Huangdi Neijing (simplified Chinese: 黄帝内经; traditional Chinese: 黃帝內經; pinyin: Huángdì Nèijīng), also known as The Inner Canon of Huangdi or Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, is an ancient Chinese medical text that has been treated as the fundamental doctrinal source for Chinese medicine for more than two millennia. It is comparable in importance to the Hippocratic Corpus in Greek medicine or the works of Galen in Islamic and medieval European medicine. The work is composed of two texts each of eighty-one chapters or treatises in a question-and-answer format between the mythical Huangdi (Yellow Emperor or more correctly Yellow Thearch) and six of his equally legendary ministers.
The first text, the Suwen (素問), also known as Basic Questions,[1] covers the theoretical foundation of Chinese Medicine and its diagnostic methods. The second and generally less referred-to text, the Lingshu (靈樞) [Spiritual Pivot], discusses acupuncture therapy in great detail. Collectively, these two texts are known as the Neijing or Huangdi Neijing. In practice, however, the title Neijing often refers only to the more influential Suwen. Two other texts also carried the prefix Huangdi neijing in their titles: the Mingtang 明堂 ["Hall of Light"] and the Taisu 太素 ["Grand Basis"], both of which have survived only partially.
The earliest mention of the Huangdi neijing was in the bibliographical chapter of the Hanshu 漢書 (or Book of Han, completed in 111 CE), next to a Huangdi waijing 黃帝外經 (“Yellow Emperor’s Outer Canon”) that is now lost. A scholar-physician called Huangfu Mi 皇甫謐 (215-282 CE) was the first to claim that the Huangdi neijing in 18 juan 卷 (or volumes) that was listed in the Hanshu bibliography corresponded with two different books that circulated in his own time: the Suwen and the Zhenjing 鍼經 (“Needling Canon”), each in 9 juan.[2] Since scholars believe that Zhenjing was one of the Lingshu's earlier titles, they agree that the Han-dynasty Huangdi neijing was made of two different texts that are close in content to the works we know today as the Suwen and the Lingshu.
The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic (Huangdi Neijing, 黃帝內經) is the most important ancient text in Chinese medicine as well as a major book of Daoist theory and lifestyle. The text is structured as a dialogue between the Yellow Emperor and one of his ministers or physicians, most commonly Qíbó (Chinese: 岐伯), but also Shàoyú (Chinese: 少俞). One possible reason for using this device was for the (anonymous) authors to avoid attribution and blame (see pages 8-14 in Unschuld for an exposition of this).
The Neijing departs from the old shamanistic beliefs that disease was caused by demonic influences. Instead the natural effects of diet, lifestyle, emotions, environment, and age are the reason diseases develop. According to the Neijing, the universe is composed of various forces and principles, such as Yin and yang, Qi and the Five Elements (or phases). These forces can be understood via rational means and man can stay in balance or return to balance and health by understanding the laws of these natural forces. Man is a microcosm that mirrors the larger macrocosm. The principles of yin and yang, the five elements, the environmental factors of wind, damp, hot and cold and so on that are part of the macrocosm equally apply to the human microcosm.
The work is generally dated by scholars to be created between the late Warring States period (475-221 BC) and the early Han period (206 BCE–220 CE).[1]
In pages 89-90 of the book Celestial Lancets (first published in 1980), authored by scholars Joseph Needham (1900-1995) and Lu Gwei-Djen (1904-1991), it states that the consensus of scholarly opinion is that the Suwen belongs to the second century BCE. They further state that evidence shows that the Suwen is earlier than the first of the pharmaceutical natural histories, the 神農本草經 Shennong Bencao Jing (Divine Husbandman's Classic of the Materia Medica). So suggestive are parallels with third and fourth century BCE literature that doubt arises as to whether the Suwen be better ascribed to the third century BCE, implying that certain portions of the Suwen may be of that date. The dominant role the theories of yin and yang and the five elements play in the physiology and pathology means that these medical theories are not older than about 320 BCE.
Historian of science Nathan Sivin (University of Pennsylvania) is of the opinion (1998) that the Suwen and Lingshu probably date to the 1st century BCE. Sivin (1998) is also of the opinion that "no available translation is reliable."
