Difficulty One: The Rationale for Taking Cunkou Alone
Base text (Nanjing Benyi, Hua Shou)
Original text
十二經皆有動脈、獨取寸口、以決五藏六府死生吉凶之法、何謂也。然、寸口者、脈之大會、手太陰之脈動也。人一呼脈行三寸、一吸脈行三寸、呼吸定息脈行六寸。人一日一夜、凡一萬三千五百息、脈行五十度周於身。漏水下百刻、營衞行陽二十五度、行陰亦二十五度、爲一周也。故五十度復會於手太陰寸口者、五藏六府之所終始、故法取於寸口也。
Original Japanese reading
十二経は皆な動脈有るに、独り寸口を取り、以て五臓六腑の死生吉凶を決するの法とは、何の謂ぞや。
然り、寸口とは、脈の大会にして、手の太陰の脈の動なり。
人一たび呼すれば脈行くこと三寸、一たび吸すれば脈行くこと三寸、呼吸定息すれば脈行くこと六寸。人一日一夜に、凡そ一万三千五百息、脈行くこと五十度、身を周る。漏水下ること百刻、営衛は陽を行くこと二十五度、陰を行くこともまた二十五度、以て一周と為すなり。故に五十度にして復た手の太陰寸口に会するは、五臓六腑の終始する所、故に法は寸口に取るなり。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
All twelve channels throughout the body have places where a pulse beats. Why, then, is only the wrist’s cunkou taken to judge life and death, and favorable or unfavorable prospects, in the five organs and six bowels?
Answer: cunkou is the great gathering place of the body’s vessel-qi and the site where the Hand Taiyin Lung channel pulsates.
With each exhalation the pulse travels three cun, and with each inhalation another three cun: six cun per full breath. In one day and night, a person takes approximately 13,500 breaths, and the pulse makes fifty circuits of the body. While the water clock marks one hundred ke, nutritive and defensive qi make twenty-five circuits during the day (yang) and twenty-five at night (yin), completing a cycle. After fifty circuits they return to the Hand Taiyin cunkou. Since cunkou is where the qi of the five organs and six bowels ends and begins again, it is taken as the diagnostic reference.
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Interpretations across editions (26 editions)
Relevant passages in each edition are shown with source, original text, Japanese reading and translation (click to expand). Yellow marks key terms. Each edition’s color indicates its textual lineage. Clicking a colored work title in the three perspectives below opens the edition supporting that interpretation.
rb00019982難経達言
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経達言（edition rb00019982）
Original text
寸口、魚後一寸太淵之分、合兩手而言之、左右俱爲一診。……諸經皆不恒見、獨太陰爲之動、以脈會於太淵。蓋越人解夫聖人之所以立寸口而知病、則因有此理以彰厥義。而千載之人惑于斯言、而謂寸口之診自越人始、何癡之癡、妄之妄哉。遂至兩手之爲六脈、左右各殊、其診訂之謬者、見二之章。
Original Japanese reading
寸口は、魚後一寸太淵の分、両手を合わせてこれを言う、左右俱に一診と為す。……諸経は皆な恒には見れず、独り太陰これが動を為し、脈太淵に会するを以てなり。蓋し越人は夫の聖人の寸口を立てて病を知る所以を解し、則ち此の理有るに因りて厥の義を彰らかにす。而るに千載の人斯の言に惑い、寸口の診は越人より始まると謂うは、何ぞ癡の癡、妄の妄なるや。遂に両手の六脈と為り、左右各おの殊なるに至る、其の診これを訂すの謬りは、二の章に見ゆ。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
Cunkou is around Taiyuan, one cun behind the fish border, with both hands together constituting one examination (the two sides are not assigned to separate organs). …Pulses in the other channels cannot always be felt; only Hand Taiyin continually beats, and the vessels gather at Taiyuan, which is why cunkou is taken. Yueren thus explained why the sages established cunkou to know disease. Yet people a thousand years later misunderstood this and said that Yueren originated cunkou pulse examination. How foolish and reckless! Eventually they divided both hands into six pulses and examined the two sides differently. Difficulty Two corrects the error of that method.
Position
A polemical commentary fiercely defending the legitimacy of examination at cunkou alone. It defines cunkou as ‘both hands together forming one examination’ and sharply criticizes later six-position methods and claims that Yueren invented cunkou diagnosis. (rb00004588 and rb00004589 are other editions of the same work and preserve a fuller text.)
rb00004591難経発揮
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経発揮（edition rb00004591）
Original text
一難曰、十二經皆有動脈、獨取寸口、以決五藏六府死生吉凶之法、何謂也。然、寸口者、脈之大會、手大陰之脈動也。……
Original Japanese reading
一難に曰く、十二経は皆な動脈有るに、独り寸口を取り、以て五臓六腑の死生吉凶を決するの法とは、何の謂ぞや。然り、寸口とは、脈の大会にして、手の大（太）陰の脈の動なり。……
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
(The text is reproduced almost unchanged with brief annotation.) Difficulty One asks why only cunkou is taken when the twelve channels all have pulse sites. The answer is that cunkou is the great gathering of the vessels and the pulsating site of Hand Taiyin.
