The Huangdi Neijing 黄帝内经 Inner Canon of Huangdi

Huangdi Neijing (Inner Canon of Huangdi) is a Taoist classic and an early theoretical masterpiece of Chinese medicine, commonly abbreviated as Neijing (Inner Canon). It was first recorded in Liu Xin's Seven Summaries and Ban Gu's Book of Han·Treatise on Arts and Literature, originally consisting of 18 volumes. Zhang Zhongjing, the "Sage of Medicine," stated that he "compiled Suwen (Plain Questions), Nine Volumes, Eighty-One Difficult Issues... to create Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases." When Huangfu Mi of the Western Jin Dynasty wrote A-B Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, he noted, "Today, there are Nine Volumes of Acupuncture Classic and Nine Volumes of Suwen, totaling 18 volumes, which is the Inner Canon." The Nine Volumes was called Lingshu (Miraculous Pivot) during the time of Wang Bing in the Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, Shi Song presented his family-collected Lingshu Jing (Classic of Miraculous Pivot) and had it printed and published. From this, it can be known that Nine Volumes, Acupuncture Classic, and Lingshu are actually different names for the same book. After the Song Dynasty, Suwen and Lingshu began to form the two major components of Huangdi Neijing.

Huangdi Neijing was compiled around 2,000 years ago during the Qin and Han dynasties. Its profound and extensive expositions not only involve medicine but also encompass various scientific fields touched upon by humanity, such as astronomy, geography, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, military science, mathematics, and ecology. Surprisingly, some of the profound and incisive elaborations by the Chinese ancestors in Huangdi Neijing, though written as early as 2,000 years ago, have revealed many findings that modern science is attempting to confirm. The most renowned ancient Chinese physicians, such as Zhang Zhongjing, Hua Tuo, Sun Simiao, and Li Shizhen, were all deeply influenced by the ideas of Huangdi Neijing. They all studied it assiduously, grasped its essence, and eventually became celebrated doctors in Chinese history.