Neijing Tu
Diagram in Daoism
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The Neijing Tu (simplified Chinese: 內经图; traditional Chinese: 內經圖; pinyin: Nèijīng tú; Wade–Giles: Nei-ching t'u) is a Daoist "inner landscape" diagram of the human body illustrating Neidan 'internal alchemy', Wu Xing, Yin and Yang, and Chinese mythology.
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Title
The name Neijing tu combines 內; nei; "inside; inner; internal", 經; jing; "warp (vs. woof); scripture, canon, classic; (TCM) meridian; channel", and 圖; tu; "picture; drawing; chart; map; plan". This title, comparable with 黃帝內經; Huangdi Neijing; "Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon", is generally interpreted as a "chart" or "diagram" of "inner" "meridians" or "channels" of Traditional Chinese medicine for circulating qi in neidan preventative and observational practices.[1]
English translations of Neijing tu include:
- "Diagram of the Internal Texture of Man" [2]
- "Diagram of the Inner Scripture" [3]
- "Chart of Inner Passageways" [4]
- "Diagram of Internal Pathways" [5]
- "Chart of the Inner Warp" or "Chart of the Inner Landscape" [6]
內經圖; Neijing tu has an alternate writing of 內景圖; Neijing tu; "Diagram of Interior Lights",[7] using 景; jing; "view; scenery; condition" as a variant Chinese character for 經; jing.
History
While the original Neijing tu provenance is unclear, it probably dates from the 19th century.[8] All received copies derive from an engraved stele dated 1886 in Beijing's White Cloud Temple 白雲觀 that records how 柳誠印; Liu Chengyin based it on an old silk scroll discovered in a library on Mount Song (in Henan). In addition, a Qing Dynasty colored scroll Neijing tu was painted at the 如意館; Ruyi Guan; "Palace of Fulfilled Wishes" library in the Forbidden City.[9]
The Neijing Tu was the precursor for the 修真圖; Xiuzhen Tu; "Cultivating Perfection Diagram". The earliest anatomical diagrams with Daoist Neidan symbolism are attributed to 煙蘿子; Yanluozi (fl. 10th century) and conserved in the 1250 CE 修真十書; Xiuzhen shishu; "Cultivating Perfection Ten Books".[10]
Contents
The Neijing tu laterally depicts a human body (resembling either meditator or fetus) as a microcosm of nature – an "inner landscape" with mountains, rivers, paths, forests, and stars.[11] Joseph Needham coins the term "microsomography" and describes the Neijing tu as "much more fanciful and poetical" than previous Daoist illustrations.[12]
The textual descriptions include names of zangfu organs, two poems attributed to 呂洞賓; Lü Dongbin (born ca. 798 CE, one of the Eight Immortals), and quotations from the 黃庭經; Huangting jing; "Yellow Court Scripture".
The Neijing image of a mountain with crags on the skull and spinal column elaborates upon the "body-as-mountain" metaphor, first recorded in 1227 CE.[13] The head shows Kunlun Mountains, upper dantian "cinnabar field", Laozi, Bodhidharma, and two circles for the eyes (labelled "sun" and "moon"). The flanking poem explains.
The white-headed old man's eyebrows hang down to earth;
The blue-eyed foreign monk's arms support heaven.
If you aspire to this mysticism;You will acquire its secret.[14]
Chinese constellations figure prominently. The heart depicts 牛郎; Niulang; 'the cowherd'; "Altair" holding the 北斗; Beidou; 'Northern Dipper'; "Big Dipper". Together with his archetypal lover 織女; Zhinü; 'the weaver girl'; "Vega" (see Qi Xi), they propel qi up to the tracheal Twelve-Storied Pagoda. The liver and gall bladder are a forest, the stomach is a granary, and the intestines caption reads "the iron ox ploughs the field where coins of gold are sown"[15] referring to the Elixir of life. At base of the spine are treadmill waterwheels (an early Chinese invention) being run by two children representing yin and yang.