methodology usually accompanies the emerging observational and empirical sciences in both premodern
and modern societies. The typical questions posed in the Dalun include but are not
limited to how to count or quantify qi or the qi energetic as more or less, and how
to qualify xin or the qualities of things as thriving or declining (section 66). Moreover, how should the standard value of a given geo-climatic somatic energetic configuration be established? Clinically, how should classification of a given somatic
system of energetic as underperforming or overperforming be determined? Apparently, the exploration of these questions requires technical as well as conceptual
knowledge. If the measurements of the interrelation of the five phase-energetics of
yun and the six energetic configurations of qi were to be obtained and represented
by means of counts and formal configurations, this would require technical as well
as conceptual knowledge. The former includes the counting system, astronomical
sighting of the celestial bodies, and the creation of calendars; the later concerns what
is similar to theoretical or rather conceptual models. Modern natural and social
scientists regard conceptual models as mental pictures or as an imaged mechanism or process populated by analogy (Barbour 1974, p. 30). In the Neijing tradition, conceptual models are intelligible units that were intended to give a unified
account of both numerical and conceptual knowledge, correlating planetary and
somatic events and processes and revealing the patterns of interrelations between
thetwo.
In my concluding reflection I shall further discuss the nature of conceptual
models in general and, specifically, how the ways in which the two Neijing models
fulfill some of the requirements of the conceptual models.
The two Dalun models are literally rendered in modern English-language scholarship as five periods and six qi (Unschuld 2010, pp. 189, 213) and, alternatively,
as five circuit phases and six energetic configurations (Porkert 1974, p. 56). I
propose that the two renditions can be integrated as the five phase-energetics of
yun (FY), and six energetic configurations of qi (SQ), in order to assimilate the
original wording of the Dalun.
In the following I shall discuss the ways in which the two cosmic-medical models
were devised. To build conceptual models requires building blocks such as concepts, emblems, analogy, numerals, and qualifiers. First, the two primary concepts
chosen were qi and yun. Both terms have broad thematic ranges of meaning. Yet for
the purpose of model building, the thematic scope of qi is narrowed and reduced to
six patterns of atmospheric energetic configurations (luiqi). Similarly, the concept
yun originally meant transport and movement and, more specifically, the movement
in a circle that is self-perpetuating. By extension, yun could also mean the course of
history and recurring events significantly altering a persons life, hence fortune or
luck. But the Dalun authors reduced yun to five specific phases of energetic impact
of the rotating earth (wuyun). Although qi and yun, like gravity in modern physics,
were considered to be existent in all spaces and at all times, they are reduced to

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perceptible and measurable energetic-configuration and phase-energetic patterns,

respectively. This methodological reduction is necessary for model building and thus
a scientific epistemology.
Second, the Dalun authors proposed that the earth be measured by five and
Heaven by six (section 66). The number five refers to the five phase-energetics of
yun, measuring and representing the energetic impact of five succeeding temporal
phases of the rotating earth in relation to the Sun. The number six refers to the six
energetic configurations of qi, measuring the atmospheric energetic impact of celestial bodies such as the sun, the moon, and the stars in relation to the earth. The five
phase-energetics of the earth were self-evident in the alternation of the five seasons
(with summer being divided into two phases). The five visual emblems of wood, fire,
earth, metal, and water represented the five respective phases. These emblems helped
to conceptualize the dynamic tendencies and energetic qualities of the respective
five phase-energetics of yun. The six energetic configurations of qi were specified as
six specific configuration patterns: wind, ruling heat, humidity, minor heat, dryness,
and cold. The six configurations are qualified by three yin and three yang subcate
gories, respectively. For instance, wind-configuration is qualified by one yin (or
ceasing yin), indicating that wind has the least energetic impact of yin quality. The
humidity configuration is qualified by three yin(s), indicating that the energetic
impact of yin nature is strongest in humidity. The six yin and yang qualifiers help to
grade the degrees of atmospheric energetic influence from weakest to strongest.
With all the concepts, numbers, emblems, and qualifiers, the working relation
ofFY and SQ can be virtualized in terms of a clock and a geo-thermometer. That
is, as the FY or clock counts the shifting positions of the rotating earth, the SQ or
thermometer registers the respective atmospheric impacts such as the energetic configuration of wind, ruling heat, and so on. The working relation of clock and thermometer provide a temporal-spatial framework for establishing standard patterns of
geo-climatic energetic influence as six sets of correlates: wood-wind, monarch
fireruling heat, soil-humidity, minstrel firelesser heat, metal-dryness, and
water-cold (for the sake of systematic correlation, the fire phase is graded into two:
one primary and the other secondary, symbolically represented as monarchy and
minister, respectively). With the six correlates, the cosmological assertion of qijiao
or communication of qi between heaven and earth, enabling all lives and organic
growth, can be qualified and formally represented. The six correlates represent and
delineate a boundary condition within which the concurrence of the geo-climatic
events can be conceptualized and interrelated. As we shall see in what follows, the
standard patterns of geo-climatic configuration were further correlated with the activities of the visceral energetic performance in helping to explain and forecast trends
in public health and the somatic ailments of a targeted population at a given time
period, hence the eventual expansion of the six geo-climatic correlates into the six
geo-climatic-somatic correlates.
In the modern natural and social sciences, models of various kinds, mathematical, theoretical, conceptual, and so on, are expected to perform two primary functions: to explain what is being observed and to predicate the occurrence of future

