Ancient Chinese Medicine and Taoist Health Preservation
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In Taoism, a healthy physique is the basic condition for cultivating longevity. Therefore, Taoism pays special attention to the ways of health preservation and fitness, and focuses on absorbing the ideological contents of ancient medicine and health preservation. And there has been a rich accumulation in this regard since ancient times.
For example, "Zhuangzi · Ke Yi" records: "Those who practice Dao Yin and those who cultivate the body", saying that they "breathe in and out, exhale the old and inhale the new, stretch like a bear and extend like a bird, just for the sake of longevity". This is the early technique of Qi circulation and the merit of Dao Yin. Other health preservation ideas and methods such as taking in Qi, fasting, and sexual cultivation can all find historical evidence, and these ideas and methods have, in some aspects, become the sources of the theory and practice of Neidan (Inner Alchemy) in later generations.
Among medical works, "Huangdi Neijing" (The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor) and "Shennong Bencaojing" (The Classic of Herbal Medicine by Shennong) have the greatest influence on Taoism. Articles in "Huangdi Neijing" such as "Suwen · Shanggu Tianzhen" (Plain Questions · On the Innate Nature in High Antiquity), "Suwen · Siqi Tiaoshen Dalun" (Plain Questions · On the Regulation of the Spirit in Accordance with the Four Seasons), "Lingshu · Genjie" (Miraculous Pivot · On the Root and Knot), and "Lingshu · Shouyao Gangrou" (Miraculous Pivot · On Longevity, Premature Death, Rigidity and Softness) discuss the ways of diet, daily life, and the regulation of the spirit, which are one of the sources of Taoism's health preservation.
"Shennong Bencaojing" has a profound influence on later medical scholars and Taoism's cultivators of longevity. Tao Hongjing in the Qi and Liang Dynasties rearranged and compiled "Shennong Bencaojing Jizhu" (Collected Annotations on The Classic of Herbal Medicine by Shennong) based on "Shennong Bencaojing" and the previous discussions on materia medica. And the "Famous Doctors' Other Categories" in "Jizhu" is what the materia medica books since the Tang Dynasty called "Famous Doctors' Other Records".
For example, "Zhuangzi · Ke Yi" records: "Those who practice Dao Yin and those who cultivate the body", saying that they "breathe in and out, exhale the old and inhale the new, stretch like a bear and extend like a bird, just for the sake of longevity". This is the early technique of Qi circulation and the merit of Dao Yin. Other health preservation ideas and methods such as taking in Qi, fasting, and sexual cultivation can all find historical evidence, and these ideas and methods have, in some aspects, become the sources of the theory and practice of Neidan (Inner Alchemy) in later generations.
Among medical works, "Huangdi Neijing" (The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor) and "Shennong Bencaojing" (The Classic of Herbal Medicine by Shennong) have the greatest influence on Taoism. Articles in "Huangdi Neijing" such as "Suwen · Shanggu Tianzhen" (Plain Questions · On the Innate Nature in High Antiquity), "Suwen · Siqi Tiaoshen Dalun" (Plain Questions · On the Regulation of the Spirit in Accordance with the Four Seasons), "Lingshu · Genjie" (Miraculous Pivot · On the Root and Knot), and "Lingshu · Shouyao Gangrou" (Miraculous Pivot · On Longevity, Premature Death, Rigidity and Softness) discuss the ways of diet, daily life, and the regulation of the spirit, which are one of the sources of Taoism's health preservation.
"Shennong Bencaojing" has a profound influence on later medical scholars and Taoism's cultivators of longevity. Tao Hongjing in the Qi and Liang Dynasties rearranged and compiled "Shennong Bencaojing Jizhu" (Collected Annotations on The Classic of Herbal Medicine by Shennong) based on "Shennong Bencaojing" and the previous discussions on materia medica. And the "Famous Doctors' Other Categories" in "Jizhu" is what the materia medica books since the Tang Dynasty called "Famous Doctors' Other Records".