Position
An edition reproducing the text faithfully with concise exposition. It writes 大陰 for 太陰 and 大過 for 太過, reducing the strokes of 太 to 大; this helps distinguish it from the Benyi lineage.
rb00004587難経疏証／丹波元胤
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経疏証（edition rb00004587・丹波元胤）
Original text
詳玩其文、語氣稍弱、全類東京。……若元氣之稱、始見於董仲舒春秋繁露、楊雄解嘲、而至東漢比比稱之。……其決非出西京人手、可以見矣。
Original Japanese reading
詳らかに其の文を玩味するに、語気やや弱く、全く東京（後漢）に類す。……元気の称の若きは、始めて董仲舒の春秋繁露・楊雄の解嘲に見え、而して東漢に至りて比比としてこれを称す。……其れ決して西京（前漢）の人の手に出でざること、以て見るべし。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
Closely considering the prose, its phrasing is somewhat weak and closely resembles Later Han writing. …For example, ‘original qi’ first appears in Dong Zhongshu’s Chunqiu Fanlu and Yang Xiong’s Jie Chao, and becomes frequent in the Eastern Han. …This shows that the book certainly was not written by someone of the Former Han.
Position
An example of Edo evidential scholarship (the Taki medical tradition), deriving the date of composition—described here as ‘Later Han or earlier’—from vocabulary and style rather than discussing medicine in Difficulty One. Read it as a starting point for textual criticism.
rb00004596難経本義（滑寿・底本）／滑寿
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経本義（Hua Shou, base text）（edition rb00004596・滑寿）
Original text
十二經、謂手足三陰三陽合十二經也。……謂之經者、以榮衞之流行經常不息者而言。謂之脈者、以血理之分袤行體者而言。故經者徑也、脈者陌也。……寸口、肺朝百脈、脈之大會、開卷第一義也。
Original Japanese reading
十二経とは、手足の三陰三陽合わせて十二経を謂うなり。……これを経と謂うは、栄衛の流行して経常息まざる者を以て言う。これを脈と謂うは、血理の分かれて体に袤行する者を以て言う。故に経とは径なり、脈とは陌なり。……寸口は、肺百脈を朝し、脈の大会、開巻第一義なり。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
The twelve channels are the combined three yin and three yang of the hands and feet. …‘Channel’ denotes the constant, uninterrupted circulation of nutritive and defensive qi; ‘vessel’ denotes blood branching and traversing the body. Thus jing is a longitudinal path, and mai a transverse path. …The gathering of all the body’s vessels at cunkou is the first essential principle at the opening of this book.
Position
The base text. Hua Shou precisely distinguishes word meanings (jing = longitudinal path; mai = transverse path) and makes the gathering at cunkou the ‘first principle of the opening chapter,’ grounded in the Lung’s reception of the hundred vessels. It includes critical editing through editorial principles and a general list of omissions and errors.
rb00020118醫學統宗難經本義補遺
Source (original bibliographic title): 醫學統宗難經本義補遺（edition rb00020118）
Original text
一難至二十一難、皆言脈。……滑氏曰、皆有動脈者、如手太陰脈動中府雲門天府俠白、手陽明脈動合谷陽谿……足少陰脈動大谿陰谷……之類也。
Original Japanese reading
一難より二十一難に至るは、皆な脈を言う。……滑氏曰く、皆な動脈有りとは、手太陰の脈は中府・雲門・天府・俠白に動き、手陽明の脈は合谷・陽谿に動き……足少陰の脈は大谿・陰谷に動く……の類なり。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
Difficulties One through Twenty-one all discuss the pulse. …Hua Shou says that ‘each channel has pulse sites’ means, for example, pulsation at Zhongfu, Yunmen, Tianfu and Xiabai on Hand Taiyin Lung; Hegu and Yangxi on Hand Yangming Large Intestine; …and Taixi and Yingu on Foot Shaoyin Kidney.
Position
Following Hua Shou’s commentary, it explicitly identifies the chapter grouping—‘Difficulties One through Twenty-one all discuss the pulse’—and carefully compares pulse points of the twelve channels with the Neijing’s Three Regions and Nine Indicators.
rb00013401難経本義（一陽子補註）
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経本義（Yiyangzi supplementary annotations）（edition rb00013401）
Original text
外藏氣又有五穴。金肺尺澤、相火天府、木肝太冲、水腎太谿、火心神門、土脾衝陽。藏氣先時取化源、又有五穴。
Original Japanese reading
蔵気を外にするに又た五穴有り。金の肺は尺沢、相火は天府、木の肝は太衝、水の腎は太谿、火の心は神門、土の脾は衝陽。蔵気は時に先んじて化源を取るに、又た五穴有り。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
There are also five further important points for accessing organ qi externally: metal/Lung at Chize, ministerial fire at Tianfu, wood/Liver at Taichong, water/Kidney at Taixi, fire/Heart at Shenmen, and earth/Spleen at Chongyang. There are another five points for accessing organ qi at its source of transformation before illness, preventively.
