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Human milk, its taste is sweet, its nature is neutral and cold, and it is non-toxic. It is beneficial when taken with wine, and even better when sucked directly from the breast. It enters the Lung, Stomach, Spleen, and Kidney meridians. It tonifies essence and blood (Jing and Xue), benefits Yuan Yang (the body's fundamental Yang Qi). For those with emaciated muscles, sallow skin, and scorched or brittle hair, one should seek it out quickly; for those with tendon spasms, skeletal flaccidity, and dryness/obstruction in the intestines and stomach, one should resort to it. It strengthens the four limbs, nourishes the five Zang organs, brightens the eyes, enhances facial complexion, calms and nurtures the Shen (Spirit) and Hun (Ethereal Soul), and lubricates Guan Ge (a condition of obstruction between upper and lower parts of the body).

Someone asked: Human milk is blood. When lactation flows, menstruation stops; is this not clear evidence? I replied: It is acceptable to consider milk as blood, but unacceptable to consider milk as menstruation. After childbirth, milk flows, and the body thrives; what is the reason for this? Postpartum women invariably suffer from blood deficiency. If blood is deficient, there should be no milk. Why does milk flow freely within three days after giving birth? This shows that human milk is not blood, which is evident. Nevertheless, saying human milk is absolutely not blood is also incorrect. Milk is water, and blood is also water. Blood transforming into milk is indeed a profound truth. However, I assert: Human milk is not generated by blood, but by Qi (Vital Energy). By the second or third day postpartum, only Qi remains; when Qi exists, it naturally generates blood. Once blood is generated, milk can then be produced. Therefore, focusing solely on Qi while ignoring blood is why I feel compelled to clarify this distinction. As for women's menstruation, it is the surplus of blood. When blood is full, it overflows; when blood is scant, it stops; when blood is exhausted, it closes. Thus, the presence or absence of menstruation depends on the abundance or decline of blood. In the world, there are often robust women whose milk flows above while their menstruation continues below; conversely, frail women may have their menstruation cease below and their milk stop above. Those with abundant blood can both ascend (milk) and descend (menstruation). Those with insufficient blood cannot descend, so how can they ascend? Hence, it is acceptable to regard milk as blood, but absolutely unacceptable to regard milk as menstruation rising up to become fluid.

In summary, when Qi moves, blood moves; when Qi is sufficient, blood is sufficient. When Qi and blood circulate, milk circulates; when Qi and blood are abundant, milk is abundant. Blood can descend to become menstruation, but menstruation cannot ascend to become blood, just as Qi can ascend to transform into milk, but milk cannot ascend to become Qi. Since human milk is generated by Qi and blood, its efficacy in tonifying Qi and blood needs no verbal debate.

Someone asked: If milk is formed by the transformation of Qi, how can it be produced so quickly? I suspected it was generated by blood rather than Qi, believing that menstruation assists blood in generating milk, rather than Qi moving through menstruation to transform it. I replied: Milk is a tangible entity, and blood and menstruation are also tangible entities. How can the tangible transform into the tangible? Only Qi is intangible, and the intangible is the mother of the tangible. The intangible Qi generates the tangible milk; this need not be debated further. However, the theory that "menstruation assists blood in generating milk, rather than Qi moving through menstruation to transform milk" must be clarified. You stated that blood is menstruation, and menstruation is blood. Who knows that when blood is abundant, it flows as menstruation, but when menstruation is abundant, it cannot reverse to become blood? Menstruation is stale blood, not active blood. Active blood can assist Qi in generating milk, but stale blood cannot transform menstruation to generate blood. Since menstruation cannot transform into blood, how can it generate milk? However, the blood in the human body is limited, while the milk in the breasts is inexhaustible. This might lead one to suspect that menstruation assists blood in generating it, unaware that it is actually Qi moving through menstruation that transforms it. When Qi moves, blood moves; when blood moves, there is no worry of blood stasis, but rather the wonder of transformation. It ascends to the breasts to become milk, rather than flowing downward to the yin orifice as menstruation. There lies a great Dao here, not a partial view that can be explained by private speculation.

Another asked: If milk is formed by Qi, why is there a difference between thin milk and thick milk? Is this not due to blood deficiency? I replied: This is due to the deficiency of Zheng Qi (Upright Qi). When Qi is deficient, blood is deficient, so the milk is thin; if a child consumes it, there will be worries of jaundice and emaciation. When Qi is vigorous, blood is vigorous, so the milk is thick; if a child consumes it, there will be joy in becoming fat and white. There are cases where a woman nurses her newborn and becomes pregnant again in the second month. This is because her Zheng Qi is sufficient to retain Jing (Essence), and her blood is vigorous to nourish the fetus. However, the nursed child will inevitably suffer from many illnesses; even if fat and white, few live to old age. This precisely shows that there is excess blood but insufficient Qi. Does this not further demonstrate that Qi generates milk?

Someone asked: Qi transforms into milk, so its white color is appropriate. Now you say Qi and blood transform together to form milk. Blood is red, yet milk is white; how does this transformation occur? I replied: The whiteness of milk is exactly the verification of Qi transforming into milk. Qi generates blood, making it red; Qi generates milk, making it white. Thus, milk is blood that has not yet fully transformed by Qi. Why does Qi-transformed blood smell fishy, while Qi-transformed milk tastes sweet? The *Neijing* states: "Drinks enter the Stomach, their essence floats up, is transported upward to the Spleen, the Spleen scatters the essence, which returns upward to the Lung, and the Lung regulates the water passages." Food qi enters the Stomach, turbid qi returns to the Heart, permeates the essence into the vessels, vessel qi flows through the meridians, and meridian qi returns to the Lung. Thus, although the qi of food and drink is distributed throughout the five Zang and six Fu organs, the first to enter must return to the Lung to transform into Jin Ye (Body Fluids). The breasts are located between the Lungs, so milk generation begins earliest. The white color, though belonging to Qi, is also the color of the Lung. The Lung belongs to Metal, and the color of Metal is white; what is there to doubt? If blood were transforming into milk, regardless of whether red could turn white, how could blood instantly transform into milk to supply a child's day and night swallowing? Only Qi is easy to generate and easy to transform. However, what Qi transforms relies on the generation of Stomach Earth. Earth's taste is sweet; milk receives the Qi of Stomach Earth, so its taste is also sweet. Furthermore, the breasts are the chamber of Stomach Earth; Stomach Qi generates milk, and milk returns to the Stomach, leaving no room for doubt. A child survives by receiving milk because it is born from Stomach Qi. Then, if humans consume milk, why would it not alone generate Qi and blood? Qi is obtained from Heaven's Yang. Blood is obtained from Earth's Yin. Yin has substance, while Yang does not. When Heaven's Qi descends, heavy rain fills the rivers, yet Heaven's Qi is never depleted. Thus, when human Qi arrives, it generates Jin Ye. Blood can be consumed/exhausted, but Qi cannot. It seems that consuming milk is not as wondrous as consuming Qi. However, one does not realize that milk is the initial Qi, unlike blood which is the final Qi. Therefore, the efficacy of consuming milk is no less than absorbing the primordial intangible Qi.