Discussions on the Inner Canon

Name: Discussions on the Inner Canon
ISBN: 9787513222112

罗美 / 杨杏林China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine2015

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Word count: 88K words
Chapters: 40
Series: Compendium of Collated Ancient Medical Texts
ISBN: 9787513222112

Summary

Discussions on the Inner Canon (Neijing Boyi), in four juan, was written by Luo Mei (zi Dansheng, hao Dongyi), a physician of the Xin'an school in the early Qing dynasty. Completed in 1675, the fourteenth year of the Kangxi reign, it is one of the four medical works by Luo Mei that survive. Rather than following the old practice of annotating the classic passage by passage, the book takes the Inner Canon's own scholarly framework as its structure, dividing its contents into six sections: the Way of Heaven, the Way of Man, pulse methods, acupuncture, disease patterns, and discourse on illness. It arranges related material scattered through the Suwen and Lingshu under topical headings, forming fifty-nine medical essays that expound the meaning of the classic layer by layer. Juan one comprises the sections on the Way of Heaven and the Way of Man, discussing such foundational theories as the five movements and six qi, yin-yang and the five phases, the zang-fu organs and channels, the sovereign and ministerial fires, defensive qi, and the eight extraordinary vessels. Juan two comprises the sections on pulse methods, acupuncture, and disease patterns, examining the essentials of pulse diagnosis, the needling significance of the twelve source points and the well points, and the disease manifestations and pathogenesis of zang-fu disorders, of diseases governed by the seasonal qi of the three yin and three yang, and of disorders of the extraordinary vessels. Juan three and four form the section on discourse on illness, which takes yin-yang and deficiency-excess as its framework, grouping the scattered disorders of the Inner Canon into eight chapters on disease conditions and tracing their origins, assessing their momentum, observing their beginning and end, and weighing whether they run counter or with the current. The book concludes with two appended essays, "Zhang Zihe's Discourse on the Nine Qi Evoking Illness" and "Miao Zhongchun's Discourse on Treating Yin-Yang and Zang-Fu Deficiency and Excess." Luo Mei's elaborations are largely informed by clinical experience; his discussions, for instance, of the five phases restraining one another in order to generate, and of the spirit mechanism turning without returning, have been regarded by later generations as insightful. The present edition is based on the Qing-dynasty manuscript annotated and collated by Sun Congtian, held at the Nanjing Library, and is collated and annotated by Yang Xinglin.

Editor's review

读《内经》最怕两种书：一种是逐字随文的笺注，字字有解而通篇无神；一种是腾空发挥的议论，看似高妙而不着经旨。罗美这部《内经博议》走的是中间一条险路，他把《内经》拆成天道、人道、脉法、针刺、病能、述病六个板块，再按专题重新拼合，等于替读者先做了一遍结构梳理。好处是读得见体系：运气、脏腑、奇经、脉法之间有呼应，散在各篇的病症也被归并成八章病情，源流逆顺一目了然。罗美本人工诗文、通经史，文字清劲，论辨细密，裘吉生在《珍本医书集成》里称其“参《素》《灵》之奥义，为国医之基础”。此本为中国中医药出版社《中国古医籍整理丛书》之一种，以南京图书馆藏孙从添点批抄本为底本整理，有校有注，卷首导读、卷末校注后记交代版本源流与校记，正文不过一百六十余页、八万余字，篇幅不大而筋骨完整，适合作为精读《内经》的进阶读本。

Who it's for

A good fit for

已通读《素问》《灵枢》选篇、想进一步理解内经体系的中医学习者
中医院校内经、中医基础理论方向的研究生与青年教师
临床中医师，欲从经旨中梳理病机与辨治思路者
中医文献、医史研究者，关注清初新安医学与抄本流传者

Not a good fit for

完全没有中医基础、想找入门科普读物的读者
希望读到白话译文逐句对照、无需思考即可读懂者

Reading tips

先读卷首导读与校注后记，了解罗美生平、成书背景与底本状况，再入正文。
按天道—人道—脉法—针刺—病能—述病的顺序通读，边读边回翻《内经》原文对勘。
读述病部八章时，随手整理病名、病机、治法，形成自己的笔记，可与《素问》相关篇目互证。
运气诸论较艰深，可先跳过，待读完天道部其余各篇、具备基础后再回头细究。

About the publisher

China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine China · Founded in 1989

China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine focuses on publishing books in traditional Chinese medicine, covering Chinese medical classics, clinical medicine, acupuncture and tuina, materia medica and formulae, and medical history and literature; its catalogue includes 3,277 titles. Representative books include Xiao Er Yao Zheng Zhi Jue, Shang Han Lun, Yi Xue Zhong Zhong Can Xi Lu, Zhen Jiu Da Cheng, Yi Zong Jin Jian, and Guo Aichun's Annotated Huangdi Neijing Suwen (Second Edition). These works involve writings by historical physicians such as Qian Yi, Zhang Zhongjing, Wang Shuhe, and Zhang Xichun, as well as documentary studies compiled by contemporary authors including Zhao Xin, Zhen Xueyan, Zhang Yongtai, and Wang Xiangang. In terms of publishing characteristics, the press emphasizes collation and annotation of original Chinese medical classics and the systematic presentation of famous physicians' works, balancing the transmission of ancient editions with reference for clinical application. Public information is limited, and no other publishing fields are covered here.

