The Yellow Emperor's Classic: Grand Basis (Huangdi Neijing Taisu), Vol 1

Fragmentary text on right edge: [...] paper house/door [...]

Regarding the Spiritual Pivot, I once read Zhang’s Critique of Chinese and Western Medicine. It claims that the Roman Hannibaloriginal: 漢尼巴 (Hanniba). The Carthaginian general (247–183 BCE). In the late 19th century, some Chinese intellectuals proposed that Western science had ancient Chinese roots to reconcile traditional pride with modern Western advancements. obtained China’s Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon during the Zhou Dynastyoriginal: 成周 (Chengzhou). Refers to the later period of the Zhou Dynasty, which overlapped with the era of the Punic Wars. and brought it home, which led to the great flourishing of Western medicine.

The reasoning is that while the Basic Questions consists primarily of Chinese text, the Spiritual Pivot contains many diagrams of the internal organs, meridians, and acupuncture points. While the text itself must be translated to be understood, diagrams are clear at a single glance. This serves as clear evidence that the Spiritual Pivot is the true source of Western medicine.

In ancient times, there were no commentaries for the Spiritual Pivot. The version of the Basic Questions annotated by Quan YuanqiA famous physician of the Liang Dynasty (6th century CE) whose commentary is one of the earliest recorded. has long been lost. The version circulating in recent times is the "Ordered Commentary" by Wang BingA Tang Dynasty official (8th century CE) who reorganized the Inner Canon into its modern 24-volume structure.; it is the oldest extant version, yet it is inevitably prone to errors and the displacement of original text.

During the Song Dynasty, scholars such as Gao Baoheng and Lin Yi frequently cited Quan Yuanqi’s commentary and Yang’s commentary on the Grand Basisoriginal: 太素 (Taisu). A major variant edition of the Inner Canon compiled by Yang Shangshan in the 7th century, known for preserving a different organizational structure. to provide detailed corrections. This proves that Wang Bing’s version of the Basic Questions had already lost its original authenticity. The inaccuracies of later scholars who based their own interpretations on Wang’s version are even more obvious.

Since the errors in Wang’s version of the Basic Questions are so numerous, and the Spiritual Pivot lacks any commentary at all, its profound principles and ancient, obscure phrasing mean that even [those well-versed in...]