Daoist Philosophy & the Nei Jing

The following is excerpted from A STUDY OF DAOIST ACUPUNCTURE by Liu Zheng-cai, published by Blue Poppy Press.

The Huang 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 must
have some idea of the Nei 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 the Ling Shu (Spiritual Pivot).
The latter is also called the Zhen 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 Zi’s Dao De Jing and Zhuang Zi’s Zhuang Zi. Therefore, one cannot say that the Nei Jing belongs to
any one school of Chinese thought. However, it also cannot be denied that Daoism had a major impact on
the Nei Jing and, through the Nei Jing, on all the rest of Chinese medicine.

In order to understand the specifically Daoist contributions to the Nei Jing, one can compare it with other
Daoist classics. Daoism in connection with the Nei Jing simply means the philosophy of Lao Zi and
Zhuang Zi, since the Nei 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's Zhuang Zi, which is also known as the Nan
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 the Nei Jing, one can form a good idea of
the impact of philosophical Daoism on the early foundations of Chinese medicine.

Yin yang theory

In describing the phenomenal world, both Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi used the terms yin and yang. Lao Zi
says, "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's Dao De Jing (Classic of the Path & Virtue).

1
Warring States period = 476-221 BCE

2
Han Dynasty 206 BCE—220 CE

3
Spring and Autumn period = 770-476 BCE
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 the Zhong 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 called feng 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."

The Nei 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. In
other 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 the Nei 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 theory
Another 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
integration or correspondence between heaven and humanity is likewise ingrained in the Nei Jing.

Needle technique
When we look at individual needling methods, we can also find a strong influence of Daoism. In the Nei
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 the
life 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. The Ling 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 supplementing
insufficiency."

Nourishing life
Cultivating 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
the Nei 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.

The Nei 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 the Zhuang Zi and the Nei 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 seminal
form 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.