Juan One: The Way of Man
A Discourse on the Great Yin-Yang of the Way of Man
On the Heart and Kidneys
On the Six Fu Organs
On the Taichong and the Triple Burner
On the Sovereign and Ministerial Fires
On Defensive Qi
On the Origins of the Eight Extraordinary Vessels
On the Five Zang and Their Five Governances
On the Five Zang and What They Suffer and Desire
A General Discourse on the Twenty-Seven Qi
On the Twelve Channels Not Being Taken Up Individually
Refuting the Error of Assigning the Ten Heavenly Stems to the Zang-Fu Organs
Section on Pulse Methods
On the Origins of the Pulse
A General Discourse on Pulse Diagnosis
On the Stomach Pulse
On Diagnostic Methods
On Yang Being Dense and Thereby Firm
On Qi Returning to the Balance
On the Spirit Turning Without Returning
Section on Acupuncture
An Explanation of the Twelve Source Points, the Zang Well Points of Wood, and the Fu Well Points of Metal
Juan Two: Section on Disease Patterns
On Disease of the Hand Taiyin Lung Zang
On Disease of the Hand Shaoyin Heart Zang
On Disease of the Foot Yangming Stomach Fu
On Disease of the Foot Taiyin Spleen
On Disease of the Foot Shaoyin Kidney Zang
On Disease of the Foot Jueyin Liver Zang
On the Channels of the Taiyang and Disease of the Bladder
On Diseases of External Contraction in the Qi Intersections
A Discourse on Diseases of the Jueyin Seasonal Qi
A Discourse on Diseases of the Shaoyin Seasonal Qi
A Discourse on Diseases of the Taiyin Seasonal Qi
A Discourse on Diseases of the Shaoyang Seasonal Qi
A Discourse on Diseases of the Yangming Seasonal Qi
A Discourse on Diseases of the Taiyang Seasonal Qi
On Extraordinary Diseases
On Diseases of the Chong Vessel

FAQ

《内经博议》是一本《黄帝内经》的注本吗？

不完全是。它不逐句注解原文，而是把《内经》内容按天道、人道、脉法、针刺、病能、述病六部分类，分列专题写成五十九篇医论，属于专题发挥性质的医论集，兼具诠释与临证心得。

作者罗美是什么人？

罗美，字澹生，别字东美，号东逸，清初新安（今安徽）人，侨居虞山（今江苏常熟），为康熙年间名儒而兼习医术。另著有《古今名医方论》《古今名医汇粹》等。

这本书成书于什么时候？

据中医文献记载，成书并刊于清康熙十四年，即公元1675年，距今已三百余年。

中国中医药出版社2015年版用的是什么底本？

据该书内容介绍，整理者以南京图书馆所藏清代孙从添点批抄本为底本，由杨杏林校注，属《中国古医籍整理丛书》之一种，2015年1月出版。

全书篇幅大吗，需要读多久？

此整理本约八万八千字、一百六十余页，四卷五十九篇。逐篇精读并对照《内经》原文，通常需要一至两个月；若只求通读大意，两三周可毕。

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

罗美 Author

Luo Mei is an author who left works in the field of traditional Chinese medical literature but about whom little is recorded; publicly available information is limited, and details such as place of origin, dates of birth and death, and medical career cannot be reliably established. Judging from the two works held in the collection, Gujin Mingyi Huicui and Gujin Mingyi Fanglun, Luo Mei's writing clearly centers on the scholarly experience and formula application of famous physicians across the ages, and belongs to the compilation and commentary type of medical literature organization. Works of this kind generally emphasize the selection and arrangement of earlier medical discussions, making it convenient for readers to consult physicians' views and commonly used formulas by category, and reflecting the compiler's familiarity with medical classics and a practical orientation. The words huicui and fanglun in the two titles also suggest that the content leans toward gathering materials and discussing formula meanings rather than personal case records or clinical notes. Although biographical details are lacking, these two works still provide useful texts for studying the transmission of traditional medical knowledge and the compilation of formula books.

杨杏林 Author

Yang Xinglin is a Chinese author active in the field of organizing medical literature. Public information about him is limited, and his biography, nationality, and dates of birth and death are not clearly recorded. Judging from the four works held in the collection, his writing centers on annotated editions of classical Chinese medicine and the compilation of Republican-era medical texts, including categorized annotated excerpts from the Suwen and Lingshu, as well as Republican-era works on the classification of materia medica, materia medica poetry, and selected medical cases and essays on stomach disorders. These topics show that he attends both to the foundational theories of Chinese medicine and to the experience of modern physicians, combining structured interpretation of the classics with attention to Republican-era writings on drugs and clinical cases. His editorial style tends toward selection and categorized compilation, emphasizing the classification and preservation of documents and offering readers easily searchable material for understanding Republican-era medicine. On the available evidence, Yang Xinglin's contribution lies mainly in the organization and dissemination of medical literature.