Written By Jun Heo (許浚, 1539~1615), translated by Namil Kim, Wung Seok Cha et al. Published by Ministry of Health & Welfare (Korea)
04 The Eyes Belong to the Five Viscera 眼睛屬五臟 눈은 오장에 속한다
① The red part of the inner corner of the eye belongs to the heart; the white of the eye belongs to the lungs; the black of the eye belongs to the liver; the eyelids belong to the spleen, and the pupils belong to the kidneys.
② The white parts of the eyes belong to the lungs, which is called Gi-ryoon (氣輪, wheel for qi). The red parts belong to the heart, and it is where the veins flow. The black parts can be separated; the outer-most parts which look slightly blue, like the ring around the moon, belong to the liver. The middle dark parts belong to the kidneys and inner-most, the pupils, belong to the gallbladder.
05 Outer and Inner Corners of the Eyes 眼有內外眥 내자와 외자
① Among the four corners of the eyes (眥), the outer corner is the acute corner (銳眥) and the inner corner is simply the inner corner (內眥). The upper eyelid is called the outer corner (外眥), and the lower eyelid is called the inner corner (內眥).
② The bladder is the origin of the upper eyelid, and the stomach is the origin of the lower eyelid.
③ The corners of the eye are the roots of the eyelids and eyelashes around them.
④ The inner corner of the eye (目內眥) is where the bladder meridian begins; it is rich in blood and short in qi. The outer core of the eye (目外眥) is where the gallbladder meridian begins; it is short in blood and rich in qi. The upper eyelid belongs to the bladder meridian, which is why it is rich in blood and short in qi; the lower eyelid belongs to the stomach meridian which is why it is rich both in blood and qi.
The three meridians all gather in the eyes, but only the liver meridian is connected to the eye system (目系). The meaning of being rich in blood is that bladder and stomach qi are excessive, and the meaning of being short in blood is that liver qi is deficient. This is the reason for using the bladder and stomach meridians when letting blood out; they are rich in blood.
The reason of not using the gallbladder meridian in such cases is because it is short in blood. When the bladder and stomach meridians are used for a litte bloodletting, it enables better vision, but if the gallbladder meridian is used for bloodletting, it makes the vision worse.
06 All Meridians Are Connected to the Eyes 諸脈屬目 모든 맥은 눈에 이어진다
① The heart is connected to meridians, and all meridians are connected to the eyes.
② The essence of the five viscera and six bowels all come from the spleen and are sent to the eyes. Therefore, when spleen-stomach are harmonized, qi is enhanced and the spirit is cleansed. Although the liver system is in charge of the eyes, the job of mirroring all objects and showing the brilliance are in fact supervised by kidney-essence and heart-spirit. Therefore, the most important point of treating the eyes is tonifying the essence and comforting the spirit.
③ If one feels stifled with worries, has an uncontrollable need for food, or has a weak spleen-stomach and too strong heart-Fire due to overwork, all meridians start to boil up and the blood counterflows, which leads to the pathogenic qi blocking the orifices. The phrase “When the sky is clear, the sun and the moon get dark” refers to this condition.
The spleen is the head of all yin; the eyes are the origin of blood vessels. Therefore, if the spleen is deficient, the essence qi of the five viscera does not operate well, which leads the vision to not get any better.
The heart is the sovereign Fire and is in charge of the spirit; it must be calmed. When ministerial Fire works for the sovereign Fire, the pericardium is in charge. The pericardium supervises many vessels, and the state of the vessels is manifested in the eyes.
If the blood vessels are damaged due to overwork, all kinds of diseases appear. If the doctor does not take care of the spleen-stomach, does not nurture the blood and does not comfort the spirit, it would be like treating only the tip of the disease and not treating the root. This is caused by the ignorance of such knowledge.
07 Diagnosis by Pulse Taking 脈法 맥법
① If the inch pulse on the left wrist is surging and rapid, it implies that the heart Fire is burning. If the bar pulse on the left wrist is string-like and surging, it implies that the liver Fire is strong. If the inch and bar pulses on the right wrist are string-like and surging, it means that liver-Wood is insulting the lung-Metal and restraining spleen-Earth, with the support from sovereign Fire.
② The disease of the eyes is originally the disease of Fire. Normally the pulses of the heart and liver are surging and rapid; if the inch and bar pulses of the right wrist are surging and rapid, it implies that the sovereign Fire is very strong and surging upwards in the body.
③ If the shade of dark flowers appear in the eyesight, it implies a kidney deficiency. The cubit pulse of the left hand will be sunken and rapid.
08 Eyes Are Orifices of the Liver 目者肝之竅 눈은 간의 구멍이다
① The orifice of the liver is the eye.
② The blue color of the east goes to the liver; it enables the eyes to open and store the essence in the liver.