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events (Hawking and Mlodinow 2010). The Dalun writers seemed to have expectations similar to the FY and SQ. To project the interrelations of a geo-climatic-somatic
energetic on a much larger scale, the models of FY and SQ must be mathematically
integrated and further incorporated with the numerical systems of a calendarthe
calendar of the sixty-year Jaizi cycle.
The Jaizi calendar was constructed from two old counting systems. One was
known as the ten celestial stems and the other as the twelve terrestrial branches.
The ten celestial stems in early mythology designated the ten suns. In the later
practice of astronomical sighting, the ten stems, named jia, yi, bing, ding, and so on,
were used to measure the shifting positions of the Sun from dawn to dusk. If a stem
counts one day, ten stems count a ten-day period, known as xun in the Shang calendar (17641123 b.c.). The twelve earthly branches, called zi, chou, yin, mao, and so
on, were used to count the Moons positions from waxing to waning, which takes
about a month. Thus, the twelve branches count twelve months.
The two separate counting systems later became incorporated as the combined
lunar and solar calendars. The integration of the two calendars eventually resulted in
a sixty-year cycle known as the jiazi cycle. Mathematically, having the twelve terrestrial branches pair with the ten celestial stems (and the two remaining branches
start over to pair with the first two stems again, and so on) yields a thirty-year cycle.
Repeating the paring process one more time, a sixty-year cycle is formed. Within the
sixty-year framework, each given year is counted and represented as one stem and
one branch (jia and zi are the names of the first stem and branch, respectively). The
sixty-year cycle starts over again once it reaches the end. (One wonders if the sixtyyear cycle was the result of Shangs conception of time as cyclical.)
To integrate the models of FY and SQ with the jiazi calendar, the ten celestial
stems were used to count and represent the five phase-energetics of yun (with two
stems counting for one phase-energetic), and the twelve terrestrial branches were
used to count and represent the six energetic configurations of qi (with two branches
counting for one energetic configuration). Thus, the five phases of yun (of the energetics of the earth) and six atmospheric configurations of qi (the energetics of the
celestial bodies) were mathematically integrated and represented by the stem-branch
scheme within a sixty-year jiazi cycle. For instance, as the Neijing writers proposed,
if the five phase-energetics of yun take turns in influencing and thus representing
theoverall weather pattern of an annual cycle, it could be predicated that a given
period of twelve years would primarily be influenced by the same phase-energetic
ofyun, for example as a wood phase and so on. By the same calculation, if the six
energetic configurations of qi take turns in influencing the weather pattern of a
year,the same energetic configuration, such as wind, would dominate the overall
weather pattern for a given period of ten years. Further, it was said that a given phaseenergetic of yun and a configuration of qi simultaneously dominate the overall
weather pattern of a given year in the jiazi calendar. The dual governance of five
phases and six configurations (represented by the schema of stem and branch) can
project a number of standard geo-climatic patterns, as well as their variables, as geoclimatic abnormities.

