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中华民族是世界上最优秀的民族！中华文化是世界上最优秀的文化！
 《黄帝内经》是我国古代文化中最灿烂的经典著作之一，也是第一部冠以中华民族先祖“黄帝”之名的传世巨著; 同时，也是中华传统医药学的现存最早的一部理论经典。《黄帝内经》成书于大约2000年前的秦汉时期, 她的博大精深的科学阐述，不仅涉及医学，而且包罗天文学、地理学、哲学、人类学、社会学、军事学、数学、生态学等各项人类所获的科学成就。令人颇感惊讶的是，中华先祖们在《内经》里的一些深奥精辟的阐述，虽然早在2000年前，却揭示了许多现代科学正试图证实的与将要证实的成就。中国古代最著名的大医家张仲景、华佗、孙思邈、李时珍等均深受《内经》思想的熏陶和影响，无不刻苦研读之，深得其精要，而终成我国历史上的一代医圣。《黄帝内经》作为祖国传统医学的理论思想基础及精髓，在中华民族近二千年繁衍生息的漫漫历史长河中，它的医学主导作用及贡献功不可没。试想，大略700年前，欧洲鼠疫暴发，有四分之一的欧洲人失去了宝贵的生命，而中国近两千年的历史中虽也有瘟疫流行，但从未有过象欧洲一样惨痛的记录，中国中医药及《内经》的作用由此可以充分展示。所以说，中华民族是世界上最优秀的民族！中华文化是世界上最优秀的文化！我们每一位龙的传人都应为我们伟大的祖国医学而感到骄傲，为我们的杰出的祖先而感到自豪，并为沉睡了两百年的祖国中医的现代化及世界化而做一些诚挚的努力, 因为仅有极少数人的努力是不足以推动这个伟大的事业的！可以预见，只有当伟大的中医真正复兴的那一天才将是整个中华民族真正意义上复兴的那一天！
现在，随着东西方文化交流的不断扩大与深化，《黄帝内经》的璀灿、奥秘的光辉吸引了越来越多世界各类学者的高度兴趣。中西方的哲学家、社会学家、医学家、人类学家、天文学家、生物学家、语言学家等已在《内经》的研究与开发中获得了可喜的进展。特别值得一提的是，《内经》所揭示的宇宙及天体运行规律与人类社会活动及生理活动规律的密切关系，正引起世界学者的浓厚的兴趣，被称为人类的一门新兴的现代科学，人类气象学。
《黄帝内经》不仅是人类医学的宝库，也是人类科学与智慧的结晶。人类已进入了令人振奋的新世纪，《黄帝内经》的现代化研究，无疑将给人类创造更多宝贵的财富，推动人类社会及人类医学的迅猛飞跃。 然而，由于《黄帝内经》成书年代久远，用词古奥深辟，加之竹简的错杂遗漏、反复抄袭的人为误差等原因，对于国外学者而言，学习并熟练掌握中国的语言并非一蹴而就，所以使得许多国外学者难以成功跨越多重屏障，顺利而准确地把握《内经》的思想 。
译者朱明，91年毕业于湖南中医学院。始终怀着对中华古代辉煌文明的由衷崇拜和对先祖“黄帝”的深深热爱，他抱着一种诚挚与简朴的心情，力图将《黄帝内经》最真实而准确地反映给西方读者与学者。所谓心诚所至，金石为开，感谢先祖“黄帝”的善佑，朱明大夫通过八年艰苦顽强的努力，终于得以遂愿。他成功地将《黄帝内经》大学本科二版教材以字对字方式直译成英文。该书由国内唯一负责对外介绍中国经典文化的“北京外文出版社”推向美国及欧洲国际书市。这也是这部东方文化经典成书2000年以来第一次被国人成功译介。《黄帝内经》英译本的样书作为东方文化及中国传统医药学的经典， 多次参加在德国法兰克福举办的国际书展。明大夫成功开创了中医古典英文直译的先河，让国内外中医译者感佩。
我们欣慰地看到，中华民族伟大的古代文化经典，《黄帝内经》，能以新的风貌展示在世人面前；同时，对于目前国内中医翻译人员未敢问津古典医经的尴尬局面，是一个十分重要的新突破。
现此书在世界一百多个国家及地区有售，其中包括世界最大的网上书店“美国阿麦隆”，世界上最大的选择医学书店“美国红翼书局”，洛杉矶“长城艺术书店”，美国旧金山“塞普露丝”图书公司，世界前列腺炎基金会，美国草药集团，英国“丝布拉特健康网站”，澳大利亚“墨尔本中国图书公司”，加拿大健康信息中心，波兰“拿奥临床书店”，荷兰“欧洲网”。同时，全国各大书店有售，包括北京最大的书店（西单书店），上海书店，桂林新华书店，济南汇文书店等。
2000年11月9日，美国俄亥俄州威特伯格大学人类学家、世界知名中医学者史蒂芬教授专程来到 怀化访问朱明大夫并作学术交流，受到了我市各界朋友的热情接待。史蒂芬教授曾在给北京外文出版社总编徐明强的一封信中，高度评价了朱明大夫的《黄帝内经》英译本，他这样写到：“我非常兴奋地看到这个新译著的作为介绍中国文化的高尚的工具的良好前景。我确信世界上说英语的教师，不但包括中医学教授，而且包括历史、哲学、文化、甚至是语言学教授将使用它。同样，那些不说中文而想知道更多中国思想的研究者将寻求该书。而且更不用说，因为英文目前是国际上最通用的语言，也有很大一批不以英文作为母语的人将依赖朱医师的良好翻译而进入中国思想。”
2004年9月，鉴于朱明大夫翻译的《黄帝内经》良好的国际影响，朱明大夫被任命为 怀化市红十字医院中医副院长。明大夫也应聘到现怀化“湖南省医药学院”组织国际中医教学工作。在该学院领导的大力支持下，明大夫率先在国内提出并采用纯英文的中医国际教育模式，促进中医快速走出亚州服务世界人民，在世界中医界及医学界产生广泛深远的影响。
《黄帝内经》英译本近20年来已反复多次印刷。朱明中医师多次受邀前往奥地利、德国、瑞士、印度尼西亚多国讲学介绍中医。
2010年朱明大夫与社会共同努力完成在中方生态城独立建院，中方红十字国际医院成为国内首批纯中医国际医院。近十多年以来，朱明大夫主持或参入了近三千例世界各国疑难病的中医诊疗，成为国内治疗世界各国疑难病数目较大的中医医师。朱明大夫对于渐冻人症、多发性硬化、硬皮病、红斑狼疮、高血压、糖尿病、肿瘤等疑难病均有很专业的治疗心得。
《淮南子.天文训》：“南方火也，其帝炎帝，其佐朱明，执衡而治夏”。炎帝，火神，也称神农氏，中华民族的共同先祖，尝百草而创立了中医药。今天，继续炎帝的伟大事业仍然责无旁贷，任重道远。
The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor
黄 帝 内 经
Produced by Beijing Foreign Languages Press
Translated by Zhu Ming
The Oldest Extant Classic of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
