The Huángdì Nèijīng (also: Huáng Dì Nèi Jīng or Nèijīng) is one of the oldest standard works of Chinese medicine and was written around 2698-2598 BC. It translates as “Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor” or “Esoteric Scripture of the Yellow Emperor” and has been the fundamental doctrinal source for Chinese medicine for more than two millennia.
The Huángdì Nèijīng consists of two major parts. The first text, the Suwen, (Sù Wèn; Basic Questions) covers the theoretical foundation of Chinese Medicine and its diagnostic methods. The second and generally less referred-to text, the Lingshu (Spiritual Pivot), discusses acupuncture therapy in great detail. Collectively, these two texts are known as the Neijing or Huangdi Neijing. In practice, however, the title Neijing often refers only to the more influential Suwen.