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Surprisingly, according to the calculations of the jiazi calendar, there were larger
numbers of annual cycles that suffer from either energetic deficiency or energetic
excessiveness. The fluctuations in geo-climatic energetic impact on biospherical
lives, although expected, could, however, upset the energetic balance of organisms
such as the human somatic body by overwhelming its self-balancing or immune
capacity. Given that the somatic visceral system energetics were part of the equations
of macrocosmic influences, the former were predisposed to the impact of the latter.
That is, not only the state of the healthy hung in a delicate balance but a diseased
state was unavoidable. The use of the FY model to explain the physical symptoms
afflicted by abnormal weather patterns will be the focus of the following discussion.
Cosmic-Medical Modeling of Public Health and Somatic Ailments
I shall first introduce the concept of public health or the average degree of immunity in terms of the Dalun. While the normative geo-climatic energetic configuration
was characterized as a state of energetic equilibrium, or ping, the standard somatic
physiological value for a given person was referred to as person-in-balance, or
pingren. Yet, for both macrocosmic and somatic bodies, the state of ping was not
perceived as a state of homeostasis, but a dynamic balancing of opposite forces, either between planetary and somatic bodies or in the interaction of the two. Further,
such an energetic balancing (the normative value of the geo-climatic-somatic configuration) was not quantified and represented by a set of meteorological or physiological data, but rather qualified in dynamic or behavioral terms. Take the description
of the balancing of the five phase-energetics, for example. According to the Dalun
authors, the balanced state of the wood phase was characteristically generating but
not destroyingin agreement with the temperament of the spring season. Similarly,
balance in the fire phase-energetic was described as facilitating and illuminating but
not penalizingin accordance with the temperament of the summer. The balance
of the earth phase-energetic was said to be transforming but not imposing, the
metal phase gathering but not harming, and the water phase was storing but not
restrictingall were in agreement with the temperament of the seasons of late
summer, fall, and winter, respectively (section 70).
Limiting ourselves to the balanced state of the wood phase-energetic, we can
look into more detailed characterizations. The wood phase-energetic in balance was
said to have the dynamic qualities of growth and expansion, upward mobility, flexibility, and the natural tendency to penetrate (e.g., the layers of the soil in order to
expand its growth). Further elaborations of these qualities were given in observational and temporal terms. For instance, the overall growth tendency was seen in
plants and vegetation. The quality of flexibilitybending and stretchingwas typically seen in hemp and flax plants. The seasons yield gives an effective quality of
sourness. The spring season also witnesses the conception and reproduction of animals; typically, the hairy animals gave birth to their young (section 70). Of course,
the virtue of the wood phase-energetic in balance, like that of the temperament of
spring, was facilitating rather than damaging.

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Since the wood phase-energetic correlates with the visceral system of the liver
energetic, the language describing the balanced energetic equilibrium or the normative physiological value of the hepatic system was analogous to that of the balanced
wood phase-energetic. In the Dalun texts, the characterizations of the energetic equilibrium of the wood phase-energetic and that of the liver appeared in the same paragraph (section 70).
First, analogous to the dynamic qualities of the balanced wood phase-energetic,
the normative physiological function of the liver (comprised of the hepatic orbit
known as gan, tendons, muscle, veins, and sensory organs such as the eyes, as well
as the bladder and liver meridians) was said to facilitate growth and regeneration. As
we learned from the earlier passage on somatic ontogenesis, the development of the
hepatic system energetic was a process integral to the cardiac systematic. Not only
did the liver system energetic participate in the manufacture and transportation of the
blood, but also, as a crucial physiological function of gan, it was able to store temporarily the extra amount of blood when the body was at rest, and release it back
into the circulatory system when needed. Such a dynamic quality was directly responsible for physical regeneration or renewal.
Second, the liver system energetic had something to do with the motor function of bending and stretching. According to the Neijing text, it was gan that di
rectedthe blood flow to wherever the motor function was executed. It was gan that
released blood to the eyes so that they could see, to the feet so that they could
walk,to the hands so that they could hold, and to the fingers so that they could grasp
(section 10).
Third, analogous to spring wood being capable of penetrating the layers of the
soil in order to spread its growth, the hepatic system energetic was responsible for
opening up and dispersing anything that blocked the somatic energetic communication along the network of meridians. If such a function of gan were to be compromised, various congestions and obstructions would develop, and the circulatory
and digestive system problematic would occur. Lastly, a certain emotional state such
as anger, the counter-modality to the temperament of spring, could restrict the regular flow of the liver energetic and hence elevate blood pressure.
Here we must point out that the positive analogies drawn between the wood
phase-energetic and hepatic system energetic were not formally presented but postulated. Conceptually, the postulation allows the assimilation of the unfamiliar to the
contexts of the familiar, and access to the otherwise inaccessible, and, further, the
construal of an understanding of the former in terms of the latter. In terms of positive
analogies, that is, if the behaviors of the hepatic system were assumed to have be
havior patterns similar to the wood phase-energetic, a theory or theories could be
obtained, namely the four sets of normative physiological value or the general immunity of the hepatic system energetic, as discussed above. The negative analogies
could also lead to a plausible theory that explained and predicted the abnormal
value or irregularity of the hepatic system functions, which would eventually manifest themselves as a hepatic symptomatic. Either positive or negative, the analogies
are purely formal; there are no parallels beyond what the FY model delineates. In