The German scholar Unschuld states several twentieth century scholars are of the opinion that the language and ideas of the Neijing Suwen were composed between 400 BCE and 260 CE, and the work has seen major changes since.[3]
Lü Fu (呂複), a fourteenth-century literary critic, was of the opinion that the Suwen was compiled by several authors over a long period. It contents were then brought together by Confucian scholars in the Han Dynasty era.[4]
Scholars of excavated medical texts, Donald Harper, Vivienne Lo and Li Jianmin, agree that the systematic medical theory in the Neijing varies shows significant variance from texts found in the Mawangdui tomb (which was closed in 186 BCE). Because of this, they consider the Neijing to have been compiled after the Mawangdui texts.
In 762 CE, Wang Bing finished his revision of the Suwen after labouring for twelve years. Wang Bing collected the various versions and fragments of the Suwen and reorganized it into the present eighty-one chapters (treatises) format. (Note, treatises seventy-two and seventy-three are lost and only the titles are known.) Originally his changes were all done in red ink, but later copyists incorporated some of his additions into the main text. However, the 1053 version discussed below restored almost all of his annotations and they are now written in small characters next to the larger characters that comprise the main or unannotated Suwen text. (See Unschuld, pages 40 and 44.)
According to Unschuld (pages 39 and 62) Wang Bing's version of the Suwen was based on Quan Yuanqi's (early six century) commented version of the Suwen consisting of nine juan (books) and sixty-nine discourses. Wang Bing made corrections, added two "lost" discourses, added seven comprehensive discourses on the five phases and six qi, inserted over 5000 commentaries and reorganized the text into twenty-four juan (books) and eighty-one treatises. (See Unschuld pages 24, 39 and 46.)
In his preface to his version of the Suwen, Wang Bing goes into great detail listing the changes he made. (See Veith, Appendix II and Unschuld pages 41–43.)
Not much is known about Wang Bing's life. He authored several books but is best known for his work on the Suwen. A note in the preface left by the later editors of the Chong Guang Bu Zhu Huangdi Neijing Suwen (version compiled by 1053 editorial committee) which was based on an entry in Tang Ren Wu Zhi (Record on Tang [Dynasty] Personalities) states that he was an official with the rank of tai pu ling and died after a long life of more than eighty years. (See Unschuld, page 40. Also see Veith, Appendix I for a translation of an abstract from the 四庫全書總目提要 Siku Quanshu Zongmu Tiyao about both the Huangdi Suwen and Wang Bing.)
The "authoritative version" used today, Chong Guang Bu Zhu Huangdi Neijing Suwen 重廣補註黃帝內經素問 (Huangdi Neijing Suwen: Again Broadly Corrected [and] Annotated), is the product of the 11th century Imperial Editorial Office (beginning in 1053 CE) and was based considerably on Wang Bing's 762 CE version. (See pages 33–66 in Unschuld) Some of the leading scholars who worked on this version of the Suwen were 林億 Lin Yi, 孫奇 Sun Qi, 高保衡 Gao Baoheng and 孫兆 Sun Zhao.
For images of the Chong Guang Bu Zhu Huangdi Neijing Suwen printed in the Ming Dynasty, (1368-1644 CE) see the external links section below.
Recently (2003), the Chinese medicine history scholar Paul Unschuld, Hermann Tessenow and their team at the Institute for the History of Medicine at Munich University have translated the Neijing Suwen into English including, an analysis of the historical and structural layers of the Suwen. No publishing date has been given for this multi-volume work. (See Unschuld, pages x-xi.)
Significant portions of the above Suwen translation (but with only a fraction of the annotations) are currently available in Huang Di nei jing su wen: Nature, Knowledge, Imagery in an Ancient Chinese Medical Text. (See Unschuld in cited references below.)
Note, none of following listed translations are perfect, they each vary in their interpretation of the text, but by comparing and combining individual translations a workable result can be obtained. The translations are organized below by type of translation. (Note, some of the translations listed are only partial translations.)
Sinological Translations
TCM Style Translations
Medical History Translations
Ilza Veith, when she published this first attempt to render a basic text of Chinese medicine into English, made it clear that her version was "a rough translation . . ." . . . Thus the product was frankly presented as an aid to some future translator and as nothing more. It accomplished, in fact, a great deal more, for many historians of science learned from it for the first time that a great Chinese tradition of rational medicine existed.
