Huangdi Neijing
Kong, Y.C.
Published by The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press
Kong, Y.C.
Huangdi Neijing: A Synopsis with Commentaries.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 2010.
Project MUSE.muse.jhu.edu/book/24634.
For additional information about this book
https://muse.jhu.edu/book/24634
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xviii | Preface
The author studied Chinese medicine beginning with the search for a
plant morning-after pill, as part of a multi-national research programme
supported by the World Health Organization. The Hong Kong Group was
lucky to have a large amount of folklore in Chinese medicine on the interrup-
tion of pregnancy, although ethically, this approach is much frowned upon by
moralists, since in traditional Chinese culture it is a virtue to let a developing
life live but not to take it away.3 During this research the author realised that
in order to use Chinese medicines with efficacy, one must know the basic
principles of Chinese medicine. The author’s interest in the theoretical aspects
of Chinese medicine led to the publication of the Cultural Fabric of Chinese
Medicine (ref. 53).
In 1982, while working on the plant motherwort (Leonurus artemisia), the
author witnessed the successful treatment of a woman from Singapore, herself
a practitioner of Chinese medicine, who was suffering from endometriosis.
After consulting senior gynaecologists in Singapore and Hong Kong without
success, she was introduced to the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department in
a municipal hospital in Guangzhou, where she was treated with only Chinese
medicines. After one month, she returned home happily and her ordeal was
over. This experience reinforced the author’s conviction that Chinese medicine
can be reasonably explained in the light of modern biomedical science. But to
do this, there must a common language, or a suitable signal converter of the
sort used from analogue to digital, between the two bodies of medical knowl-
edge. The prerequisite to learning and practising this common language is an
understanding of the theoretical core of Chinese medicine, i.e. Neijing, in the
light of modern knowledge, without falling back on yin-yang theory and the
five elements only.
Y. C. Kong
3
See Shangshu: Dayu Mo 尚 書．大 禹 謨: “Hao sheng zhi de, qia yu min xin. 好 生
之德，洽於民心。 ” (“The virtue to promote life is agreeble to the public.”)
Neijing.indb 18 2010/2/26 6:57:27 PM
Acknowledgements
I am deeply grateful to the following persons for their help during the process
of writing this book.
Dr. Pau Wing Foo, an experienced clinician specialised in obstetrics and
gynaecology, and an avid pursuer of medical knowledge old and new, had
kindly read in great detail the whole manuscript, with frequent reference to
the original text word by word. Most of his comments were integrated into the
explanatory notes and footnotes. Where he made lengthy discussions, espe-
cially when these were not in accordance with the views of the author or other
annotators, they were transcribed integrally as an “addendum”. If there is any
statement that seems unorthodox in its medical context, the responsibility lies
with me.
Dr. Robert Dan has again kindly read Chapter Eight of the manuscript in
its draft form, as he had done for The Cultural Fabric of Chinese Medicine. His
many helpful comments and revisions are, however, blended into the transla-
tion, explanatory notes and footnotes.
Dr. Wai Tze Kong provided many helpful discussions and oversaw the art
work as in previous publications.
Professors Liu Ts’un-yan, Pierre Ryckmans (Canberra) and Nathan Sivin
(Philadelphia) had kindly read part of the manuscript.
Mr. Tse Wai Keung, senior editor of The Chinese University Press (CUP),
contributed tremendously to the quality of this book, as he had been doing
with my previous publications from CUP.
This book is blessed with the final touches of Prof. Liu Ts’un-yan, who
weighed over every word in the prefaces and the article in Chinese on the
history of Neijing studies, as he has been doing for all my writings in humani-
ties prior to their publication. It is regrettable that Prof. Liu cannot wait to
see this book in print, but I am glad that he has graciously accepted the
dedication.
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