Topic on generation and meeting of nutritive qi and defensive qi in the divine pivot (Eighteenth article part III) [1]

The Emperor asked: “Why don’t old men want to sleep in the night? Why don’t young men want to sleep in the day?”

Qi Bo answered: “Young men have exuberant qi and blood. The muscles are lubricious. The ways of their qi are smooth. The nutritive qi and defensive qi run normally. So young men are spirited in the daytime and sleep well at night. Old men have debilitated qi and blood. The muscles are desiccated. The ways of their qi are uneven. The functions of the five zang-organs are not harmonized. The nutritive qi is weak. The defensive qi is poor and competes with the nutritive qi for complement. Therefore old men are not spirited in the daytime and do not sleep well during night.”

Key Words: generation and meeting of nutritive qi and defensive qi, in the divine pivot