Position
It goes beyond listing pulsating vessels of the twelve channels to therapeutic point selection assigned to the five phases. Difficulty One is read as a starting point for point selection and treatment design.
rb00000698難経註疏
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経註疏（edition rb00000698）
Original text
譬之天子事四方、國都人民之安危存亡、皆來告於朝廷、遠不勞於殊方、近知於王國。十二經疾病死生、猶如諸國安危存亡、寸口猶如朝廷也。
Original Japanese reading
これを天子の四方を事とするに譬うるに、国都・人民の安危存亡、皆な来たりて朝廷に告げ、遠くは殊方に労せず、近くは王国に知る。十二経の疾病死生は、猶お諸国の安危存亡のごとく、寸口は猶お朝廷のごとし。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
When the Son of Heaven governs the four directions, the safety, danger, survival and destruction of the states and their people are reported to the court; he can know them in the capital without traveling to distant lands. Disease, life and death in the twelve channels correspond to the states’ fortunes; cunkou corresponds to the court where the reports gather.
Position
The ‘imperial court’ analogy vividly explains cunkou as a single site gathering information from the whole body. It cites Hua Shou, Tao Jiucheng, the Shuowen and Shiming extensively and includes questions about whether cunkou means both cun positions or also includes chi.
rb00004586難経蒼璧／柳寛
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経蒼璧（edition rb00004586・柳寛）
Original text
越人取法於地道、統要於三焦。……所謂一萬三千五百息、八百一十丈而五十度周於身者、數之極也。立極而後設教耳。
Original Japanese reading
越人は法を地道に取り、要を三焦に統ぶ。……所謂る一万三千五百息、八百一十丈にして五十度身を周る者は、数の極なり。極を立てて而る後に教を設くるのみ。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
Yueren followed the principles of the earth and gathered their essentials in the sanjiao. …The stated 13,500 breaths, 810 zhang and fifty circuits of the body represent the ultimate numerical standard. He first established that standard and then set out the teaching.
Position
A philosophical commentary reading the numbers in Difficulty One not merely as physiological data but through sanjiao and original-qi theory and the intellectual act of ‘establishing an ultimate standard before teaching.’
rb00004592難経評林
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経評林（edition rb00004592）
Original text
人之臟府氣血筋脈骨髓皆有所會、名曰八會、而脈之大會在於大淵、乃手太陰之脈於斯而動焉、則診之也宜矣。（脈経営衛周天度數之圖を付す）
Original Japanese reading
人の臓腑・気血・筋脈・骨髄は皆な会する所有り、名づけて八会と曰う。而して脈の大会は大淵に在り、乃ち手太陰の脈斯に於て動く、則ちこれを診するや宜なり。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
The organs and bowels, qi and blood, sinews and vessels, bones and marrow each have a gathering place of qi, called the Eight Gatherings. The great gathering of the vessels is at Taiyuan, where Hand Taiyin pulsates; examining this site is therefore reasonable. (A diagram of celestial circuit measures correlates pulse movement with heavenly degrees.)
Position
Wang’s headnote/commentary format. It invokes the Eight Gatherings, quotes Qibo on food-qi entering the stomach and the Suwen’s 気口成寸, and diagrams pulse movement against celestial measures.
rb00002419黄帝八十一難経輯釋備考／清川靄墩
Source (original bibliographic title): 黄帝八十一難経輯釋備考（edition rb00002419・清川靄墩）
Original text
中府、一寸雲門下一寸乳上三肋間陷者中、動脈應手、仰而取之、肺募。……徐云、素問三部九候論、明以頭面諸動脈爲上三部。
Original Japanese reading
中府は、一寸雲門の下一寸・乳の上三肋間の陥る者の中、動脈手に応ず、仰ぎてこれを取る、肺の募なり。……徐（大椿）云う、素問三部九候論は、明らかに頭面の諸動脈を以て上三部と為す、と。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
Zhongfu lies one cun below Yunmen, above the breast, in a depression between three ribs; its pulse responds to the finger, it is located with the patient supine, and it is the Lung’s front-mu point. …Xu Dachun says the Suwen’s discussion of the Three Regions and Nine Indicators clearly defines the various pulsating vessels of the head and face as the upper three regions.