The First Word-for-Word Translation from Chinese to English.
Translator's Preface
With the rapid expansion of China's policy of openness, cultural exchange between the West and East is being greatly stimulated. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), as a distinctive element of East Asian civilization and one of the great medical traditions of the world, is attracting more and more interest. Awareness of acupuncture has spread widely in the Western society and TCM gains recognition daily. Nowadays, highly advanced Western medicine is facing a kind of great Green Revolution that aims at producing more natural drugs and medical techniques without noxious side-effects. In contrast, millennia old TCM, which successfully united all scientific achievements in ancient times, has failed to absorb modern advanced technology in recent times and is confronted with a great challenge of modernization. Therefore, it is inevitable that ancient East Asian medical understanding will combine with modern Western medical knowledge to form a glorious whole, which our contemporaries and generations to come will appreciate as a great contribution to the cause of human health.
In Western countries scholars and physicians are engaged in systematic and comprehensive study of TCM and have made rapid progress both in theory and in practice. Naturally, many of these researchers into TCM are interested in knowing its earliest sources, which have been rendered mysterious and enticing by their inaccessibility. It is unfortunate, but there are three significant cultural and linguistic barriers to easy understanding: between English language and Chinese language, between standard Chinese and TCM technical terminology, and between modern TCM terminology and archaic medical Chinese. Few of the westerners who have tried to stride over the three wide gaps have been able to successfully approach this attractive and exotic medical field. Hence, more culture brokers are needed who are sufficiently proficient in TCM, on archaic medical Chinese and in English, so that more Western people can receive adequate information about the origins of TCM.
The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor (Huang Di Nei Jing), which is also translated by Ilza Veith as The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine (1966), is the oldest extant classic of TCM and the source of theory for this independent medical system. This book is written in the form of a dialogue in which the Yellow Emperor (the legendary first ancestor of the Chinese nation) discusses medicine with his ministers and some well-known doctors. No student of TCM in China could escape knowing about this text.