Certain critics were disturbed because the translation was not even good enough to give an accurate general impression of the text, and because Dr. Veith, who had no opportunity to study the rest of the medical literature, based her introductory essay almost completely on European sources of greatly varying quality. One can hardly disagree with the letter of J.R. Hightower's assertion that "the only valid idea which [an] Occidental medical historian could bring from the most careful reading of her [Veith's] translation would be that the Chinese had some peculiar concepts of medicine, an idea he may well have had before beginning to read the book."2 But there is not much point in wishing this book were something it was never intended to be."
2Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 1951, 14: 306–312.
Quoted from a review by Nathan Sivin, Professor of Chinese Culture and of the History of Science, Emeritus.
University of Pennsylvania
Isis, Vol. 59, No. 2. (Summer, 1968), pp. 229-231.
Huang Ti Nei Ching Su Wen. The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, Ilza Veith.
Review author[s]: N. Sivin.
Sample Text from Suwen: Beginning of Treatise Seventeen
脈 要 精 微 論 篇 第 十 七 黃 帝 問 曰 ： 診 法 何 如 ？ 岐 伯 對 曰 ： 診 法 常 以 平 旦 ，陰 氣 未 動 ， 陽 氣 未 散 ， 飲 食 未 進 ， 經 脈 未 盛 ， 絡 脈 調 勻， 氣 血 未 亂 ， 故 乃 可 診 有 過 之 脈 。 切 脈 動 靜 而 視 精 明 ， 察 五 色 ， 觀 五 臟 有 餘 不 足 ，六 腑 強 弱 ， 形 之 盛 衰 ， 以 此 參 伍 ， 決 死 生 之 分 。
Wikipedia Translation
Treatise Seventeen. Discussions on the Essential and Finely Discernible Aspects of the Pulse The Yellow Thearch inquired: "How is an examination <of the pulse> done?" [Minister] Qibo answered: "The examination (zhen fa) [of the pulse] is usually [done] at dawn. The yin qi has not yet stirred, the yang qi has not yet dispersed, food and drink have not yet been taken, the [main] channel vessels [of qi and blood] are not yet overly active, the [qi and blood of the] network vessels [that branch out and enmesh the body] are harmonious and stable, and the qi and blood are not yet disordered -- thus, for these reasons, an abnormal pulse can be detected. "Feel-closely the movement [and] the non movement of the pulse, then observe the essence clearness-brightness (jing ming). Examine the five colors [of the complexion] [and] inspect whether the five zang organs (internal yin organs) have overflowing-abundance [or are] insufficient, [if] the six fu organs (yang organs) [are] strong-and-powerful [or] weak, [if] the physical body <[and] qi> are flourishing [or] are decaying -- [then] integrate this set [of observations] to distinguish the demarcation [between] death [and] life.
Ping dan 平旦 is a Classical Chinese compound meaning: "dawn," but it is sometimes translated as: "calm dawn," but this is a literal character-by-character translation, "dawn" is more accurate. Wiseman et al. in Fundamentals of Chinese Medicine: Zhong Yi Xue Ji Chu, page 116: quotes part of the above Suwen passage.
Time: Elementary Questions (sù wèn) states: "The pulse should be taken at the calm dawn."128
128Calm dawn, 平旦 (píng dàn): The name of the watch corresponding to 3-5 a.m.
While it is true that ping dan 平旦 is an ancient term for the third earthly branch time period which prior to the Song dynasty corresponded to 3-5 a.m. (Sôma, page 904), the other occurrences of ping dan in the Neijing (such as in treatise four) unambiguously mean "dawn," not the third earthly branch. Further, the second paragraph in the above translation states the doctor is to observe the five colors of the patient, something that is not going to be accurately done at 3:00 - 5:00 a.m. using artificial light from an oil lamp or candle. To correctly perceive the colors of the complexion without bias, natural lighting (i.e., full spectrum sunlight) would be needed.Zhen fa 診法, can be translated as: "examination methods", "examination(s)" or "laws of examination." Zhen 診 means: examine (verb) or examination (noun) and fa 法 is often translated as: law or method. In this translation, zhen fa 診法 is translated more idiomatically as "examination" as opposed to a more literal reading as a compound meaning: "examination method" or "examination methods."
