Table Of Content“Pondering how best to describe this distinctly innovative translation of the Neijing, the most apt
image would be the instant clarity revealed by wiping a steam-misted mirror. Suddenly
everything is clear.”
—American Journal of Acupuncture
ABOUT THE BOOK
The Neijing is one of the most important classics of Taoism, as well as the highest authority on
traditional Chinese medicine. Its authorship is attributed to the great Huang Di, the Yellow
Emperor, who reigned during the third millennium BCE. This new translation consists of the
eighty-one chapters of the section of the Neijing known as the Suwen, or “Questions of Organic
and Fundamental Nature.” (The other section, called the Lingshu, is a technical book on
acupuncture and is not included here.)
Written in the form of a discourse between Huang Di and his ministers, The Yellow
Emperor’s Classic of Medicine contains a wealth of knowledge, including etiology, physiology,
diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of disease, as well as in-depth investigation of such diverse
subjects as ethics, psychology, and cosmology. All of these subjects are discussed in a holistic
context that says life is not fragmented, as in the model provided by modern science, but rather
that all the pieces make up an interconnected whole. By revealing the natural laws of this
holistic universe, the book offers much practical advice on how to promote a long, happy, and
healthy life.
The original text of the Neijing presents broad concepts and is often brief with details. The
translator’s elucidations and interpretations, incorporated into the translation, help not only to
clarify the meaning of the text but also to make it a highly readable narrative for students—as
well as for everyone curious about the underlying principles of Chinese medicine.
MAOSHING NI, Ph.D., is a doctor of Oriental medicine and a licensed acupuncturist in Santa
Monica, California. He is also the author of Chinese Herbology Made Easy and The Tao of
Nutrition.
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© 1995 by Maoshing Ni
Cover art: Detail from Walk of Qin Shi Huang Di (221-206 BCE) in a Palanquin, from the “Historical Anthology of the Lives of the
Emperors of China,” Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. © Giraudon/Art Resource, NY
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Su wen. English.
The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of medicine: a new translation of the Neijing Suwen with commentary/Maoshing Ni.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN 978-0-8348-2576-5
ISBN 978-1-57062-080-5 (acid-free paper)
1. Su wen. 2. Medicine, Chinese—Early works to 1800.
I. Ni, Maoshing. II. Title.
R127.1.S93Y4513 1995 94-44058
610′.951—dc20 CIP
Dedicated to a world in need of balance and harmony
CONTENTS
Preface
A Note on the Translation
Acknowledgments
Pronunciation Guide
1. The Universal Truth
2. The Art of Life Through the Four Seasons
3. The Union of Heaven and Human Beings
4. The Truth from the Golden Chamber
5. The Manifestation of Yin and Yang from the Macrocosm to the Microcosm
6. The Interplay of Yin and Yang
7. Further Discourse on Yin and Yang
8. The Sacred Teachings
9. The Energetic Cycles of the Universe and Their Effects on Human Beings
10. Dysfunction of the Five Zang Viscera
11. Further Discourse on the Five Zang Viscera
12. Methods of Treatment
13. Treatment of the Mind and the Body
14. The Art of Medicine
15. Doctrines of the Jade Tablet
16. Diagnostic Importance and Discussion of the Collapse of the Meridians
17. The Methods of Pulse Examination
18. Pulse Analysis
19. Seasonal Variations and Abnormalities in Pulses
20. Determining Life and Death
21. Meridian Pathology and Corresponding Pulse Signs
22. Seasonal Organ Pathology
23. Paradigm of the Five Elemental Phases
24. Channel Constituents and Acupuncture Techniques
25. The Preservation of Health
26. Acupuncture in Accordance with Cosmic Cycles
27. Pathogens
28. The Nature of Excess and Deficiency
29. Discourse on the Taiyin and Yangming Channels
30. Disorders of the Yangming Channel
31. Discussion of Febrile Disease
32. Acupuncture in the Treatment of Febrile Disease
33. A Discourse on Wen Bing
34. Imbalances
35. Malaria-like Illnesses
36. Acupuncture in the Treatment of Malaria
37. Pathologic Disorders of Heat and Cold
38. Etiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Cough
39. Differentiation of Pain
40. Conditions of the Abdomen
41. Acupuncture in the Treatment of Back Pain
42. The Pathology of Wind
43. The Bi Syndrome
44. Wei Conditions
45. Jue Conditions: The Separation of Yin and Yang
46. Normal and Abnormal Courses of Illness
47. Unusual Illness
48. Extraordinary Illness
49. Channel Pathology in Accordance with the Energy Almanac
50. Rudiments of Acupuncture
51. Needling Depth in Acupuncture
52. Contraindications in Acupuncture
53. Principles of Tonification and Sedation in Acupuncture
