✵Nan Jing, also known as the Difficult Classic, the Classic of Questioning, or the Classic of Difficult Issues, is a book which appeared in the 1st or 2nd century B.C. or earlier. Its authorship is unknown, although it was often ascribed to Qin Yueren. It is a famous ancient book and its origin has several legendary versions. It deals with those fundamental theories and expounds the main points of the Huang Di Nei Jing (the Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic) in the form of questions and answers. It discusses the points for acupuncture and moxibustion, the method of needling, and the physiological and pathological conditions related to the meridians and collaterals. It also covers the method of pulse-taking are all discussed.
Nan Jing (the Difficult Classic)
Brief Introduction
Chinese Name:
《難經》Nan Jing
English Name:
the Difficult Classic (or the Classic of Questioning, or the Classic of Difficult Issues)
Author(or Authors):
☯秦越人 (Qín Yuèrén)
Edition age:
before the Han Dynasty
Introduction of Nan Jing.
Nan Jing, also known as the Difficult Classic, the Classic of Questioning, or the Classic of Difficult Issues, is a book which appeared in the 1st or 2nd century B.C. or earlier. Its authorship is unknown, although it was often ascribed to Qin Yueren. It is a famous ancient book and its origin has several legendary versions. It deals with those fundamental theories and expounds the main points of the Huang Di Nei Jing (the Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic) in the form of questions and answers. It discusses the points for acupuncture and moxibustion, the method of needling, and the physiological and pathological conditions related to the meridians and collaterals. It also covers the method of pulse-taking are all discussed.
The Nan Jing (The Difficult Classic) theory proposed using the pulse taken from the Cunkou (site for taking wrist pulse) to judge syndromes of the internal, which is different from the the Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic. The earliest currently known edition of the Nan Jing was possibly preserved by the ancient herbalist Wang Shuhe.
The book Nan Jing (The Difficult Classic) is composed of 81 articles and can be classified into 6 parts based on its main subjects. The 1st part is about the meridian, chapters 1 to 22; the 2nd part is about the meridians and collaterals, chapters 23 to 29; the 3rd part is about the Zang-Fu viscera, from chapters 30 to 47; the 4th part is about diseases, from chapters 48 to 61; the 5th part is about acupuncture points, from chapters 62 to 68; the 6th part is about acupuncture, from chapters 69 to 81.
The Nan Jing (The Difficult Classic) theory differs from the Huang Di Nei Jing (The Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic) theory in several ways. The theory about Qi and blood is based on different principles and was discussed in chapter 22. The theory about the heart controls the triple energizer, which has a name but is not incorporeal, was discussed in chapter 25. The theory about the left kidney and the right life-gate was discussed in chapters 36 and 39. The theory that there are five types of cold-induced disease was discussed in chapter 58. The theory about the five-shu point (five transport points) and accumulation of meridians to differentiate Yin and Yang and the five elements was discussed in chapter 64. The theory about east excess and west deficiency, discharging the south and supplementing the north, was discussed in chapter 75. The theory of liver excess and lung deficiency was discussed in chapter 81. These differences show that the Nan Jing (the Difficult Classic) had references and theories from other ancient classics that are different from the Nei Jing (the Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic). It cannot simply be understood as a summary book of the Nei Jing.
References:
1.Introduction of Nan Jing:the Difficult Classic.
2.Huang Di Ba Shi Yi Nan Jing: The Eighty-One Difficult Classics of The Yellow Emperor, by Qin Yueren.
3.Nan Jing Ji Zhu: The Variorum of The Difficult Classics, by Wang Weiyi and Wang Jiusi.
4.Wu Ting Zi Su Jie Ba Shi Yi Nan Jing: Don't Listen to The Eighty-One Difficult Classics Annotated by A Layman, by Xiong Zonglì.
✵Nan Jing, also known as the Difficult Classic, the Classic of Questioning, or the Classic of Difficult Issues, is a book which appeared in the 1st or 2nd century B.C. or earlier. Its authorship is unknown, although it was often ascribed to Qin Yueren. It is a famous ancient book and its origin has several legendary versions. It deals with those fundamental theories and expounds the main points of the Huang Di Nei Jing (the Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic) in the form of questions and answers. It discusses the points for acupuncture and moxibustion, the method of needling, and the physiological and pathological conditions related to the meridians and collaterals. It also covers the method of pulse-taking are all discussed.
Nan Jing, also known as the Difficult Classic, the Classic of Questioning, or the Classic of Difficult Issues, is a book which appeared in the 1st or 2nd century B.C. or earlier. Its authorship is unknown, although it was often ascribed to Qin Yueren. It is a famous ancient book and its origin has several legendary versions. It deals with those fundamental theories and expounds the main points of the Huang Di Nei Jing (the Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic) in the form of questions and answers. It discusses the points for acupuncture and moxibustion, the method of needling, and the physiological and pathological conditions related to the meridians and collaterals. It also covers the method of pulse-taking are all discussed.
