Seventy-Two She and Seventy-Three She: State and Movement Differ by One Number

After extensive enumeration in the “Eight She,” the text suddenly introduces a concept that differs by only one number: the Seventy-Three She.

It gives an example:

Qian-Gui, Pan-Gong-Huangzhong: left Hand Jueyin is Sheng over left Foot Taiyin; this is Qian-Gui qi moving through the Seventy-Three She.

It explains:

The Seventy-Three She are shift and return, qi spreading and moving; they are the qi of interacting joints moving toward places of renewed meeting.

Then comes the crucial summary:

Therefore the Seventy-Two She are the establishment of qi; the Seventy-Three She are the movement of qi.

Seventy-two and seventy-three are not merely a difference in count

Looking only at the numbers, one might ask, “Why was one more She added?”

But the text itself distinguishes their functions:

• Seventy-Two She: establishment of qi;
• Seventy-Three She: movement of qi.

One describes an established state-position, while the other emphasizes movement after the state has shifted.

“Shift and return” is the key

The Seventy-Three She are not defined as an additional fixed location, but through “shift and return.”

Qi departs from an original She position, moves, and then enters a place of renewed meeting. What is described is a transition event, not merely an extra cell.

Using modern modeling language only as an aid, the Seventy-Two She can be compared to a state and the Seventy-Three She to a transition. This is only an analogy; the source itself uses the terms “establishment” and “movement.”

Why are the Sixty Shou called “the beginning of She division”?

The same passage says:

The Sixty Shou are the beginning of the divisions of She.

This completely joins the third and fourth series.

The Sixty Shou are not the endpoint. Establishing Shou only fixes an initial state; from there one enters the divisions of She. Once She shifts, qi moves from “establishment” into “movement.”

The full chain is therefore:

tone and lü combine into qi → establish Shou → determine She → shift → renewed meeting → observe movement again.

Disease therefore requires attention to trend

If pathology were only a static position, the Seventy-Two She would be sufficient. The fact that the Mirror Classic adds the Seventy-Three She shows that it is concerned with how qi transformation passes from one state to another.

This is entirely consistent with the forward/reverse Sixty Shou and later Qiheng-Kuidu: diagnosis should not only know “where it is now,” but also where it is changing toward.

The next article uses Qian-Gui-Huangzhong as a complete case to connect Nine Qi, transformation tones, Twelve Lü, channel pairing, Sanjiao, Moyuan, and Chong-Ren-Du-Qiao into one qi-transformational chain.