Position
An evidential compilation of many commentators. It gives precise measured locations for pulse points and discusses weights and measures with reference even to Qing scholars such as Duan Yucai and Cheng Yaotian.
rb00004583難経経釈／徐大椿
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経経釈（edition rb00004583・徐大椿）
Original text
動脈、脈之動見於外、如手太陰天府雲門之類、按之其動亦應手是也。……惟靈樞動輸篇……蓋指太陰之經渠、少陰之太谿、陽明之人迎、則可稱動脈者惟此三穴、其餘不過因其微動、俱不得稱動脈也。
Original Japanese reading
動脈とは、脈の動の外に見るる、手太陰の天府・雲門の類の如し、これを按ずるに其の動も亦た手に応ずる是なり。……惟だ霊枢動輸篇……蓋し太陰の経渠、少陰の太谿、陽明の人迎を指す、則ち動脈と称すべき者は惟だ此の三穴のみ、其の余は其の微動に因るに過ぎず、俱に動脈と称するを得ざるなり。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
‘Pulsating vessel’ means pulsation perceptible externally, as at Tianfu and Yunmen of Hand Taiyin, where pressing produces a response under the finger. …However, the Lingshu’s Dongshu chapter refers to Jingqu of Taiyin, Taixi of Shaoyin and Renying of Yangming. Only these three can truly be called ‘pulsating vessels’; the others move only faintly and do not merit that designation.
Position
Xu Dachun sharply identifies the Nanjing’s departure from the Neijing’s Three Regions and Nine Indicators, while strictly recognizing only Jingqu, Taixi and Renying as true pulsating vessels. The general section also explains the origin of eighty-one = nine times nine = the Huangzhong number.
rb00004585難経古義／滕万卿
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経古義（edition rb00004585・滕万卿）
Original text
此難所言、獨主胃氣。蓋水穀入口則脈道以通、無病則沖和之氣自見、若有病則隨其邪之淺深各爲脈變。……靈樞云命門目也、難經以爲右腎。素問云三部者頭及手足、難經以爲寸關尺浮中沈。
Original Japanese reading
此の難の言う所、独り胃気を主る。蓋し水穀口に入れば則ち脈道以て通じ、病無ければ則ち沖和の気自ら見れ、若し病有れば則ち其の邪の浅深に随いて各おの脈変を為す。……霊枢は命門を目なりと云うも、難経は以て右腎と為す。素問は三部とは頭及び手足と云うも、難経は以て寸関尺・浮中沈と為す。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
This first Difficulty concerns above all assessing stomach qi. When food and drink enter the mouth, the vessel pathways open; without disease, harmonious qi naturally appears, while with disease the pulse changes according to the depth of the pathogenic influence. …The Lingshu says mingmen is the eyes, while the Nanjing makes it the right kidney. The Suwen says the three regions are head, hand and foot, while the Nanjing makes them cun–guan–chi and superficial–middle–deep.
Position
It identifies the essence of cunkou diagnosis as assessing stomach qi. It also concretely lists differences from the Neijing concerning mingmen and the Three Regions and Nine Indicators, making the Nanjing’s distinctiveness explicit through those differences.
rb00004599難経或問
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経或問（edition rb00004599）
Original text
一難之寸口者、不偏陽不倚陰、即候人身中和元氣之處、而未初分於尺寸陰陽。故此言寸口者、統於寸尺之通名。
Original Japanese reading
一難の寸口とは、陽に偏らず陰に倚らず、即ち人身中和の元気を候う処にして、未だ初めより尺寸陰陽に分かれず。故に此に言う寸口とは、寸尺を統ぶるの通名なり。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
Cunkou in Difficulty One is the place for assessing the body’s harmonious original qi, biased toward neither yang nor yin, before its division into chi and cun (yin and yang). Here, therefore, cunkou is a collective name encompassing both cun and chi.
Position
A dialectical question-and-answer commentary rejecting the narrow reading ‘cunkou = one part of the right hand’ and concluding that cunkou is a unified site for assessing original qi before division into chi and cun.
rb00004598難経文字攷
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経文字攷（edition rb00004598）
Original text
一難曰、寸口者脈之大會。謹按、大字訓徧、則脈之大會、猶言脈之總會也。經脈別論曰、肺朝百脈、卽其意也。禮記郊特牲曰、大報天而主日也、鄭注云、大猶徧也。
Original Japanese reading
一難に曰く、寸口とは脈の大会なり。謹んで按ずるに、大の字は徧と訓ず、則ち脈の大会とは、猶お脈の総会と言うがごとし。経脈別論に曰く、肺は百脈を朝すと、即ち其の意なり。礼記郊特牲に曰く、大いに天に報いて日を主とすと、鄭注に云う、大は猶お徧のごとし、と。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
Regarding ‘cunkou is the great gathering of the vessels,’ I respectfully consider that ‘great’ should be read as ‘universal’: a place where all the vessels gather. This is the meaning of ‘the Lung receives the hundred vessels’ in the Suwen’s Jingmai Bielun. Zheng Xuan annotates ‘greatly repay Heaven’ in the Book of Rites’ Jiao Te Sheng by explaining that ‘great’ means ‘universal.’
