Shou and She: From a State Code to Where Qi Goes

After establishing Shou, the Mirror Classic of Bian Que says:

Once tone is established, one knows where Shou begins; once Shou is established, one knows the qi movement of She. She is the manifestation of Shou; Shou is the qi of She.

This is a concise and easily overlooked relation.

Shou answers “where does it begin?”; She answers “where does it land?”

If qi transformation is a continuously moving system, a starting code alone is not enough. One must also know where that state appears within the channel interaction network.

Thus:

• Shou emphasizes the starting state;
• She emphasizes the qi-interaction position in which the state appears;
• qi movement is the process that unfolds between and through these states and positions.

The text also says:

Qi is the source of the movement of breath; manifestation is the measure of transformation and change. Manifestation, qi, Shou, and She are instruments of return and storage.

Qi and manifestation are therefore not separate worlds. Qi moves; manifestations provide observable measures of change; Shou and She link the two.

Why must the ten transformation tones be combined with the Twelve Lü?

The text states directly:

When the ten tones of qi transformation combine with the Twelve Lü, the measure of qi interaction in the Seventy-Two She can be known.

This is almost a master formula for the third series.

The ten transformation tones provide the relation of state, while the Twelve Lü provide the scale of movement. Only in combination can they enter the Seventy-Two She.

A format such as “Zhi-An-Huangzhong” is therefore not three arbitrary characters placed together, but three dimensions:

• Zhi: degree;
• An: shared-degree transformation relation;
• Huangzhong: lü measure.

Together they form a state code rich enough to infer a She position.

Shou and She form the skeleton of dynamic diagnosis

Static diagnosis asks: “Which category is this?”

Dynamic diagnosis must also ask: “Where did it come from? Where is it going? At what location does interaction occur?”

The Mirror Classic uses Shou and She to add these dimensions.

It therefore says: “Resolve the pulse to know its change; understand its transformation to know the disease; harmonize its qi to fit its endowment.” Knowledge of disease comes after change and transformation, not before Shou is established.

The third series can now be summarized as:

ten-tone state → Twelve-Lü scale → combine into Shou → Shou leads to She → observe qi movement within She.

The next series enters the spatial network of She, beginning with an everyday observation: why, when people walk, does the right hand naturally coordinate with the left foot and the left hand with the right foot?