Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Taixu (Revised Edition)

Author: Wang Hongtu, edited by Li Yun
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Yang Shangshan, a medical practitioner during the Sui and Tang dynasties, with unknown place of origin, was born around the fourth year of the Jiande era of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (575 AD) and died in the third year of the Zongzhang era of the Tang Dynasty (670 AD). During the Daye era of the Sui Dynasty (605–616 AD), he served as a Taiyi Shiyu (Imperial Medical Attendant). In the Xiangqing era of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty (656–660 AD), he held the positions of Tongzhi Lang, Prince Imperial Scholar, and Prince Imperial Censor. Yang was renowned for his exceptional medical skills. He had a deep understanding of the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon and, in the early Tang Dynasty, was ordered to organize, revise, and edit ancient medical texts, compiling the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon. He reorganized and annotated the Suwen and Lingshu, creating the Taizu of the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon in 30 volumes, also known as the Taizu of the Yellow Emperor. The Taizu of the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon was based on an 18-volume manuscript of the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, with additional supplements, revisions, and edits. In addition to subdividing the content into numerous chapters within each volume, Yang retained the original 20 chapters at the beginning of each volume. He also annotated and collated the text based on works such as the Shuowen Jiezi and the Erya, surpassing Wang Bing's annotations in terms of textual commentary, collation, and etymology. He elaborated on the meaning of the texts, corrected and supplemented annotations extensively, making the classics more accessible. He reorganized the text, categorizing it appropriately to avoid fragmentation of the original meaning, providing significant reference value for studying the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon. It can also be used to compare with the modern Suwen and Lingshu.