Position
Pure philological investigation of characters. It draws on annotations to the classics to justify reading 大 in 大会 as 徧, ‘universal,’ correcting the text through lexical meaning.
rb00004584難経考（由頤先生）
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経考（由頤先生）（edition rb00004584）
Original text
一息脈行六寸。十息脈一丈二尺。……二百七十息脈十六丈二尺。……本義曰、每時八刻脈行六十四丈八尺者此之謂也。……刻之餘分得五百四十息、合一萬三千五百息也。合之脈得八百一十丈也。
Original Japanese reading
一息に脈行くこと六寸。十息に脈一丈二尺。……二百七十息に脈十六丈二尺。……本義に曰く、時毎に八刻、脈行くこと六十四丈八尺とは此の謂なり。……刻の余分五百四十息を得て、合わせて一万三千五百息なり。之を合わせて脈八百一十丈を得るなり。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
In one breath the pulse travels six cun; in ten breaths, one zhang and two chi. …In 270 breaths, sixteen zhang and two chi, one full circuit of the body. …This is what the Benyi means by ‘in each double-hour, eight ke, the pulse travels sixty-four zhang and eight chi.’ …Adding the remaining 540 breaths gives 13,500 breaths and a total pulse distance of 810 zhang.
Position
An unusual, thoroughly mathematical edition deriving 810 zhang and fifty circuits step by step in tables, while the author explains, ‘I do not understand the calculation, so I have diagrammed it.’
rb00004579難経雲庵抄
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経雲庵抄（edition rb00004579）
Original text
●一笑曰、今問也。○然、答辭也。○経、徑也。（以下、和訓を交えた講義体の抄物）
Original Japanese reading
●一笑に曰く、今は問なり。○然は、答辞なり。○経は、径なり。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
(Lecture notes on Difficulty One.) Difficulty One establishes the question. ‘Ran’ is the word introducing the answer. ‘Jing’ means a longitudinal path. …(A word-by-word lecture interspersed with Japanese reading marks and kana.)
Position
Lecture-style notes mixing Japanese reading and kana, with a pedagogical character that explains the text word by word to students. Many pages are difficult to decipher; its □ rate is the highest among the editions.
rb00001652仮名難経
Source (original bibliographic title): 仮名難経（edition rb00001652）
Original text
（第一難に相当する箇所は難経本文の注釈ではなく、仮名による医論。真医と偽医の別を説く。）
Original Japanese reading
（未）
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
(This work’s ‘First Difficulty’ is not a word-by-word commentary on the Nanjing, but a medical discourse in mixed kana borrowing its eighty-one-Difficulty framework. From Difficulty Two it criticizes false physicians who deceive others by scattering pulse terminology.) The section corresponding to Difficulty One opens in accessible kana prose with the question of distinguishing true from false physicians.
Position
Strictly speaking, a medical and medical-ethical discourse in kana borrowing the framework of eighty-one Difficulties, rather than a commentary on the Nanjing. It demonstrates that not all thirty-six volumes are Nanjing commentaries.
rb00004577・rb00022829難経本義 凡例・闕誤總類／滑寿
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経本義 editorial principles and General List of Omissions and Errors（edition rb00004577・rb00022829・滑寿）
Original text
一、難經正文、周仲立・李子埜輩擅加筆削、今並不從。一、經中錯簡衍文、辨見各篇之下、仍爲闕誤總類、以見其槩。〔闕誤總類〕七難、三陰三陽次第、與脈經此不同。十二難、馮氏謂此篇合入用針補瀉之類、當在六十難之後。二十難、重陽者狂、重陰者癲……當是五十九難結句之文、錯簡在此。
Original Japanese reading
一、難経の正文、周仲立・李子埜の輩、擅（ほしいまま）に筆削を加う、今並びに従わず。
一、経中の錯簡・衍文、弁は各篇の下に見ゆ、仍りて闕誤總類と為して、以て其の概を見（しめ）す。
〔闕誤總類〕七難、三陰三陽の次第、脈経と此れ同じからず。十二難、馮氏、此の篇は用針補瀉の類に入るべく、当に六十難の後に在るべしと謂う。二十難、「重陽は狂、重陰は癲」……当に是れ五十九難の結句の文、錯簡して此に在るべし。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
1. Zhou Zhongli, Li Ziye and others arbitrarily removed or added words in the Nanjing text; this Benyi follows none of those alterations.
1. Disordered passages and surplus characters are identified in each chapter’s notes and collected into a general list of omissions and errors to show the whole picture.
[From the General List of Omissions and Errors] The order of the three yin and three yang in Difficulty Seven differs from the Maijing. Feng says Difficulty Twelve originally belongs after Difficulty Sixty, which discusses needle supplementation and draining. In Difficulty Twenty, ‘double yang is mania; double yin is epilepsy’ was originally the conclusion of Difficulty Fifty-nine, misplaced here through textual disorder.
