《黄帝八十一难经纂图句解》Vol. 4

This section contains collation notes from Collected Diagrams and Phrase-by-Phrase Explanations of the Huangdi’s Eighty-One Difficulties Classic. It mainly records differences and suspected errors in the wording of the text. Drawing on context, other editions, and the views of commentators, the annotator identifies places where characters should be changed or supplied, or where variant readings should be retained.

A fragment at the beginning suggests that, judging by the meaning, one character should read “cold”; “five” should read “day.” “Warm and damp” is changed to “damp and warm” in accordance with The Original Meaning. “Cold and heat pass into one another” is suspected of being an error for “dampness and heat press against one another.” Elsewhere, the original “damp and damp” is also changed to “damp and warm” on the basis of the meaning. “Month” is suspected of being an error for “there is”; “great” for “Heaven”; and The Original Meaning has “floating” where the text has “soaked.” The original “above” is changed from “five” on the basis of the meaning. Collected Commentaries supplies the words “where it is located” after “classic,” while The Original Meaning supplies “those who bring about death below” after “and.” “Heat” is suspected of being an extraneous word. After “eleven,” Collected Commentaries adds the three words “one item in all.” The phrase “observing and palpating, the breath” makes no sense and is suspected of containing an error. “Spleen” may be an error for “illness,” and “release” for “imitate.” In the phrase “examine the pulse at the beginning of the pulse,” Yang’s commentary on Difficulty Sixty-One, as quoted in Collected Commentaries, reads “examine the complexion and listen to the voice.”

Before “six,” Collected Commentaries adds ten words: “Visceral and hollow organs: wells, springs, streams, rivers, and transport points, chapter twelve; seven items in all.” “Combine” is changed from the original “now” on the basis of the meaning; “source” is changed from “transport point” in accordance with The Original Meaning; and “item” is changed from “all” on the basis of the meaning. According to the original text, “Yang is Wood, Yin is Metal” should read “Yang is Metal, Yin is Wood.” The term “nourishment and obstruction” appears as “nourishment and delay” in the commentary on Difficulty Sixty-Eight’s phrase “what emerges is nourishment.” In the commentary concerning the character “person,” Yang’s commentary on Difficulty Sixty-Four, as quoted in Collected Commentaries, reads “pattern”; another instance of “person” may also be an error for “pattern.” “Adjust” may be an error for “firm”; “small” for “Wood”; and “Wood” for “Earth.” “Gui” is changed from the original “Ji” on the basis of the meaning; “those” may be an error for “all.” After “thus,” Collected Commentaries supplies eleven words: “Why is the transport point through which the Triple Burner moves called the source?” The two instances of “two” are suspected respectively to be errors for “three” and to require the reading “one.” “Chapter” is changed from the original “grass” on the basis of the meaning; “Kidney” is changed from the original “worthy” on the same basis. In Yang’s commentary on Difficulty Sixty-Seven, as quoted in Collected Commentaries, “great” reads “enter.” “Beautiful” may be an error for “thus,” and “flowing valley” for “Yin Valley.” “Two intervals” is changed from the original “three questions” on the basis of the meaning; “source” is changed from “transport point” on the same basis. “Combine with Lesser Sea, source” is changed from the original “combine with the river and Lesser Sea” on the basis of the meaning. “Sunken valley” is changed from the original “hidden valley” on the basis of the meaning. The character “combine” was originally omitted and is supplied from the context. “Valley” is changed from the original “appearance” on the basis of the meaning. “Thus” is changed from the original “nourishment” in accordance with The Original Meaning.

“Wood” is changed from the original “Water”; the annotator argues that well points belong to Wood. In Yu’s commentary on Difficulty Sixty-Eight, as quoted in Collected Commentaries, “governs” reads “Earth”; “gives birth” may be an error for “governs.” After “twelve,” Collected Commentaries adds four words: “thirteen items in all.” “Why” is changed from the original “same” on the basis of the meaning. In the corresponding commentary below, “time” should read “hold,” though it may have originally read “hold.” After “outside,” The Original Meaning supplies the character “needle.” “Broad” may be an error for “transmit.” After “intermediate practitioner,” Collected Commentaries adds “treats existing illness.” The original text suggests that “deficiency” should read “excess.” In Ding’s commentary on Difficulty Seventy-Nine, as quoted in Collected Commentaries, “Hu” reads “clarity.” After “inside,” The Original Meaning supplies the character “needle.” In Ding’s commentary on Difficulty Eighty, as quoted in Collected Commentaries, “human time” reads “human pulse,” and “calm” reads “acupoint.” After “say,” Collected Commentaries supplies the character “without.” The character “remainder” was originally omitted and is supplied in accordance with The Original Meaning. Finally, before “borrow,” The Original Meaning includes an additional passage whose general meaning is: “However, the illness spoken of here does not refer to the cun-kou pulse; rather, it means that illness itself is divided into deficiency and excess.”