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A guest challenged me, saying: The *Suwen* (Basic Questions), chapter "Yin-Yang Yingxiang" states: "The pathogenic qi of heaven, when invading, harms the five zang organs; the cold and heat of food and drink, when invading, harms the six fu organs." The chapter "Taiyin Yangming Lun" in the *Suwen* states: "Those who are afflicted by thieving wind and empty pathogens receive them on the yang channels; those whose diet and drinking are irregular and whose daily routine is untimely receive them on the yin channels. Receiving them on the yang channels leads to disease in the six fu organs; receiving them on the yin channels leads to disease in the five zang organs." These two statements are directly contradictory. I wish to hear your explanation.

I replied: This is what is meant by appearing contradictory but not actually being so. Contracting the pathogenic qi of heaven, or being afflicted by thieving wind and empty pathogens, constitutes a disease of external injury with excess characteristics. Contracting the cold and heat of food and drink, or having irregular diet, constitutes a disease of internal injury with deficiency characteristics. Both types of injury can affect both the fu and zang organs; it merely depends on the pathway from which the pathogen enters and the location where the disease manifests. One should not doubt this due to the apparent difference between these two statements, as they run parallel without contradiction. Readers should observe them comprehensively, and the essence will be fully understood. If you say otherwise, let me prove it using arguments from other sections.

The *Jingui Zhenyan Lun* (Golden Cabinet True Discussions) in the *Suwen* states: "Wind touching the five zang organs causes disease due to pathogenic qi." The *Bazheng Shenming Lun* (Discussion on the Eight Norms and Divine Clarity) states: "The empty pathogens of the eight seasonal norms, encountering the body's deficiency and meeting the heaven's emptiness, cause the two deficiencies to interact. Their qi reaches the bone, and upon entering, it injures the five zang organs." The *Lingshu Jing* (Spiritual Pivot) states: "The five zang organs can be affected by wind." It also says: "East wind harms people, lodging internally in the Liver; South wind harms people, lodging internally in the Heart; Southwest wind harms people, lodging internally in the Spleen; West wind harms people, lodging internally in the Lung; North wind harms people, lodging internally in the Kidney." Observing this, it is clear that the pathogenic qi of heaven indeed injures the five zang organs.

The *Lingshu* further states: "When pathogenic qi strikes humans, there is no fixed pattern; if it strikes the yin channels, it flows into the fu organs." It also says: "When empty pathogens strike humans, they begin at the skin and enter. Their transmission proceeds from the collaterals to the main channels, then to the shu points, then to the Fu-chong vessels, and finally to the intestines and stomach." It also states: "Northeast wind harms people, lodging internally in the Large Intestine; Northwest wind harms people, lodging internally in the Small Intestine; Southeast wind harms people, lodging internally in the Stomach." Observing this, does the pathogenic qi of heaven not injure the six fu organs?

The *Suwen* states: "If food and drink intake doubles, the intestines and stomach are injured." Observing this, do the cold and heat of food and drink not indeed injure the six fu organs? The *Lingshu* also states: "Cold form and cold drinks injure the Lung." The *Nanjing* (Classic of Difficult Issues) states: "Irregular diet and fatigue injure the Spleen." Observing this, do the cold and heat of food and drink not indeed injure the five zang organs?

As for the dampness of the earth, it is not necessarily true that it exclusively harms the skin, flesh, sinews, and vessels while failing to harm the zang and fu organs. Similarly, pathogenic qi and food/drink do not exclusively harm the zang and fu organs while failing to harm the skin, flesh, sinews, and vessels. It is simply that pathogenic qi is formless, and since the zang organs store essence and qi, things of similar nature attract each other, leading to frequent injury of the fu organs (Note: The original text logic here contrasts formless vs. formed, though traditionally formless qi often affects zang, Wang Lu argues based on specific mechanistic interactions). Food and drink have form, and since the fu organs transmit and transform substances, they are frequently injured due to their nature. Dampness infiltrates, its nature is slow, and its entry into the human body is gradual. It begins at the feet, thus moving from below to above, from shallow to deep, and therefore mostly injures the skin, flesh, sinews, and vessels. Who would say that dampness has absolutely no effect on the zang and fu organs?

Regarding the phrase "untimely daily routine," it generally refers to diseases caused by labor and overexertion, which do not belong to the discussion of similarities and differences between heavenly pathogens and food/drink mentioned earlier, so it is not addressed here.