五十不止身无病。数内有止皆知定。四十一止一脏绝。却后四年多没命。三十一止即三年。二十一止
二年应。十五一止一年殂。以下有止看暴病。
柳氏曰。以动数候脉。是吃紧语。候脉须候五十动。知五脏之气有无缺失。今人手指到病患腕臂。
便以为见了殊不知五十动见。岂弹指间事。相习成风。以疾速为神奇。庐山刘立之号曰三点。以手
中指点人三部脉。生死吉凶多验。学徒相传亦用之。刘果三点之神耶。抑亦声色得之耶。色可传。脉
不可传。古人以切脉为上工。如扁鹊。饮上池水。能洞见人脏腑间病。如华佗。刳骨剔胃。是岂切脉
而得之欤。后世圣神之术不常。有所当学人。诊脉以知内。参以问证察言观色以知外。则可耳。脉经曰。
脉来五十投而不止者。五脏皆受气。即无病四。十投而一止者。一脏无气。却后四岁死。以至十投一
止者。四脏无气脏中死。其言几脏无气。以分别几岁之死期。予窃疑之。内经曰肾绝六日死。肝绝八
日死。心绝一日死。果此脏气绝。又安有待四岁三岁乎。大抵五十动者脉之大数。要必候五十动。不可
不及五十动而遽
不候也。或问候止脉何处数起。曰得止脉后。再从始至脉数起。看得几至而止。为数。
两动一止或三四。三动一至六七死。四动一止即八朝。以此推排但根据次。
此是十动内有止脉者。然难必谓暴病有此。久病亦有见此者。俣当以至数定死期。不必专于诊
暴病也。
脉搏跳动五十次而不间歇，说明身体没有疾病。如果在脉象中出现间歇，都可以据此判断病情。如果脉搏跳动四十一次出现一次间歇，表示有一脏之气衰竭，此后四年多会死亡。如果三十一止（每三十一次跳动有一次间歇），则三年后应验。二十一止（每二十一次跳动有一次间歇），两年后应验。十五一止（每十五次跳动有一次间歇），一年后死亡。以下若有间歇，需结合暴病（突发疾病）来判断。
柳氏说：以动数来候脉，这是关键的话语。候脉必须候满五十动，以此知晓五脏之气是否有缺失。现在的人手指刚接触到病患的腕臂，便以为已经诊察完毕，殊不知要见到完整的“五十动”，岂是弹指一挥间就能完成的事？这种习惯成风，以疾速为神奇。庐山人刘立之号称“三点”，用手中的指点人的三部脉，生死吉凶大多灵验。学徒们相传也使用这种方法。刘立之真的是拥有“三点”的神技吗？还是通过观察神色得来的呢？神色可以传授，脉象却难以直接传授。古人认为切脉是上工（高明的医生）的技艺，比如扁鹊，喝了上池水，能洞察见人脏腑间的病变；比如华佗，能剖开骨头剔除胃腑，这难道是靠切脉得到的吗？后世圣神的技术不常出现，应当学习的是：诊脉以了解体内情况，参考问诊、察言观色以了解体外情况，这样就可以了。《脉经》说：脉搏来五十次而不间歇的，五脏都受气，即无病。四十次中有一次间歇的，一脏无气，此后四年死。乃至十次中有一次间歇的，四脏无气，当月死。它的话根据几脏无气，来分别几年的死期。我私下对此感到怀疑。《内经》说：肾绝六日死，肝绝八日死，心绝一日死。如果真的此脏气绝，又怎么会有等待四年、三年的呢？大抵“五十动”是脉象的大数，一定要候满五十动，不能在未满五十动时就匆忙停止不候。或者问：间歇的脉从哪里开始计数？答：得到有间歇的脉后，再从始到终重新计数，看跳了几次而止，这就是次数。
两动一止或三四次，三动一至六七死。四动一止即八朝（天）。以此推排但根据次序。这是十动内有间歇脉的情况。然而不能必定说是暴病才有这种情况，久病也有见到这种情况的。应当以至数来确定死期，不必专门局限于诊察暴病。
If the pulse beats fifty times without interruption, the body is free of disease. If there are interruptions within the count, these can all be determined accordingly. An interruption after forty-one beats indicates the exhaustion of one zang organ's qi; death will likely occur within four years. An interruption after thirty-one beats corresponds to three years. An interruption after twenty-one beats corresponds to two years. An interruption after fifteen beats leads to death within one year. For interruptions occurring below this frequency, one must examine for sudden diseases (acute conditions).
Mr. Liu stated: Assessing the pulse by counting its beats is a crucial point. One must assess the pulse for fifty beats to know whether the qi of the five zang organs is present or deficient. Nowadays, people place their fingers on the patient's wrist and arm and believe they have seen everything, not realizing that observing "fifty beats" is certainly not something accomplished in the time it takes to snap one's fingers. This habit has become customary, with speed being regarded as miraculous. Liu Lizhi from Mount Lu was known as "Three Points," using his fingers to indicate the three pulse positions on others, with predictions of life, death, fortune, and misfortune proving mostly accurate. Apprentices passed down this method and also used it. Was Liu truly endowed with the divine skill of "Three Points," or did he acquire it through observing appearance and speech? Appearance can be transmitted, but the pulse cannot. The ancients considered palpating the pulse to be the art of the superior physician. For instance, Bian Que drank water from an upper pool and could see into the diseases within people's viscera; Hua Tuo could dissect bones and remove stomachs. Were these achievements obtained merely through palpating the pulse? Since the sacred and divine techniques of later generations are not common, what one should learn is: diagnose the interior through pulse taking, and refer to questioning symptoms, observing speech, and examining appearance to understand the exterior. This is sufficient. The *Mai Jing* (Pulse Classic) states: If the pulse comes fifty times without stopping, the five zang organs all receive qi, indicating no disease. If there is one stop in forty beats, one zang lacks qi, and death occurs after four years. Even if there is one stop in ten beats, four zang organs lack qi, and death occurs within the month. Its words distinguish the number of years until death based on how many zang organs lack qi. I privately doubt this. The *Nei Jing* (Inner Canon) states: Kidney exhaustion leads to death in six days, Liver exhaustion in eight days, Heart exhaustion in one day. If a zang organ's qi is truly exhausted, how could there be a wait of four years or three years? Generally, "fifty beats" is the standard count for the pulse. One must definitely observe fifty beats; one should not hastily stop observing before reaching fifty beats. Or one may ask: From where does the count begin for the intermittent pulse? The answer is: After obtaining the intermittent pulse, start counting again from the beginning to the end, seeing how many beats occur before the stop; this constitutes the count.
Two beats followed by a stop, or three or four beats followed by a stop; three beats followed by one pause indicates death in six or seven days. Four beats followed by a stop indicates death in eight days. Deduce according to this sequence. This refers to cases where there is an intermittent pulse within ten beats. However, it is difficult to assert definitively that only sudden diseases present this pattern; chronic diseases may also show this. One should determine the time of death based on the beat counts, rather than focusing exclusively on diagnosing sudden diseases.