Nèijīng yùnqì biǎo 《內經》運氣表
Tables of the Climatic-Cycle Doctrine of the Inner Classic by 陸懋修 (Lù Màoxiū, 1818–1886, 清) — author
About the work
The Nèijīng yùnqì biǎo in one juan consists of thirteen tabular charts that reduce the wǔyùn liùqì doctrine of the seven great treatises of the Sùwèn to systematic reference tables. The work is part of Lù Màoxiū’s 陸懋修 Shìbǔzhāi yīshū 世補齋醫書 (1884) and serves as a companion reference to his discursive Nèijīng yùnqì bìngshì (KR3ea047). Lù’s stated motive (KR3ea048_000.txt) is that figures (圖) — the traditional vehicle for yùnqì exposition since 劉溫舒 Liú Wēnshū’s Rùshì yùnqì lùn’ào (29 figures) and 張介賓 Zhāng Jièbīn’s KR3ea036 Lèijīng (48 figures) — proliferate without limit, while tables (表) allow concise inspection of the rules that link climatic year, predicted disease, and treatment protocol.
Prefaces
The author’s preface (KR3ea048_000.txt) opens with explicit reference to his predecessors: Liú Wēnshū made 29 figures; Zhāng Jièbīn made 48; both produced ever-more-difficult reading. Lù substitutes 13 tables, focusing strictly on the practical rule qìjiāo zhī suǒyǐ wéi zhì 氣交之所以為治 (“how qì-exchange produces disease and therapeutic response”). Table 1 — the Wǔqì jīngtiān 五氣經天表 — schematizes the Tàishǐ tiānyuán cè 太始天元冊 doctrine of the five vapours crossing the heavens. The other tables systematize the kèzhǔ jiālín 客主加臨, sānyīn sānyáng kāihéshū 三陰三陽開闔樞, zhǔqì zhī shí 主氣之時, and related calculative apparatus.
Abstract
The Yùnqì biǎo is the most concise practical reference to the wǔyùn liùqì doctrine in the entire commentarial tradition. Its tables are still used in modern PRC TCM university yùnqì teaching alongside Liú Wēnshū’s figures. The work is short — about 18,000 characters — but dense: each table requires extended verbal explication to be usable, and the work is best read in conjunction with the Yùnqì bìngshì. The two are inseparable companions in the Shìbǔzhāi presentation.
Translations and research
- Catherine Despeux, “The System of the Five Circulatory Phases and the Six Seasonal Influences”, in Elisabeth Hsu (ed.), Innovation in Chinese Medicine (Cambridge UP, 2001) — surveys the yùnqì literature including Lù’s tables.