Position
The editorial principles and General List of Omissions and Errors at the beginning of the base-text Nanjing Benyi. Hua Shou identifies disordered passages, surplus text and differences from other books chapter by chapter: a blueprint for critical editing, underlying the philological view that this is ‘more a critical edition than a commentary.’ (Contained in rb00004577 and rb00022829.)
rb00004595難経本義（諸序）／滑寿
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経本義（prefaces）（edition rb00004595・滑寿）
Original text
望而知其病者謂之神、聞而知者謂之聖、問而知之謂之工、至於脈之淺深・呼吸至數、通後能療治者、得巧之道焉。神聖工詣、得見矣。……越人我師也、伯仁不爲我而刊諸梓、與天下之人共之、是則伯仁之心也。
Original Japanese reading
望みて其の病を知る者、これを神と謂う。聞きて知る者、これを聖と謂う。問いて知るは、これを工と謂う。脈の浅深・呼吸至数に至りて、通じて後に能く療治する者は、巧の道を得たり。神聖工詣、見るべし。……越人は我が師なり。伯仁、我が為にせずして諸を梓に刊し、天下の人と之を共にす、是れ則ち伯仁の心なり。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
Knowing illness by looking is called divine; by listening, sage-like; by questioning, skilled. The path of dexterity requires understanding pulse depth and breath counts before treatment is possible. The states of divine, sage-like, skilled and dexterous can be seen here. …Yueren is my teacher. Hua Shou (Boren) carved this into printing blocks not for himself but to share with everyone. Such was Hua Shou’s aspiration.
Position
Prefaces by Jie Xisi, Zhang Zhu, Liu Renben and others at the beginning of the Benyi. They praise the Nanjing as an enduring standard, already set out observation–listening–questioning–palpation as divine–sage-like–skilled–dexterous, connected to Difficulty Sixty-one, and record Hua Shou’s lineage in Li Dongyuan’s learning. These prefaces survive in another Benyi edition, rb00004595.
rb00004580・rb00004581難経滑義補正
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経滑義補正（edition rb00004580・rb00004581）
Original text
一萬三千五百息。補、梅月堂集云、人之呼吸猶天地之呼吸也、冬至之後爲呼、夏至之後爲吸、此一年之呼吸也。……醫門丘坫集云、一者太極、是數之初也。……一三五合成九、是洛書之數也。
Original Japanese reading
一万三千五百息。補（おぎな）う、梅月堂集に云う、人の呼吸は猶お天地の呼吸のごときなり、冬至の後を呼と為し、夏至の後を吸と為す、此れ一年の呼吸なり。……医門丘坫集に云う、一とは太極、是れ数の初めなり。……一・三・五、合して九と成る、是れ洛書の数なり。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
A supplement on ‘13,500 breaths.’ The Meiyuetang collection says: human breathing is the same as the breathing of Heaven and Earth. After the winter solstice is exhalation, and after the summer solstice inhalation: the breath of a year. …The Yimen Qiudian Ji says: ‘one’ is the Supreme Ultimate, the beginning of numbers. …One, three and five add to nine, the number of the Luoshu.
Position
A separate commentary lineage. While supplementing and correcting Hua Shou, it connects the pulse’s 13,500 breaths with Daoist breathing—the human body as Heaven and Earth’s breath—and Luoshu numerology (one + three + five = nine). The theoretical/mathematical panel highlights it as an edition elevating numbers into cosmology. (rb00004580 and rb00004581 are separate fascicles of the same work.)
rb00004594難経篷菴抄
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経篷菴抄（edition rb00004594）
Original text
一難、經脈榮衞五十營度數。靈樞榮衞曰、周天二十八宿、每宿三十六分。……大行數周廻、成二百七十息、即氣行一十六丈二尺也、是則一度也。……榮衞五十宮、運送五藏六府、而成一萬三千五百息・八百一十丈。此二十七氣者、天有九宮・地有九品・人有九竅、三九即二十七。
Original Japanese reading
一難、経脈・栄衛五十営の度数。霊樞栄衛に曰く、周天二十八宿、宿ごとに三十六分。……大いに行き数（しばしば）周廻して、二百七十息に成る、即ち気行くこと十六丈二尺なり、是れ則ち一度なり。……栄衛五十宮、五藏六府に運送して、一万三千五百息・八百一十丈に成る。此の二十七気は、天に九宮有り・地に九品有り・人に九竅有り、三九即ち二十七なり。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
On the measures of the pulse and fifty nutritive-defensive circuits in Difficulty One. The Lingshu’s nutritive-defensive chapter says the twenty-eight celestial lodges each have thirty-six divisions… After a great circuit of 270 breaths, the pulse travels sixteen zhang and two chi, one circuit of the body. …Nutritive and defensive qi circulate through the five organs and six bowels fifty times, totaling 13,500 breaths and 810 zhang. These twenty-seven qi (twelve channels plus fifteen network vessels) correspond to nine heavenly palaces, nine earthly grades and nine human orifices: three times nine equals twenty-seven.
