Description
LARRE Claude & ROCHAT DE LA VALLEE Elisabeth
ISBN: 9781872468044
Monkey Press 1990 1st Edition
210 x 145mm; 2004 reprint in new format, 130pp
This book presents the central position of the heart in Neijing Lingshu chapter 8. The heart is seen as a void, a silent centre, yet the root of the spirits. Framed within the traditional structure of The Emperor’s questioning and his Minister’s answers, the chapter contains an important discussion of the thirteen fundamental concepts of Chinese medicine: de (virtue), qi, sheng (life), jing (essence), shen (spirit), hun (soul), po (bodily soul), xin (heart), yi (purpose), zhi (will), si (thought), lü (reflection) and zhi (wisdom). The analysis of this passage takes the terms slowly, line by line, character by character, to present the weave and design of the piece as much as the individual threads themselves. The thirteen characters are a key to a deeper understanding of Chinese medical thinking, and have strong connections to our mental, emotional and spiritual nature. The main body of the text of chapter 8, together with a full translation, is given in beautiful calligraphy in a pull-out section at the end of the book. ‘Liberally sprinkled with quotations not only from the medical classics, but also from the Daoist tradition, the Confucian classics and later medical commentaries. This series promises to be an invaluable reference work for those who desire to understand how the authors of the Neijing and other classics actually conceptualized the human being.’ – Journal of Traditional Acupuncture (USA)
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