The “Inside Traitor” Invites the “Outside Thief”: How the Eight Winds Affect Your Body

黃帝問曰：天有八風，經有五風，何謂？

歧伯對曰：八風發邪，以為經風，觸五臟，邪氣發病。

喺《上古天真論》入面，講完真人、至人之後，我哋講到聖人——「處天地之和，從八風之理。」呢個說明《黃帝內經》係一脈相承嘅。

「金匱真言論」第一段就講咩叫八風，八風係點樣影響人嘅身體，點樣影響人嘅臟腑、氣血變化，會導致咩病，會令人點樣唔舒服，然後點樣去調治。呢個就係解釋古代聖人係點樣「從八風之理」嘅。

The Yellow Emperor asked: “The heavens have eight winds, and the meridians have five winds. What does this mean?”

Qi Bo replied: “The eight winds send forth evil qi, which becomes meridian wind, touches the five zang organs, and causes disease to arise from the evil qi.”

n the chapter “True Words from High Antiquity,” after discussing the True Persons and the Perfect Persons, we spoke of the Sage – “dwelling in harmony with heaven and earth, following the pattern of the eight winds.” This shows that the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon is consistent throughout.

The first section of “Golden Cabinet True Words Discourse” explains what the eight winds are, how they affect the human body, how they influence the changes in our viscera, qi, and blood, what illnesses they cause, what discomforts they bring, and how to treat them. This is an explanation of how the ancient Sages “followed the pattern of the eight winds.”

八風，就係從東、南、西、北以及佢哋嘅夾角——東南、西南、西北、東北八個方向吹嚟嘅風。

從唔同方向吹嚟嘅風，帶嘅能量都唔一樣。

東風給人嘅感覺係生發嘅、溫暖嘅、鼓舞嘅。「吹面不寒楊柳風」，東風吹，戰鼓擂。

西風呢？凜冽、肅殺。「西風烈，長空雁叫霜晨月。」

南風呢？熱氣。北風呢？冰涼，「北風吹，雪花飄。」

The eight winds are the winds that blow from the east, south, west, north, and their four intermediate directions – southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast.

Winds blowing from different directions carry different energies.

The east wind feels growing, warm, and inspiring. “The east wind blows, war drums beat.”

The west wind? Bitter, cold, and killing. “The west wind is fierce, geese cry in the vast sky under a frosty morning moon.”

The south wind? Hot air. The north wind? Icy cold. “The north wind blows, snowflakes fall.”

經過對風嘅歸類觀察，古人進一步分析佢對人臟腑嘅影響。

比如，東風起嘅時候，會令到人嘅肝膽之氣變旺。再推論一下，肝膽克邊個？木克土。木代表肝膽，土代表脾胃。肝膽旺會令你嘅脾胃變弱。

呢個就係古人觀察天地之間嘅變化同聯繫之後道出嘅真言。

唔好認為夏天人就唔會受涼，冬天人就唔會中暑。唔合時令嘅嗰種風，我哋叫佢做「賊風」——虛邪賊風。

虛邪係肉眼睇唔到嘅，比如病毒，肉眼睇唔到，要用顯微鏡或者電子顯微鏡先睇到。但係眼見為實，眼不見為虛，所以呢啲病毒叫虛邪。

古人講「虛邪賊風，避之有時」，就係話俾我哋知，要隔離病人，唔好去人多嘅地方。

Through observing and categorizing the winds, the ancients further analyzed their effects on the human viscera.

For example, when the east wind rises, it makes the qi of the liver and gallbladder flourish. And what does the liver/gallbladder overcome? Wood overcomes earth. Wood represents the liver and gallbladder; earth represents the spleen and stomach. When the liver/gallbladder is strong, it weakens your spleen and stomach.

This is the true word spoken by the ancients after observing the changes and connections between heaven and earth.

Do not think that in summer people cannot catch a cold, or that in winter people cannot get heatstroke. Winds that come at the wrong time of year – we call them “thief winds” – elusive evil, thief wind.

Elusive evil cannot be seen with the naked eye – like viruses. You need a microscope or electron microscope to see them. Since “seeing is believing,” and what cannot be seen is elusive, such viruses are called elusive evil.

The ancients said, “Elusive evil and thief wind – avoid them when they come.” This tells us to isolate the sick and avoid crowded places.

當外面嘅氣嘅變化影響到人身體內五臟氣機嘅變化嘅時候，就會起內風。

正常人係咩狀態？「不管風吹浪打，我自巋然不動」——外面氣候嘅變化唔會對我有任何影響。

唔正常嘅人係咩狀態？外面一有風吹草動，裡面就有呼應。

一到某個時候關節就痛，就知要變天，聽日落雨、聽日刮風。呢個叫咩？叫病態嘅特異功能。

甚至，當人心氣內洞嘅時候，可以聽到好遠嘅人講嘢。

有個病人同我講：「徐大夫，我煩到瞓唔著嘅時候，我個女喺另一個房細細聲傾偈，我聽得一清二楚，入晒我個腦入面。」佢嘅形容非常地道——出神了！

When changes in the external qi affect the qi mechanism of the five zang organs inside the body, internal wind arises.

