The ancient medical text <em>Huangdi nei jing</em> (The inner canon of the Yellow Emperor) was already listed in <em>Y</em><em>i wen zhi</em> (Treatise on literature) of <em>Han shu</em> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Han" class="extiw" title="w:Book of Han">Book of Han</a>), the classical Chinese history completed in 111 AD. It had two texts: <em>Su wen</em> (Basic questions) and <em>Ling shu</em> (Spiritual pivot), each in nine juan. <em>Su wen</em> deals with the theoretical foundation of Chinese medicine and its diagnostic methods, while <em>Ling shu</em> discusses acupuncture therapy in great detail. The title <em>Huangdi</em><em> nei jing</em> often refers only to the more influential <em>Su wen</em>. In the course of centuries, some of the contents were lost, such as the seventh juan of <em>Su wen</em>. The work is structured as a dialogue, chiefly between the Yellow Emperor and Qibo, one of the imperial physicians. The <em>nei jing</em> introduces basic theories of traditional Chinese medicine, expounds on internal organs, and discusses main and collateral channels in the human body, causes of disease, pathology, diagnoses, maintenance of good health, and other topics. It propounds the theory that 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 rationally understood, and man can stay in balance or return to balance and health by understanding the laws of these natural forces. <em>The Inner Canon</em> was originally compiled during the Warring States period (475–221 BC). Later <em>Su wen</em> and <em>Ling shu</em> were issued separately. Most editions of <em>Su wen</em> were issued with annotations. One of the earliest editions was from the sixth century during the Six Dynasties period (220–589), which was annotated by Quan Yuanqi. In 762, during the Tang dynasty, Wang Bing rearranged and annotated <em>The Inner Canon</em>, based on Quan Yuanqi’s work, and made it into 24 juan from the original nine juan. By the 11th century, during the Song dynasty, the work was reissued by imperial order, supervised by physician Lin Yi, based on Wang Bing’s work. Later editions mostly used the revised Song version. This copy is a Yuan dynasty edition, in 12 juan, but the contents are mostly the same as the Song version. At the end of the work, there is a handwritten inscription by a Ming scholar, calling himself “the poor scholar of Qinshui.” This copy was previously in the private collection of the famous Qing dynasty bibliophile Zhang Xie (1753–1808) and his grandson Zhang Rongjing (born 1803).
<br>Medicine, Chinese
Wang, Bing
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