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(One treatise)
The treatise states: The Stomach Fu (Stomach Organ) is externally-internally related to the Spleen. The lips are its external manifestation. The Qi of the Spleen combines with that of the Stomach; the Stomach is the Fu organ for water and grain. It is referred to as the "Keeper of the Granary," weighing two jin and fourteen liang. Its shape is tortuous and curved, with a length of two chi six cun, a circumference of one chi five cun, and a diameter of five cun. It can hold three dou five sheng of water and grain. Within it, two dou of grain and one dou five sheng of water should remain. With its wide neck and expanded chest, it accommodates the five grains until full. The Upper Jiao (Upper Burner) disperses Qi, sending out the essence and subtle nutrients; the fierce, rapid, and slippery Qi descends to the Lower Jiao (Lower Burner), irrigating and draining into the various small intestines. This is the quantity of water and grain received by the intestines and stomach. In a healthy person, however, when the Stomach is full, the Intestines are empty, and when the Intestines are full, the Stomach is empty, alternating between fullness and emptiness. Qi moves up and down smoothly, the Five Zang Organs (Five Viscera) are stable, and the blood vessels are harmonious and unobstructed, allowing the Spirit (Shen) to reside. Thus, the Spirit is generated from the essence and Qi of water and grain. If the Five Zang Organs lack sufficient essence, they can be regulated through the Stomach. Therefore, within the intestines and stomach, there should typically remain two dou four sheng of grain and one dou one sheng of water. A person defecates twice a day (referred to as "qing" in the *Jia Yi Jing*), expelling two and a half sheng each time, totaling five sheng per day. Over seven days, this amounts to thirty-five sheng (three dou five sheng), at which point the retained water and grain are exhausted. Therefore, a normal person who does not drink or eat for seven days will die because the essence, Qi, and body fluids from water and grain are depleted, hence death occurs after seven days.

If the Yang pulse at the right Guan position is absent, it indicates the absence of the Stomach pulse. If symptoms include acid regurgitation, headache, and cold in the stomach, needle the Foot-Taiyin Splein Meridian to treat Yin syndromes, at the point one cun distal to the base of the big toe.
If the Yang pulse at the right Guan position is excess, it indicates Stomach Excess. If symptoms include discomfort in the intestines, loss of appetite, and inability to digest food after eating, needle the Foot-Yangming Stomach Meridian to treat Yang syndromes, at the arterial pulse on the dorsum of the foot. A pulse that is floating and knotted (Kou): floating indicates Yang, while knotted indicates Yin. When floating and knotted pulses interact, Heat generates in the Stomach Qi, causing the Yang to become obstructed.

A Fuyang pulse that is floating and large indicates slight deficiency and irritability in the Stomach. Defecation occurs twice daily. Headache and heaviness after movement, along with morning heat sensations, belong to Stomach disorders.
If the Stomach pulse is firm and long, and the complexion is red, the patient should suffer from hip pain (Zhe Bi). If the pulse is soft and scattered, the patient should suffer from Shi Bi (Bi syndrome caused by food stagnation). Hip pain originating in the Stomach first presents with abdominal fullness. After five days, it transmits to the Kidney, causing lower abdominal, lumbar, and spinal pain, and soreness in the shins. After three days, it transmits to the Bladder, causing pain in the back and spinal muscles, and urinary retention. After five days, it transmits to the Heart and Spleen, causing heart pain with obstruction, body pain, and heaviness (as stated in the *Ling Shu*: transmitting to the Heart). If not resolved within three days, death ensues. Death occurs in winter after midnight, and in summer at noon.