What is the state of a healthy person? “No matter how the wind and waves rage, I stand firm” – external climate changes have no effect on them.

What is the state of an unhealthy person? As soon as there is a slight disturbance outside, there is a response inside.

When your joints hurt at certain times, you know the weather is about to change – it’s going to rain or wind tomorrow. What is this called? A pathological special ability.

Even more, when a person’s heart qi is hollowed out, they can hear people speaking from far away.

A patient told me: “Doctor Xu, when I’m so agitated that I can’t sleep, my daughter whispers in another room – I hear every word, right into my brain.” His description was very vivid – his spirit had left him!

常言說得好：家裡面有內鬼，先至招到外賊。

五風就係話：外面嘅氣候變化會觸動人五臟氣機變強或者變弱，然後產生一種唔正常嘅氣嘅流動，我哋姑且叫佢做「內風」。

所謂嘅內風，實際上係外風引發出嚟、觸動起嚟嘅。如果你唔受佢嘅觸動，你就係健康人。

健康人都係唔受外風觸動嘅人。正如范仲淹喺《岳陽樓記》所寫，健康人「不以物喜，不以己悲」。

唔健康嘅人係點樣？見到春天美好嘅氣象，就好開心；見到陰雨連綿，就好悲傷。

天氣嘅變化居然令你嘅心情都變埋，呢個說明咩？說明你病得好唔輕。

As the saying goes: You have to have an inside traitor in your house before you can invite an outside thief.

The five winds mean: external climate changes trigger the qi mechanisms of the five zang organs to become stronger or weaker, creating an abnormal flow of qi – we call it “internal wind.”

This internal wind is actually caused and triggered by external wind. If you are not affected by it, you are a healthy person.

Healthy people are those who are not affected by external wind. As Fan Zhongyan wrote in his “Record of Yueyang Tower”: the healthy person “does not rejoice over external things, nor grieve over the self.”

What about unhealthy people? When they see beautiful spring weather, they become very happy; when they see continuous rain, they become very sad.

When weather changes actually change your mood – what does that mean? It means you are quite sick.

真正修煉得道嘅人，心門打開嘅時候可以出神，一睇外面唔對路，就「啪」咁收返嚟，收放自如。

而嗰種極其敏感嘅人，就係神放咗出去之後，成日收唔返嚟。

喺《靈樞》入面，有一篇專門詳細論述「八風」，篇名叫《九宮八風》。裡面講到：唔單止各種風帶來嘅信息和能量唔同，而且古人仲畀每種風都起咗一個形象嘅名。

方向	風名	性質
南方	大弱風	弱
西南	謀風	謀士之風
西方	剛風	剛強
西北	折風	折殺
北方	大剛風	大剛
東北	凶風	兇吉之凶
東方	嬰兒風	有生機
東南	弱風	弱

每種風嘅名都包含咗道家賦予佢嘅含義。從名你就知道每種風嘅性質。

A truly accomplished person, when their heart’s door opens, can let their spirit out. If they see something wrong outside, they immediately pull it back in – they are in control.

But those who are extremely sensitive – their spirit goes out and often cannot be brought back.

In the Miraculous Pivot, there is a chapter that discusses the “eight winds” in detail – it is called “The Nine Palaces and Eight Winds.” It states that not only do the different winds bring different information and energy, but the ancients also gave each wind a vivid name.

Direction	Wind Name	Nature
South	Great Weak Wind	Weak
Southwest	Counsellor Wind	Scheming
West	Hard Wind	Hard, strong
Northwest	Breaking Wind	Breaking, killing
North	Great Hard Wind	Greatly hard
Northeast	Fierce Wind	Inauspicious
East	Infant Wind	Growing, lively
Southeast	Weak Wind	Weak

Each wind’s name contains the meaning given to it by Taoism. From the name alone, you know the nature of each wind.

岐伯話：「八風發邪，以為經風」。八風如果侵入人嘅身體之後，就會觸及人五臟經絡嘅氣機，產生一種唔正常嘅流動。呢個就係引起「內風」了。

中醫把內風定為「六淫之首」——呢個「淫」字喺古代係指「過分」嘅意思。

「風為百病之長」。風，首先把人嘅門戶打開一條縫，然後嗰啲濕邪、燥邪、暑邪、寒邪就跟住入嚟。所以，風係打開我哋門戶嘅第一個邪氣。

Qi Bo said: “The eight winds send forth evil qi, which becomes meridian wind.” After the eight winds invade the human body, they affect the qi mechanism of the five zang organs and meridians, creating an abnormal flow. This is what triggers “internal wind.”

