Huangdi Nei Jing£¨Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine)
As the earliest extant medical classic, the work consists of two parts: Su Wen (Plain Questions) and Ling Shu (Miraculous Pivot). It was probably compiled before the Qin Dynasty till the Western Han Dynasty. The work summed up the experience and theoretical knowledge of ancient people in fighting diseases, and laid a foundation for the development of Chinese medicine. Su Wen mainly deals with basic theories of medicine, while Ling Shu discusses acupuncture. Based on primitive dialectic materialism, the work elaborates human physiology and pathology, yin and yany{, the five elements, the correlations between man and nature, the internal organs and viscera, the channels and collaterals, diagnostic methods, differentiation of symptoms and signs, the principles of administering drugs, and acupuncture. For the first time it developed the idea of blood circulation. The work lists the symptoms and signs of 310 diseases, falling into internal medicine, surgery, pedology and gynecology. As an excellent example of the integration of basic theory and medical practice, the work still guides today's traditional Chinese medicine.
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