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

In the complete version of the Basic Questions original: "Suwen" (素問), the primary theoretical text of Chinese medicine., many sections have been relocated. Check the New Corrections to the Basic Questions to see this for yourself. Furthermore, because the Bibliographic Treatise of the History of the Sui Dynasty original: "Sui Zhi" (隋志). contained the title Nine Wonders original: "Jiuling" (九靈)., the nine-volume work was named the Spiritual Pivot. See Wang Bing’s preface and annotations to the Basic Questions. As the complete original version of the Basic Questions had already lost its authenticity, the ancient name "Nine Volumes" also fell into obscurity.

This current book combines the Nine Volumes which is the modern Spiritual Pivot and the Basic Questions into a single work. Regarding the seven chapters in Wang Bing’s Wang Bing (c. 710–805) was the Tang Dynasty official who reorganized and annotated the Suwen; his version is the one most commonly read today. annotated Basic Questions, such as the "Great Treatise on the Heavenly Primordial Records," original: "Tianyuan Ji Dalun" (天元紀大論). These seven chapters discuss "Yunqi" or Five Movements and Six Qi theories. not a single word has been surreptitiously inserted here. This is sufficient to preserve the true nature of the complete Basic Questions. Furthermore, the many interpretations provided for the scripture of the Nine Volumes are enough to dispel the confusion regarding the supposedly late appearance of the Spiritual Pivot. Scholars often debated whether the Spiritual Pivot was a later forgery; the author argues this text proves its ancient lineage.

I have now taken the Spiritual Pivot that is, the Ancient Nine Volumes, the Basic Questions, and the A-B Canon original: "Jia Yi Jing" (甲乙經). to perform a detailed collation. Following the example of the New Corrections to the Basic Questions, I have marked at the beginning of each chapter exactly which sections can be found in the Spiritual Pivot using the modern name for ease of reference, the Basic Questions, or the specific volume and chapter of the A-B Canon.

Furthermore, within the text, wherever a character differs from those in the Spiritual Pivot, Basic Questions, or A-B Canon, I have again followed the example of the New Corrections. After the annotation, I leave a single space and use the two characters Ping An Ping An (平按): Literally "Evenly examined" or "Collator's note." This is a technical term used by the editor to introduce a comparison between different versions of the text. to clearly note which character appears in which specific book.