TCM regards internal wind as the “chief of the six excesses” – the character “excess” in ancient times meant “excessive” or “overly much.”

“Wind is the chief of all diseases.” Wind is the first to open a crack in the body’s doorway. Then, the evil qi of dampness, dryness, summer heat, and cold follow it inside. So, wind is the first evil qi to open our door.

我嘅形意拳老師——馬老師同我講過一個故事。

馬老師生活嘅年代，工廠仲未有冷氣。夏天點樣降溫呢？挖防空洞。人們用一部鼓風機將防空洞底下濕凍嘅空氣抽上嚟，然後吹到車間入面降溫。

有個後生仔貪涼快，企喺鼓風機嘅風口一直吹。佢身體好壯，但第二日就發燒感冒，最後竟然不治而死——活活被風吹死咗。

呢個說明：有啲比細菌同病毒更加細微、更加難以見到嘅嘢，會傷人性命。呢個就係我哋講嘅氣——風氣、濕氣、寒氣、燥氣，佢哋都會導致人生病，甚至死亡。

岐伯話「八風發邪，以為經風」，然後「觸五臟」。

咩叫觸五臟？人嘅體表叫「表」，臟叫「裡」。表同裡之間仲有「腑」。

如果一個人門戶大開，或者受嘅風特別強，外邪就會觸動佢嘅內臟。臟係藏於人體最入面最深處嘅嘢，如果受到不良嘅觸動，會引起好嚴重嘅病——「觸五臟，邪氣發病」。

My Xingyi boxing teacher, Master Ma, once told me a story.

Back in Master Ma’s time, factories did not have air conditioning. How did they cool down in summer? They dug air‑raid shelters. People used a blower to extract the cool, damp air from underground and blow it into the workshop.

A young man, seeking coolness, stood directly in the blower’s stream of air. He was very strong and healthy. The next day, he had a fever and a cold – and in the end, he died. He was literally blown to death by wind.

This shows that there are things even more subtle and harder to see than bacteria and viruses – and they can take a person’s life. These are the qi we speak of – wind qi, dampness qi, cold qi, dryness qi. They can all cause illness, and even death.

Qi Bo said: “The eight winds send forth evil qi, which becomes meridian wind,” and then “touches the five zang organs.”

What does “touches the five zang organs” mean? The body’s surface is called the “exterior”; the zang organs are called the “interior.” Between the exterior and interior are the “fu” organs.

If a person’s gates are wide open, or if the wind they are exposed to is particularly strong, external evil will touch their internal organs. The zang organs are the deepest, innermost things in the human body. If they are touched by harmful evil, it causes very serious illness – “touches the five zang, evil qi causes disease.”

古人話：「虛邪賊風，避之有時。」但現代都市人，成日出入冷氣地方，夏天吹冷風，冬天吹熱風，八風亂晒籠。

你嘅身體門戶長期打開，內鬼未驅，外賊已入。

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鞏固門戶：增強正氣，減少外邪入侵
驅散內風：調和五臟，平息內部氣機紊亂
順應八風：因應季節變化，飲啱嘅茶

產品	對應狀況	驅風原理
金方明目茶	眼乾、眼澀、視物模糊	清肝熄內風
金方刮油茶	餐後消滯、腸胃負擔	健脾化濕濁
金方酸梅湯	清熱生津、消暑解膩	收斂固表
金方氣血茶	精神倦怠、手腳乏力	益氣養血，抵禦外邪
金方祛濕茶	身重疲倦、消化不良	健脾祛濕，斷內風之源

驅咗內鬼，先唔會招外賊。

每日一杯養生茶，守住你嘅身體門戶。

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The ancients said: “Elusive evil and thief wind – avoid them when they come.” But modern urban people constantly move between air‑conditioned spaces – cold wind in summer, hot wind in winter – the eight winds are all mixed up.

Your body’s gates are open for long periods. The inside traitor has not been driven out, and the outside thief has already entered.

We founded Echo Du Passe to help you, from the inside out, with our five Golden Tea Blends:

Strengthen your gates: build up righteous qi, reduce invasion by external evil
Dispel internal wind: harmonize your five zang organs, calm internal qi disturbances
Follow the eight winds: drink the right tea for each season

Product	Concern	Principle of Dispelling Wind
Golden Vision Tea	Dry eyes, strain, blurred vision	Clear liver, extinguish internal wind
Golden Digest Tea	Post‑meal bloating, gut burden	Strengthen spleen, transform damp turbidity
Golden Sour Plum Tea	Heat, thirst, summer discomfort	Astringe, secure the exterior
Golden Qi & Blood Tea	Fatigue, weak limbs, low energy	Boost qi, nourish blood, repel external evil
Golden Dampness Tea	Heaviness, poor digestion	Strengthen spleen, remove dampness, cut off the source of internal wind