HJ V02 Living by the Seasons -The Yellow Emperor’s Classic for Modern Life
HJ02
Health & Wellbeing · Understand Chinese Medicine
The Yellow Emperor's Classic for Modern Life
Ancient Wisdom for Health, Balance and Living Well
Huangdi Neijing · Suwen Volume 2
The Great Treatise on Regulating the Spirit with the Four Seasons
Fang Tianliang
Volume 2, revised draft with practice section · October 2026
About This Series
The Yellow Emperor's Classic for Modern Life is Fang Tianliang's series of ebooks on the Suwen (Basic Questions) of the Huangdi Neijing, the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic.
The Suwen has eighty-one chapters. In this series each chapter is a book in its own right, with eighty-one books in Chinese and eighty-one in English. Each book can be read on its own, or together with others as a themed set or the complete collection.
Each book usually includes the classical text with a plain-language explanation, a reading of the chapter, what modern medicine says on related topics, practical suggestions for everyday life, and the warning signs that mean you should seek medical help promptly. The concepts of Chinese medicine in these books are the theoretical language of a traditional system; they are not modern medical diagnoses, and nothing here replaces diagnosis and treatment by a doctor.
This book: Huangdi Neijing · Suwen, Volume 2 of 81. It contains Chapter 2 of the Suwen, The Great Treatise on Regulating the Spirit with the Four Seasons.
Previous: Volume 1, The Years Granted by Heaven; Next: Volume 3, Keeping the Fire Alight.
A bilingual list of all eighty-one volumes appears in the appendix at the end of this book.
How the eighty-one chapters of the Suwen fit together
The grouping below is this series' own reading guide, not a division found in the ancient text.
Chapters | Main themes |
1–4 | The way of nurturing life, and humanity in harmony with heaven and earth: from Shang Gu Tian Zhen Lun to Jin Kui Zhen Yan Lun |
5–12 | Yin and yang, the organs and their outward signs: from Yin Yang Ying Xiang Da Lun to Yi Fa Fang Yi Lun |
13–30 | Diagnosis, principles of treatment and the channels: from Yi Jing Bian Qi Lun to Yangming Mai Jie Pian |
31–48 | Common disorders: fever, malarial illness, cough, pain, abdominal disorders, back pain, wind, bi, wei, jue and unusual illnesses |
49–65 | Channels, points and needling: from Mai Jie Pian to Biao Ben Bing Chuan Lun |
66–74 | The doctrine of the five movements and six qi: from Tian Yuan Ji Da Lun to Zhi Zhen Yao Da Lun (Chapters 72 and 73 are "lost chapters") |
75–81 | The way of medicine and the physician's character: from Zhu Zhi Jiao Lun to Jie Jing Wei Lun |
Suwen · Volume 2 Living by the Seasons
— Birth in spring, growth in summer, gathering in autumn, storing in winter: how do we settle body and mind?
是故圣人不治已病治未病，不治已乱治未乱。
"The sage does not treat illness that has already arisen, but illness that has not yet arisen; does not put right disorder that has already broken out, but disorder that has not yet begun."
— Suwen, Chapter 2
Opening: A summer that never ends
In Vancouver in November, it is dark soon after four in the afternoon.
Lily Lin is thirty-two and works for a technology company in Vancouver, Canada. (Lily and her story are a composite, fictional example used throughout this volume.) Every day brings a steady stream of new tasks, client messages and reports. Technology has made her work more efficient, but it has also made it far easier for work to spill over into the evening.
The office lights are just as bright in December as in June, and her phone buzzes from early morning until late at night. She often feels she has to keep pushing forward, as if the year were one long, busy summer with no quiet autumn for harvest and no winter for rest.
Her body does not seem to agree. Every year, as autumn deepens, she feels unusually tired. She cannot get up in the morning, yet cannot sleep at night. Her mood sinks, nothing seems worth the effort, and she finds herself reaching for sweet things. She assumes she simply lacks discipline, so she sets her alarm earlier and drinks more coffee.
One evening her grandmother, who lives in Jiangxi province in southern China, sends her a voice message: "Lily, it's Lidong today, the start of winter. Go to bed early, and don't get up until the sun is out."
The words stayed with her. Only later did she come across the same advice in the Huangdi Neijing, written more than two thousand years ago: "In the three months of winter … go to bed early and rise late, and wait for the sunlight." The ancient authors lived very differently from us, but the line made her ask, for the first time, a serious question: must the rhythm of a human life always follow the rhythm of machines?
In this volume we read that text: the second chapter of the Huangdi Neijing, devoted entirely to the seasons and the mind.
◆ Did you know? Lidong, "the beginning of winter", is one of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms, the traditional Chinese calendar that divides the year into 24 periods of about fifteen days, each named after a change in weather or nature. In 2016 UNESCO added the Twenty-Four Solar Terms to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Many Chinese families, like Lily's grandmother, still mark them with seasonal food and small changes in routine. |
1. What this chapter is about
Where it sits, and what the title means
The Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic) has two parts. The first, the Suwen or "Basic Questions", is a series of dialogues on health, nature and medicine. This treatise is the second chapter of the Suwen, coming straight after the one we read in Volume 1 of this book. There, the ancient authors said that long life rests on "following yin and yang, living in harmony with sound practices, eating and drinking in moderation, and keeping regular hours". But what does "following yin and yang" mean in daily life? The second chapter gives a simple answer: follow the four seasons.
The Chinese title, Siqi Tiaoshen Dalun, can be taken apart word by word:
• Siqi, "the four qi": the qualities of the four seasons — the warmth of spring, the heat of summer, the coolness of autumn and the cold of winter.
• Tiao, "to regulate": to adjust and harmonise, not to fight or control.
• Shen, "spirit": more than what we now call mood or attention. In the Huangdi Neijing's view of life, shen also refers to the activity of the spirit that animates a living being and holds its functions together from within. It cannot simply be equated with "feelings" in the sense of modern psychology.
• Dalun, "great treatise": a discussion of first principles.
Put together, the treatise is not a seasonal recipe book. It asks how human beings, living amid the changes of heaven, earth and the four seasons, can settle the body, the daily rhythm and the spirit. The ancient authors did not see people as separate from heaven and earth. Just as the seasons move through birth, growth, gathering and storing, people need to know when to expand and when to draw in, when to act and when to rest. The text offers practical advice for daily life, but it also carries a deeper traditional view of what a life is.
To read "regulating the spirit" as no more than "be cheerful in spring, keep your temper in summer, relax in autumn and sleep more in winter" would be to read the classic too shallowly. It reminds us that the human spirit is not a tool to be switched on and off at will. When the world outside changes, the life within also needs to find its footing. Following the seasons is not passive obedience to the weather, nor does it take away human choice. It means seeing the moment clearly, and then knowing when to act and when to hold back.
"Nature" here is also more than scenery. The Daoist phrase dao fa ziran, "the Way follows what is so of itself", stresses that things move according to their own nature and inner order. Drawing on this idea to understand the treatise does not mean that every line of the Laozi and the Suwen belongs to one theoretical system. It simply points out that both insist human beings cannot freely cut themselves off from the rhythms of heaven and earth.
How the text is organised
The treatise is short and falls into five parts:
• the right way to live in each of the four seasons, and what happens if we go against it;
• what befalls all living things when heaven and earth themselves fall out of order;
• a summary of how going against the seasons affects the body;
• the turning point of the whole text: "nourish yang in spring and summer, nourish yin in autumn and winter";
• a closing passage on preventing illness before it arises.
A note on sources: quotations follow the standard received text of the Suwen (annotated by Wang Bing in the Tang dynasty and revised by Lin Yi and colleagues in the Song). The English renderings are the author's own and aim at clarity rather than literal word-for-word translation. Some characters differ between editions; these are noted where they matter.
2. The four seasons: text, meaning and key points
The heart of the treatise is four short passages, one for each season. Each follows the same pattern: first the state of heaven and earth, then how people should arrange their days, then how they should hold their minds, and finally the price of ignoring all this. Read together, they are something like a seasonal operating manual for the human being.
A note: the spring, summer, autumn and winter of the text should be understood according to the actual climate where you live. The seasons are reversed between the northern and southern hemispheres, and climates differ widely even within one hemisphere, so the same months cannot simply be applied everywhere.
Spring: "unfolding the old"
春三月，此谓发陈，天地俱生，万物以荣，夜卧早起，广步于庭，被发缓形，以使志生，生而勿杀，予而勿夺，赏而勿罚，此春气之应，养生之道也。逆之则伤肝，夏为寒变，奉长者少。
"The three months of spring are called 'unfolding the old'. Heaven and earth come to life together, and all things flourish. Go to bed a little later and rise early. Walk with long strides about the courtyard; let down your hair and loosen your clothes, so that the will may come to life. Give life and do not kill; give and do not take away; reward and do not punish. This is how to respond to the qi of spring, the way of nourishing birth. To go against it harms the liver; in summer it turns into cold disorders, and there is little to support the growth of summer."
Three points stand out.
• "Go to bed a little later." The original says "lie down at night", but the contrast is with winter. It means going to bed somewhat later than in the dark months, not staying up into the small hours.
• "Let down your hair and loosen your clothes." People in ancient China normally wore their hair tied up and their robes belted. In spring, the text says, loosen up. Today we might say: do not spend the whole day locked rigid in an office chair.
• "Give life and do not kill; give and do not take away; reward and do not punish." These lines are about plants and animals, but they also describe an attitude towards others and towards ourselves. The spring mind encourages; it does not find fault.
