黄帝曰。余愿闻五十营。奈何。岐伯答曰。天周二十八宿。宿三十六分。人气行一周。千八分（以天度起脉度是言
其体也）日行二十八宿。人经脉上下左右前后二十八脉。周身十六丈二尺。以应二十八宿。（以日度起脉度是言其动也天
日漏三层愈逼愈紧漏字一层即从天日中提出以作五十营之准者也故百刻正与五十营相映）漏水下百刻。以分昼夜。故人
一呼脉再动。气行三寸一吸。脉亦再动气行三寸。呼吸定息气行六寸十息。气行六尺。日行二分二百七十息。气行十六
丈二尺。气行交通于中。一周于身。下水二刻日行二十五分。五百四十息。气行再周于身。下水四刻日行四十分。二千
七百息。气行十周于身。下水二十刻日行五宿二十分。一万三千五百息。气行五十营于身。水下百刻日行二十八宿。漏
水皆尽而脉终矣。所谓交通者并行一数也。故五十营备得尽天地之寿矣。凡行八百一十丈也。
寥寥二百余字。有许多故事。许多议论涵盖其中。题只五十营。三字篇中幻出许多数目字。是烘托极热闹者。
黄帝曰。营气之道内谷为宝。谷入于胃。乃传之肺。流溢于中。布散于外。其精专者。行于经隧。常营无已终而复
始。是谓天地之纪。故气从太阴出。注手阳明。上行。注足阳明。下行至跗上。注大趾间。与太阴合。上行抵脾。从脾
注心中。循手少阴出腋。下臂。注小指。合手太阳。上行乘腋。出 。内注目内 。上巅。下项。合足太阳。循脊。下
尻。下行注小指之端。循足心。注足少阴。上行注肾。从肾注心。外散于胸中。循心主脉。出腋。下臂。出两筋之间。
入掌中。出中指之端。还注小指次指之端。合手少阳。上行。注膻中。散于三焦。从三焦注胆。出胁。注足少阳。下行。
至跗上。复从跗注大趾间。合足厥阴。上行。至肝。从肝上注肺。上循喉咙。入颃颡之窍。究于畜门。其支别者。上额。
循巅。下项中。循脊。入 。是督脉也。络阴器。上过毛中。入脐中。上循腹里。入缺盆。下注肺中。复出太阴。此营
气之所行也。逆顺之常也。
先提大意。作冒后详叙其事。亦行文常格。笔意洁净可喜。
黄帝说：我希望听听关于“五十营”的道理，具体是怎么回事呢？岐伯回答说：天体周围分布着二十八宿（古代天文学将黄道附近的星空分为二十八个区域），每一宿对应三十六分（古代度量单位）。人体之气运行一周，经过一千零八分（这是从天文度数推导脉气运行之体的说法）。太阳每天运行经过二十八宿，人体的经脉在上下、左右、前后共有二十八条，总长度为十六丈二尺，以对应天上的二十八宿（这是从日行度数推导脉气运行之动的说法。天漏壶分三层，越往下滴越紧，“漏”字这一层即从天和日的概念中提炼出来，作为计算五十营的标准。因此，一百刻正好与五十营相互映照）。漏壶滴水一百刻，用来划分昼夜。所以人每呼一次气，脉搏跳动两次，气运行三寸；每吸一次气，脉搏也跳动两次，气也运行三寸。一呼一吸称为一息，气运行六寸。十息，气运行六尺。太阳运行二分。二百七十息，气运行十六丈二尺。气在体内交通循环，一周于身，漏壶水下两刻，太阳运行二十五分。五百四十息，气在身体再运行一周，漏壶水下四刻，太阳运行四十分。二千七百息，气在身体运行十周，漏壶水下二十刻，太阳运行五宿又二十分。一万三千五百息，气在身体运行五十营，漏壶水下百刻，太阳运行二十八宿。漏壶水全部流尽，脉气运行也就结束了。所谓“交通”，是指并行且遵循同一数理规律。所以五十营完备，就能尽享天地的寿命了。总共运行八百一十丈。
寥寥二百多字，包含了许多故事和议论。题目只有“五十营”三个字，篇中却幻化出许多数字，烘托得极其热闹。
黄帝说：营气运行的道理，以内养谷气为宝贵。谷物进入胃中，然后传送给肺，精微物质在体内流溢，布散于体表。其中精纯专一的部分，运行于经脉隧道之中，常常营运不止，终而复始，这被称为天地的纲纪。所以气从手太阴肺经发出，注入手阳明大肠经，向上行，注入足阳明胃经，向下行至足背，注入大趾间，与足太阴脾经相合，向上到达脾脏，从脾脏注入心中，沿手少阴心经出于腋下，下行手臂，注入小指末端，与手太阳小肠经相合，向上穿过腋下，出于面颊部（此处原文缺字，通常指颧部或耳前），进入目内眦，上行至头顶，下项后，与足太阳膀胱经相合，沿脊柱，下行至尾骶部，向下注入小趾末端，沿足心，注入足少阴肾经，向上注入肾脏，从肾脏注入心脏，向外散布于胸中，沿手厥阴心包经出于腋下，下行手臂，出于两筋之间，进入掌中，出于中指末端，返回注入无名指末端，与手少阳三焦经相合，向上行，注入膻中，散布于三焦，从三焦注入胆经，出于胁肋，注入足少阳胆经，向下行至足背，再从足背注入大趾间，与足厥阴肝经相合，向上行至肝脏，从肝脏向上注入肺经，沿喉咙上行，进入鼻咽部（颃颡）的窍道，最终到达鼻窍（畜门）。其分支者，上行额部，沿头顶，下项中，沿脊柱，进入督脉（此处原文缺字，指脊里），联络阴器，上过阴毛处，进入脐中，向上沿腹里，进入缺盆，向下注入肺中，再复出至手太阴肺经。这就是营气运行的路径，也是顺逆的正常规律。
先提出大意作为冒头，然后详细叙述事情，这也是文章写作的常规格式，笔意洁净可喜。
Huangdi said: I wish to hear about the "Fifty Circulations" (Wu Shi Ying). How does it work? Qibo replied: The celestial sphere encompasses twenty-eight mansions (Er Shi Ba Xiu, ancient Chinese constellations), each corresponding to thirty-six fen (ancient angular units). When Qi in the human body completes one circulation, it traverses one thousand and eight fen (this refers to the physical aspect derived from celestial degrees). The sun travels through the twenty-eight mansions daily. The human meridians, distributed above, below, left, right, front, and back, number twenty-eight, with a total length of sixteen zhang and two chi, corresponding to the twenty-eight celestial mansions (this refers to the dynamic aspect derived from solar motion. The water clock has three layers; as it drips, it becomes tighter layer by layer. This "leak" layer is extracted from the concepts of heaven and sun to serve as the standard for the Fifty Circulations. Thus, one hundred ke perfectly corresponds to the Fifty Circulations). The water clock drips one hundred ke to divide day and night. Therefore, with each exhalation, the pulse beats twice, and Qi moves three cun; with each inhalation, the pulse also beats twice, and Qi moves another three cun. One exhalation and one inhalation constitute one breath (Xi), during which Qi moves six cun. In ten breaths, Qi moves six chi. The sun moves two fen. In two hundred and seventy breaths, Qi moves sixteen zhang and two chi. Qi circulates internally and externally, completing one circuit around the body while the water clock drops two ke, and the sun moves twenty-five fen. In five hundred and forty breaths, Qi completes a second circuit around the body, the water clock drops four ke, and the sun moves forty fen. In two thousand seven hundred breaths, Qi completes ten circuits