27250476 daoist philosophy the nei jing

8/6/2019 27250476 Daoist Philosophy the Nei Jing

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1 Warring States period = 476-221 BCE

2 Han Dynasty 206 BCE220 CE

3 Spring and Autumn period = 770-476 BCE

Daoist Philosophy & theNei Jing

The following is excerpted from ASTUDY OFDAOISTACUPUNCTUREby Liu Zheng-cai, published by Blue Poppy Press.

TheHuang Di Nei Jing (The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic or Nei Jing hereafter) is the indisputable

foundation text of Chinese medicine in general and of acupuncture-moxibustion in particular. One musthave some idea of theNei Jing if one wants to understand Chinese medicine and acupuncture. This work is

believed to have been compiled in either the late Warring States period1 or the early Western Han dynasty2

at the latest. It is comprised of two books, the Su Wen (Simple Questions) and theLing Shu (Spiritual Pivot).

The latter is also called theZhen Jing (Classic of Acupuncture) because it deals specifically with

acupuncture and moxibustion, whereas the Su Wen mostly provides the theoretical foundation common to

Chinese medicine and acupuncture. Modern scholarship has shown that this book is a compilation from

various sources. One can find quotes from all the major schools of thought of that time, not least of which is

Lao ZisDao De Jing and Zhuang ZisZhuang Zi. Therefore, one cannot say that theNei Jing belongs to

any one school of Chinese thought. However, it also cannot be denied that Daoism had a major impact on

theNei Jing and, through theNei Jing, on all the rest of Chinese medicine.

In order to understand the specifically Daoist contributions to theNei Jing, one can compare it with otherDaoist classics. Daoism in connection with theNei Jing simply means the philosophy of Lao Zi and

Zhuang Zi, since theNei Jing was compiled before the advent of religious Daoism. Lao Zi lived in the

late Spring and Autumn period3 and is regarded as the founder of philosophical Daoism. Zhuang Zi lived

in the Warring States period and was the direct heir to the teachings of Lao Zi. It is from Zhuang Zi that

Daoism started as an independent school of thought. For philosophical Daoists, the bibles are Lao Zi's

Dao De Jing (Classic of the Path & Virtue) and Zhuang Zi'sZhuang Zi, which is also known as theNan

Hua Jing (Nan Hua Classic). These two works are the foundation classics of Daoist philosophy. By

comparing passages from these two works with those found in theNei Jing, one can form a good idea of

the impact of philosophical Daoism on the early foundations of Chinese medicine.

Yin yang theoryIn describing the phenomenal world, both Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi used the terms yin and yang. Lao Zisays, "Everything bears yin and embraces yang," while Zhuang Zi said, "There is a law governing heaven

and earth, and it is hidden latent in yin and yang." Zhuang Zi goes on to elaborate on yin yang theory by

saying, "Stillness is the virtue of yin, while movement and yang both manifest change." Therefore, yin

and yang are the cornerstone concepts of Daoist metaphysics. The entire world is viewed as a composite

of two aspects, yin and yang, which are constantly changing. Chinese culture as a whole, starting from

Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi, has adopted these notions of yin and yang which then became the key to

understanding the phenomenal world. Zhuang Zi further pointed out that one should follow the heavenly

principle and act in accordance with the five virtues. The so-called heavenly principle means none other

than yin and yang, while the five virtues refer to the five phases which Zhuang Zi saw as a further

elaboration of yin and yang. Although Confucianists, like all other Chinese, subsequently adopted yin

yang theory, the terms yin and yang first appear in Lao Zi'sDao De Jing (Classic of the Path & Virtue).


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Later, in the late Warring States period, Zhou Yan (340-260 BCE), a very famous champion of the

doctrines of Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi, elaborated yin and yang and the five phases into a whole

philosophical system of their own. Zhou wrote a work titled theZhong Dao Yan Ming Fang (Methods of

Prolonging Life Through Focusing on the Path). In this work, Zhou was the first Chinese author to make

use of the combined yin yang and five phase concepts in explaining various medical points. The

followers of Zhou Yan came to be known as the Yin Yang School. This is seen by many as an

independent school of Chinese philosophy. However, its central concepts were first discussed by Lao Zi

and Zhuang Zi.

The Yin Yang School was concerned with the changes of the seasons and their influence on human

activities. Depending on the changes of yin and yang in the seasons, they believed that certain dates and

certain months were appropriate or inappropriate for certain activities. For example, one should build a

house, travel, or see a physician on certain dates or in specific months and not on others. In addition, they

also attempted to predict influential events in the destiny of the country by exploring the laws governing

the waning and waxing of yin and yang and the interrelationships between the five phases. Later, this

philosophical school degenerated into a trade. Although still named the Yin Yang School, it concerned

itself with the practice of what in the West has come to be called geomancy but which in Chinese is

simply calledfeng shui or wind and water. Orthodox Confucian scholars came to frown on this

"degenerate sect." Daoism, on the other hand, drew upon both the old Yin Yang School and its progeny,

geomancy, and incorporated both yin yang and five phase theory into its innermost core. It is not for no

reason that the most famous Chinese historian, Si-ma Qian (145-86? BCE), pointed out, that Daoists

were "apt to learn the strong points from Confucianism and the Mo (i.e., Pacifist) school and take in the

essentials from the dialectic school and the Legalists."

