Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Basic Questions with Translation and Annotations

Author: Cui Wei
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-01-01
Features: The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon is a comprehensive work that integrates medical theory, medical arguments, and medical prescriptions. It adopts a dialogue form, where the Yellow Emperor and several famous ancient medical sages, such as Qi Bo, engage in mutual questioning to elaborate on important medical theories. This work was completed through the collective efforts of many people over several decades, and it can be said to have compiled the outstanding theories of the time, often referred to as the "hundred voices" of the medical community. Subsequently, The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon was regarded by generations of medical practitioners as the supreme classic, becoming an indispensable "foundation of medicine" for traditional Chinese medicine from ancient times to the present. According to research, due to the highly active academic atmosphere of the time, many insightful individuals expressed their views in writing and authored books. Many insightful and profound medical scholars in the medical field jointly wrote works such as The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, The Yellow Emperor's Outer Canon, Bian Que's Inner Canon, and Bian Que's Outer Canon, among others. These seven works were extremely comprehensive and deeply insightful medical treasures. Although they were influenced by Confucianism, Taoism, and Yin-Yang scholars of the time, medicine possessed its unique way of thinking and relied on clinical practice for the application and verification of theory, setting it apart from ordinary philosophical schools. Therefore, the emergence of these medical classics at the time marked the basic perfection of the theoretical foundations of traditional Chinese medicine, giving rise to a self-contained theoretical system of traditional Chinese medicine. Due to historical reasons, only one copy of The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon remains today, while the other six works have been lost. However, judging from their content and achievements, they were indeed extraordinary. It is hard to imagine that such a rich repository of knowledge and a complete theoretical system occupied only one-seventh of the medical theoretical works of the same level at the time. The profound foundation of traditional Chinese medicine is truly astonishing. The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon is divided into two parts: Suwen and Lingshu, each consisting of nine volumes, with each volume containing nine chapters, totaling 162 chapters. Overall, its theoretical origins can be attributed to two fundamental concepts: "Yin-Yang Five Elements" and "Holistic Concept." The universe is a unified whole, which divides into two poles of Yin and Yang, and then gives rise to the Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. The Five Elements are essentially a method of analogy using five fundamental substances of nature. For example, regarding "Wood," we see that wood can be used to drill fire, and firewood is also made of wood. Wood grows in the earth, hence the generative relationship of Wood generating Fire and the controlling relationship of Wood controlling Earth. Subsequently, the sages categorized everything in nature and the human body into the system of Yin-Yang combined with the Five Elements. For instance, ascending is classified as Yang, descending as Yin; heat as Yang, cold as Yin; the back of the human body as Yang, the abdomen as Yin, etc., are categorized under Yin-Yang. The five flavors—sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, and salty; the five organs—Liver, Heart, Spleen, Lung, and Kidney; the five directions— southeast, southwest, northwest, northeast, and center; and the five senses—eyes, tongue, mouth, nose, and ears—are categorized under the Five Elements, assigning a place to everything and making them interdependent and mutually restrictive. Thus, the holistic concept is reflected: nature itself exists in various relationships of Yin-Yang transformation and generative control, making nature an integrated whole; each part of the human body is closely related to nature, making humans and nature an integrated whole; similarly, the internal organs and qi-blood within the human body are interconnected, and a change in one part can affect the whole, making it an integrated whole. Over thousands of years, significant clinical efficacy and rich practical experience have repeatedly validated this way of thinking and philosophical perspective, fully proving the rationality, superiority, and high practical value of this theoretical system. At the same time, The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon provides detailed explanations on the etiological factors, diagnostic methods, therapeutic principles, preventive health, the theory of destiny, the viscera and meridians, acupuncture, and herbal medicine, spanning hundreds of thousands of words. It can be considered a monumental achievement in the history of traditional Chinese medicine. For all who study and research traditional Chinese medicine, it is both an indispensable guide for beginners and a medical classic of great significance to the theory and clinical practice of medical scholars. At the same time, it is also a monumental work of philosophy that experts in ancient philosophy dare not take lightly. The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon is a concrete application and excellent interpretation of ancient Chinese philosophy, and its philosophical thoughts leave people deeply moved. This medical work has reached an extremely high level of academic achievement in many other aspects, leaving people in awe.