54. The Art of Acupuncture
55. Acupuncture Techniques
56. Dermatomes of the Channels
57. Channels and Collaterals
58. Acupuncture Points
59. Pathways of the Channels
60. Acupoints along Skeletal Indentations
61. Acupuncture Treatment in Water and Febrile Diseases
62. Regulation of the Channels
63. Acupuncturing the Superficial Luo
64. Acupuncture According to the Seasons
65. Biao and Ben and the Transmission of Disease
66. Energy Almanac
67. The Five-Phase Circuits
68. The Six Atmospheric Influences
69. Effects of the Five Elemental Phases and the Six Atmospheric Influences
70. Rules of Phase Energetics
71. The Six Macrocosmic Influences
72. Acupuncture in Epidemiology
73. Etiology of Disease
74. Essentials of Disease and Therapy
75. The Yellow Emperor on Pathology
76. The Importance of Correct Diagnosis
77. The Five Failings of Physicians
78. The Four Lapses of Physicians
79. The Three Yin and Three Yang Channels in the Human Body
80. Growth and Decline of Energy
81. Subtle Reasoning
Bibliography
About the Translator
Index
E-mail Sign-Up
PREFACE
A
S the end of the twentieth century nears, humankind can celebrate the triumph of achievements in
many fields, most notably science, technology, and medicine. The technological breakthroughs of the
last two centuries that helped propel science to its zenith are responsible for raising standards of
living, increasing productivity, and saving lives. Most significant is the increase in the communication
of knowledge that made the vast application of science and technology possible. Paradoxically, the
same accomplishments are also responsible for genocide on a massive scale, the destruction of our
planet, and a gradual diminishing of quality in people’s lives.
In recent years more and more disenchanted citizens of the West have looked to the East for an
“organic” answer to the great imbalance in the technologically advanced “modern world.” Strangely,
few realize that the East, specifically China, contributed many discoveries and inventions to the
modern world. According to Robert Temple in his book The Genius of China, some of the West’s
greatest achievements have turned out to be simple borrowing from the Chinese. These include
decimal mathematics, paper and printing, the mechanical clock, guns, multistage rockets, the magnetic
compass, a ship’s rudder, manned flight, the steam engine, paper money, and even brandy and
whiskey.
But the scientific and industrial revolutions did not occur in China, despite many advances prior to
those of the West. One of the key reasons is that Chinese science and technology always functioned
within a philosophy that recognized the importance of balance and harmony between human beings
and the environment. In fact, there is more similarity between this philosophy-science paradigm of
China and that of the ancient Greeks. As Joseph Needham, author of the great work Science and
Civilization in China, wrote, “The sciences of China . . . never dreamed of divorcing science from
ethics, but when at the Scientific Revolution the final cause of Aristotle was done away with, and
ethics chased out of science, things became very different, and more menacing.”
Without sensitive regard to the larger scheme of the universal law, modern science and technology
will continue to produce disturbance and even destruction to all life on earth. In the modern age the
East can indeed offer the West a philosophy of balance and harmony that is not only urgently needed
but necessary for the survival of human civilization. No other Chinese source of this wisdom is as
complete as the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine, or the Neijing.
This monumental classic is undoubtedly the most important work representing the crowning
achievement of the Chinese prior to the first unification of the country by Emperor Qin Shi in 221 BCE.
Its authorship was attributed to the great Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, who reigned during the
middle of the third millennium BCE. The Chinese refer to themselves as the descendants of Huang Di,
who is the symbol of the vital spirit of Chinese civilization. The Neijing is actually two works: the
Suwen and the Lingshu. The Suwen, “Questions of Organic and Fundamental Nature,” is the subject
of this translation, while the Lingshu, once called Zhen Jing, or “Classic of Acupuncture,” is a
technical book on acupuncture and moxibustion.1 Historically, Neijing refers to the Suwen alone.
I did not have full appreciation for the Neijing at an early age despite having been exposed to it
through my father as well as through other Chinese classics. After an education and apprenticeship in
Chinese medicine and philosophy I ventured on to study Western medicine, psychology, and physics.
Through the Western sciences I gained an understanding for the pertinence of the wisdom outlined in
this ancient classic. Furthermore, after I began my clinical practice of Chinese medicine, I became
