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Huangdi asked, saying: I wish to hear about the distinction in the depth of acupuncture. ("Qi" refers to unifying the standard. It means that acupuncture has fixed depths and shallowness; one should avoid excessive or insufficient depth.) Qibo replied, saying: When penetrating the bone, do not injure the tendons; when penetrating the tendons, do not injure the flesh; when penetrating the flesh, do not injure the vessels; when penetrating the vessels, do not injure the skin. When penetrating the skin, do not injure the flesh; when penetrating the flesh, do not injure the tendons; when penetrating the tendons, do not injure the bone. (The first four sentences indicate that what should be deep should not be shallow; the last three sentences indicate that what should be shallow should not be deep. This is referred to as reaching each respective principle without exceeding its proper path.) Huangdi said: I do not understand what you mean. I wish to hear your explanation. Qibo said: "Penetrating the bone without injuring the tendons" means the needle reaches the tendons and stops, failing to reach the bone. "Penetrating the tendons without injuring the flesh" means the needle reaches the flesh and stops, failing to reach the tendons. "Penetrating the flesh without injuring the vessels" means the needle reaches the vessels and stops, failing to reach the flesh. "Penetrating the vessels without injuring the skin" means the needle reaches the skin and stops, failing to reach the vessels. (This clarifies that for conditions requiring deep penetration, one must not withdraw superficially. "Penetrating the bone without injuring the tendons" implies that if the disease is in the bone, the needle should reach the bone. If the needle stops at the tendons and fails to reach the bone, it will contrary-wise injure the Qi of the tendons, and the bone disease will not be eliminated. Thus, penetrating the bone inadvertently injures the tendons. Generally, the skin, flesh, tendons, and bone each have their governing Qi; therefore, one must arrive at the specific location to await the Qi governing the disease. Lu Lianghou stated: The vessels lie within the flesh, and the flesh contains Xi Gu (valleys between muscles), while the vessels have their own pathways; their structural paths are distinct. Therefore, "reaching the vessels and stopping, failing to reach the flesh" refers to needling between the skin and collateral vessels, failing to reach the deeper tendons and bones, rather than the needle entering the flesh again from the vessels. Hence, the phrase "penetrating the vessels without injuring the flesh" was omitted to allow later learners to comprehend the intent through inference.) "Penetrating the skin without injuring the flesh" means the disease is in the skin, and the needle enters only the skin, causing no injury to the flesh. "Penetrating the flesh without injuring the tendons" means the needle passes through the flesh and strikes the tendons. "Penetrating the tendons without injuring the bone" means the needle passes through the tendons and strikes the bone. This is called a reversal. (This indicates not exceeding the proper limit. If the disease is in the skin, the needle enters the skin to await the skin's Qi; if it does not reach the flesh, it does not injure the flesh. However, if the disease is in the flesh and the needle passes through the flesh to strike the tendons, it will injure the tendons. This is termed an abnormality in needling. Lu Lianghou stated: Skin, flesh, tendons, and bone belong to one category but have different depths; collateral vessels and main vessels belong to another category and also have different depths.)