around the body, the water clock drops twenty ke, and the sun moves five mansions and twenty-two fen. In thirteen thousand five hundred breaths, Qi completes fifty circuits (Ying) around the body, the water clock drops one hundred ke, and the sun completes the twenty-eight mansions. When the water clock is empty, the pulse movement ends. What is called "traffic" (Jiao Tong) means running in parallel according to the same numerical principle. Thus, when the Fifty Circulations are complete, one can enjoy the full lifespan granted by Heaven and Earth. The total distance traveled is eight hundred and ten zhang.
In these scant two hundred characters, there are many stories and discussions covered within. The title contains only three characters, "Fifty Circulations," yet the text conjures up numerous numbers, creating an extremely vibrant atmosphere.
Huangdi said: The way of Ying Qi (Nutritive Qi) values internal grain nourishment above all. Grain enters the stomach, then transmits to the lungs, where its essence flows and spreads throughout the interior and exterior. The purest and most specialized part travels within the meridian tunnels, circulating ceaselessly, ending and beginning again. This is called the norm of Heaven and Earth. Thus, Qi emerges from the Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin, injects into the Large Intestine Meridian of Hand-Yangming, travels upward, injects into the Stomach Meridian of Foot-Yangming, descends to the dorsum of the foot, injects into the space between the big toes, combines with the Spleen Meridian of Foot-Taiyin, ascends to reach the Spleen, and from the Spleen injects into the Heart. It follows the Heart Meridian of Hand-Shaoyin, emerges from the axilla, descends the arm, injects into the tip of the little finger, combines with the Small Intestine Meridian of Hand-Taiyang, ascends through the axilla, emerges at the cheek/ear area, enters the inner canthus of the eye, ascends to the vertex, descends the nape, combines with the Bladder Meridian of Foot-Taiyang, follows the spine, descends to the sacrum, goes down to inject into the tip of the little toe, follows the sole of the foot, injects into the Kidney Meridian of Foot-Shaoyin, ascends to inject into the Kidneys. From the Kidneys, it injects into the Heart, disperses outward into the chest, follows the Pericardium Meridian of Hand-Jueyin, emerges from the axilla, descends the arm, emerges between the two tendons, enters the palm, emerges at the tip of the middle finger, returns to inject into the tip of the ring finger, combines with the Sanjiao Meridian of Hand-Shaoyang, ascends, injects into the Danzhong (Chest Center), disperses into the Triple Burner. From the Triple Burner, it injects into the Gallbladder Meridian, emerges from the hypochondrium, injects into the Gallbladder Meridian of Foot-Shaoyang, descends to the dorsum of the foot, then from the dorsum injects into the space between the big toes, combines with the Liver Meridian of Foot-Jueyin, ascends to the Liver. From the Liver, it ascends and injects into the Lungs, follows the throat upward, enters the opening of the nasopharynx (Hangsang), and ultimately reaches the nasal orifice (Chumen). Its branch ascends to the forehead, follows the vertex, descends the nape, follows the spine, enters the Du Mai (Governing Vessel), connects with the genitalia, passes over the pubic hair, enters the umbilicus, ascends along the interior of the abdomen, enters the clavicular fossa (Quepen), descends to inject into the Lungs, and re-emerges into the Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin. This is the pathway of Ying Qi, the normal pattern of reverse and forward flow.
First, the general idea is raised as an introduction, followed by a detailed narration of the matter. This is also a common format in writing, with clean and pleasing brushwork.