The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic: Basic Questions

The Yellow Emperor asks his physician Qi Bo how people lived long in ancient times, and their dialogues become the foundation of Chinese medicine: yin and yang, the five phases, the seasons, the pulse and acupuncture. Wide-ranging and often poetic, the Basic Questions links the body to heaven and earth, the climate, the emotions and diet, and explains illness as an imbalance to be restored. This is a complete new English translation, with names in modern pinyin and the text rendered as plain, readable English prose. It is a primary source for anyone curious about how early China measured the world and the human body. Clear and surprisingly readable, it shows the questions, methods and ideas that shaped Chinese science and medicine for two thousand years.