Lessons for today: spring is the time to start a project, learn a skill or try a new tool. With colleagues, children, and ourselves, lean towards praise rather than punishment. A newly sprouted idea is most at risk on the day someone first gives it a score.
Summer: "luxuriant growth"
夏三月，此谓蕃秀，天地气交，万物华实，夜卧早起，无厌于日，使志无怒，使华英成秀，使气得泄，若所爱在外，此夏气之应，养长之道也。逆之则伤心，秋为痎疟，奉收者少，冬至重病。
"The three months of summer are called 'luxuriant growth'. The qi of heaven and earth meet, and all things flower and bear fruit. Go to bed late and rise early; do not resent the long days. Let the will be free of anger; let the spirit come into full bloom; let the qi flow outward, as if what you love were outside. This is how to respond to the qi of summer, the way of nourishing growth. To go against it harms the heart; in autumn it turns into intermittent fevers, there is little to support the gathering of autumn, and in winter illness may grow serious."
• "Do not resent the long days." Do not hide from the sun or complain about the heat. Summer is meant to be lived outdoors.
• "Let the will be free of anger." Hot weather frays tempers. The text gives a specific warning: in summer, watch your temper.
• "As if what you love were outside." Perhaps the most poetic line in the treatise. The summer mind faces outward: open, sociable, glad to connect.
Lessons for today: summer suits outward-facing work — meeting clients, collaborating across teams, travelling, gathering in person. But remember "free of anger": heat plus information overload makes online arguments very easy to start. Before posting that sharp reply, go and get a cold drink.
Autumn: "gathering and settling"
秋三月，此谓容平，天气以急，地气以明，早卧早起，与鸡俱兴，使志安宁，以缓秋刑，收敛神气，使秋气平，无外其志，使肺气清，此秋气之应，养收之道也。逆之则伤肺，冬为飧泄，奉藏者少。
"The three months of autumn are called 'gathering and settling'. The qi of heaven turns brisk, and the qi of earth turns clear. Go to bed early and rise early, getting up with the cockerel. Let the will be calm and settled, to soften the harshness of autumn. Gather in the spirit and qi, so that the qi of autumn is balanced; do not let the will stray outward, so that the lung qi stays clear. This is how to respond to the qi of autumn, the way of nourishing gathering. To go against it harms the lungs; in winter it turns into diarrhoea with undigested food, and there is little to support the storing of winter."
• "Get up with the cockerel." Bedtime moves from summer's "late" to autumn's "early". The daily rhythm begins to draw in.
• "Soften the harshness of autumn." Ancient Chinese thought linked autumn with judgement and cutting back: leaves fall, crops are harvested, and in imperial times executions were carried out in autumn. People feel melancholy. Hence the advice to keep the mind calm.
• "Do not let the will stray outward." The exact opposite of summer's "as if what you love were outside". The autumn mind turns back inward.
Lessons for today: autumn is for review. Look back on the year's projects; cancel subscriptions you no longer use; delete the apps you never open; clear the inbox. Harvest is not only about gathering more. It is also about letting go.
Winter: "closing and storing"
冬三月，此谓闭藏，水冰地坼，无扰乎阳，早卧晚起，必待日光，使志若伏若匿，若有私意，若已有得，去寒就温，无泄皮肤，使气亟夺，此冬气之应，养藏之道也。逆之则伤肾，春为痿厥，奉生者少。
"The three months of winter are called 'closing and storing'. Water freezes and the ground cracks. Do not disturb the yang. Go to bed early and rise late, and wait for the sunlight. Let the will be as if hidden, as if concealed, as if holding a private thought, as if already content with what you have gained. Leave the cold and seek warmth; do not let the skin open and sweat, which would rob the qi again and again. This is how to respond to the qi of winter, the way of nourishing storage. To go against it harms the kidneys; in spring it turns into weakness and fainting disorders, and there is little to support the birth of spring."
• "Go to bed early and rise late, and wait for the sunlight." In its traditional setting, this stresses going along with winter's short days and long nights, and the importance of storing. People today still need enough regular sleep. Those who work early shifts, care for family members, or live at high latitudes — where a winter sunrise can come after eight o'clock — need not treat "don't get up until sunrise" as a fixed rule.
• "As if hidden, as if concealed … as if already content." Three "as ifs" capture the winter mind: quiet, inward-looking, self-sufficient. No rush to prove anything to anyone.
• "Do not let the skin open and sweat." The original reflects the traditional idea that winter is a time for storing, not spending. Today it should not be turned into a mechanical rule such as "never sweat heavily in winter". How hard to exercise depends on your constitution, the temperature and your health. Afterwards, keep warm and drink enough fluids.
Lessons for today: winter is the human "low-power mode". Low power is not shutdown; it is recharging. It is the season to read a long book, think through a hard question, or write something with no deadline. Hand the frantic work to the machines and keep the deep work for yourself.
The four seasons at a glance
Season | Name in the text | Daily rhythm | State of mind | Associated organ system (TCM) | If ignored |
Spring | "Unfolding the old" | Later to bed, early to rise; walk in the courtyard | Let the will come to life; reward, don't punish | Liver | Cold disorders in summer; little to support growth |
Summer | "Luxuriant growth" | Late to bed, early to rise; don't resent the sun | Free of anger; as if what you love were outside | Heart | Fevers in autumn; little to support gathering |
Autumn | "Gathering and settling" | Early to bed, early to rise, with the cockerel | Calm and settled; don't let the will stray | Lungs | Diarrhoea in winter; little to support storing |
Winter | "Closing and storing" | Early to bed, late to rise; wait for sunlight | Hidden, concealed, content | Kidneys | Weakness in spring; little to support new life |
A word of caution about the "organ" column. Liver, heart, lungs and kidneys are terms in the theoretical language of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). They describe functional systems, not the anatomical organs of modern medicine, and modern research has not confirmed specific claims such as "neglecting spring harms the liver".
The most interesting column is the last one: "little to support …". How well we live through each season determines what we bring into the next. A poor spring leaves less for summer's growth; a poor summer leaves less for autumn's harvest, and so on. The seasons are not four separate boxes but a single chain, each link carrying weight from the one before. In modern terms, it is a system with dependencies over time.
Yet the seasons are not only about weather. They also offer a mirror for the changes of a human life. When things are going well, it is easy to treat constant expansion as normal; then redundancy, illness or bereavement arrives, and life seems to stop dead. The ancient idea that birth, growth, gathering and storing each have their time can help us see that drawing in and pausing are not necessarily failure. Sometimes they are a stage we need, to protect life and to wait for conditions to change.
But life's hardships do not arrive on the calendar. Someone who has lost their job cannot stop looking for work because it is "winter storing time"; a family carer cannot replace practical support with "a settled heart". What we can genuinely learn is this: act where action is needed; where, for now, we can do nothing, spare ourselves needless self-blame; and do our best to protect the basics — eating, sleeping, moving, and staying connected to other people.
◆ Did you know? "Getting up with the cockerel" is more than a figure of speech. In 2013 researchers at Nagoya University in Japan reported in the journal Current Biology that a rooster's dawn crow is driven mainly by its internal body clock: even kept in constant dim light, roosters went on crowing at roughly the same time each day, and the highest-ranking bird tended to crow first. The ancient habit of telling time by the cockerel had a biological basis. |
3. When heaven and earth lose their order: a passage often skipped
After the four seasons, the text turns to heaven and earth themselves:
天气，清净光明者也，藏德不止，故不下也。……交通不表，万物命故不施，不施则名木多死。
"The qi of heaven is pure, still and bright; it stores its virtue without ceasing, and so does not descend. … If communication between heaven and earth is not made manifest, the life of all things is not sustained, and when it is not sustained, even great trees die."
And then:
恶气不发，风雨不节，白露不下，则菀槁不荣。贼风数至，暴雨数起，天地四时不相保，与道相失，则未央绝灭。唯圣人从之，故身无奇病，万物不失，生气不竭。
"When foul qi is not dispersed, wind and rain come out of season, and the dew does not fall, then all things wither and fail to flourish. When harmful winds come again and again and violent storms arise one after another, when heaven, earth and the four seasons no longer support one another and lose the Way, then life is cut off before its time. Only the sage follows the Way; so his body has no strange illnesses, nothing is lost, and the vital qi is never exhausted."
This passage is difficult, and commentators have read it in different ways. The broad sense is this: heaven should be clear and bright, holding its goodness without display. But if the qi of heaven and earth cannot circulate between them, clouds do not form properly, rain and dew do not fall, living things are not nourished, and even the tallest trees die. When wind and rain lose their rhythm and storms come one after another, the seasons stop holding each other in balance, and life is cut short. Only those who live in accord with the Way stay free of strange illnesses.
Many popular books skip this passage because it seems to have little to do with personal health. Yet it shows how wide the ancient view was. The authors were not only concerned with how one person sleeps. They cared whether the whole system — heaven, earth and humanity — was exchanging freely.
Two lessons follow for today.
First, personal health sits inside an environment. When the environment itself is "out of season" — the natural world, but also the information environment or the workplace — individual willpower alone is often not enough.
Second, a healthy system depends on circulation. Heaven and earth must exchange their qi before the rain can fall. A team, an organisation, or any system in which people and AI work together also needs information and feedback to flow freely. When decisions from the top never reach the front line and experience from the front line never reaches the top, we have a modern version of "communication is not made manifest".
This is a modern analogy drawn from an ancient text. It does not mean the Huangdi Neijing put forward a theory of management or of artificial intelligence. The original passage is first and foremost about the movement of qi between heaven and earth and the life of all things.
