The Way Of Heaven

The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic, the Neijing, has been a source book for traditional Chinese medicine for two thousand years. The Way of Heaven is a translation of the first two chapters together with a commentary.

In Suwen chapter 1 the Yellow Emperor, Huangdi, asks why we no longer retain our vitality into old age. The answer given by his minister, Qi Bo, indicates that mankind no longer lives in harmony with heaven and earth. Following this declaration the seven and eight year natural cycles for women and men are described and discussed.

Chapter 2 continues with an explanation of how we should live in tune with the four seasons, and explains behaviour appropriate to the time of the year. It introduces the concept of the five elements as resonances of the energies of the four seasons.

Wide-ranging in their aim and scope, these chapters present a particular philosophy of health, emphasising the need to live in harmony with heaven and earth, in tune with natural cycles and stages of life. Following the way of heaven is the key to health and vitality, and losing the way the root of all pathology, both on an individual and planetary level.

The four seasons of yin and yang are the end and the beginning of the ten thousand beings, the trunk of death and life. Going against the flow is the catastrophe that destroys life. Going with the flow is to prevent illness. This is to obtain the way. ...To wait for the illness to develop before remedying it, for the disorder to form before taking care of it, is to wait until one is thirsty before digging the well, to wait for the battle before forging the weapons. Is this not too late?