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.The question appears to have been raised of what differ-ence it made in efforts to regulate qi if a drug was considered poisonous ornot.As the following exchange tells, it made no difference whatsoever. Unschuld,Huang Di nei jing 12/2/02 1:34 PM Page 310310 survey of the contents of the su wen[Huang] Di:If someone contracts [a disease] because his or her qi was unregulated,how is a treatment to be performed?Some [substances] have poison, others have no poison;which [are employed] first, and which subsequently?I should like to hear the Way of this.Qi Bo:Whether they have poison or not,the main [concern in their application] is the [disease] that is to be treated.In accordance [with the severity of a disease], the composition [of the pre-scription] should be large or small.[Huang] Di:Please speak about these compositions.Qi Bo:One ruler, two ministers,that is a small composition.One ruler, three ministers, and five assistants,that is a middle[-size] composition.One ruler, three ministers, and nine assistants,that is a large composition.774Before we continue to look at what appears to have been a new, hierar-chical structure of complex prescriptions, it it worthwhile to take a look atSu wen 70 where that approach was outlined which may have been in HuangDi s mind when he asked his question concerning the significance of poison.[Huang] Di:[Some drugs] have poison, [others] have no poison.Are there any essential rules as to their intake?Qi Bo:Among the illnesses are those that are chronic and those that were newlyacquired;among the prescriptions are those that are large and those that are small.[Among the drugs] are those that have poison and [others that] have nopoison.[In their application] it is necessary to follow the regular compositions.If an illness is treated with [drugs of] massive poison, this will remove six [parts]of ten.If an illness is treated with [drugs of] regular poison, this will remove seven[parts] of ten.If an illness is treated with [drugs of] weak poison, this will remove eight [parts]of ten.If an illness is treated with [drugs] containing no poison, this will remove nine[parts] of ten. Unschuld,Huang Di nei jing 12/2/02 1:34 PM Page 311survey of the contents of the su wen 311Employ a diet of grain, meat, fruit, and vegetables to complete [the cure].Do not permit these [limits] to be exceeded,lest the proper [qi] is harmed.775Farther down in Su wen 74, the new principle that should guide the com-position of a prescription is laid down explicitly: not only the cause and thenature of a disease is to be taken into account, but the location of the dis-ease is decisive too.Whether a disease is in the central sections of the or-ganism, for example in the depots, or in the exterior sections, for examplein the palaces, makes a difference in terms of a suitable treatment.The bridgebetween these locations and the qualities and effects of drugs is provided bytheir yin-yang categorizations.[Huang] Di:When a disease is in the center or in the exterior, how is that?Qi Bo:To establish a [therapeutic] prescription to regulate the qi,it is necessary to distinguish yin and yang andto settle [the qi] in the center or in the exterior.When a [disease] is in the interior, treat it in the interior;when a [disease] is in the exterior, treat it in the exterior.If the Way is carefully observed in accordance with the law [ just outlined],myriad cures are achieved in myriad [cases] taken up.Qi and blood will assume a proper balance, andthe mandate of heaven will last long.776Su wen 74 offers the dawn of a pharmacology of systematic correspon-dences of individual substances, in contrast to a more general pharmacol-ogy hinted at elsewhere in the text, but the same discourse also contains whatmight be called the earliest traces of prescription pharmacology.Linked toquotations from a text with the title Great Essential, Da yaojn, which isnot attested in any ancient bibliography and was already lost in antiquity, Suwen 74 points out that it is not only the qualities of individual drugs that countin therapy.The composition of substances in prescriptions, too, followsspecific patterns that have to be adapted to the requirements of each dis-ease.Whether a prescription is large or small, whether a composition is even or uneven, urgent or relaxed, and whether a dosage is light orheavy should depend on the location of the disease.Qi Bo:Among the qi are those high and those below.Among the diseases are those distant and those near.The evidence [of a disease] may be inside or outside.Treatment may be light or heavy. Unschuld,Huang Di nei jing 12/2/02 1:34 PM Page 312312 survey of the contents of the su wenAdaptation to the place [the qi of the drugs is supposed] to go is the startingpoint [of any treatment].The Great Essential states: One ruler, two ministers,that is an uneven composition.Two rulers, four ministers,that is an even composition.Two rulers, three ministers,that is an uneven composition.Two rulers, six ministers,that is an even composition
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