4. "Nourish yang in spring and summer, yin in autumn and winter": the turning point
Having described the cost of going against the seasons, the text gives its best-known line:
夫四时阴阳者，万物之根本也。所以圣人春夏养阳，秋冬养阴，以从其根，故与万物沉浮于生长之门。逆其根，则伐其本，坏其真矣。
"The yin and yang of the four seasons are the root of all things. So the sage nourishes yang in spring and summer and nourishes yin in autumn and winter, to follow the root; and so he rises and sinks with all things at the gate of life and growth. To go against the root is to cut away the foundation and spoil what is true."
How it has been read
For two thousand years these eight Chinese characters, chun xia yang yang, qiu dong yang yin, have been read in several ways:
• A dietary reading: eat somewhat cooler foods in spring and summer and somewhat warmer foods in autumn and winter, to keep yin and yang in balance.
• An "inside and outside" reading: in spring and summer, yang energy rises to the surface, so the interior is relatively short of it and needs nourishing; in autumn and winter yang withdraws inward, and yin needs care.
• A reading based on yin and yang rooting each other: nourishing yang in spring and summer lays the ground for autumn and winter, and nourishing yin in autumn and winter lays the ground for spring and summer.
• A plain reading: in spring and summer, go with the momentum of growth; in autumn and winter, go with the momentum of storing. This is simply what the four seasonal passages have already said.
These readings need not exclude one another. For most readers, the key phrase is "to follow the root". The cycle of the seasons is itself the root of life.
Later Chinese medicine also traced the idea of "treating winter illnesses in summer" back to this line. A well-known example is sanfu tie, herbal patches applied to the skin during the hottest days of summer, popular in China for conditions such as asthma. The evidence for these practices is still limited and of mixed quality, and some people develop skin irritation or allergic reactions. Anyone interested should consult a qualified practitioner, and people with asthma, COPD or other long-term conditions should never use them in place of their prescribed treatment.
"The sage practises it; the fool wears it"
A little later comes a line that rewards close reading:
道者，圣人行之，愚者佩之。
"As for the Way: the sage practises it; the fool wears it."
Scholars disagree about the character pei. One view is that it stands for a similar-sounding word meaning "to turn one's back on". Another takes it literally: "to wear", as one wears a jade ornament on the belt. On this reading, the fool carries wisdom around as decoration and never puts it into practice.
If we take the second reading, the line could have been written yesterday.
Many of us wear a smartwatch and keep a sleep app on our phones. Every morning we receive a detailed report: minutes of deep sleep, heart-rate variability, a stress score. The data tell us clearly that we slept badly again. We close the report and stay up late again that night.
This is the modern "fool who wears the Way": health worn on the wrist but not lived in the day. Data alone never made anyone healthier. Only action does.
5. What modern science sees, and what it does not
It helps to keep three things apart. First, the traditional view of life: through long observation of heaven, earth, the seasons and the human body, the authors of the Huangdi Neijing came to see human life as corresponding to the seasons. Second, modern scientific findings: research on biological rhythms has found that light and seasonal change are linked to certain physiological processes. Third, the author's own modern interpretations, such as the analogies to workplaces and technology in this book. These are not the same kind of claim. The first two belong to different theoretical systems, and modern research has not confirmed everything the Suwen says; the third is reflection, not evidence.
There really is a clock inside us
The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three American scientists, Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young, for discovering the molecular mechanisms that control circadian rhythms. Working with fruit flies, they identified a set of genes that make certain proteins inside cells rise and fall on a cycle of about 24 hours.
Later research found that almost every organ and cell in the human body has its own clock, and that the most important signal for setting these clocks is light. Morning daylight helps keep the clock on time. Bright light at night, especially the shorter-wavelength light from screens, suppresses melatonin, the hormone that signals night-time, and tells the brain it is still day.
In broad terms, this fits the spirit of "rise early" and "wait for the sunlight": our daily rhythm works best when it is aligned with the rhythm of light.
Our genes have seasons too
Beyond the daily cycle, is there a yearly one?
In 2015 a team at the University of Cambridge published a study in Nature Communications. They analysed blood and fat-tissue samples from more than 16,000 people in the UK, Germany, the United States, Australia, The Gambia and elsewhere. Of the 22,822 genes they tested, more than 5,000 — nearly a quarter — showed activity that changed with the time of year, some peaking in winter and others in summer. In European winters, the immune system's gene activity leaned towards a more inflammatory profile. Patterns in the southern hemisphere were reversed, and in The Gambia, where the main seasonal contrast is wet versus dry, changes in immune cells tracked the rainy season.
The study is fascinating, but its limits should be stated plainly. It was observational, so it shows association, not cause. Much of the data came from existing research cohorts. And it did not test whether any particular lifestyle practice makes a difference. The researchers themselves said the mechanism behind the seasonal changes was unclear, though light and temperature were possible cues.
Winter low mood is real
Lily's autumn pattern — tiredness, low mood, oversleeping, craving sweet food — resembles a condition called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). In the UK, for example, the NHS describes it as a type of depression that comes and goes in a seasonal pattern, usually more noticeable in autumn and winter and easing in spring and summer. Approaches include lifestyle measures, light therapy, talking therapies and, after assessment by a doctor, antidepressant medication.
It is important to be clear: only a doctor can say whether someone has SAD. Feeling a bit sluggish or flat in winter is not an illness. But if low mood persists and affects work or daily life, see your doctor — rather than pushing through, and rather than relying on seasonal living alone.
Two theoretical languages
Modern rhythm research supports a general direction: the body does change across the day and the year, and sleep patterns and light exposure matter for health. It has not confirmed specific claims such as "going against spring harms the liver and leads to cold disorders in summer".
TCM terms such as liver, heart, lungs and kidneys, or yang qi and yin qi, belong to one theoretical language. Genes, hormones and immune cells belong to another. The two languages deserve mutual respect, but claims about diagnosis, effectiveness and side effects should all be tested by research. The safest way to read a classic is as a source of insight, not as a set of proven conclusions.
◆ Did you know? In Vancouver, for example, there are only a little over eight hours of daylight around the winter solstice, and more than sixteen around the summer solstice. Daylight more than doubles between the darkest and brightest times of year. For people living at high latitudes, the seasonal contrasts described in the treatise are even sharper than in the central Chinese plains where it was written. |
6. Going against the seasons in the age of AI: how we became an endless summer
The ancient text warns: "To go against it brings disaster." Two thousand years ago, going against the seasons was hard. After dark there was only lamplight; in winter you could only add layers. Today it is easier than ever. It has become the default setting.
Light has erased the night
Electric light, screens and 24-hour shops have taken the darkness out of night. We can scroll videos at two in the morning and be woken by bright light at six on a winter's day. Our body clocks still run on the sun; our lives run on the grid.
Machines don't sleep. People do.
AI systems can run day and night. That is one of their strengths. The trouble is that people unconsciously start to keep up with them: messages can arrive at any time, tasks can be assigned at any time, and the faster you reply, the more "professional" you seem. So people are drawn into the machine's rhythm.
But people are not machines. When a machine stops, it restarts. When a person stops, it is to repair. Sleep, rest and a slower season are not the enemies of productivity; they are what make it sustainable.
Spring and summer only, please
Many organisations measure success by one rule: every quarter must beat the last. In effect, this demands a year made only of spring and summer — always "unfolding", always "luxuriant growth", never "gathering", and certainly never "storing".
The treatise saw this coming: "little to support the gathering", "little to support the storing". Without gathering, nothing accumulates; without storing, there is nothing to draw on when the new year begins. This is as true of a team or a company as of a person. Sprinting without end tends to end in burnout, staff turnover and a dried-up pipeline of ideas.
The algorithm's "harmful winds and violent storms"
Recommendation algorithms are often built to keep us watching for as long as possible. So information arrives like the treatise's "harmful winds that come again and again, violent storms one after another": a new video, a new trending story, a new row. The mind is always outward — not in summer's gentle "as if what you love were outside", but pulled this way and that, unable to come home.
Winter's "as if hidden, as if concealed … as if already content" is almost impossible in front of a phone that never stops buzzing.
Constant temperature, food out of season
Air conditioning, central heating and imported fruit all year round have loosened our tie to the seasons. That is not in itself a bad thing. Stable indoor temperatures protect older people and babies; a global food supply has improved nutrition. The point is not to reject modern life, but to enjoy its comforts while still knowing what season it is, and still giving our bodies a chance to feel it.
Turning it round: AI that helps us follow the seasons
AI need not only pull us away from the seasons. It can also help us live by them:
• smart lighting that brightens and dims with sunrise and sunset, turning warmer and softer in the evening;
• calendars planned by season: new learning and projects in spring, collaboration and travel in summer, review and clearing out in autumn, deep thinking and writing in winter;
• letting AI take on the repetitive, urgent, round-the-clock parts of the work, while people keep the parts that need reflection and judgement;
• a "winter mode" for our devices: earlier Do Not Disturb, notifications bundled into a single daily summary.
In short: let the machines be the city that never sleeps, and let people remain creatures of the seasons.
7. Preventing illness before it arises: predictive health, two thousand years ago
The treatise ends with one of the most famous passages in the history of Chinese medicine:
夫病已成而后药之，乱已成而后治之，譬犹渴而穿井，斗而铸锥，不亦晚乎！
"To give medicine only after illness has formed, to restore order only after disorder has broken out, is like digging a well when you are already thirsty, or forging weapons when the battle has begun. Is that not too late?"
