Four Seasons Health Chart 四气摄生图

The author is unknown.

Judging from its content, it seems to have been written in the late Tang Dynasty.

It consists of one volume and is included in the Illustrated Works Category of the Dongshen Section of The Daozang.

Four Seasons Health Chart

There is a preface at the beginning of the book, in which the author states that he admired Taoism from an early age. "Now I have compiled this book by collecting medical texts and gathering secret formulas", naming it Illustrated Guide to Nourishing Life in the Four Seasons. The book expounds the theories and methods of health preservation. It holds that human beings are formed by inheriting primordial Qi, and "the body and Qi are interdependent, and their integrity entirely depends on cultivation and nourishment". Proper nourishment leads to longevity, while indulgence in desires and irregular diet will result in the sudden onset of various diseases. It also mentions that the five zang-organs and six fu-organs of the human body correspond to the four seasons, five directions and five elements respectively, each having corresponding images, divine names, as well as specific dietary taboos and methods of bathing and observing fasts. If there are ailments in the zang-organs and fu-organs, they can be treated with the six Qi breathing techniques of he, xu, yan, chui, hu and xi. Additionally, it points out that if a person does not have a sense of awe, great disasters will befall them; if one practices health preservation without reverence, their mind will be disordered, their body will be restless, their spirit will disperse and their Qi will be muddled. Most of the health preservation theories and methods expounded in this book are adopted from Tang-dynasty works such as Huangting Dunjia Yuan Shen Jing, Huangting Neijing Wuzang Liufu Buxie Tu, Huanzhen Xiansheng Fu Nei Yuan Qi Jue and Sun Zhenren Zhenzhong Fang.