Reversal

厥 — Reversal, Counterflow, and the Broken Connection of Yin and Yang

Huang Di, What is jué reversal?

Qi Bo knocked his head three times on the floor out of respect and said “what a wise question, I shall answer it as best I can”.

Qi Bo, The word 厥 (jué) is usually translated as reversal or counterflow.

And at first, this seems straightforward.

If something is in reversal, we naturally imagine that something has gone in the wrong direction. Something that should move forward has turned back. Something that should descend is ascending. Something that should reach the exterior has retreated inward.

This is a useful first impression of 厥.

But it is not the whole story.

The Shang Han Lun gives us a remarkably precise explanation of what 厥 actually means:

阴阳气不相顺接，便为厥。

Yīn yáng qì bù xiāng shùn jiē, biàn wéi jué.

“When Yin and Yang qi do not smoothly follow and connect with one another, this is called 厥.”

This changes our understanding considerably.

厥 is not necessarily saying that Yin or Yang has simply gone in the wrong direction.

It is telling us that the normal relationship between Yin and Yang has broken down.

Reversal is therefore a consequence of a broken relationship

Yin and Yang are not two independent substances moving around inside the body.

They exist through their relationship.

Yang moves, warms and animates.

Yin receives, contains and provides the substance through which Yang can act.

Their movement is therefore continuous:

Yang → Yin → Yang → Yin

Each gives way to the other. Each receives from and responds to the other.

This is what the character 顺 (shùn) helps us appreciate.

顺 means to follow the proper course, to move along with something, to proceed smoothly.

And 接 (jiē) means to connect, join, meet or receive.

Therefore:

阴阳气不相顺接

is not simply:

“Yin and Yang are not communicating.”

It is more dynamic than that.

It tells us that the movement of Yin and Yang is no longer smoothly continuous.

The hand-off has broken down.

And when that happens, something appears to go into reversal.

That is 厥.

Why then do the hands and feet become cold?

Zhang Zhongjing immediately gives us the physical expression of 厥:

厥者，手足逆冷者是也。

Jué zhě, shǒu zú nì lěng zhě shì yě.

“厥 means that the hands and feet become counterflow-cold.”

This is an important distinction.

The cold itself is not necessarily the fundamental problem.

Cold is what we observe.

Jué 厥 describes the disturbance that has produced it.

Yang should reach the four extremities.

When the normal relationship and movement of Yin and Yang is disrupted, Yang may fail to reach the extremities.

The result is:

手足逆冷 — the hands and feet become counterflow-cold.

So we can think of the progression as:

阴阳气不相顺接
Yin and Yang no longer smoothly connect

↓

厥
the normal movement becomes disrupted/reversed

↓

阳不能达四末
Yang fails to reach the four extremities

↓

手足逆冷
the hands and feet become counterflow-cold

The cold is therefore the manifestation of the disturbance in movement.

This is why cold does not automatically mean Yang deficiency

This distinction is extremely important.

If we see cold hands and feet, we might immediately think:

“There isn't enough Yang.”

But Jué 厥 does not necessarily mean that Yang is absent.

Yang may be present but unable to reach where it should.

This is why different mechanisms can produce the same manifestation of 厥冷.

There can be insufficient Yang.

There can also be Yang that is constrained, obstructed or otherwise unable to reach the extremities.

The question is therefore not simply:

“Is there enough Yang?”

but also:

“Is Yang reaching where it should?”

That is a much more dynamic way of understanding the Shang Han Lun.

四逆 — the four counterflows

This also helps us understand 四逆 (sì nì).

四 means four.

逆 means counterflow or contrary movement.

四逆 therefore describes the four extremities becoming affected by this counterflow phenomenon.

The emphasis is on the manifestation in the limbs.

By contrast, Jué 厥 takes us deeper into the mechanism.

We can therefore distinguish:

冷 — lěng
Cold.

逆冷 — nì lěng
Cold that is contrary or counterflow.

四逆 — sì nì
Counterflow affecting the four extremities.

厥冷 — jué lěng
Cold arising as the manifestation of 厥.

厥 — jué
The deeper disturbance in the normal movement and connection of Yin and Yang.

They are closely related, but they are not simply interchangeable words.

And what about “reversal”?

This brings us back to the English translation.

Reversal is actually a very useful word for 厥—provided we don't stop there.

Reversal makes us ask:

What has reversed?

And the answer is not necessarily:

“Yang has gone backwards.”

It may be that the normal relationship through which Yin and Yang move together has broken down.

The appearance of reversal is therefore the consequence of a disrupted relationship.

This gives us two truths at the same time:

厥 is reversal.

And:

厥 is the failure of Yin and Yang qi to smoothly connect.

These are not contradictory explanations.

They are two perspectives on the same phenomenon.

The first describes what has happened to the movement.

The second explains why the movement has become abnormal.

A cosmological way of looking at it

From the perspective of Chinese cosmology, we can take this one step further.

Yang is not merely a quantity of warmth.

Yang represents the active movement and animating impulse through which life unfolds.

If we think of Heavenly Yang as the Fire mandate of life, then that mandate must be carried through the body by an ongoing relationship between Yin and Yang.

Yang must descend.

Yin must receive.

Transformation must occur.

Yang must then be able to emerge again.

The process is continuous.

When this relationship breaks down, the mandate is not being fulfilled in its normal movement.

That does not necessarily mean that Heaven's Fire has disappeared.

It means that its movement is no longer being successfully transmitted through the Yin–Yang relationship.

And this gives us a deeper way of understanding 厥:

厥 is the appearance of reversal when the normal movement and connection of Yin and Yang has been interrupted.

The Fire has not necessarily vanished.

The problem is that the movement by which Fire reaches where it should has failed.

So what does “counterflow” really mean?

Perhaps we should be careful with the English word counterflow too.

Counterflow does not necessarily mean that something has simply travelled in the opposite direction.

It can mean that the normal flow has been disrupted so severely that what should arrive at the extremities does not arrive.

Thus:

Reversal is not necessarily Yang going backwards.

Counterflow is not necessarily Yang moving in the opposite direction.

Rather:

The normal movement has been interrupted, and the consequence appears as reversal and counterflow.

This is why the Shang Han Lun can say:

阴阳气不相顺接，便为厥。

The deepest issue is not simply cold.

It is not simply deficiency.

It is not even simply “wrong direction.”

It is the loss of smooth continuity between Yin and Yang.

And once that continuity is lost, the body shows us the result:

厥 — reversal.

手足逆冷 — counterflow-cold of the hands and feet.

The language begins with movement, but ultimately points us back to relationship.

That is the important lesson.