The force of this passage is that it shifts medicine's centre of gravity from cure to prevention. Later physicians developed zhi weibing, "treating what is not yet illness", into three layers usually summed up as: prevent illness before it starts, stop it worsening once it has started, and prevent relapse after recovery. (These three layers are a later formulation, not words from this treatise.)
AI makes it possible to see illness coming
Wearable devices can now track heart rate, sleep and activity around the clock. Risk models built on large datasets can estimate a person's chances of developing certain diseases. In England, for example, the NHS Health Check offers adults in a certain age range an assessment of their risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other conditions. In a sense, humanity finally has tools for seeing illness before it arrives.
Seeing is not doing
Back to "the sage practises it; the fool wears it". A risk report or a health dashboard that never turns into action is just another ornament on the belt. Preventing illness has never depended on how precisely we measure, but on whether we actually change how we live.
Prevention should not turn into seeing illness everywhere
There is an opposite danger: treating every flicker in the data as a warning sign and sliding into anxiety. A slightly lower sleep score keeps us awake worrying; a briefly raised heart rate sends us searching symptoms online. Over-monitoring can itself unsettle the mind, which defeats the whole purpose of "regulating the spirit".
The spirit of prevention is calm foresight, not tense vigilance.
Preventing disorder before it begins
The original text speaks not only of illness but also of disorder. That widens the view from the individual to society. As AI transforms our world, many challenges — changes in the job market, a disordered information ecosystem, the safety risks of powerful technology — deserve serious thought and preparation now, before disorder has broken out. Waiting until problems explode is digging the well when we are already thirsty.
8. Lily's year of the seasons
After reading the treatise, Lily decided to try a small experiment: for one year, she would try living by the seasons.
In winter, once it was light, she found time to go out for a fifteen-minute walk every day to get daylight in her eyes. Her phone switched to Do Not Disturb at ten every evening, and she aimed to be asleep by eleven. She also booked an appointment with her family doctor and described the pattern she noticed each autumn and winter. The doctor assessed her and talked through lifestyle changes and other options.
In spring she signed up for a course she had wanted to take for years, and started a weekly "one small win" shout-out in her team.
In summer she moved the team meeting to the park twice, and spent weekends walking by the sea.
In autumn she led a full-year review with her team, closed three projects that were going nowhere, and cancelled seven subscriptions she never used.
A year later, she said the biggest change was not any single number but a new sense of seasons. "I used to feel I was always sprinting. Now I know some seasons are for running, and some are for gathering in and storing up. When I'm tired, I don't tell myself off for lacking discipline. I ask: what season is it?"
Please note: this remains the fictional example that runs through this volume. It is not a real patient's experience and cannot be taken as evidence that anything works. Everyone is different. Persistent low mood, insomnia or other physical or mental health problems should be assessed by a professional.
9. A seasonal toolkit
The suggestions below translate the spirit of the treatise into everyday habits. They are general lifestyle ideas, not treatments. If you have a long-term condition such as diabetes, kidney disease or heart disease, or take regular medication, check with your doctor before changing your diet or exercise.
Daily rhythm and state of mind
Season | Daily rhythm | State of mind | Digital life |
Spring | Enough regular sleep; walk outdoors in the daytime; loose, comfortable clothes | Encourage yourself and others; make room for new ideas | Learn a new tool or skill; set your goals for the year |
Summer | Enough regular sleep; get outdoors; sun protection and plenty of fluids | Watch your temper; connect and collaborate | Wait ten minutes before sending an angry message; meet people in person |
Autumn | Enough regular sleep; extra layers morning and evening | Quieten down; simplify; accept autumn melancholy | Review the year; clear out apps, subscriptions and inbox |
Winter | Enough regular sleep; get daylight once it is light; keep warm; exercise to a light sweat | Quiet, inward, content; no need to prove anything | Earlier Do Not Disturb; bundled notifications; long blocks for reading and thinking |
For daily rhythm, the priority in this table is enough regular sleep; then adjust moderately to local daylight, work and family life. There is no need to change your sleep times every season. For the original meaning of "go to bed late and rise early" and "go to bed early and rise late", see section 2.
The kitchen shelf (using seasonal produce in the UK as an example)
• Spring: bean sprouts, spring onions, spinach; British asparagus, usually in season from late April to June. A later Chinese saying advises "less sour, more sweet" in spring.
• Summer: cucumber, courgettes, mung bean soup, a traditional Chinese summer cooler; British strawberries and raspberries. Cold drinks in moderation.
• Autumn: pears, apples; in Chinese kitchens, lily bulb and white fungus soups. Drink enough water when the air turns dry.
• Winter: root vegetables such as swede, carrots, parsnips and squash; slow-cooked stews; warming ginger and jujube (Chinese red date) tea.
The heart of seasonal eating is simple: eat what is in season, eat it fresh, and adjust between cooling and warming foods. It is not that a particular food "nourishes" a particular organ.
Seeing a TCM practitioner
If you would like seasonal advice tailored to your own constitution, you can consult a qualified TCM practitioner. Using the UK as an example:
• There is currently no single statutory register for TCM practitioners in the UK. Check whether a practitioner belongs to a recognised professional body and ask about their training.
• When choosing a herbal product, look for the Traditional Herbal Registration (THR) mark on the packaging.
• A qualified practitioner may consider particular Chinese herbal products based on their assessment, but always follow the product leaflet for uses and cautions, and do not choose such products for yourself. If you take any prescribed medicines, tell your doctor and pharmacist to avoid interactions.
10. Putting this chapter into practice: shifting gear with the seasons
The toolkit in the previous section listed, season by season, things you could try in your daily rhythm, your state of mind and your digital life. These are directions to choose from, not things you must do every season. This section helps you pick one and make it part of your life.
Classic text: Spring: "go to bed a little later and rise early; walk with long strides about the courtyard." Summer: "do not resent the long days." Autumn: "go to bed early and rise early … let the will be calm and settled." Winter: "go to bed early and rise late, and wait for the sunlight … let the will be as if hidden" (see section 2 for the full passages and their meaning).
Interpretation: All four passages are about shifting gear: as heaven and earth change, our daily rhythm and our state of mind change with them. They also form a chain, so how well we live through one season affects what we carry into the next. A seasonal habit, then, is not something we set once and never touch again. At each change of season, it is worth looking at it afresh.
What you can do today: The methods below come from modern research on behaviour change and from everyday experience. Fang Tianliang has brought them together in the spirit of this chapter; they are not exercises laid down in the Inner Classic.
Three ways in: choose one first
Of the three ways in below, please choose just one — ideally the one that fits the season you are in now.
• Daily rhythm through the seasons: put enough regular sleep first, then adjust moderately to local daylight, work and family life; there is no need to change your sleep times every season. In autumn and winter, for example, when your planned wind-down time comes, slow the pace and cut down on stimulation, so that the day can gradually "draw in".
• Daylight and the outdoors: "walk about the courtyard", "do not resent the long days" and "wait for the sunlight" are all about our relationship with daylight. For example, once it is light, find some time to be outdoors and let your eyes see natural daylight. Section 5 of this volume explains that daylight is an important signal for keeping the body clock on time, and the NHS advice on seasonal low mood also includes getting as much natural daylight as you can and going outside in the daytime every day.
• State of mind through the seasons: in spring, more reward and less punishment; in summer, "free of anger"; in autumn, "calm and settled", simplifying; in winter, "as if hidden", with no rush to prove anything. Autumn and winter "gathering" and "storing" depend on your circumstances. If your diary is overfull, you can cut back on extra tasks and commitments and protect time to rest. If you spend long stretches alone, feel lonely or are low in mood, it matters instead to keep at least one contact or activity each week that you want to take part in. NHS advice on seasonal low mood also includes staying in touch with friends and family and keeping up your usual activities. "Storing" means looking after the spirit, not cutting yourself off from other people.
How do you choose? Ask yourself: at this time of year, where do I most often feel "something isn't right"? Is it that I can't stop in the evenings, that I stay indoors all day and rarely see anyone, or that my diary is crammed and my mind is always elsewhere? Then ask: which one am I confident I can start this week? If the answers differ, start with the second.
Why are seasonal habits so hard to keep up?
• The weather does not cooperate. You plan to go out every day, and it rains for a week; you plan to wind down earlier, and the early dark makes you want to curl up on the sofa. Plans are often made for good weather.
• Indoor life flattens the seasons. Lighting, heating and air conditioning keep home much the same all year, while our bodies still feel the change in daylight. Often we do not notice the season at all; we just feel "so tired lately".
• We mistake seasonal change for lack of discipline. When Lily, at the start of this volume, felt worn out in late autumn, her first response was to set earlier alarms and drink more coffee. Fighting the season often means the harder we push, the more tired we get.
• Festivals and the end of the year disrupt our rhythm. Autumn and winter are exactly when parties, holidays and year-end reviews pile up, and "gathering" and "storing" are hardest.
• There is no chance to restart when the season changes. A habit set in summer no longer fits in autumn, but we do not know what to change, so we drop it altogether.
So the methods below focus on two things: leaving room for weather and festivals; and, at each change of season, shifting gear on purpose.
