Huangdi Neijing, also known as Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic, has played a pivotal role in traditional Chinese medical education for about two thousand years. The first part of Neijing which is called Suwen — Basic Questions or Essential Questions — covers the theoretical foundation of Chinese medicine as well as disease diagnosis and treatment. There are 81 chapters in a question-and-answer format between the mythical Yellow Emperor and his ministers. This translated book is based on the Chinese version annotated and edited by Jinghua Fu and his team, published by China Renmin University Press in 2010.

"The essential reference for ancient Chinese medicine."—Donald Harper, University of Chicago

Huangdi Neijing, also known as Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic, has played a pivotal role in traditional Chinese medical education for about two thousand years. The first part of Neijing which is called Suwen -- Basic Questions or Essential Questions -- covers the theoretical foundation of Chinese medicine as well as disease diagnosis and treatment. There are 81 chapters in a question-and-answer format between the mythical Yellow Emperor and his ministers. This translated book is based on the Chinese version annotated and edited by Jinghua Fu and his team, published by China Renmin University Press in 2010.

The Neijing is one of the most important classics of Taoism, as well as the highest authority on traditional Chinese medicine. Its authorship is attributed to the great Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, who reigned during the third millennium BCE. This new translation consists of the eighty-one chapters of the section of the Neijing known as the Suwen, or "Questions of Organic and Fundamental Nature." (The other section, called the Lingshu, is a technical book on acupuncture and is not included here.) Written in the form of a discourse between Huang Di and his ministers, The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine contains a wealth of knowledge, including etiology, physiology, diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of disease, as well as in-depth investigation of such diverse subjects as ethics, psychology, and cosmology. All of these subjects are discussed in a holistic context that says life is not fragmented, as in the model provided by modern science, but rather that all the pieces make up an interconnected whole. By revealing the natural laws of this holistic universe, the book offers much practical advice on how to promote a long, happy, and healthy life. The original text of the Neijing presents broad concepts and is often brief with details. The translator's elucidations and interpretations, incorporated into the translation, help not only to clarify the meaning of the text but also to make it a highly readable narrative for students—as well as for everyone curious about the underlying principles of Chinese medicine.

"This complete annotated translation of the Su Wen is exemplary in every respect. The translation will stimulate new directions in research while providing the first accurate guide to the basic concepts of traditional Chinese medicine for a wider readership."—Donald Harper, The University of Chicago

Compiled 2,000 years ago, The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor is the oldest extant classic of the field and serves as the theoretical basis of traditional Chinese medicine.