I made my decision to translate The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor into English after I became a doctor of TCM from the Hunan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and had undertaken clinical practice of TCM for many years. Fearing that my translation would do disservice to this great text, I proceeded meticulously in almost every step of my work, yet it was pushed forward slowly but surely by my loyalty to, and enthusiasm for, the masterpiece.
The Original Version
A perfect version of the original text is a precondition for a satisfactorily translated product. I choose the textbook version of The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor as my original. It was edited by the Compiling and Checking Committee of Textbooks of State Universities and Colleges organized by the Ministry of Public Health of the People's Republic of China in 1982. The chief editor, Dr. Cheng Shide, is from Beijing TCM College. This textbook explains the original articles of The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor in a scientific, orderly and concise way. It is the unquestionably authoritative and consummate source. Annotations that quote explanatory notes of many famous ancient medical masters are presented as concisely as possible, while some necessary explanations are added.
Structure of This Book
The structure of this book is to present the translations of an original article, or a section of dialogue, from The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor, followed by annotations and commentaries. This stable structure is intended to constantly clarify the reader's understanding.
Sometimes, the original article and the annotations may convey a same concept in two different forms of expression. For example, the original article says, "Open the ghost gate and cleanse the clear fu-organ," while the annotation which follows says, "Diaphoresis and diuresis." The reason for the significant difference between the translation of the original article and the annotation is that, while words "diaphoresis and diuresis" present a readily recognizable gloss in Western medical terminology, a literal translation of the original text is closer to the expression accepted by practitioners of TCM in China and comes closer to reflecting the real meaning in the context of TCM conceptualization.
Most of the original articles of The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor are quite terse. Hence, in order to make the translations of each article as close as possible to the Chinese language source, the annotations making the concepts and sentences more complete and clearer, and the commentaries summing up the gist of the articles, are usually indispensable.
Style of Translation
Literal translation, freely conveying factual information, is dependable and is the technique of translation adopted here. Many books have been successfully translated word-for-word into English and published in order to introduce TCM to the world.
However, in an ordinary situation when an ancient classic of TCM is translated, dozens of experts from many fields take part in the work. First, professors of TCM interpret the book into current Chinese; then, professors of Western medicine, historians, linguists, anthropologists, etc., who have profound knowledge of English and Chinese, but not of TCM, translate this book into English. So, it is not difficult for us to imagine that errors due to different modes of thinking may occur. The different modes of thinking, different word usages, different styles and skills of translation, etc., may perplex readers. Western readers will frequently find inconsistencies in identifying concepts, just as if a man has five different names. The mistakes in disease names used in Western medicine will twist the facts fundamentally and confuse readers, especially among scholars of Western medicine. Thus, to translate verbatim is the best but hardest choice.
The principle of literal translation penetrates the entire proceeding of my work. Unavoidably, some words have to be added or deleted on some necessary occasions in order to offer a correct and full understanding. Some examples of literal translation are demonstrated as follows:
1. 邪 之 所 凑， 其 气 必 虚。
Where evils converge, the qi must be deficient.
2. 正 气 存 内， 邪 不 可 干。
The right qi exists inside; evils cannot make disturbance.
3. 壮 水 之 主 以 制 阳 光。
Strengthen the dominance of water to control the yang light.
4. 益 火 之 源 以 消 阴 翳。
Boost the source of fire to disperse the yin shadow.
5. 五 藏 者， 所 以 藏 精 神 血 气 魂 魄 者 也。
The five zang-organs are what store the essence, spirit, blood, qi, yang soul, and yin soul.
6. 六 府 者， 所 以 化 水 谷 而 行 津 液 者 也。
The six fu-organs are what transform water and grains and move the fluids.
Word Selection
All terms and concepts of TCM originate from the daily speech and activities of working people. It is easy to find their equivalents in English. English is based on people's shared experience in living, just as Chinese is. Therefore, English equivalents for terms in TCM can be determined. Generally speaking, any word that clearly conveys the true meaning of a Chinese term is acceptable. However, both Chinese and English have many synonyms, so a reliable and relatively stable system of terms is required. It is a matter for rejoicing that the system of terms is becoming more and more mature now in a universally recognized way after the efforts of many people from China and abroad. I have consulted many English books about TCM published in China and overseas. Of these, I tend to favor the work of the English enthusiast, Dr. Nigel Wiseman, who has made insightful and marvelous explorations in establishing the terminological system of TCM.
It is worthwhile to mention that it is not wise for us to try to equate the terms of TCM to those of Western medicine, inasmuch as it usually leads to conceptual mistakes. In general, the anatomical terms are compatible. We had better avoid using the terms of Western medicine in TCM, especially using disease names, which often risks committing fatal mistakes, because TCM and Western medicine research the same entity from utterly different angles.
