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Difficulty 43 asks: Why does a person die after seven days without food or drink?

The answer is: The human stomach usually retains two dou of grain and one dan five sheng of water. Therefore, a healthy person defecates twice a day, with each bowel movement expelling two and a half sheng, totaling five sheng per day. Over seven days, this amounts to three dou five sheng, exhausting the retained food and fluids in the stomach. Thus, when a healthy person abstains from food and drink for seven days, they die because the food, fluids, and Jin-Ye (Body Fluids) are completely exhausted.

This passage originates from the *Ling Shu* chapter "Ping Ren Jue Gu" (Normal Persons Without Grain), explaining that the body's zang-fu organs, form, bones, spirit, Qi, and blood all rely on food and drink to nourish life; if food and drink cease, both form and Qi perish. In ordinary, disease-free individuals, when the stomach is full, the intestines are empty, and when the intestines are full, the stomach is empty; through day-and-night digestion, only three dou five sheng remain. A person eats five sheng daily. According to the *Book of Later Han*, Biography of the Nanman, "Humans are endowed with five sheng." The commentary notes that ancient sheng units were smaller, hence the reference to five sheng. If one does not eat or drink for seven days, the retained food and fluids will be exhausted, causing Jing-Qi (Essence-Qi) and Jin-Ye to deplete, leading to death. However, if a patient does not eat or drink for seven days yet survives, it is due to the retention and accumulation of food and fluids within the body; such retention constitutes pathology.

Difficulty 44 asks: Where are the Seven Rush Gates located?

The answer is: The lips are the Fei Men (Flying Gate); the teeth are the Hu Men (Household Gate); the epiglottis is the Xi Men (Inhaling Gate); the upper opening of the Stomach is the Ben Men (Rushing Gate); the lower opening of the Tai Cang (Great Granary, i.e., Stomach) is the You Men (Secluded Gate); the junction of the Large Intestine and Small Intestine is the Lan Men (Screen Gate); and the anus is the Po Men (Chaff Gate). Hence, they are called the Seven Rush Gates.

"Chong" refers to a vital thoroughfare. "Men" means gate. This section follows the previous discussion on the entry of food and drink, examining their pathways of passage. The lips are called the Fei Men because "Fei" was anciently interchangeable with "Fei" (door leaf/shutter). Since the teeth act as the household gate, the lips serve as its shutters, thus termed Fei Men (Shutter Gate). The *Ling Shu* chapter "You Hui Wu Yan" states: "The lips are the shutters of voice," which elucidates this meaning. The epiglottis is called the Xi Men because it is where substances gather and can close off to prevent misdirection. "Xi" denotes the place of inhalation/absorption, serving as the portal for the emergence and exit of the voices of the Five Zang Organs and for respiration. The Stomach is called the Ben Men because the Stomach gathers food like a granhouse, hence named Tai Cang. "Ben" implies rushing; the Ben Men is at the upper opening of the Stomach, indicating that food enters the Stomach and rushes swiftly downward into the Tai Cang. The lower opening of the Stomach connecting to the Small Intestine is called the You Men, signifying a deep and hidden location far from the points of entry and exit above and below. The junction of the Large and Small Intestines is called the Lan Men; "Hui" means convergence. Located below the Small Intestine and above the Large Intestine, this junction separates essence, blood, and waste, directing them to their respective destinations. The anus is called the Po Men; "Po Men" is synonymous with the anus. "Po" was anciently interchangeable with "Po" (chaff/waste). The *Zhuangzi* chapter "Tian Dao" mentions: "The chaff of the ancients..." implying that by the time food reaches here, its essence has been removed, leaving only the physical residue or chaff, hence named Po Men. These seven sites constitute the critical pathways for the entry and exit of food and drink.