Huangdi Neijing author

1. Huangdi Neijing, also known as Neijing, is one of the earliest classics in China and the first of the four classics of traditional medicine in China. According to legend, it was made by the Yellow Emperor, hence its name. However, it is generally believed that this book was finally formed in the Western Han Dynasty, and the author was not a single person, but was created by Huang Lao, a doctor in China.

As pointed out in "Huai Nan Zi Xiu Wu Xun", the title of "Yellow Emperor" is intended to trace back to the source and worship the original to illustrate the early birth of China medical culture. It's not a moment's talk, nor is it a single hand.

Second, when Huangdi Neijing was written, the ancients mainly had three views:

1. People who held this view in the pre-Qin period included Huangfu Mi in the Jin Dynasty, Lin Bu in the Song Dynasty and Gao Baoheng. They think that a scientific masterpiece like Huangdi Neijing can't be completed by a wise man, so it must have been written by Huangdi.

2. During the Warring States Period, Shao Yong, Cheng Hao, Sima Guang and Zhu in the Song Dynasty, Sang Yue, Fang Yizhi and Fang Xiaoru in the Ming Dynasty and Wei Litong in the Qing Dynasty held this view.

The main reasons are as follows: first, comparing Su Wen of Huangdi Neijing with Zhou Li, who was also in the Warring States period, there are many similarities, which fully proves that the two books are works of the same era and the same ideological system;

Secondly, the medical theory in Bian Que Historical Records is similar to that in Huangdi Neijing, but simpler and more primitive, while the medical theory in Cang Gong Historical Records is better than that in Huangdi Neijing, so it can be inferred that Huangdi Neijing should be a work after Bian Que and before Cang Gong.

3. In the Western Han Dynasty, Lang Ying of the Ming Dynasty inferred that it was produced in the Western Han Dynasty from the legend of Yidi brewing and the evidence that Luo appeared in the Han Dynasty. Modern Chinese medicine experts such as He Wu also hold this view. The main reason is that Huangdi Neijing has about 200,000 words, which can be said to be a masterpiece more than 2,000 years ago.

Compiling such medical books requires a stable social environment and huge human and material resources, which is impossible in the Warring States period, which was characterized by years of war and seven chivalrous men and eight righteous men. Only in the Western Han Dynasty, with the political stability and economic development, it provided realistic conditions for doctors to compile medical books.

Extended data:

The scientific point of view is that Huangdi Neijing was not completed by one author in a short time, but was assembled by several authors after a long time:

First, there are many rhymes in the pre-Qin dynasty, and some chapters in Huangdi Neijing also have many rhymes, which may be works in the pre-Qin period.

2. By comparing 1973 silk script of eleven-pulse moxibustion at the foot of Mawangdui in Changsha, 1972 bamboo slips unearthed from the Han tomb in Wuwei, Gansu, and 1977 Pan Bin of Six Kings and Zhan Pan of Taiyi Jiugong unearthed from the tomb of Ruyin Hou in Shuangyudui, Anhui, we can know that.

Thirdly, some documents cited in Huangdi Neijing, such as Shangxiajing and Gongdu, were even earlier works in the Warring States Period.

Fourthly, the word "thousand hands" used in Su Wen Bao Quan Ming Xing Lun is the name of people in the Warring States and Qin Dynasties, while "the official of the prime minister" and "the official of the state government" in Su Wen Ling Lan Mi Dian Lun are the official names that appeared in Cao Wei Dynasty.

5. Some chapters of Lingshu came out late. For example, there is a saying in "Yin Yang Sun Moon" that "those who give birth to Yang in the first month are Yin", which can be concluded that it was written after the promulgation of taichu calendar in the first year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (BC 100).

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Huangdi Neijing (Medical History Literature)