Position
Thoroughly mathematical notes correlating nutritive-defensive circulation with the twenty-eight celestial lodges and nine palaces, even correcting calculations in Master Ziye’s and Dōken’s diagrams. It strongly embodies the theoretical/mathematical panel’s view that numbers bridge the body and Heaven and Earth.
rb00004597難経本義大鈔
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経本義大鈔（edition rb00004597）
Original text
一、難經之由。……素問之名義。鑿度云、太素者質之始也、氣・形・質具而痾瘵由是萌生、故黃帝問此太素質之始也、素問之名義或出於此。……志曰、鍼經九卷、謂之九靈、王冰改名靈樞。
Original Japanese reading
一、難経の由（よし）。……素問の名義。鑿度に云う、太素とは質の始めなり、気・形・質具（そな）わりて痾瘵（あさい）是に由りて萌生す、故に黄帝此の太素質の始めを問う、素問の名義或いは此に出づるか。……志に曰く、鍼経九巻、これを九霊と謂う、王冰改めて霊樞と名づく。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
On the origin of Difficulty One. …The meaning of ‘Suwen’: the Qian Zaodu says, ‘Taisu is the beginning of substance; once qi, form and substance are present, disease emerges from them. The Yellow Emperor therefore asked about Taisu, the beginning of substance.’ The name Suwen perhaps comes from this. …The Suishu bibliographic treatise says, ‘The nine-volume Needling Classic was called Jiuling; Wang Bing renamed it Lingshu.’
Position
An extensive twenty-volume exposition of the Benyi. This major bibliographic commentary searches classics and encyclopedias widely to annotate each word of Difficulty One, including the origins, formation and etymology of the titles Suwen and Lingshu.
rb00008889・rb00019981・rb00019980難経抄（勿聽子・宗立系）／熊宗立
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経抄（Wutingzi / Zongli lineage）（edition rb00008889・rb00019981・rb00019980・熊宗立）
Original text
第一難。邵庵虞先生嘗曰、史記不載越人著難經……古人因經設難、或與門人弟子答問、偶得此八十一章耳。……難經八十一篇、以九爲數、而九九重之各有八十一篇、老陽之數極於九。……凡讀書之法、釋氏專用吳音、儒生專用漢音、此延曆十七年桓武天皇御法式也。
Original Japanese reading
第一難。邵庵虞先生嘗て曰く、史記は越人の難経を著すを載せず……古人経に因りて難を設け、或いは門人弟子と答問し、偶々此の八十一章を得るのみ。……難経八十一篇、九を以て数と為し、而して九九これを重ねて各々八十一篇有り、老陽の数は九に極まる。……凡そ書を読むの法、釈氏は専ら呉音を用い、儒生は専ら漢音を用う、此れ延暦十七年桓武天皇の御法式なり。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
On Difficulty One. Master Yu of Shao’an (Yu Ji) once said that the Shiji does not record Yueren writing the Nanjing… Ancient people posed questions based on the classics or held dialogues with pupils, incidentally obtaining these eighty-one chapters. …The Nanjing’s eighty-one chapters take nine as their number and multiply nine by nine to make eighty-one, because the number of old yang reaches its extreme at nine. …In reading books, Buddhists use chiefly Go-on pronunciation and Confucians chiefly Kan-on. This was Emperor Kanmu’s rule established in Enryaku 17 (798).
Position
Notes in the Wutingzi (Xiong Zongli) lineage. They discuss the Nanjing’s formation through extensive quotations from Yu Ji, Ouyang Xuan, Yang Xuancao and Ji Tianxi; present nine times nine equals eighty-one as the number of old yang, citing the Pinglin; and record Japanese reception and scholarly traditions, including Go-on/Kan-on recitation and Emperor Kanmu’s rule. The theoretical panel cites this edition for nine as the extreme number of old yang. (Contained in rb00008889, rb00019981 and rb00019980.)
rb00004590難経註疏（三巻本）
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経註疏（three-volume edition）（edition rb00004590）
Original text
一難曰、十二經皆有動脈……滑伯仁曰、十二經謂手足三陰三陽合爲十二經也。皆有動脈者、如手太陰脈動中府雲門天府俠白……足少陰脈動太谿陰谷之類也。……脈義、陶九成曰、人稟天地五行之氣以生……夫脈者血也、脈不自動、氣實使之、故有九候之法。
Original Japanese reading
一難に曰く、十二経は皆な動脈有り……滑伯仁曰く、十二経とは手足の三陰三陽合わせて十二経と為すなり。皆な動脈有りとは、手太陰の脈は中府・雲門・天府・俠白に動き……足少陰の脈は太谿・陰谷に動くの類なり。……脈義、陶九成曰く、人は天地五行の気を稟けて以て生ず……夫れ脈とは血なり、脈は自ら動かず、気実にこれを使う、故に九候の法有り。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
Difficulty One says all twelve channels have pulse sites… Hua Shou explains that these are the combined three yin and three yang of the hands and feet. ‘All have pulsating vessels’ means, for example, pulsation at Zhongfu, Yunmen, Tianfu and Xiabai of Hand Taiyin Lung… and Taixi and Yingu of Foot Shaoyin Kidney. …On the meaning of vessels, Tao Jiucheng says humans are born receiving the qi of Heaven, Earth and the five phases… A vessel is blood; it does not move by itself, but is actually moved by qi. This is why there is a method of Nine Indicators.
