"The three months of winter
Are called closing and storing.
Water freezes, Earth cracks.
No more influence from the yang.
One goes to bed early; one gets up late.
Everything must be done according to
the light of the sun.
Exerting the will
As if buried, as if hidden
And taking care only of oneself,
As if fixed on oneself, in possession of oneself.
One must avoid the cold
And seek the heat;
Not let anything escape
Through the layers of the skin,
For fear of losing all of the qi."
- From "The Way of Heaven" Neijing Suwen Chapters 1 & 2.
Translation by Claude Larre, French sinologist, 1919- 2001.