I am confident that no expression in this book will seem too thorny when a foreign reader has grasped terms that frequently appear, such as qi (气), yin (阴), yang (阳), zang-organ(脏), fu-organ(腑), triple-warmer (三焦), nutritive qi (营), and defensive qi (卫). A lucid English version, which even a foreigner without any knowledge of TCM and Chinese culture can understand with ease, is what I have done my utmost to produce. As we all know, science has no borders. TCM, the great treasure, should belong to the world's people. I am sure the comprehensive exportation of TCM will bring a brighter future to the health cause of the human race.
Many sincere thanks are extended to Prof. Tong Yao and Prof. Yao Yong, working in Shanghai University of TCM now, for their instructive advice for modification. I also want to express my special gratitude to the international scholars of TCM, Prof. Stephen R. Smith of Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, USA, Dr. Isabeau Volhardt, L.AC. of University of Washington, and Dr. Kim Taylor of University of Cambridge in England for their convincing and extensive revisions of my manuscript and their cordial encouragement. The English language is also corrected by Patti J. Tobin, Justin Sattin, Barry J. Grice, Volker Scheid, John Wm. Schiffeler, Gypsy Cole, Chao Yuang-Ling, Liu Xun, and Sun Ming, whose enthusiastic support for this project is admirable. The quality of the book would not have been improved without their generous help. Being impossible to be unassailable, this book eagerly awaits more criticism from all fields.
Zhu Ming
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction to The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor
1.1 Times of Compilation and Its Author
1.2 Components of the Book
1.3 Basic Academic Thoughts Found in the Theoretical System of The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor
1.3.1 Materialist Dialectics
1.3.2 The Integral Idea that Man and Nature Are Mutually Corresponding
Chapter 2. Theory of Yin-Yang and Theory of the Five Elements
2.1 Fifth Article. Great Topic on Correspondences and Manifestations of Yin and Yang. Plain Questions.
2.2 Fourth Article. Discussion of the True Speeches of the Golden Cabinet. Plain Questions.
2.3 Sixth Article. Discussion of Separation and Combination of Yin and Yang. Plain Questions.
Chapter 3. Theory of Zang-Organs and Manifestations
Zang-Organs and Fu-Organs
3.1 Ninth Article. Discussions of Zang-Organs and Manifestations Corresponding to Six. Plain Questions.
3.2 Eighth Article. Discussion of Secret Classic in Ganoderma and Orchid House. Plain Questions.
3.3 Eleventh Article. Discussion of Differentiations Among the Five Zang-Organs. Plain Questions.
3.4 Fifty-fourth Article. Natural Life-Span. Divine Pivot.
3.5 Fifty-sixth Article. The Five Flavors. Divine Pivot.
3.6 Thirty-third Article. Discussion of Seas. Divine Pivot.
3.7 Second Article. Basic Points. Divine Pivot.
3.8 Twenty-ninth Article. Discussion of Greater-Yin and Bright-Yang. Plain Questions
3.9 Twenty-first Article. Discussion of Differentiations Among the Channels. Plain Questions.
3.10 Seventeenth Article. Measurements of the Channels. Divine Pivot.
3.11 Eightieth Article. Discussion of Great Puzzlement. Divine Pivot.
Essence, Qi and Spirit
3.12 Thirtieth Article. Decisive Qi. Divine Pivot.
3.13 Eighteenth Article. Generation and Meeting of Nutritive Qi and Defensive Qi. Divine Pivot.
3.14 Thirty-sixth Article. Differentiations Among Five Metabolic Liquids. Divine Pivot.
3.15 Seventy-first Article. Dwelling of Evils. Divine Pivot.
3.16 Eighth Article. Root Spirit. Divine Pivot.
3.17 Forty-seventh Article. Root Zang-Organs. Divine Pivot.
Chapter 4. Theory of Channels and Network-Channels
4.1 Tenth Article. Channels. Divine Pivot.
4.2 Sixteenth Article. Nutritive Qi. Divine Pivot.
4.3 Seventy-eighth Article. Discussion of Nine Needles. Divine Pivot.
4.4 Fifty-first Article. Back Transport Points. Divine Pivot.
4.5 Sixtieth Article. Discussion of Holes in Bones. Plain Questions.
4.6 Thirty-eighth Article. Unfavorableness, Favorableness, Thickness, and Thinness. Divine Pivot.
4.7 Seventeenth Article. Measurements of the Channels. Divine Pivot.
4.8 Twenty-first Article. Diseases with Chills and Fevers. Divine Pivot.
Thank you profusely for your reading! |
