Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen

Nature, Knowledge, Imagery in an Ancient Chinese Medical Text

"The essential reference for ancient Chinese medicine and a valuable to research on early Chinese civilization." Donald Harper, University of Chicago

The Huang Di nei jing su wen, known familiarly as the Su wen, is a seminal text of ancient Chinese medicine, yet until now there has been no comprehensive, detailed analysis of its development and contents.

Paul U. Unschuld traces the history of the Su wen to its origins in the final centuries b.c.e., when numerous authors wrote short medical essays to explain the foundations of human health and illness on the basis of the newly developed vessel theory. He examines the meaning of the title and the way the work has been received throughout Chinese medical history, both before and after the eleventh century when the text as it is known today emerged. Unschuld's survey of the contents includes discussions of the yin-yang and five-agents doctrines, the perception of the human body and its organs, qi and blood, pathogenic agents, concepts of disease and diagnosis, and different kinds of therapies, including the then-new technique of acupuncture.

With an appendix: The Doctrine of the Five Periods and Six Qi in the Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen

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