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sum, the postulation of the correlation of wood phase-energetic and liver system
energetic enables ways of explaining normative physiological value and, hence, the
general immunity or health of the hepatic system.
Wood Phase-Energetic Deficiency and Redundancy and the Hepatic Symptomatic
If the balancing wood phase-energetic could model the normative value of the liver
system energetic, the unbalanced modality of the former could also distinguish
theabnormal patterns of hepatic system behaviors as symptomatic. I will offer a discussion of the two patterns of abnormal behaviors of the hepatic system energetic
and the manifested heretical problematic. Further I shall also mention some of the
secondary symptoms, which were immediately affected by the irregularity of the
hepatic system energetic.
The two abnormal modalities were known as buji and taiguo in Dalun termi
nology. First, both terms must be understood in both temporal and quantitative terms.
Temporally, they convey a sense of wrong timing, that is, a temporal disorder of a
given phase-energetic of yun. Second, they indicate either reduced or redundant
geo-climatic energetic impact on the temporal period. The inverse cold in the
spring discussed at the beginning was a case of spring seasonal energetic deficiency.
If a given Jaizi calendar year were calculated as being influenced by wood phaseenergetic deficiency, the spring season would arrive later than the scheduled time.
The delayed spring in turn would decrease the energetic impact of the season
reduced sunlight, below-average temperature, excessive rainwater, and extensive
moisture in the soil. An inadequate spring energetic would adversely affect the overall growth tendency. The Dalun authors characterized the latter as stunted growth,
or weihe. Further described, otherwise strong and solid trees were tortured and
suffered from the injuries, and the soft and tender leaves and grasses withered away
and dried up (section 69).
A deficiency in the wood phase-energetic also adversely affected the balance
ofthe liver system energetic, giving rise to both primary and secondary symptoms.
Itwas observed that the physical problematic would occur in the middle region of
the body (where the hepatic orbit was located), and outwardly manifest in the tendons and joints. Symptomatically, people would complain about abdominal pain
ora painful sensation in the middle section of the body. If an undermined hepatic
system energetic was unsuccessful in regulating bodily fluids, this could induce
overly active bowel movement and hence diarrhea (section 69). A wood phase-
energetic deficiency could also cause a chain reaction among other phase-energetics
and their respective correlated visceral systems, each of which had a list of secondary
physical symptoms.
Opposite the modality of energetic deficiency was energetic redundancy. When
a given Jiazi annual cycle was predominately influenced by the redundant wood
phase-energetic, there would be high wind and overly abundant growth of vegetation in the spring. Under extreme conditions, high wind would destroy vegetation
and plants, thus destabilizing the soil (sections 69 and 70). Somatically, it was again

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the defense system of the hepatic system that was undermined. However, the symptomatic expressions were distinctly different from those of wood phase-energetic
deficiency. It was observed that people would suffer from dizziness, blurry vision,
and physical instability. They might also complain about a sensation of heaviness in
the body, a bloated stomach, and a loss of appetite. Feelings of irritability and sudden
bursts of anger were also noticeable (section 69). Since the normative function of the
hepatic system to transport and distribute the bio-energetic was compromised, obstructions would occur in the digestive and circulatory energetic tracts.
In sum, in a temporal disorder of the wood phase-energetic, which directly translates into a quantitative alteration, a decrease or increase in the geo-climatic configurations of the spring could primarily offset the defense of the hepatic system
energetic, yielding a class of symptoms related to the weakened function of the gan.
A deficiency or excess in the wood phase-energetic could affect the other phaseenergetic and somatic correlates, causing a group of secondary physical symptoms
to occur. For instance, if the wood phase-energetic was deficient and thus unable
tohold its position, the metal phase-energetic would advance to assault (as metal
cuts wood), and there would be overly dry weather conditions in the fall. In terms of
growth, the young and tender greenery would prematurely wither away and dry up.
Somatically, it was the energetic system energetic of the lungs that was adversely affected (the system comprised of the orbits of lungs, large intestine, the sensory organ
of the nose, and the skin). Symptomatically, the problematic caused by overly dry
heat could become manifest on the surface of the skin. If the pores were unable to
breath properly, various skin infections could develop (section 69). Further, an increase in the metal phase-energetic could also indirectly trigger an overreaction of
the fire phase-energetic. Consequently, there would be above-normal high tem
perature and humidity in the two respective summer seasonal periods. Somatically,
the immunity or defense of both the heart and spleen systems (correlated with the
fire phase-energetic and soil phase-energetic, respectively) could be undermined
(section 69).
Reflections on the Epistemological Value of the Models
Today, cosmologists speak of model-dependent reality. Steven Hawking, Cambridge University mathematician and cosmologist, states that the incomprehen
sible majestic immensity of the universe became comprehensible because of
scientific laws deduced from mathematical, conceptual, and theoretical models.
Therefore, for scientists, there is no picture-or-theory-independent reality (Hawking and Mlodinow 2010, p. 42). Hawkings statement seems to echo Kants alien
epistemology, summarized by Richard Rorty. According to Rorty, for Kant, the answer to the question of how do we know what we know would be such that we
understand what we make, or we make what we understand. Instead of requiring
human cognition to comprehend science and scientific laws, Kant seemed to demand that the scientific laws conform to our cognitive faculty of the mind (Rorty
1982, p. 145). Some post-Kantian philosophers, such as Nietzsche, Husserl, Hei-