Step one: make the action smaller
Way in | A goal that is too big | Where you can start |
Daily rhythm | Early to bed in winter, and up only when the sun rises | When your planned wind-down time comes (say, an hour before bed), switch from the main light to a small lamp and stop working |
Daylight and outdoors | An hour outdoors every day | Once it is light, pick a convenient time to walk outside for five minutes — for example, to the end of the street after lunch |
State of mind (overfull diary) | Be quiet and inward in winter | Each week, circle one evening in your diary and take on no extra tasks or engagements |
State of mind (often alone) | See more people in winter | Each week, keep one contact you want — for example, a phone call to an old friend |
Adjusting your daily rhythm does not mean changing your sleep times every season. Protecting enough regular sleep first, then putting effort into winding down before bed, is often easier. Time in daylight must come after it is light: at high latitudes in winter, it may still be dark after breakfast, so go out a little later in the day.
Step two: give the action a fixed "place"
Attach the action to something that already happens every day, in the form "When … , I will …":
• When I have finished lunch, I will put on my coat and walk to the end of the street and back.
• When my planned wind-down time comes, I will switch from the main light to a small lamp, as a reminder that the day is starting to draw in. In a high-latitude winter it gets dark too early to use nightfall as the signal.
• If your diary is overfull: when someone invites me out and the evening I circled this week is still free, I will keep it for myself first and look at other times.
• If you are often alone: when it is Wednesday afternoon, I will phone an old friend.
The most common obstacle at this time of year is the weather, so write your "If … , then …" plans in advance:
• If it is drizzling, then I will take an umbrella and walk half the distance.
• If the pavements are icy, the wind and rain are heavy, or I am not well enough to go out, then I will stand or sit for a while in a bright spot by the window. The text says "leave the cold and seek warmth": safety matters more than "keeping the chain going".
• If I cannot get out of this week's gathering, then I will move my "drawing in" evening to next week rather than cancel it.
Step three: change your surroundings so the season is visible
• Daylight and outdoors: hang your coat, umbrella and hat by the door so you do not have to look for them; move the seat you use most in the daytime close to a window.
• Daily rhythm: in autumn and winter, keep a warm-coloured lamp in the living room where it is easy to switch on; put bedding suited to the season on the bed, so that going to bed is something pleasant.
• State of mind: if your diary is overfull, write in your "gathering" and "storing" time first and fit other things around it; if you are often alone, write in your weekly contact or activity first.
You can let the season itself be a reminder, too: a seasonal plant on the windowsill, a bowl of seasonal fruit on the table. When we can see the season, we are more likely to remember that it is time to shift gear.
Step four: find another way to meet the original need
Staying indoors all day in autumn and winter, cramming the diary, wanting something sweet every evening — there is often a reason behind each. Simply telling yourself "don't" rarely lasts. First ask: what was this habit doing for me?
• Not wanting to go out, because it is cold and dark and there is no particular reason to: give the outing a small purpose — buying a newspaper at the corner shop, posting a letter, saying hello to a neighbour. With something to do, we are more willing to go.
• (If your diary is overfull) An overfull diary, because you find it hard to say no or are afraid of missing out: have a ready phrase: "This week isn't good for me — shall we get together next month?" It keeps the friendship and protects your "storing" time.
• Craving something sweet in winter, which is sometimes about wanting comfort and warmth: try a hot drink, a phone call or a warm bath instead. If the craving comes with persistent low mood and oversleeping, see sections 5 and 11 of this volume and consider asking your doctor for an assessment.
The replacement does not have to be perfect. As long as it meets part of the original need, the new habit is more likely to stay.
Bad weather or hectic days: have a "minimum version" ready
Usual version | Minimum version |
Once it is light, walk outside for five minutes | Once it is light, stand at the door for a minute or two if your body allows, and look at the sky |
An hour before bed, small lamp on and work stopped | Half an hour before bed, small lamp on and work stopped |
One full evening a week with no extra tasks | On that evening, at least finish an hour earlier |
A phone call or meeting each week that you want | A short message to say hello, and arrange to talk next week |
The minimum version is the same action done to a lesser degree, not a different action. If you manage the minimum version, the day counts. When you are unwell and need to rest, you can pause; there is no need to force yourself through it just to "keep the chain going".
One thing should be said clearly: standing at the door for a minute or two is only a small step to keep the habit going and make it easy to restart. It is not a "dose" that can be expected to improve mood or sleep. When the weather and your health allow, return to the usual version as far as you can.
When you stop: how to come back
Interruptions often come naturally with the seasons: a cold, a long spell of rain, the Christmas and New Year holidays, a trip to another time zone or even the other hemisphere.
Modern research has found that missing an occasional day does not noticeably affect how a habit forms, but being very inconsistent makes it hard to form one (see the references at the end of this volume). So after an interruption: do not make up for it, do not blame yourself, start again at the next opportunity with the minimum version, and write one line on your record about what interrupted you.
For interruptions you can see coming, such as holidays or travel, it helps to write a plan in advance, for example: "During the holidays I will do only the minimum version, and go back to the usual version on the first Monday in January." Knowing how you will come back makes coming back much easier.
Look back every seven days; shift gear every season
Every seven days, spend a few minutes looking over your record: how many times did I manage it (usual and minimum versions)? What tripped me up most often? Will I adjust one thing next week, or keep it as it is? What do I especially need to watch for next week?
To decide what comes next: if you are still often not managing it, make the action smaller or move it to a better-suited situation; if it already feels fairly easy, keep it as it is for a while longer, with no hurry to add more; if you have mostly been using the minimum version and the load feels light, try returning to the usual version; once the usual version feels easy, simply keep it up, with no need to keep adding tasks. Adjust only one thing at a time.
At each change of season, do a "gear-change check". Time it by the actual seasons where you live, or around the traditional Chinese markers of the beginning of spring, summer, autumn and winter; in the UK, the weeks when the clocks change at the end of March and the end of October are good reminders. If you live in the southern hemisphere, where the seasons are reversed, go by your local seasons. The gear-change check asks three questions:
• Which of last season's habits has become natural and should come with me into the next?
• Which no longer suits the new season and needs adjusting? For example, a summer walk after breakfast may need to become a walk after lunch, once it is light, in winter.
• For the new season, what one new way in, or one new action, will I choose?
The text says "little to support growth", "little to support gathering": the care we take in each season lays the ground for the next. The gear-change check is a moment at the turn of the season to take stock of what we are carrying forward.
One thing needs to be said clearly: seven days is only the interval for looking back, and the change of season only a time to adjust. Neither is a deadline for forming a habit. People differ widely in how long this takes; after an interruption, you can always start again at the next suitable opportunity.
An example from daily life: Margaret in Edinburgh
This is a new fictional example, separate from Lily's story.
Margaret is sixty-eight, a retired secondary-school teacher who lives alone in Edinburgh. Every winter she goes out less and less: in the mornings it is not light until nearly nine, by three or four in the afternoon it is dark again, and it is often windy and wet. She keeps the curtains drawn and the heating on; some days she does not set foot outside, and hardly speaks to anyone. "I'm just lazy in winter," she says.
After reading this chapter, she chose "daylight and the outdoors" from the three ways in. She had meant to go out after breakfast, but in winter it was often still dark when she finished eating. So she set her smallest action as: "When I have finished lunch, I will put on my coat and walk to the corner shop and back." It takes about five minutes there and back. Her minimum version: after lunch, open the front door, stand on the step for a minute or two and look at the sky.
She made two changes to her surroundings: she hung her coat, hat and umbrella by the door, and moved the armchair she sits in during the day from the corner of the living room to the window. She also gave the outing a purpose: buying a newspaper at the shop each day. Because she lives alone, she did not choose "fewer gatherings"; instead she wrote in her diary a weekly Sunday phone call to her daughter in London.
In her first seven days she managed the usual version three times and the minimum version three times; only one day did she do nothing. Looking back, she saw that every day she had stayed in was a rainy one. She did not blame herself; she added one "If … , then …" plan: "If it is drizzling, I will take an umbrella and walk there; if the wind and rain are heavy or the pavement is slippery, I will sit by the window and read the paper."
In the third week she caught a cold and rested at home for a few days, doing nothing. Once she was better, she did only the minimum version at first, and after a week went back to walking to the shop.
More than a month on, she does not go out every day, but "a walk after lunch" hardly needs a decision any more. She has got to know the shopkeeper, and at the shop she met another neighbour who also lives alone; they have agreed to walk in the nearby park together when the weather is fine.
In the week the clocks went forward at the end of March, she did her first gear-change check. The walk would come with her into spring; and since it was now light in the mornings, she changed just one thing, moving her walk to after breakfast.
If Margaret's low mood and oversleeping had not improved, she would have needed, as Lily did, to ask her family doctor for an assessment. Changing habits is no substitute for a medical assessment.
My seven-day record and gear-change check
You can copy the tables below into a notebook, or photocopy them. Each day takes only a minute or two; do the gear-change check once a season.
Before you start | My plan |
The season now |
|
The way in I have chosen (just one) |
|
My smallest action |
|
My cue: After/When … , I will … |
|
Minimum version for bad weather or hectic days |
|
One thing I have changed in my surroundings |
|
Bad weather: If … , then … |
|
Date | Done? (usual / minimum / not done) | Obstacle or discovery (one line) |
Day 1 / |
|
|
Day 2 / |
|
|
Day 3 / |
|
|
Day 4 / |
|
|
Day 5 / |
|
|
Day 6 / |
|
|
Day 7 / |
|
|
Day 7 review | My answers |
How many times did I manage it? (usual ___, minimum ___) |
|
What tripped me up most often |
|
The one thing I will adjust next week |
|
What I need to watch for next week |
|
Gear-change check (once a season) | My answers |
Habits to bring into the next season |
|
What needs adjusting for the new season |
|
One action for the new season |
|
The record is there to help you see yourself clearly, not to give yourself a score. If filling it in every day starts to feel like pressure, you can simply write a few lines at each review and each change of season.
