平按∶此篇自黄帝曰余愿闻五十营至末，见《灵枢》卷四第十五《五十营》篇，又见《甲乙
经》卷一第九《气息周身五十营四时日分漏刻》篇。
黄帝曰∶余愿闻五十营。岐伯答曰∶天周二十八宿，宿三十六分，（此据大率言耳，其实弱
三十六分。平按∶《甲乙》无余愿闻三字。《灵枢》营下有奈何二字。）人气行一周，（谓昼夜
周。）一千八分。（其实千分耳，据三十六全数KT 之，故KT 八分也。宿各三十五分七分分之五，
则千分也。知必然者，下云气行一周，日行二十分，气行再周，日行三十分，人昼夜五十周，故
知一千分也。平按∶千上《灵枢》、《甲乙》无一字。注日行三十分，当系四十分之误，玩下经
文自明。）日行二十八分，人经脉上下左右前后二十八脉，周身十六丈二尺，（日行二十分，人
经脉一周，言八分者误也，以上下文会之可知也。平按∶日行二十八分，分字《灵枢》作宿，《甲
乙》无此句。）以应二十八宿，漏水下百刻，以分昼夜。（以二十八脉气之周身，上应二十八宿，
漏水之数，昼夜之分，俱周遍。）故人一呼，脉再动，气行三寸，一吸，脉亦再动，气行三寸，
呼吸定息，气行六寸。（一息之间，日行未一分，故不言日行之数。）十息，气行六尺，日行二
分。（一息六寸，十息故六尺也。二分，谓二十七分分之四分也。人气十息，行亦未一分也。十
三息半，则一分矣。平按∶注四分，据下注十息得二十七分之二十，此四字恐系二十之误。）二百
七十息，气行十六丈二尺，气行交通于中，一周于身，下水二刻，日行二十分。（十息六尺，故
二百七十息，气行一百六十二尺。又日行二十分者，十息得二十七分之二十，百息得二百，二百
息得四百，二百七十息得五百四十分，以二十七除之，则为二十分矣。平按∶二十分《灵枢》作二
十五分《甲乙》作二十分有奇。）五百四十息，气行再周于身，下水四刻，日行四十分。（倍一
周身之数。）
（平按∶四十分《甲乙》作四十分有奇。）二千七百息，气行十周于身，下水二十刻，日行
五宿二十分。（十倍一周，故日行二百分也。宿各三十六分，故当五宿二十分也。由此言之，故
知五十周以一千分为实也。平按∶二十分《甲乙》作二百十分有奇。）一万三千五百息，气行五十
营于身、水下百刻，日行二十八宿，漏水皆尽，脉终矣。（此人昼夜之息数，气行二十八脉之一
终，与宿漏相毕。平按∶《甲乙经》注引王冰曰∶此略而言之也，细言之，则常以一千周加一分又
十分之六，乃奇分尽也。）所谓交通者，并行一数，（谓二手足脉气并行，而以一数之，即气行三
寸者，两气各三寸也。而二气之行，相交于中，故曰交通。上有交通之文，故云所谓也。）故五十
营备，得尽天地之寿矣，（寿，即终之义也。天地以二十八宿下水百刻为一终也。）气凡行八百一
十丈。（即二十八脉相续五十周之数也。平按∶《灵枢》无气字。）
平按：此篇从“黄帝曰：我希望能听闻关于五十营的内容”开始，直到文末，见于《灵枢》卷四第十五篇《五十营》，又见于《甲乙经》卷一第九篇《气息周身五十营四时日分漏刻》篇。
黄帝说：我希望能听闻关于五十营（指人体气血在昼夜之间循环运行五十周次）的内容。岐伯回答说：天体有二十八宿（古代天文学将黄道附近的星空划分为二十八个区域），每宿包含三十六分（古代天文角度单位，此处为概数，实际略少于三十六分。平按：《甲乙经》中没有“余愿闻”三个字。《灵枢》中“营”字下有“奈何”二字。），人气运行一周（指昼夜一个周期），为一千八分（实际上是一千分，这里是根据三十六分的整数倍推算，所以说是八分。每宿各三十五分加上五分之七分，即为一千分。知道必然如此的原因，是因为下文说气行一周，日行二十分；气行两周，日行三十分；人昼夜运行五十周，所以知道是一千分。