The Relationship Between Heaven And Man In Huangdi’s Internal Classics

Huangdi’s Internal Classics is one of the most important medical classics in Chinese history.It summarizes the achievements of traditional Chinese medicine from the pre-Qin to the Han dynasties with the framework of yin-yang and five behavioral theories and Qi throughout the whole text.In Huangdi’s Internal Classics,there are direct statements on the relationship between heaven and man,as well as the understanding of the relationship between heaven and man reflected by the four seasons,Yin and Yang,and the five elements.The understanding of the relationship between heaven and man in Huangdi’s Internal Classics can be divided into three categories: the similarity between heaven and man,the connection between heaven and man,and the integration of heaven and man.The discussion on human body in Huangdi’s Internal Classics is based on the connection between heaven and man and Qi,and the balance between Yin and Yang is the most important aspect of TCM.In traditional Chinese medicine,the Qi of the human body is fully displayed in the form of channels and collaterals.The basis of acupuncture therapy lies in the existence of meridians in the human body.Through the stimulation of different air points and parts of meridians,the purpose of regulating the balance between Yin and Yang is achieved.The yin-yang thought is also a typical representative of the traditional Chinese way of thinking.In Huangdi’s Internal Classics,Yin and Yang are indispensable to the formation and evolution of the universe and the generation and regulation of human diseases.Yin and Yang are not the material of things,but a kind of motion relation.Yin and Yang have no physical properties and cannot be accurately extracted from heaven,earth and human body,which just reflects that what Yin and Yang describe is not the existence of entities in space,but a reflection of the movement and change of things in time.Huangdi’s Internal Classics regarded the human body itself as a small universe,and all parts of the body together constituted the human body system,while the human body was a part of the nature of heaven and earth.They followed the same rules of motion and change--Yin and Yang.Therefore,through the understanding of Yin and Yang of the human body,we can realize the understanding of different diseases of the human body.