Page 546 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

This association with ancient sage-kings did not mean that such rulers were
supposed to have written the texts, but that they were often the recipients
of revelations. Han texts therefore relate that the Yellow Emperor received
texts on sexual hygiene from the Sunii ~ 9: (Pure Woman) and *Rong Cheng
(Csikszentmihalyi 1994). He is also referred to in the Hanshu bibliography as
the patron of massage and the "medicines of immortality" (xianyao {w ~). In
the Shiji (chapter 105) there are reports of "pulse books of Huangdi and Bian
Que fml jt(,j" which were transmitted to the famous physician Chunyu Yi 1¥ ~
=>eo
Ji!!,.
Although Huangdi's significance for Taoism declined considerably toward
the end of the Han period in favor of Laozi, elsewhere-particularly in the fields
of medicine and other techniques-his popularity continued to flourish.
Ute ENGELHARDT

III Csikszentmihalyi 1994; Eberhard 1942, 158-61; van Ess 1993a; Kaltenmark
1953, 50-53; Kohn 1993b, 351-52; Lewis 1990, 174-85; Seidel 1969; Seidel 1987b;
Tetsui Yoshinori 1970; Tetsui Yoshinori 1972; see also bibliography for the entry
*Huang-Lao

* TAOISM AND CHINESE MYTHOLOGY

Huangdi neijing

Inner Scripture of the Yellow Emperor

The Huangdi neijing is generally considered the main text on Chinese medical
theory, and the Shanghan lun 1~~illfil (Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders)
the principal reference for clinical treatment, In its extant form, the Neijing
comprises two books, each of which includes twenty-four juan (chapters) and
eighty-one pian (sections): the Suwen ~ rr~ (Plain Questions) and the Lingshu
11 ~ (Numinous Pivot). The two books are best viewed as compilations of
thematically ordered knowledge from different medical traditions or lineages
whose authorship is unknown. Their first compilation likely dates to the Han,
between the first century BCE and the first century CE.
Both books contain dialogues between the Yellow Emperor (*Huangdi)
and various ministers. These dialogues are concerned with cosmology and
analogical changes in macrocosm and microcosm, lifestyle, medical ethics,
diagnostics and therapeutics. The Suwen is generally considered to be more
philosophical in content, and in many places it discusses environmental and
J

H t 1 ;