001-Let's Read the Huangdi Neijing Together黄帝内经一起读
夫释缚脱艰，全真导气①,拯黎元于仁寿②,济赢劣以获安者，非三圣道③,则不能致之矣。孔安国序《尚书》曰④:“伏羲、神农、黄帝之书，谓之三坟，言大道也。”班固《汉书·艺文志》曰⑨:“《黄帝内经》十八卷。”《素问》即其经之九卷也，兼《灵枢》九卷，乃其数焉。
To untie the bonds and relieve hardships, preserve the genuine and guide the vital energy, to rescue the common people into benevolence and longevity, and to aid the weak and infirm to obtain peace—without the Way of the Three Sages, none of this could be achieved.
Kong Anguo's preface to the Book of Documents states: "The books of Fu Xi, Shennong, and the Yellow Emperor are called the Three Mounds (Sanfen), which speak of the Great Way."
Ban Gu's Treatise on Literature in the Book of Han says: "The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon consists of eighteen scrolls." The Basic Questions (Suwen) comprises nine of these scrolls, and together with the nine scrolls of the Divine Pivot (Lingshu), they complete the number.
Translation Notes:
释缚脱艰 (shì fù tuō jiān) – Translated as "untie the bonds and relieve hardships." This classical Chinese medical phrase refers to freeing the body from pathological constraints and alleviating suffering. The translation preserves the parallelism and metaphorical richness of the original.
全真导气 (quán zhēn dǎo qì) – Rendered as "preserve the genuine and guide the vital energy." This reflects Daoist and traditional Chinese medical concepts where "genuine" (zhen) refers to innate vitality, and "vital energy" (qi) is the foundational life force. The phrasing aligns with Western translations of Chinese medical texts.
拯黎元于仁寿 (zhěng lí yuán yú rén shòu) – Translated as "rescue the common people into benevolence and longevity." "仁寿" (renshou) combines Confucian benevolence (ren) with Daoist longevity (shou), reflecting the ideal of a harmonious, healthy society. The translation conveys both ethical and health dimensions.
三圣道 (sān shèng dào) – "The Way of the Three Sages" refers to Fu Xi, Shennong, and the Yellow Emperor, legendary culture heroes in Chinese tradition associated with medicine and cosmology. Capitalizing "Way" emphasizes its philosophical importance (like Dao in Daoism).
三坟 (sān fén) – Translated as "Three Mounds," this term refers to lost ancient texts. "Mounds" metaphorically suggests towering wisdom (like burial mounds marking significance). The footnote (Sanfen) preserves the original term for scholarly reference.
《素问》(Suwen)** – Translated as Basic Questions, the standard English title for this foundational Chinese medical text. The name derives from its dialogic format (Yellow Emperor questioning his minister Qibo).
《灵枢》(Lingshu)** – Rendered as Divine Pivot, reflecting its title's meaning ("spiritual axis"). This mirrors how the text was seen as the pivotal companion to the Suwen in classical Chinese medicine.
Cultural Context:
This passage from the preface to the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon (Huangdi Neijing) establishes the text's authority by linking it to China's mythical sage-kings. The "Three Mounds" reference ties medicine to the Confucian-Daoist tradition, where ancient wisdom was attributed to cultural heroes. The translation maintains the text's rhetorical gravity while making it accessible to English readers familiar with Chinese medical philosophy.