The Huangdi Neijing Text
The Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic) remains the foundational text of traditional East Asian medicine, maintaining its authoritative status for more than 2,000 years. This ancient medical treatise, whose influence spans millennia, remains the cornerstone of traditional Chinese medicine and its related practices throughout East Asia.
The Huangdi Neijing is a compilation of diverse medical writings created by anonymous physician scholars. Most likely created during China’s Warring States Period and Han Dynasty (475 BCE-220 CE), it emerged from a revolutionary naturalistic philosophy that that created a comprehensive system of healthcare based on the study of the fundamental patterns of nature and their resulting phenomena.
The text consists of two main parts: the Suwen (Basic Questions) and the Lingshu (Spiritual Pivot), which together established a sophisticated system of medical theory and practice. The Suwen focuses more on theoretical foundations and diagnostic methods, while the Lingshu details acupuncture therapy.
Understanding the Neijing has historically been challenging due to classical Chinese language complexities and the fragmented nature of its content. Modern scholarship continues to examine these texts, with recent technological advances enabling deeper analysis of their medical principles and philosophical foundations.
The Neijing represents a significant departure from earlier shamanistic beliefs, introducing systematic theories about health and disease based on concepts like yin-yang and the five phases, viewing human beings as microcosms reflecting the larger natural world. This comprehensive approach to understanding human health and disease remains the foundation of East Asian Medicine.
夫血脈之藏於身也猶江河之流地夫血脈之藏於身也猶江河之流地江河之流濁而不清血脈之動亦擾不安
The blood rivers of the body are held within the body like the rivers that flow through the earth. When their stirrings are obstructed by impediments to flow, they become unsettled.
The Way of Emptiness
Warring States