Patients with Stomach disease experience abdominal distension, pain in the epigastrium corresponding to the heart region, upward support to both hypochondria, obstruction in the diaphragm and pharynx, and difficulty swallowing food. Treatment should select the Zusanli (ST36) point.
When food cannot be swallowed due to diaphragmatic obstruction, the pathogen is in the epigastrium. If located in the Upper Wan (upper part of the stomach), use pressing and needling methods. If located in the Lower Wan (lower part of the stomach), use methods to dissipate and eliminate the pathogen.
Patients with Stomach distension experience abdominal fullness, epigastric pain, smelling burnt odors in the nose, interference with eating, and difficult defecation.
Stomach Malaria causes daytime onset of illness. Patients feel hungry but cannot eat; after eating, they feel distended and their abdomen enlarges. Needle the Foot-Yangming and Foot-Taiyin meridians and bleed the transverse collaterals.
Those with gastric accumulations (Pi) who prefer cold foods experience pain and inability to eat when consuming cold items, but can eat when consuming hot items. This indicates the Spleen was initially diseased and transmitted to the Stomach. Persistent Spleen cough leads to vomiting of roundworms.
When Jue Qi (Rebellious Qi) lodges in the Stomach, dreams of food and drink occur.
How do the Stomach pulse and disease manifestations present? It is said: Stomach Excess manifests as abdominal distension; Stomach Deficiency manifests as diarrhea. The Spleen corresponds to flesh. Flesh that is firm and plump indicates a thick Stomach wall; thin flesh indicates a thin Stomach wall; small and weak flesh indicates an unstable Stomach wall; flesh disproportionate to the body indicates a ptotic (drooping) Stomach, where a ptotic Stomach has constrained opening/closing function; non-firm flesh indicates a lax Stomach wall; flesh without small nodules and appearing tight indicates urgent Stomach Qi; flesh with many small nodules indicates knotted Stomach Qi, where knotted Stomach Qi results in constrained and inefficient function of the Upper Wan.

Bian Que said: The Foot-Taiyin and Foot-Yangming meridians are externally-internally related. If Spleen and Stomach diseases are Excess, they injure with Heat, leading to thirst for liquids and constant desire to drink. If they are Deficient, they are injured by Cold, leading to suffering from hunger and constant pain. If manifesting as Feng Shui (Wind Edema), the root lies in the Stomach, starting with swelling in the four limbs, followed by abdominal distension and generalized edema. (Formulas are found in the Water Treatment chapter.)
Stomach Qi exhaustion is untreatable and leads to death in five days. How is this known? By swollen tongue, hematuria, and bloody diarrhea.

The Foot-Yangming Stomach Meridian originates beside the nose, intersects at the nasal root, connects laterally with the Taiyin meridian, descends along the lateral side of the nose into the upper teeth, curves out to encircle the lips, intersects inferiorly at Chengjiang (CV24), then retraces along the posterior mandible, emerges at Daying (ST5), follows the Jiache (ST6) point, ascends anterior to the ear, passes through Guanchongzhu (ST7), follows the hairline to the forehead and skull. Its branch descends from before Daying to Renying (ST9), follows the throat, enters the Keyuan (supraclavicular fossa), passes through the diaphragm, belongs to the Stomach, and connects with the Spleen. Its straight branch descends from Keyuan along the medial aspect of the breast, passes alongside the umbilicus, and enters the Qichong (ST30) area. Another branch descends from the medial aspect of the breast to the dorsum of the foot, entering between the toes of the second digit. Another branch descends three cun below the knee, diverging to enter the lateral space of the second toe. Another branch diverges on the dorsum of the foot, entering between the big toe and emerging at its tip.

Disorders arising from movement of the meridian include aversion to cold with trembling, frequent stretching and yawning, and dark facial complexion. Upon onset of the disease, the patient fears people and fire, startles easily upon hearing wooden sounds, experiences palpitations, and desires to close doors and windows to stay alone.
This meridian governs diseases generated in the Blood level, such as manic malaria, warm pathogenic infections, sweating, rhinorrhea or epistaxis, tight lips, neck swelling, and throat obstruction. It also involves large abdominal edema, painful and swollen knees and patellae, pain along the chest, breast, Qichong, thigh (Futu area), lateral leg, and dorsum of the foot, with inability to use the middle toe. When Qi is abundant, the anterior body feels hot; excess in the Stomach leads to efficient digestion and easy hunger, with yellow urine. When Qi is deficient, the anterior body feels cold; cold in the Stomach leads to distension. In Excess conditions, the Renying pulse is three times larger than the Cunkou pulse; in Deficiency conditions, the Renying pulse is smaller than the Cunkou pulse.