③ When a person goes to sleep, blood returns to the liver; when the liver stores blood, it enables the eyes to see.
④ The liver qi corresponds to the eyes; when liver qi is harmonious, it enables the eye to recognize the five colors.
⑤ When the liver is deficient, the eyes are not able to see anything.
⑥ The reason for bad vision is because liver qi was not treated.
⑦ Eyes are the exterior orifice of the liver. The liver is Wood and kidneys are Water; Water engenders Wood, and thus the mother and child are united. Therefore, if the qi of the liver and kidneys are sufficient, the vision is bright; if the qi of the liver and kidneys are short, the vision is bad and one feels dizzy.
The heart is the storage of spirit and helps the liver and kidneys. The heart is in charge of blood and the liver stores blood. When heat invades the blood, the heat ascends to the eyes and spreads. Therefore, the treatment must be the cooling of the heart and liver .
⑧ The liver stores the blood. If there is heat, the eyes swell and get red. If it is deficient, shades of objects appear in eyesight. Details are mentioned in the chapter ‘Flowers Appearing in Front of the Eyes’
When the eyes become red and swollen, one must use Rehmanniae Radix Crudus (Terra) (地黃) porridge.
- Rehmanniae Radix Crudus Porridge 地黃粥 지황죽: Treats the symptom of eye swelling and turning red after waking up, later turning white and disappearing after a long time. This is due to blood-heat, and is not a disease of the liver.
When a person sleeps, the blood returns to the liver; because the blood reaches the liver in a hot state, the eyes are red when a person wakes up. The reason why it takes a long time to return to a normal state is because the blood needs to spread throughout the body.
At this point, this porridge must be taken to cool down the blood-heat in the liver. Prepare juice of Rehmanniae Radix Crudus (Terra) (地黃) in appropriate amount, soak a half doe of non-glutinous rice for enough time for it to be soaked, and dry it in the sunlight. Soak it again, and dry it; repeat this process three times.
Pour 1 doe of water in china pot and boil it. When it is boiled, add one hop of rice mentioned above, make porridge watery, and eat it after meals and right before going to bed. It shows its effect right away.
09 There Is No Cold Symptom in Eye Sickness 眼病無寒 눈병에는 한증이 없다
In opthalmological symptoms, there are no cold symptoms but just the symptoms due to deficiency and heat. It is probably because cold makes the blood uneasy but does not make the blood surge upward.
10 Pathogenic Fire Is a Prerequisite of Eye Disease 眼無火不病 눈병은 화가 없으면 생기지 않는다
① The eyes are diseased due to Fire. What does this mean? The reason for the red white of the eye is because the Fire suppressed the lungs. The reason for the swollen eyelids is because Fire suppressed the spleen. The reason for the brilliance of pupils being covered by nebula is because Fire suppressed the liver and kidneys. The reason for red veins crossing the eyes is because pathogenic Fire got worse spontaneously.
All these symptoms imply one fact: eye sickness can be cured by treating the Fire. Therefore in the Inner Classic (內經) it is said, “Too much heat causes swelling.”
When the eyes swell suddenly, get red, cannot stand brightness, feel slightly rough, keep on getting teary, get cold suddenly and have blurry vision, they are all because of Fire-heat.
The way to treat the Fire is the following: in using medicine, choose cold medicines to induce vomiting or diarrhea; in using acupuncture, use GV24, GV23, GV22, GV21 or GV20 to induce bleeding.
The nebula will disappear instantly, the pain will stop shortly, the dim vision will soon get better and the swelling will be healed right away.
② The eye sickness is mostly caused by heat. The treatment is clearing the heart first, cooling down the liver, balancing the blood and inducing the good circulation of qi.
11 Causes of Eye Sickness 眼病所因 눈병의 원인
① Eating the five pungent food raw
② Eating hot food
③ Letting too much blood out with acupuncture on the head
④ Looking at faraway objects with great effort
⑤ Reading small letters at night
⑥ Staying in a smoke-filled place for a long time
⑦ Gambling restlessly
⑧ Reading at night
⑨ Drinking endlessly
⑩ Eating hot food made from flour
⑪ Copying books for a long time
⑫ Doing meticulous work such as sculpture
⑬ Shedding too many tears
⑭ Having uncontrolled sexual intercourse
⑮ Looking at the sun and moon too often
⑯ Reading under the moonlight
⑰ Looking at the moon and stars at night
⑱ Watching mountains, trees, and rivers that faraway with great effort are all reasons of losing eye vision.
⑲ Also, hunting while riding horses
⑳ Being damaged by wind and frost.
Chasing animals day and night against the wind are all reasons for damaging the eyes.
Eye sicknesses belong to wind-heat, blood deficiency, tiredness of spirit, and kidney deficiency.