Qie mai dong jing 切脈動靜: "Feel-closely the movement [and] non movement (stillness) of the pulse," where dong jing 動靜 (movement [and] stillness) is likely a polar binome and thus denotes the whole action of the pulse and therefore this phrase could be translated as: "Feel-closely the entire pulse," or "Feel-closely the entire action of the pulse." Qie mai is often translated simply as: "feel the pulse." (See Mathews' page 111, for example.) However, qie 切 also means: "intimate," so the term "qie mai" suggests feeling the pulse in a close or intimate manner.
Jing ming 精明, is often translated as eyes or pupils. It may also mean the essence of the mind or emotions. Thus, it may be referring to judging the mental and emotional state of the patient as well as the general level of vitality and spirit present as observed via the patient's eyes.
In treatise seventeen we have this passage
夫 精 明 者 ， 所 以 視 萬 物 別 白 黑 ， 審 短 長 ， 以 長 為 短 ， 以 白 為 黑 。 如 是 則 精 衰 矣 。
The essence clearness-brightness (jing ming) is the means for observing all material-things, distinguishing white and black, examining short and long. To regard long for short, to regard white for black, if this [occurs] then the essence is feeble-and-declining!
Translation and notes by Robert A. Threlfall, January 24, 2006.
Unschuld's Translation (page 242)
The laws of diagnosis [are as follows].
As a rule, it is at dawn,
before yin qi has begun its movement,
before yang qi is dispersed,
before beverages and food have been consumed,
before the conduit vessels are filled to abundance,
when the [contents of the] network vessels are balanced,
before the qi and blood move in disorder,
that, hence, one can diagnose an abnormal [movement in the] vessels. Squeeze the vessels, whether [their movement] is excited or quiet, and observe the essence-brilliance.
Investigate the five complexions. Observe
whether the five depots have a surplus or an insufficiency,
whether the six palaces are strong or weak, and
whether the physical appearance is marked by abundance or decays. All this is brought together to reach a conclusion [enabling one] to differentiate
between [the patient's] death and survival.
Wu and Wu's Translation (page 86)
Chapter 17Mai Yao Jing Wei Lun
(The Essentials and Fundamentals of Diagnostic Palpation)Yellow Emperor asked: "What is the diagnostic method in pulse palpation?" Qibo answered: "The palpation of pulse should be carried on in early morning, when the Yang-energy has not yet stirred, the Yin-energy has not yet been dispersed thoroughly, the food and drink of man have not yet been taken, the channel-energy then is not in hyperactivity, the energies of the collateral branches of the large channels are in harmony and the energy and blood have not yet been disturbed. In this situation can the pulse condition be diagnosed effectively.
"At the same time of diagnosing the dynamic and static variations of the patient's pulse, his pupils and complexion should be inspected, so as to distinguish whether his energies of the five viscera are abundant or not, his six hollow organs are strong or not, his physique and energy are prosperous or not. When these aspects are considered comprehensively, one can judge the date of the death or survival of the patient.
Veith's Translation (page 159)
17. Treatise on the Importance of the Pulse and the Subtle Skill of its Examination The Yellow Emperor asked: "What is the way of medical treatment.?" Ch'i Po answered: "The way of medical treatment is to be consistent. It should be executed at dawn when the breath of Yin [the female principle in nature] has not yet begun to stir and when the breath of Yang [the male principle of life and light] has not yet begun to diffuse; when food and drink have not yet been taken, when the twelve main vessels (經 脈) are not yet abundant and when the lo vessels (絡 脈) are stirred up thoroughly; when vigor and energy are not yet disturbed—at that particular time one should examine what has happened to the pulse. "One should feel whether the pulse is in motion or whether it is still and observe attentively and with skill. One should examine the five colors and the five viscera, whether they suffer from excess or whether they show insufficiency, and one should examine the six bowels whether they are strong or weak. One should investigate the appearance of the body whether it is flourishing or deteriorating. One should use all five examinations and combine their results, and then one will be able to decide upon the share of life and death.
All Chinese characters are in traditional (complex) form, except for Chinese book titles which are as published and thus in simplified form. All pinyin terms are rendered without tone marks, but are otherwise according to the orthographic rules in Appendix I of ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary. (Note, contemporary pinyin book titles are as published.)