When it is more than a habit
• If low mood, oversleeping, overeating or loss of interest come back every autumn and winter and affect your work or daily life, follow the warning signs in the next section and contact your family doctor promptly. Changing your routine or getting more daylight is no substitute for a doctor's assessment and treatment.
• When you increasingly want to avoid people in winter and nothing seems worth doing, do not take "winter storing" to mean staying on your own. Keeping in touch with friends and family and keeping up your usual activities are part of the NHS advice on seasonal low mood. If you are thinking of using a light box (a "SAD lamp"), the NHS advises speaking to a GP first, as it may not suit some eye conditions or medicines.
• Older people and those with limited mobility should take particular care with slippery pavements and cold when going out in winter. In bad weather, the indoor minimum version is enough; keep warm indoors too.
• Readers who work shifts or early starts, or care for family members, need not treat "wait for the sunlight" as a fixed rule; choose a small action that fits your own circumstances.
• If you have thoughts of harming yourself or ending your life, or any other emergency, follow the levels in the next section and get help immediately.
Our own reading is this: living by the seasons does not mean getting every season right. It means being willing, at each change of season, to stop, take a look at ourselves, and shift gear once more.
11. Warning signs: when seasonal living is not enough
Living by the seasons is a good way of life, but it is no substitute for medical care. If any of the following apply, seek help according to how urgent it is (using the UK as an example; elsewhere, call your local emergency number or contact your local health services).
Call 999 now
• You have thoughts of harming yourself or ending your life and are in immediate danger.
• An older person in cold weather becomes confused, very drowsy, slurs their speech, or has cold, pale skin — possible signs of hypothermia.
• Sudden chest pain, difficulty breathing, weakness on one side of the body, or slurred speech.
• Sudden confusion — for example, not knowing where they are, not recognising familiar people, or talking in a muddled way — or hallucinations together with sudden confusion or rapid worsening. Call 999 or seek immediate assessment at A&E. The person affected must not drive themselves. Follow the emergency service's advice.
Contact your GP or NHS 111 the same day
• Very low mood with thoughts of suicide but no immediate danger. (You can also call Samaritans at any time on 116 123.)
• Sleep or mood problems that suddenly get much worse, with unusual overexcitement or hardly any need for sleep; or new hallucinations while the person is otherwise clear-headed, without sudden confusion. If sudden confusion appears, go up a level and call 999 immediately.
Book a GP appointment soon
• Low mood, oversleeping, overeating or loss of interest that returns every autumn and winter and affects work or daily life.
• Insomnia lasting several weeks that has not improved with self-help.
• Heavy snoring with pauses in breathing noticed by others, and severe daytime sleepiness.
Beyond the four seasons of the year, there are also the "winters and summers" of a life. Some people wear down their health when times are good; others lose their daily rhythm when times are hard. What the treatise leaves today's reader is not a set of mechanical instructions to be carried out each season, but a more fundamental question: do I only know how to charge ahead, and forget to draw in, restore and wait when the time is right?
Following heaven and earth does not mean rejecting modern medicine, social support or personal effort. It means that while we take whatever action is needed, we still accept that life has its rhythms and its limits; and when the world will not go our way, we try not to hand our inner life over entirely to fear, comparison and endless stimulation.
Summary of this volume
What the Great Treatise on Regulating the Spirit with the Four Seasons tells us:
• We are seasonal creatures. Spring births, summer grows, autumn gathers, winter stores — and our routines and minds should shift gear with them.
• The seasons are a chain, not four boxes. Each season either builds up or uses up what we carry into the next.
• Personal health sits inside a larger system. When the system is out of order, willpower alone is not enough.
• "Nourish yang in spring and summer, yin in autumn and winter" comes down to "follow the root": respect the cycle itself.
• "The sage practises it; the fool wears it": knowing is not doing, and data is not health.
• "Treat illness before it arises": prevention beats cure, but prevention should be calm, not anxious.
In an age of machines that never stop and algorithms that never switch off, this two-thousand-year-old text reminds us that we need not — and should not — live as an endless summer. Without the stillness of winter, there is no new growth in spring.
Questions for reflection
• Which season does your life most resemble right now? Have you been stuck in one season for a long time?
• Does your work or team have room for autumn's gathering and winter's storing? If not, what is one small thing you could change?
• Is there a piece of health data you "wear" but never act on?
Key terms
Chinese | Pinyin | English used in this book |
四气调神大论 | Siqi Tiaoshen Dalun | The Great Treatise on Regulating the Spirit with the Four Seasons |
发陈 | fachen | unfolding the old (spring) |
蕃秀 | fanxiu | luxuriant growth (summer) |
容平 | rongping | gathering and settling (autumn) |
闭藏 | bicang | closing and storing (winter) |
神 | shen | spirit; mind |
春夏养阳，秋冬养阴 | chun xia yang yang, qiu dong yang yin | nourish yang in spring and summer, yin in autumn and winter |
圣人行之，愚者佩之 | shengren xing zhi, yuzhe pei zhi | the sage practises it; the fool wears it |
治未病 | zhi weibing | treating illness before it arises |
立冬 | Lidong | the beginning of winter (solar term) |
References
• Huangdi Neijing Suwen, standard received text (annotated by Wang Bing, Tang dynasty; revised by Lin Yi et al., Song dynasty).
• Dopico XC, Evangelou M, Ferreira RC, et al. Widespread seasonal gene expression reveals annual differences in human immunity and physiology. Nature Communications. 2015;6:7000. doi:10.1038/ncomms8000
• University of Cambridge. Seasonal immunity: activity of thousands of genes differs from winter to summer. 12 May 2015.
• The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2017: Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash, Michael W. Young. nobelprize.org.
• NHS. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD). nhs.uk.
• NHS. Insomnia. nhs.uk.
• NHS. NHS Health Check. nhs.uk.
• Seasonal low mood: NHS. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD): treatment and self-help. nhs.uk (accessed 28 October 2026).
• Confusion: NHS. Confusion. nhs.uk (accessed 28 October 2026).
• Habit formation: Lally P, van Jaarsveld CHM, Potts HWW, Wardle J. How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 2010, 40: 998–1009. Note: 96 volunteers followed for 12 weeks; missing an occasional opportunity did not noticeably affect habit formation, while very inconsistent performance made habits hard to form.
• UNESCO. The Twenty-Four Solar Terms. Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, inscribed 2016.
• Shimmura T, Yoshimura T. Circadian clock determines the timing of rooster crowing. Current Biology. 2013.
Appendix: Explore All 81 Volumes of the Suwen
《黄帝内经·素问》八十一册中英文目录
Each volume in The Yellow Emperor's Classic for Modern Life explores one chapter of the Suwen through classical wisdom, modern medical knowledge and practical reflections on everyday life. All 81 volumes are available as individual books, so you can choose the subjects that interest you most; themed sets and the complete collection (available at a discount) can also be read in sequence for a broader understanding of this ancient Chinese classic.
