An Exegesis of the Classic of Difficult Issues

Name: An Exegesis of the Classic of Difficult Issues
ISBN: 9787501384198

Xu DachunNational Library of China Publishing House2025

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Chapters: 6
Series: Rare Medical Texts of China Series
ISBN: 9787501384198

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Summary

An Exegesis of the Classic of Difficult Issues is a monograph by the Qing physician Xu Dachun (style name Ling Tai, sobriquet Huixi, 1693–1771) commenting on the Classic of Difficult Issues (Nanjing). Completed in the fifth year of the Yongzheng reign (1727), the original work is divided into two volumes. Taking the question-and-answer text of the Classic's eighty-one difficulties as its framework, the book explains each difficulty in turn. Xu's commentary is grounded in the theories of the Inner Canon, with particular attention to elucidating the classic's teachings on the channels, acupoints, and the opening and closing of the nutrient and defensive qi, while also attending to cross-verification between text and illustrations and to coherence between earlier and later passages. Methodologically, he proposes "proceeding from the source to the stream," advocating that the root be established first and the stream then traced and analyzed; he stresses interpreting the classic through the classics and collating the Classic of Difficult Issues against the Inner Canon. Later readers of the Classic have therefore generally regarded this book as an important reference. At the same time, Xu's position that "the Classic of Difficult Issues must not contravene the Inner Canon" is pronounced, and he frequently corrects points where the two works diverge; scholars have also noted that his stance is somewhat one-sided. This publication is one of the first ten titles in the Rare Medical Texts of China Series, issued as a thread-bound facsimile of the original book. The base text is the finely written first carving and first impression from Xu's Huixi Thatched Hall, dated to the fifth year of the Yongzheng reign; three of Xu Dachun's seals appear after the preface, and numerous ink corrections within the book may be regarded as the author's own corrected proof copy, giving it considerable value for textual and bibliographical study and making it suitable for readers of medical history and bibliography alike.

Editor's review

《难经》八十一难文简义奥，历代注家众多，徐大椿此释是其中影响较广的一种。它的读法很务实：不广引群书卖弄博闻，而是抓住《内经》这条主线，把《难经》的说法放回它的理论源头里核对，凡讲不通处直言其失，这也是本书最见性情的地方。读者既能得到经脉、腧穴、营卫、诊法诸端的疏通，也能看到一位清代医家如何做文献比对与理论辨析。需要留意的是，徐氏「以《内经》为准」的预设让他有时显得苛刻，读到驳论之处宜对照《难经》原文与其他注家另行判断，不宜全盘照收。此次国家图书馆出版社的影印本以求真为念：底本为雍正五年洄溪草堂初刻初印精写刻本，序后钤印可证来历，书中墨笔校改与后印本的挖板痕迹相互印证，为考察该书刊刻过程提供了难得材料。线装一函一册，印装讲究，定价不低，更宜图书馆、版本研究者和徐灵胎专藏读者购置；若只需读通文字，亦不妨先取《徐灵胎医学全书》中的校注本对照。

Who it's for

A good fit for

已读过《难经》原文、想进一步理解经旨的中医经典学习者
研究徐大椿（徐灵胎）学术思想与清代医籍的中医学者
从事中医古籍版本、目录、影印整理工作的专业人员
收藏中医珍稀文献、关注初刻初印本的中医古籍爱好者

Not a good fit for

完全没有中医基础、希望用白话入门《难经》的读者
只想快速了解《难经》大意、不愿读原文与注文的读者
以低价平装读本为首要需求的普通购书者

Reading tips

先通读《难经》八十一难原文一两遍，再逐难对照徐注，效果远胜直接读注。
手边备一部《黄帝内经》（重点《灵枢》）与《难经校释》，徐氏引经处可当即核查。
遇到徐氏批驳《难经》之处，先记下疑问，再参看《难经本义》等别家注本，避免单线接受。
如购影印线装本，宜另备中国中医药出版社《徐灵胎医学全书》中的校点本作日常翻阅之用。

About the publisher

National Library of China Publishing House China · Founded in 1979

The National Library of China Publishing House focuses on the collation of ancient books and the publication of traditional culture. It specializes in reprinting rare historical documents, compiling bibliographic and indexing reference works, and publishing library science titles. The books in this catalog indicate publishing directions covering general biography, Eastern philosophy, and historical reading. Representative titles include Liu Xiang's Biographies of Exemplary Women (Lienü Zhuan), as well as The Analects, The Classic of Filial Piety, and Mencius from the Hundred Classics of Chinese Traditional Culture series, written by scholars such as Qian Xun, Wang Shoukuan, and Liang Tao. Drawing on the collections of the National Library of China, the publisher balances scholarly rigor with readability in both the reprinting of ancient works and the popularization of classics. Its authors are primarily scholars in the fields of ancient book collation and traditional culture research. As only five titles are recorded in this catalog and public information is limited, this introduction emphasizes the publishing directions and characteristics reflected in the available titles.

General Preface (Rare Medical Texts of China Series)
Preface to the Facsimile of An Exegesis of the Classic of Difficult Issues
Introduction
General Principles
An Exegesis of the Classic of Difficult Issues, Volume One (Difficulties 1–29, annotated difficulty by difficulty)
An Exegesis of the Classic of Difficult Issues, Volume Two (Difficulties 30–81, annotated difficulty by difficulty)

FAQ

《难经经释》和《难经校释》是同一本书吗？

不是。《难经经释》是清代徐大椿对《难经》的注释专著；《难经校释》是南京中医学院整理的现代校注语译本，由人民卫生出版社出版。前者是古籍注本，后者是今人整理本，用途不同。

这本书成书于哪一年？

据版本著录，《难经经释》撰于清雍正五年（1727 年），底本即徐氏洄溪草堂初刻初印精写刻本，国家图书馆出版社 2025 年影印出版时沿用此刻本。

本书是排印标点本还是影印本？

国家图书馆出版社 2025 年版属「中医珍稀文献汇刊」，为原书线装影印，16 开一函一册，保留原刻面貌，不含现代标点和白话翻译。

没有中医基础能读懂吗？

难度较大。徐注以《内经》为本，文辞简古，又多涉经脉腧穴术语。建议先读带语译的《难经校释》一类入门整理本，再回到本书细究经义。

徐大椿的注有什么特别之处？

他主张「从源及流」，以《内经》为正源来检验《难经》，并强调以经解经、前后互证；态度鲜明，对不合《内经》者多有驳正，参考价值与偏颇之处并存。

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About the author

Xu Dachun Author · Chinese · 1693–1771

Xu Dachun (1693–1771), courtesy name Lingtai and later styled Huixi Daoren, was a native of Wujiang, Jiangsu, and a renowned physician of the Qing dynasty. He abandoned Confucian studies for medicine, practiced for more than fifty years, and was twice summoned to the imperial court to treat illness. Nine of his works are extant, including Yixue Yuanliu Lun (On the Origins and Development of Medicine), Shenji Chuyan, Shanghan Lun Leifang, Lantai Guifan, Nanjing Jingshi, Shennong Bencao Jing Baizhong Lu, Xu's Annotated Late Cases of Ye Tianshi, and Nüke Zhiyao. A rigorous scholar skilled in medical analysis and clinical synthesis, Xu often assessed the sources of medical learning and the merits of various schools in a practical, incisive style, earning him a distinctive place in Chinese medical history. Beyond medicine, he also wrote on music theory in Yuefu Chuansheng. His works, spanning medicine and Eastern philosophy, have influenced later physicians in studying the classics and reflecting on medical practice.