SPRING春
The three months of Spring
are characterized by effusion and outreaching.
Heaven and earth are both being engendered,
and together engender life;
the ten thousand things prosper at this time.
[During Spring] one should sleep at night and wake up early;
[a person] walks through the courtyard with long strides.
Let the hair flow freely and let the body relax so the mind
can become willful.
[This is the time to] give and do not take;
reward and do not punish.
This is in conformity with the qi of Spring
and the Way of nourishing life.
Opposing this will harm the Liver
and cause cold disease during the summertime,
because that which is supposed to grow [during the Spring]
and offer support will be too little.
Therefore, the wise sages in spring and summer
nourish the yang and in autumn and winter
nourish the yin, and this is the way they follow their roots
(the yin and yang qi of the four seasons).
Translated from Chapter 2 of Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen
Excerpts from The Treatise on the Regulation of the Spirit in Conformity with the Four Seasons
Translated by Dr. Thomas Kouo, DAOM, L.Ac.
