Acupuncture to Settle the Three Realms: A Mortal’s Path to Divine Medicine

Heaven and Earth are above and below all things; yin and yang are the male and female aspects of qi and blood.

In ancient times, Qibo wrote the eighteen volumes of the Inner Canon, divided into the Su Wen and Ling Shu. He established the laws governing the flow of qi between Heaven and Earth and defined the balance of yin and yang within the human body. The Celestial Court established the Office of Yin and Yang to oversee the flow of the Five Elements throughout the Three Realms, while mortals followed the way of medicine to balance the seven emotions and six desires. Demons did not run rampant, gods did not fall ill without cause, and all things lived in harmony and flourished through proper nourishment.

But over the millennia, gods and Buddhas grew greedy for incense offerings, immortal officials neglected their duties, the mechanisms of the Office of Yin and Yang rusted, and the wheels of the Five Elements fell out of alignment. One night, nine volumes of the Ling Shu vanished, and the flow of qi between Heaven and Earth fell into disarray. Illness in the human body became illness in Heaven and Earth; evil in the human heart became a plague upon the Three Realms.

Resentment turned to miasma, anger to poison, worry to illness, and greed and delusion to demons.

Gods suffered from blocked desires for power, Buddhas from choking attachments, immortals from the crippling sickness of pride, and demons from desperate, gasping struggles to survive. Humans suffered all manner of delusions and diseases, with no cure in sight.