Volume | Chinese title | English title |
Volume 1 HJ01 | 上古天真论（含总论） ——上古之人为什么百岁而不衰？ | Volume 1 The Years Granted by Heaven (with the General Introduction) — Why did the people of high antiquity live past a hundred without growing frail? |
Volume 2 HJ02 (this book) | 四气调神大论 ——春生、夏长、秋收、冬藏：怎样安顿我们的身与心？ | Volume 2 Living by the Seasons — Birth in spring, growth in summer, gathering in autumn, storing in winter: how do we settle body and mind? |
Volume 3 HJ03 | 生气通天论 ——人的生命力从哪里来，又是怎样被耗散的？ | Volume 3 Keeping the Fire Alight — Where does our vitality come from, and how do we lose it? |
Volume 4 HJ04 | 金匮真言论 ——古人怎样为生命"分类"，我们今天又该怎样阅读？ | Volume 4 The Golden Cabinet — How did the ancients classify life, and how should we read their system today? |
Volume 5 HJ05 | 阴阳应象大论 ——阴阳是什么？它怎样帮助我们看懂变化、情绪与衰老 | Volume 5 The Sun After Noon — What are yin and yang, and how can they help us understand change, emotion and ageing? |
Volume 6 HJ06 | 阴阳离合论 ——在开与合之间，人怎样找到自己的"枢"？ | Volume 6 The Hinge of the Door — Between opening and closing, how do we find our pivot? |
Volume 7 HJ07 | 阴阳别论 ——怎样分辨身体发出的信号？ | Volume 7 Reading the Signals — How do we tell what the body is trying to say? |
Volume 8 HJ08 | 灵兰秘典论 ——身体像一个国家：谁来当家，怎样协同？ | Volume 8 When the Ruler Is Clear — The body as a state: who is in charge, and how do the parts work together? |
Volume 9 HJ09 | 六节藏象论 ——藏于内，形于外：怎样读懂身体的"光华"？ | Volume 9 What Shows on the Outside — Stored within, seen without: how do we read the body's "radiance"? |
Volume 10 HJ10 | 五藏生成篇 ——五味、睡眠与"合参"：怎样照顾一个正在长大的身体？ | Volume 10 Rest, Flavour and the Whole Picture — Flavours, sleep and seeing the whole: how do we care for a growing body? |
Volume 11 HJ11 | 五藏别论 ——众说纷纭时，怎样做一个清醒的病人？ | Volume 11 When the Experts Disagree — How can we be clear-headed patients when everyone claims to be right? |
Volume 12 HJ12 | 异法方宜论 ——同一种病，为什么治法各不相同？ | Volume 12 Different Lands, Different Remedies — Why can the same illness call for different treatments? |
Volume 13 HJ13 | 移精变气论 ——好的医疗，既需要专业知识，也需要认真倾听 | Volume 13 Being Heard — Good care needs both expertise and a willingness to listen |
Volume 14 HJ14 | 汤液醪醴论 ——病为本，工为标：治病，需要病人和医生一起努力 | Volume 14 The Patient Is the Root — Healing takes patient and physician working together |
Volume 15 HJ15 | 玉版论要篇 ——看懂"颜色"的变化，分清"寻常"与"不寻常" | Volume 15 Shades of Change — Reading changes in colour, and telling the ordinary from the unusual |
Volume 16 HJ16 | 诊要经终论 ——认识生命的节律，也学会面对生命的终点 | Volume 16 Seasons and Endings — Understanding life's rhythms, and learning to face its end |
Volume 17 HJ17 | 脉要精微论 ——得强则生：看懂身体发出的"力量信号" | Volume 17 The Strength to Stand — "Those who keep their strength live": reading the body's signals of strength |
Volume 18 HJ18 | 平人气象论 ——先认识"正常"，才能发现"异常" | Volume 18 Knowing Your Normal — You have to know what is normal before you can spot what is not |
Volume 19 HJ19 | 玉机真藏论 ——浆粥入胃，虚者得活：小小一口水，也能救命 | Volume 19 A Sip That Saves — "When thin gruel enters the stomach, the depleted live" |
Volume 20 HJ20 | 三部九候论 ——上下相应：从头到脚，全面地看一个人 | Volume 20 From Head to Toe — "Above and below as one": looking at the whole person |
Volume 21 HJ21 | 经脉别论 ——生病起于过用：好东西，也要有分寸 | Volume 21 Too Much of a Good Thing — "Illness arises from overuse": even good things need a sense of measure |
Volume 22 HJ22 | 藏气法时论 ——毒药攻邪，五谷为养：顺时而养，药与食各有其位 | Volume 22 Medicine to Fight, Food to Nourish — Illness has its hours, and medicine and food each have their place |
Volume 23 HJ23 | 宣明五气篇 ——久坐伤肉，久视伤血：任何姿势，久了都是负担 | Volume 23 Too Long in One Position — "Long sitting harms the flesh; long looking harms the blood": any posture, held too long, becomes a burden |
Volume 24 HJ24 | 血气形志篇 ——形苦志苦：身体的累与心里的累 | Volume 24 Tired in Body, Weary in Mind — When the body toils and the mind suffers |
Volume 25 HJ25 | 宝命全形论 ——莫贵于人：如临深渊，手如握虎 | Volume 25 As If Holding a Tiger — "Nothing is more precious than a human being": care as if at the edge of an abyss |
Volume 26 HJ26 | 八正神明论 ——因天时而调血气：天气、月亮与那一声"不对劲" | Volume 26 When the Wind Blows — Weather, the moon and the feeling that "something's wrong" |
Volume 27 HJ27 | 离合真邪论 ——诛罚无过，夺人正气：治疗，也要分清敌我 | Volume 27 Friend or Foe — "Punishing the innocent robs people of their upright qi": treatment, too, must know friend from foe |
Volume 28 HJ28 | 通评虚实论 ——邪气盛则实，精气夺则虚：同一张餐桌上的"太多"与"太少" | Volume 28 Too Much, Too Little — "When the pathogen flourishes, there is excess; when essence is robbed, there is deficiency": two kinds of illness at one dinner table |
Volume 29 HJ29 | 太阴阳明论 ——脾病而四肢不用：吃进去的，未必都能"用上" | Volume 29 What the Body Can Use — "When the spleen is ill, the limbs fail": what we eat is not always what we can use |
Volume 30 HJ30 | 阳明脉解篇 ——弃衣而走，登高而歌：突然"变了一个人"，先找身体的原因 | Volume 30 Suddenly Not Herself — "Throwing off clothes and running, climbing high and singing": when someone suddenly changes, look first for a bodily cause |
Volume 31 HJ31 | 热论 ——病热少愈，食肉则复：好了一半，最要当心 | Volume 31 Not Quite Better — "When a febrile illness is a little better, eating meat brings it back": take most care when you are halfway well |
Volume 32 HJ32 | 刺热篇 ——饮之寒水，居止寒处：热浪中的老人与"病虽未发"的信号 | Volume 32 Keeping Cool — "Give cold water to drink, keep them in a cool place": older people in a heatwave, and the signs before illness strikes |
Volume 33 HJ33 | 评热病论 ——邪之所凑，其气必虚：生病不是因为你"不够强" | Volume 33 Not Your Fault — "Where pathogens gather, the qi must be deficient": falling ill does not mean you weren't "strong enough" |
Volume 34 HJ34 | 逆调论 ——胃不和则卧不安：睡不好，有时要从肚子里找原因 | Volume 34 Restless Stomach, Restless Sleep — "When the stomach is not in harmony, sleep is not peaceful": sometimes the cause of poor sleep lies in the belly |
Volume 35 HJ35 | 疟论 ——寒栗鼓颔，头痛如破：旅行归来后的发烧，不要只当感冒 | Volume 35 Fever After Travel — "Shivering with chattering jaws, a headache as if splitting": a fever after travel is not just a cold |
Volume 36 HJ36 | 刺疟篇 ——适肥瘦，出其血：针刺有讲究，反复发热更要查清原因 | Volume 36 Finding the Cause — "Adjust to whether the patient is fat or thin": needling has its rules, and recurring fever needs its cause found |
Volume 37 HJ37 | 气厥论 ——善食而瘦，谓之食亦：越吃越瘦，不一定是好事 | Volume 37 Eating More, Weighing Less — "Eating a great deal yet growing thin": when losing weight is not good news |
Volume 38 HJ38 | 咳论 ——五藏六府皆令人咳，非独肺也：咳嗽，不一定只是肺的事 | Volume 38 Not Only the Lungs — "All five zang and six fu organs can make a person cough, not the lungs alone": a cough is not always about the lungs |
Volume 39 HJ39 | 举痛论 ——百病生于气也：疼痛、情绪与身体 | Volume 39 Knots in the Stomach — "Many illnesses arise from qi": pain, emotion and the body |
Volume 40 HJ40 | 腹中论 ——旦食则不能暮食，名为鼓胀：肚子越来越大，不一定是"发福" | Volume 40 More Than Middle-Age Spread — "Eating in the morning, unable to eat by evening; this is called drum distension": a growing belly is not always weight gain |
Volume 41 HJ41 | 刺腰痛篇 ——得之举重伤腰：腰痛很常见，多数会好转，但要认得危险信号 | Volume 41 Lifting Too Much — "It comes from lifting something heavy and injuring the lower back": back pain is common and usually improves, but know the warning signs |
Volume 42 HJ42 | 风论 ——风者善行而数变：脸突然歪了，先排除中风 | Volume 42 Swift as the Wind — "Wind moves readily and changes often": when your face suddenly droops, rule out a stroke first |
Volume 43 HJ43 | 痹论 ——风寒湿三气杂至，合而为痹：关节痛，不一定只是"湿气重" | Volume 43 Not Just the Damp — "Wind, cold and damp arrive together and combine to form bi": joint pain is not always "too much damp" |
Volume 44 HJ44 | 痿论 ——治痿者独取阳明：腿软无力，不只是"老了" | Volume 44 Not Just Getting Old — "To treat wei, take yangming alone": weak legs are not only a matter of age |
Volume 45 HJ45 | 厥论 ——暴不知人：突然晕倒，多数是一过性的，但要查清原因 | Volume 45 When You Suddenly Faint — "Suddenly not knowing people": most faints pass quickly, but the cause needs finding |
Volume 46 HJ46 | 病能论 ——人之不得偃卧者何也：躺不平、夜里憋醒，要想到心脏 | Volume 46 One Pillow Too Many — "Why can some people not lie flat?": when you can't lie down without breathlessness, think of the heart |
Volume 47 HJ47 | 奇病论 ——此肥美之所发也：嘴里发甜、口渴尿多，要查一查血糖 | Volume 47 A Sweet Taste in the Mouth — "This arises from rich, sweet food": a sweet taste, thirst and passing a lot of urine are reasons to check your blood sugar |
Volume 48 HJ48 | 大奇论 ——不瘖舌转，可治：中风之后，康复的路有多长 | Volume 48 One Step at a Time — "If speech is not lost and the tongue still turns, it can be treated": how long is the road to recovery after a stroke? |
Volume 49 HJ49 | 脉解篇 ——欲独闭户牖而处：冬天一来，就只想关上门窗一个人待着 | Volume 49 Closing the Shutters — "Wishing to shut the doors and windows and stay alone": when winter comes, all you want is to close the curtains and be by yourself |