平按：“千”字上，《灵枢》、《甲乙经》都没有“一”字。注文中说“日行三十分”，应当是“四十分”的误写，阅读下面的经文自然明白。）。太阳运行二十八分，人的经脉上下左右前后共二十八脉，周身长度十六丈二尺（太阳运行二十分，人经脉运行一周，文中说八分是错误的，结合上下文可知。平按：“日行二十八分”中的“分”字，《灵枢》作“宿”，《甲乙经》没有这句话。），以对应二十八宿，漏壶滴水一百刻，用来划分昼夜（以二十八脉之气周身运行，上应二十八宿，漏壶滴水的数量，昼夜的划分，都周遍完整。）。所以人一次呼气，脉搏跳动两次，气运行三寸；一次吸气，脉搏也跳动两次，气运行三寸；呼吸定息（一呼一吸之间），气运行六寸（在一息之间，太阳运行不到一分，所以不提及太阳运行的数值。）。十息，气运行六尺，太阳运行二分（一息六寸，十息就是六尺。二分，是指二十七分之四分。人气十息，运行也未到一分。十三息半，才达到一分。平按：注文中的“四分”，依据下文注文“十息得二十七分之二十”，这“四字”恐怕是“二十”的误写。）。二百七十息，气运行十六丈二尺，气在体内交通运行，在身体内完成一周，漏壶水下两刻，太阳运行二十分（十息六尺，所以二百七十息，气运行一百六十二尺。又说太阳运行二十分，十息得二十七分之二十，百息得二百，二百息得四百，二百七十息得五百四十分，除以二十七，即为二十分。平按：“二十分”，《灵枢》作“二十五分”，《甲乙经》作“二十分有奇”。）。五百四十息，气在身体内运行两周，漏壶水下四刻，太阳运行四十分（是一周身数的两倍。平按：“四十分”，《甲乙经》作“四十分有奇”。）。二千七百息，气在身体内运行十周，漏壶水下二十刻，太阳运行五宿二十分（是一周的十倍，所以太阳运行二百分。每宿三十六分，所以是五宿二十分。由此而言，所以知道五十周以一千分为实数。平按：“二十分”，《甲乙经》作“二百十分有奇”。）。一万三千五百息，气在身体内运行五十营，漏壶水下百刻，太阳运行二十八宿，漏壶水全部流尽，脉气终结了（这是人昼夜的息数，气运行二十八脉的一终，与星宿和漏刻相毕。平按：《甲乙经》注文引用王冰的话说：这是粗略而言，细致而言，则常常以一千周加一分又十分之六，才是奇分尽也。）。所谓交通者，并行一数（谓双手双脚的脉气并行，而用一个数来计算，即气行三寸，两气各三寸。而二气的运行，相交于中间，所以叫交通。上面有交通的文字，所以说所谓。）。所以五十营完备，就能享尽天地的寿命了（寿，即终结的意思。天地以二十八宿、漏壶下水百刻为一终。），气总共运行八百一十丈（即二十八脉相继运行五十周的次数。平按：《灵枢》没有“气”字。）
Ping An: This section, starting from "The Yellow Emperor said: I wish to hear about the fifty circuits," to the end, is found in *Ling Shu* (Spiritual Pivot), Volume 4, Chapter 15, titled "Fifty Circuits" (Wu Shi Ying). It is also found in *Jia Yi Jing* (Classified Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion), Volume 1, Chapter 9, titled "Breath, Fifty Circuits Around the Body, Four Days' Time, Water Clock Marks."