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degger, and Gadamer, have all offered critical evaluations of the pretense of scientific methodology, including scientific modeling. However, for practicing scientists,
there is a certain epistemological value to modeling in advancing scientific knowl
edge. Hawkings judgment is that a scientific model should be able to explain
observed phenomena as well as predict the future results of the observations (ibid.,
p. 51). The two medical-cosmological models of the Dalun certainly fulfill both requirements, for they pose not only a cognitive significance but also the value of
forecasting future geo-climatic-somatic events.
There are different kinds of models, such as experimental, mathematical, logical,
and conceptual, which are currently used in the natural and social sciences. The two
Dalun models of FY and SQ are not experimental in the sense that models are used
in the applied sciences or in the laboratory for solving a practical problem. Nor are
they miniature replicas of the larger structure. They are dissimilar to pure mathematical models, since they are not mere representations of the quantitative variables or
the formal elements of a given system, such as a point or line in geometry. Neither
are they treated as logical models, for they do not start with the axioms and theorems of a formal deductive system. However, they closely resemble some of the
characteristics of conceptual models as characterized by Ian Barbour. According to
Barbour, the conceptual models are imaged mechanism or process postulated by
analogy, and specifically they are analogical, extensive, and intelligible as units
(1974, p. 34). They are usually used for correlating a set of observations or systems
that are assumed to have similar characteristics or functional attributes. The analogies
drawn, positive or negative, may point toward new correlations and possibly new
theories about the systems involved. Barbours ready example is the use of the
billiard-ball model, which eventually led to the postulating of the Kinetic Theory
of Gases (ibid., pp. 3032).
Following Barbours characterizations, I suggest that the FY and SQ are qualified
as conceptual models. They are mentally constructed processes or mechanisms, built
by using basic building blocks such as concepts and numerical and visual emblems.
The cosmic concepts of yun and qi were reduced to specific phase-energetics and to
atmospheric configurations, so that they could not only be visualized but also measured and counted by both constant-member and calendar-calculation systems. The
conventional emblems, illustrating the specific physical and symbolic meaning, further enabled the conceptualization of the dynamic qualities of the processes they
represented. The postulation of the analogies between the correlated processesthat
is, the geo-climatic condition of a given seasonal periodand a new context that
was visually inaccessiblethat is, the physical-pathological condition of a somatic
system energeticmade the two possible and the introduction of the latter in terms
of the former.
Further, the FY and SQ as conceptual models allow the simulation of certain
features of one system by the behaviors of another in a different medium, permitting
the presentation of one in terms of another, metaphorically, for instance. The authors
of the Dalun may have stated that the liver was wood. The metaphor enabled the
conception of the energetic performance of the hepatic system in terms of wood-like

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behaviors (in the temporal framework of the spring season). Hence, parallel to the
Barbour-cited example of the hydraulic model of an economic system was the
geo-climatic model of a somatic system of the Dalun.
In conclusion, I must point out that the conceptual models discussed above did
not first subsume analogy and metaphor under the conventional contexts that had
already been fully developed and articulated; instead, they intimated a similarity (in
dynamic qualities or behavior patterns) between the two systems that was not yet
fully conceptualized. At the beginning, the correlation of planetary body and somatic body was only postulated as a not yet fully developed theoretical hypothesis;
in the end, the correlation of a specific geo-climatic-somatic energetic performance
was well established. Moreover, the concurring events of the planetary and somatic
bodies can be forecasted within the temporal framework of the Jaizi calendar.

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