Chronology. "yellow Emperor"

Purpose of the StudyThis essay is a chronologica l study of Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic . The goal is tofind the approxima te time of composition for the article s and the rough time of compilationof the entire book. The essay focuses on discussing the written period of the core articles ofthe Inner Classic .Methods of the StudyAdopting multi-disciplina ry methods, including the method of bibliography, philosophy,astronomy, calendar-logy, archeology, phonology, and philology, as well as by referencingthe tabooed usage of the emperors'name, the study attempts to investigate into the time ofthe writing and the compilation of the book from multiple aspects and angels.Main Content of the StudyThe essay is composed of three parts. The first part is a comprehensive review of therepresentative viewpoints, methods, and data from both ancient and contemporary scholarsregarding the chronologica l study of the Inner Classic . The second part focuses on thema instream viewpoint that regards the Inner Classic as being written and compiled during themid-to-late Western Han Dynasty. In this part, I raised systematica lly counter-evidences tothat ma instream view point from the perspective of philosophy, dynamic history of med icaltheory, astronomy, calendar-logy, philology, phonology, title , and the taboo on using theword of emperors'name. I also discuss the possibility of dating the Inner Classic to the pre-Qin period based on the period ic characteristics of yin/yang and five element theories,Zizheng school, simple and unsophisticated method of scheduling the leap month, age-oldway of realization of seasona l term, solar terms, the tabooed usage of the emperors'name,and the historica l change of the form of ancient Chinese characters.The third part explores and reflects on the methodologies in researching the Chinesemed ical history such as analogy, argument from silence, ante-judgment and post-judgment ofthe time of the research object based on the historica l materia ls. Finally, a conclusion of thestudy is drawn at the end.New Findings of the Study:1. The essay is the first to find that three core articles in the Inner Classic belong to theZizheng School, and suggest that those articles which belong to Zizheng Schoolshould be written in the pre-Qin period. 2. The essay is the first to suggest that the different viewpoints on the yin/yang attributesof the spring and the autumn, liver and lungs, are a result of different division of thefour seasons by Zizheng calendar and Yinzheng calendar.3. The essay is the first to suggest that there is a simple and unsophisticated method ofscheduling the leap month in the Inner Classic , and propose a method that dates thetime of the releva nt articles of the book based on the way the leap month wasscheduled.4. The essay is the first to propose to date certain articles of the Inner Classic to the pre-Qin period from the name of the solar terms.5. The essay is the first to find that there are records regarding an age-old way ofrealization of seasona l term from phenology in the Inner Classic , and origina llycreates a method that infers the releva nt article being written in the pre-Qin periodfrom the perspective of development of the idea of seasona l terms.6. The essay is the first to thoroughly prove that Yinzheng, i.e., taking the month of Yinas first of the year, has no value for dating the time of the Inner Classic .7. The essay is the first to thoroughly expound that the way of numbering the yearsbased on Gan Zhi (hea venly stems and earthly braches) has no value for dating thetime of written and compilation of the Inner Classic .8. The essay is the first to find that there are marks of incomplete or inconsistentcorrection from the taboo on using the word"Qi"in the Inner Classic .9. The essay is the first to adduce a large amount of counter evidences againstviewpoints and methods that infer the Inner Classic being written in the Han Dynastyfrom the phonology of the word"feng","ming", and"xing".10. The essay is the first to demonstrate that the Inner Classic was not influenced by theYellow Emperor's Four Classic.11. The essay is the first to discuss and rethink the methodologies in the research ofChinese med ical history, for insta nce, proving something by giving analogicalexample, argument from silent, ante-judgment and post-judgment of the time of theresearch object based on the historica l materia ls.12. The essay is the first to probe into the possibility of some articles of the book beingwritten in pre-Qin period from the historica l change of the form of ancient Chinesecharacters.ConclusiConclusion of the Study:The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic is not a work by one person, or written at once,from the same area, representing opinions from just one school, but a compilation ofoutsta nding med ical works during the era of Spring and Autumn as well as Warrior Statesthrough the Qin and Han Dynasties. Some data, idea, and sentences might origina te from the time of Qi-Huang, and have been passed down to the period of Spring and Autumn as well asWarrior States through the three Dynasties by oral instruction . The ma in articles were eithercompleted or roughly written in the period of Spring and Autumn as well as Warrior States.The Inner Classic seems to have been edited twice. The first edition, which might collectonly eighteen articles, took place in the 1st century B.C. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, thesecond edition collected some contents of Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic, Yellow Emperor'sOuter Classic, Bai's Inner Classic, Bai's Outer Classic, Bianque's Inner Classic, Bianque'sOuter Classic, and compiled them into two books, i.e., Plain Questions and Miraculous Pivot.