TheNei Jing takes the theory of yin and yang as its theoretical basis. The Su Wen alone devotes three

whole chapters to yin yang theory. These are chapters 5-7, respectively titled, Yin Yang Ying Xiang Da

Lun (The Great Treatise on the Mutual Correspondence of Yin & Yang), Yin Yang Li He Lun (The

Treatise on the Departure & Union of Yin & Yang), and the Yin Yang Bie Lun (A Divergent Treatise on

Yin & Yang). In addition, yin yang theory is used as the main theory in discussions in many other

chapters. According to the classic, this theory can be used to understand every aspect of medicine. Inother words, yin yang theory is the basic structural theory covering every aspect of Chinese medicine,

from physiology and pathology down to diagnosis and treatment. For example, in pattern discrimination,

the eight principles are divided into yin and yang. In Chinese pulse examination, all the different pulse

images can be divided into yin and yang pairs. For instance, rapid, floating, and forceful pulses are all

relatively yang, while slow, sunken, and forceless pulses are all relatively yin. Likewise, yin yang theory

is applied to viscera and bowel theory, channel and network vessels theory, and qi and blood theory. It is

applied to anatomy, to materia medica, and to needle technique. Therefore, one can say that yin yang

theory is the foundation theory of Chinese medicine. Without yin yang theory, Chinese medicine would

not be what it is. Yin yang theory as found in theNei Jing comes from the Yin Yang School, while the

Yin Yang School got the concepts of yin and yang from Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi. Therefore, the single

most important theory in Chinese medicine can be indisputably traced back to Daoist sources.

Correspondence theoryAnother of the central concepts of Chinese medicine is correspondence (ying). This concept is so central

to Chinese medicine that Paul U. Unschuld, the famous German sinologist, has called Chinese medicine

the medicine of systematic correspondences. At the very core of Lao-Zhuang thought is the saying, "The

dao is compliance with nature." The logical extension of this is, "Heaven and humanity correspond with

one another." In Lao Zi's words, "Man is in compliance to earth, earth to heaven, heaven to the dao, and

the dao to nature." Zhuang Zi annotates this by saying, everything "follows nature." This holistic view of


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integration or correspondence between heaven and humanity is likewise ingrained in theNei Jing.

Needle techniqueWhen we look at individual needling methods, we can also find a strong influence of Daoism. In theNei

Jing, there is a chapter specifically devoted to needle prohibitions according to the qi conditions. In some

later works, there are needle prohibitions in terms of hours. Both of these sets of prohibitions involve thelife clock or biorhythms. In fact, what is commonly called in English the midday-midnight method of

point selection (zi wu liu zhu liao fa) is also based on this concept of a life clock. Underlying both these

needling prohibitions and point selection methods is the Daoist concept of the correspondence between

heaven and humanity as described systematically by the theories of yin and yang, the five phases, the

nine palaces, and the eight trigrams. Further discussions of the Daoist sources and influences on these

systems of correspondence in acupuncture and Chinese medicine are given below.

The most important principles of needle manipulation are supplementation and drainage. These, too, are

an embodiment of the doctrine of Lao Zi. TheLing Shu says, When one uses the needle, one should

replenish if there is vacuity, drain if there is repletion, eliminate if there is [something] stale, and

evacuate in case of overwhelming evils." This fundamental principle of Chinese medical heteropathy is a

direct allusion to Lao Zi's statement, "The dao makes a point of reducing surplus and supplementinginsufficiency."

Nourishing lifeCultivating a healthy lifestyle or, in the words of Chinese medicine, nourishing life is also a focus of the

Nei Jing. In Chinese medicine, nourishing life is seen as both preventive and remedial therapy. It implies

remedying diseases as well as keeping fit, thus ensuring a long life. Let's see how Lao Zi, Zhuang Zi, and

theNei Jing all discuss this issue of nourishing life.

Zhuang Zi:Simplicity and quietude, void and nothingness are that which keep balance between heaven and

earth and are the quality of the dao and virtue. Serenity and simplicity make it impossible for

worry and affection to enter or evil qi to assault. Thus virtue remains intact and the spirit is never

insufficient.

TheNei Jing:Given quietude and emptiness [i.e., lack of desires], the [righteous] qi will ensue. When the

essence spirit contains itself, from where on earth can disease come?

The following statement is found in both theZhuang Zi and theNei Jing:What people should fear is ignorance of abstinence in matters of clothing and the bed[room],

drink and food. Trouble to one's health is nothing but extravagance. Do not labor [i.e., tax] your

formal body. Do not exploit your essence. Only then can you expect a long life.

Therefore, as the reader can see, the main theories and themes of the Nei Jing are all found in seminalform in the writings of Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi. Thus, one can say that the Nei Jing is the application of

Lao-Zhuang thought to medicine.

27250476 daoist philosophy the nei jing

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