The Yellow Emperor said: I wish to hear about the fifty circuits (referring to the fifty cycles of Qi and blood circulation in the human body over a day and night). Qibo replied: The heavens have twenty-eight lodges (ancient Chinese astronomy divided the sky near the ecliptic into twenty-eight regions), each lodge containing thirty-six fen (an ancient astronomical angular unit; here used as an approximation, actually slightly less than thirty-six fen. Ping An: *Jia Yi Jing* lacks the three characters "I wish to hear." In *Ling Shu*, two characters "nai he" follow the word "Ying"). The vital Qi completes one circuit (referring to a full day-night cycle), totaling one thousand eight fen (actually it is one thousand fen; this figure is derived by multiplying the whole number of thirty-six, hence stated as eight fen. Each lodge is thirty-five fen plus five-sevenths of seven fen, which sums to one thousand fen. The reason for knowing this is certain is that later it states: when Qi moves one circuit, the sun moves twenty fen; when Qi moves two circuits, the sun moves thirty fen; since humans complete fifty circuits day and night, we know it is one thousand fen. Ping An: Above the character "thousand," both *Ling Shu* and *Jia Yi Jing* lack the character "one." The note stating "the sun moves thirty fen" should be a mistake for "forty fen," which becomes clear upon reading the subsequent text.). The sun moves twenty-eight fen. The human meridians—upper, lower, left, right, front, and back—total twenty-eight vessels, encircling the body with a length of sixteen zhang and two chi (when the sun moves twenty fen, the human meridians complete one circuit; the text mentioning eight fen is erroneous, which can be deduced from the context. Ping An: In the phrase "the sun moves twenty-eight fen," the character "fen" is written as "suo" in *Ling Shu*, and this sentence is absent in *Jia Yi Jing*). This corresponds to the twenty-eight lodges. The water clock drips one hundred ke (marks), dividing day and night (The circulation of Qi through the twenty-eight vessels corresponds above to the twenty-eight lodges; the number of water clock marks and the division of day and night are all comprehensive.). Therefore, with one exhalation, the pulse beats twice, and Qi moves three cun; with one inhalation, the pulse also beats twice, and Qi moves three cun. Between breaths (during a complete respiratory cycle), Qi moves six cun (Within one breath, the sun moves less than one fen, so the sun's movement is not mentioned.). Ten breaths, Qi moves six chi, and the sun moves two fen (One breath moves six cun, so ten breaths move six chi. Two fen refers to four twenty-sevenths. After ten breaths, the vital Qi has moved less than one fen. It takes thirteen and a half breaths to reach one fen. Ping An: Regarding the note "four fen," based on the subsequent note "ten breaths yield twenty twenty-sevenths," these four characters are likely a mistake for "twenty."). Two hundred and seventy breaths, Qi moves sixteen zhang and two chi. Qi circulates internally, completing one circuit around the body, the water clock drops two ke, and the sun moves twenty fen (Ten breaths move six chi, so two hundred and seventy breaths move one hundred and sixty-two chi. Also, regarding the sun moving twenty fen: ten breaths yield twenty twenty-sevenths; one hundred breaths yield two hundred; two hundred breaths yield four hundred; two hundred and seventy breaths yield five hundred and forty fen. Divided by twenty-seven, this equals twenty fen. Ping An: "Twenty fen" is written as "twenty-five fen" in *Ling Shu* and "twenty fen and some odd" in *Jia Yi Jing*.). Five hundred and forty breaths, Qi completes two circuits around the body, the water clock drops four ke, and the sun moves forty fen (Double the number of one full circuit. Ping An: "Forty fen" is written as "forty fen and some odd" in *Jia Yi Jing*.). Two thousand seven hundred breaths, Qi completes ten circuits around the body, the water clock drops twenty ke, and the sun moves five lodges and twenty fen (Ten times one circuit, so the sun moves two hundred fen. Since each lodge is thirty-six fen, this amounts to five lodges and twenty fen. From this, we know that fifty circuits correspond to one thousand fen as the actual value. Ping An: "Twenty fen" is written as "two hundred twenty fen and some odd" in *Jia Yi Jing*.). Thirteen thousand five hundred breaths, Qi completes fifty circuits (Ying) in the body, the water clock drops one hundred ke, the sun moves through the twenty-eight lodges, the water clock runs out, and the pulse ends (This is the number of breaths in a day and night for a person. The Qi completes one end of the twenty-eight meridians, finishing together with the lodges and water clock marks. Ping An: The note in *Jia Yi Jing* quotes Wang Bing saying: This is stated roughly. Speaking precisely, it is usually one thousand circuits plus one fen and six-tenths of a fen, which constitutes the odd remainder.). What is meant by "traffic" or "intercommunication" is counting them as one number (Referring to the Qi of the pulses in both hands and feet moving in parallel, counted as one number. That is, Qi moves three cun, with two Qi each moving three cun. The movement of the two Qi intersects in the middle, hence called traffic/intercommunication. Since there was mention of traffic above, it says "what is meant by..."). Thus, when the fifty circuits are complete, one can attain the full lifespan of heaven and earth (Shou, meaning end/conclusion. Heaven and earth take the twenty-eight lodges and one hundred ke of water drop as one conclusion/end.), and the Qi travels a total of eight hundred and ten zhang (This is the number of twenty-eight meridians continuing for fifty circuits. Ping An: *Ling Shu* lacks the character "Qi".)