By Imperial Decree: The Complete Library in the Four Sections

for Volume 5 of the Compendium of Materia Medica

Section on Waters

Li Shizhen states: Water is the symbolic image of the Kan original: 坎 (Kǎn). In the I Ching or "Book of Changes," this hexagram/trigram represents water and the directional north.. In its written form, when horizontal it consists of three strokes; when vertical it is represented as ☵ The trigram for water, consisting of a solid Yang line between two broken Yin lines, symbolizing light or heat contained within darkness or cold.. Its substance is pure Yin, yet its function is pure Yang. Above, it manifests as rain, dew, frost, and snow; below, it forms the seas, rivers, springs, and wells. Whether flowing or stagnant, cold or warm, the vital energy original: 氣 (qi). The fundamental life force or "breath" that flows through all things. concentrated within it varies. Similarly, the flavors it absorbs—sweet, bland, salty, or bitter—are also diverse. For this reason, the ancients distinguished the waters and soils of the Nine Provinces original: 九州 (Jiuzhou). A traditional name for the ancient divisions of China, implying that different geographical regions produce different physical qualities in people. to understand why people in different regions differ in beauty or ugliness, and why some live long while others die young. Indeed, water is the source of all transformations in the universe, and soil is the mother of all things. We depend on water for our drink and on soil for our food; and it is from this nourishment that human life is sustained.