Putting the Emperor back on his throne expresses the treatment strategy of connecting the person to the heavens, great void and spirit brilliance.
In Chapter 66 of the Yellow Emperor’s Classic states, The ruler fire relies on being honored, the minister fire relies on its position.
The ruler fire is referring to the Emperor. The emperor is associated with the heart. Yet, the heart is the only organ without the flesh radical, all the other organs have one, suggesting that the heart is something without form.
The heart also has form and this form is the yin aspect of storing jing which is its ming men aspect.
So the heart has form and no form at the same time. The ruler fire connects us to the changes of the five elements or five aspects and to yin and yang. Without this connection there would be no transformation and changes.
This ruler fire is an aspect of yang qi called spirit brightness and its location is the great void.
Now, the five periods and yin and yang, they are the way of heaven and earth, the fundamental principals governing the myriad things, father and mother to change and transformation, basis and beginning of generating and killing, they are the palace of spirit brilliance.
The palace brilliance is the five elements and yang and yin. The palace brilliance is the starting place of change and transformation. We need to be connected to this brightness because it is what keeps us healthy.
Wang Bing, That union and dispersion of qi are immeasurable, that generation and transformation of the myriad beings is inexhaustible, all this is possible only because of the movement of the spirit brightness.
The spirit brightness resides in the heavens.
Now, as for the operation of change and transformation, in heaven it is darkness, the darkness generates the spirit.
Wang Bing, Darkness is distance, is hidden and deep, hence it generates the spirit.
The great void spreads the true magic power of qi. The myriad beings depend on the great void to come into existence.
Wang Bing, The true qi of the great void reaches everywhere. The true qi supports generation and existence. Hence anything that depends on qi and contains magic power embraces true qi to be alive.
The great void is to say, the region of emptiness and darkness, that which is filled by the true qi, the palace of spirit brightness. The true qi is infinitesimal, nothing is to far for it to reach.
Cold, dryness, fire, dampness, heat, and wind, these are the yin and yang of heaven. The three yang and three yin act on their behalf.
Tai yang cold, yang ming dryness, shao yang fire, tai yin dampness, shao yin heat, and jue yin wind act on the behalf on the six qi in heaven.
It is the formless heart that connects us to the heavens, and the great void where the spirit palace resides.
We must honor the ruler fire when we treat for this is the source of all change and transformation. When we treat we restore the function of yang qi and nourish the yin qi. This is putting the Emperor back on his throne.
This connects us the great mystery of the Dao stated in Chapter 1 Dao De Ching.
The Way that can be walked is not the eternal Way. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of Heaven and Earth.
The named is the mother of all things. Therefore: Free from desire you see the mystery.
Full of desire you see the manifestations. These two have the same origin but differ in name.
That is the secret, The secret of secrets, The gate to all mysteries.
Chapter 74 Wang Bing, The ruler fire does not rule a period.
Lin Yi, The ruler fire exists by name, the minister fire exists by position. That is to say the ruler fire does not rule a period.
Zhang Jiebing, The difference between the five periods, or elements, or agents, and the six qi, is that the periods are based on the heavenly stems, and the six qi are based on the earthly branches.
Five elements are based on the 10 heavenly stems.
The six qi are based on the 12 earthly branches.
Ruler fire is found in the six qi on earth, in the shao yin heart. The minister fire is found in the shao yin heart. The ruler fire rules in name only. We give respect to it by calling its name. It is the connection to the Dao and nature.
In the great void is the grand qi. The grand qi is the qi of creation, it sustains the great void.
Zhang Jiebing, The grand qi is the principal qi of the great void. All the myriad things depend on it. Hence the earth is located in the middle of the great void because it is supported by the principal qi.
The six qi are the transformations of the grand qi. That is, the activities of the six qi between heaven and earth.
Zhang Zhicong, That is to say how the six qi move between heaven above and earth below. Cold, dryness, fire, dampness, heat, and wind are qi without physical appearance in heaven. Hardening, drying, warming, moistening, steaming, and moving are their corporal manifestations on the earth.
The six qi enter the earth. Hence they let the corporal qi receive non-corporal qi of the great void and thereby generate and transform the myriad things.
Every time we treat we make sure our patients are connected to this ability to transform and change. That is putting the Emperor back on his throne.