Volume 50 HJ50 | 刺要论 ——刺有浅深，各至其理：治疗要恰到好处，不可太过，也不可不及 | Volume 50 Just Deep Enough — "Needling has its shallow and deep; each must reach its proper layer": treatment should be just right — neither too much nor too little |
Volume 51 HJ51 | 刺齐论 ——针至筋而去，不及骨也：只治表面、半途而止，病根仍在 | Volume 51 Reaching the Root — "The needle reaches the sinew and is withdrawn, never reaching the bone": treating only the surface, or stopping halfway, leaves the underlying problem unaddressed |
Volume 52 HJ52 | 刺禁论 ——藏有要害，不可不察：知道哪里不能碰，比知道哪里能碰更重要 | Volume 52 Danger Zones — "The organs have vital points that must be examined": knowing where not to go matters more than knowing where to go |
Volume 53 HJ53 | 刺志论 ——谷入多而气少者，得之有所脱血：吃得不少却总没力气，可能是身体在悄悄失血 | Volume 53 Eating Well, Still Exhausted — "Taking in much food yet having little qi comes from loss of blood": when you eat well but are always tired, your body may be quietly losing blood |
Volume 54 HJ54 | 针解篇 ——必正其神者，欲瞻病人目制其神：怕针不是胆小，被看见、被理解，才能安下心来 | Volume 54 Afraid of the Needle — "To settle the spirit, look into the patient's eyes": a fear of needles is not cowardice; being seen and understood is what lets us calm down |
Volume 55 HJ55 | 长刺节论 ——刺家不诊，听病者言：说不出口的病，往往最需要说出来 | Volume 55 The Lump He Never Mentioned — "The needler does not take the pulse but listens to the patient's words": the problems hardest to talk about are often the ones that most need saying |
Volume 56 HJ56 | 皮部论 ——五色皆见，则寒热也：皮肤是身体的窗口，颜色的变化值得多看一眼 | Volume 56 Not Just a Lucky Mole — "When all five colours appear, there is cold and heat": the skin is a window on the body, and a change in colour deserves a second look |
Volume 57 HJ57 | 经络论 ——寒多则凝泣，凝泣则青黑：手指一遇冷就变色，是"体质差"，还是身体在提醒你？ | Volume 57 White, Blue, Then Red — "When cold prevails, the blood congeals; when it congeals, the colour is blue-black": when your fingers change colour in the cold, is it a "weak constitution", or your body sending a signal? |
Volume 58 HJ58 | 气穴论 ——背与心相控而痛：后背疼，不一定只是后背的问题 | Volume 58 When the Back Speaks for the Heart — "The back and the heart pull on each other in pain": back pain is not always just a problem of the back |
Volume 59 HJ59 | 气府论 ——至骶下凡二十一节，脊椎法也：人老了"缩一点"，不一定只是正常的衰老 | Volume 59 Shrinking Without Noticing — "Down to below the sacrum, twenty-one segments in all: this is the method of counting the spine": "shrinking a bit" with age is not always just normal ageing |
Volume 60 HJ60 | 骨空论 ——坐而膝痛，立而暑解：膝盖疼，越不敢动，可能越难好 | Volume 60 Knees That Need Moving — "Knee pain when sitting; slackness on standing": with painful knees, the more you avoid moving, the harder recovery may be |
Volume 61 HJ61 | 水热穴论 ——肾者，胃之关也：腿肿、尿里起泡沫，不一定只是"湿气重" | Volume 61 Bubbles in the Bowl — "The kidneys are the gate of the stomach": swollen legs and frothy urine are not always just "too much damp" |
Volume 62 HJ62 | 调经论 ——神有余则笑不休，神不足则悲：情绪的高峰与低谷，都值得被认真对待 | Volume 62 Highs and Lows — "When spirit is in excess, there is laughter without end; when spirit is deficient, there is sorrow": the peaks and troughs of mood both deserve to be taken seriously |
Volume 63 HJ63 | 缪刺论 ——左注右，右注左：摔了一跤以后，过几个星期才出现的变化 | Volume 63 A Fall He Almost Forgot — "From left it flows to right, from right to left": changes that appear weeks after a fall |
Volume 64 HJ64 | 四时刺逆从论 ——冬者盖藏，血气在中，内著骨髓：漫长冬天里，骨头的疼痛可能另有原因 | Volume 64 Winter in the Bones — "Winter is for storing away; blood and qi are within, lodged deep in the marrow": in a long winter, aching bones may have another cause |
Volume 65 HJ65 | 标本病传论 ——小大不利治其标：先解决眼前的急，再处理背后的根 | Volume 65 First Things First — "When urine and stool will not pass, treat the branch": deal with the emergency in front of you first, then the root behind it |
Volume 66 HJ66 | 天元纪大论 ——物极谓之变：天气走向极端时，身体也需要被保护 | Volume 66 When the Heat Turns Extreme — "When things reach their extreme, it is called change": when the weather turns extreme, the body needs protecting too |
Volume 67 HJ67 | 五运行大论 ——燥胜则地干，寒胜则地裂：冬天孩子的皮肤干裂发痒，需要的是滋润，而不是恐惧 | Volume 67 When Dryness Prevails — "When dryness prevails, the earth dries; when cold prevails, the earth cracks": a child's dry, itchy winter skin needs moisture, not fear |
Volume 68 HJ68 | 六微旨大论 ——出入废则神机化灭：夜里的鼾声和停顿，可能是身体在求救 | Volume 68 When Breathing Stops at Night — "When exit and entry cease, the spirit mechanism is extinguished": loud snoring and pauses at night may be the body calling for help |
Volume 69 HJ69 | 气交变大论 ——善言古者，必验于今：烟雾弥漫的夏天，哮喘需要的是今天被证实有效的保护 | Volume 69 Smoke in the Air — "Those who speak well of the past must verify it in the present": in a smoke-filled summer, asthma needs protection proven to work today |
Volume 70 HJ70 | 五常政大论 ——无毒治病，十去其九：标着"天然"的，不一定无害 | Volume 70 Natural Isn't Always Harmless — "Even with non-toxic medicines, stop when nine-tenths of the illness is gone": what is labelled "natural" is not necessarily harmless |
Volume 71 HJ71 | 六元正纪大论 ——有故无殒：怀孕时生病，该治的病要治 | Volume 71 When Illness Comes in Pregnancy — "Where there is cause, there is no harm": illness in pregnancy that needs treating should be treated |
Volume 72 HJ72 | 刺法论（遗篇） ——正气存内，邪不可干，避其毒气：传染病面前，增强体质还要加上避免接触和接种疫苗 | Volume 72 Passed from Person to Person — "When upright qi is kept within, pathogens cannot intrude — and avoid the toxic qi": against infectious disease, a strong constitution needs avoiding exposure and vaccination as well |
Volume 73 HJ73 | 本病论（遗篇） ——神明失守：老人突然"见鬼"、糊涂，先想到身体出了急病 | Volume 73 When the Mind Loses Its Hold — "The spirit loses its hold": when an older person suddenly "sees ghosts" or becomes confused, think first of an acute physical illness |
Volume 74 HJ74 | 至真要大论 ——诸风掉眩，皆属于肝；有者求之，无者求之：头晕天旋地转，要先分清是哪一种 | Volume 74 When the Room Starts Spinning — "All wind with shaking and dizziness belongs to the liver" — yet "seek out what is present, and seek out what is absent": when the world spins, first find out which kind of dizziness it is |
Volume 75 HJ75 | 著至教论 ——诵而颇能解，解而未能别：背得出用药说明，不等于真正懂得怎样用药 | Volume 75 Knowing It by Heart Isn't Enough — "I can recite and roughly explain, but cannot yet distinguish": being able to recite the instructions for your medicine is not the same as truly knowing how to use it |
Volume 76 HJ76 | 示从容论 ——援物比类，从容求之：气短、脚肿，不一定只是"老了" | Volume 76 Three Pillows to Sleep — "Draw on things to compare and classify, and seek the answer with care": breathlessness and swollen ankles are not necessarily "just old age" |
Volume 77 HJ77 | 疏五过论 ——尝富后贫，名曰失精：生活的重大打击，也会让人"病从内生" | Volume 77 When Fortune Turns — "Once rich, later poor — this is called loss of essence": a major blow in life can also make illness "arise from within" |
Volume 78 HJ78 | 征四失论 ——不问其始，卒持寸口，何病能中：便血不能只靠"把把脉" | Volume 78 More Than a Pulse — "Without asking how it began, seizing the wrist pulse — how can any illness be hit upon?": blood in the stool needs more than "feeling the pulse" |
Volume 79 HJ79 | 阴阳类论 ——冬三月之病，至春正月：寒冬里，独居老人要格外防冷 | Volume 79 Out in the Cold — "Illness in the three months of winter … by the first month of spring": in the depths of winter, older people living alone need special protection from the cold |
Volume 80 HJ80 | 方盛衰论 ——少气之厥，令人妄梦：睡梦中拳打脚踢，可能是身体发出的早期信号 | Volume 80 Fighting in His Sleep — "Counterflow from scant qi brings wild dreams": punching and kicking in your sleep may be an early signal from the body |
Volume 81 HJ81 | 解精微论（含全书后记） ——厥则目无所见：老人新发头痛、眼前突然发黑，可能是急症 | Volume 81 A Curtain Over the Eye (with the Afterword) — "In counterflow, the eyes see nothing": a new headache or sudden loss of vision in an older person may be an emergency |
Note: the English titles are reader-friendly publication titles; the English name of each chapter of the Suwen appears on the title page of each volume.
About the Huangdi Neijing series
The Huangdi Neijing, the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic, consists mainly of two parts, the Suwen and the Lingshu, each of eighty-one chapters.
This series begins with the eighty-one volumes of the Suwen. Each chapter is a book in its own right, published in Chinese and in English, so readers can choose single volumes by interest or read the complete collection.
After the Suwen series, we plan a further series on the eighty-one chapters of the Lingshu, the companion text to the Suwen, exploring the channels, acupuncture points, needling and the ancient understanding of the human body. We hope in the end to offer a modern reading of all one hundred and sixty-two chapters of the Inner Classic.
For more information, please visit our website at theFTL.org.
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