Position
A detailed three-volume commentary centered on Hua Shou and Tao Jiucheng’s explanation of vessels. It lists all pulse points of the twelve channels and explains the text word by word through jing/path and mai/cross-path meanings and citations from the Shuowen and Shiming. It belongs to the same lineage as the previously listed two-volume Nanjing Zhushu, rb00000698.
rb00004578難経韵語図解
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経韵語図解（edition rb00004578）
Original text
一難、從叔和脈經。十上補夫字。周下補時字。法取作取法。
Original Japanese reading
一難、叔和の脈経に従う。「十」の上に「夫」の字を補う。「周」の下に「時」の字を補う。「法取」を「取法」に作る。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
Difficulty One follows Wang Shuhe’s Maijing text. It inserts 夫 before 十二經, adds 時 after 周 in 周於身, and changes 法取於寸口 to 取法於寸口.
Position
Textual-variant notes in the illustrated rhymed edition, which rearranges the Nanjing for memorization. It concisely records differences from the base text and Maijing, including added characters and word order. The philological panel cites it as an edition recasting the text into verse.
rb00004582難経管窺精義
Source (original bibliographic title): 難経管窺精義（edition rb00004582）
Original text
一難、寸口、又氣口、又三部參、又一萬三千五百息。
Original Japanese reading
一難、寸口、又た気口、又た三部参、又た一万三千五百息。
English rendering of the modern Japanese draft
Difficulty One: cunkou, also called qikou. It further refers to the three positions (cun, guan and chi) and discusses 13,500 breaths of pulse circulation.
Position
A different commentary lineage, but OCR for Difficulty One is fragmentary in this edition (box rate 0.17). Only key terms can be read: cunkou’s alternative name qikou, three positions, and 13,500 breaths. The legible portion is included to cover all editions.
Three Perspectives: Philology, Clinical Reading and Theory
Reading thirty old editions together reveals Difficulty One as a chapter with three simultaneous faces.
First, it is a foundational declaration of diagnostic method. The Huangdi Neijing describes an elaborate Three Regions and Nine Indicators examination involving palpation throughout the body; the Nanjing boldly condenses this to one wrist site and opens with its justification. It supports this twice: spatially, cunkou is where the body’s vessels gather (the Lung receives the hundred vessels; the vessels gather at Taiyuan); temporally and cyclically, nutritive and defensive qi return to cunkou after fifty circuits. This careful double grounding in space and time is distinctive to Difficulty One.
Second, it declares a numerical connection between body and cosmos. The sequence six cun, 810 zhang and fifty circuits links to nine, the extreme number of old yang, and its square eighty-one—the Huangzhong number and the book’s chapter count—across diagnosis, physiology and textual structure. Only by combining the Nanjing Kō’s arithmetic tables, the Huowen’s ‘2,700 breaths = eighty-one zhang,’ the Jingshi’s nine-times-nine/Huangzhong explanation, and the Cangbi’s ‘establish an ultimate standard before teaching’ does this numerical structure become a coherent whole.
Third, it is a starting point for textual criticism. The Shuzheng’s dating arguments, the Benyi’s editorial principles and General List of Omissions and Errors, the lineage of the three Dayan editions, and the distribution of 太/大 character forms show that scrutiny of date, variants and lineage—rather than unquestioning acceptance of scripture—begins here.
Difficulty One is therefore more than an explanation of why to take cunkou: it is a junction of diagnosis, mathematics and textual criticism. None of these alone captures its three faces. This is also why the site places thirty editions alongside perspectives from three AIs.
Philological Perspective
Difficulty One opens by explaining why the whole body can be examined at cunkou alone. Comparing Japanese printed editions reveals three levels of reading: medical interpretation, textual criticism and a school’s assertion of its own position.
First, composition. The 難経疏証 (edition rb00004587, Tamba Mototane) scarcely addresses medicine in Difficulty One, concentrating instead on when the text was written. It says the phrasing is somewhat weak and resembles Later Han writing, and uses evidence such as the earliest occurrence of ‘original qi’ in Dong Zhongshu to conclude that it was not written by a Former Han author. This clearly expresses Edo evidential scholarship, specifically the Taki medical tradition: dating a text through style and vocabulary rather than accepting its authority unconditionally.
Next, textual collation. The Nanjing Benyi lineage (rb00004596・rb00022829・rb00004577) places editorial principles and a General List of Omissions and Errors before the text. Hua Shou lists chapter-specific disordered passages and surplus text in advance, for example, the order of the three yin and three yang in Difficulty Seven differs from the Maijing. This is more a critical edition than a commentary.
Edition lineages also emerge. The 難経達言 has rb00019982, rb00004588 and rb00004589; all even share the distinctive rebuke ‘how foolish and reckless,’ supporting their identification as different printings of one work. Character forms also provide evidence: 難経発揮 (rb00004591) writes 大過 for 太過, reducing 太 to 大.
The mode of presentation itself also reveals the school. 難経古義 (rb00004585) distinguishes main text in white characters from interpretation in black; 難経韵語図解 (rb00004578) rearranges the text into verse for memorization. Clause-by-clause Shuzheng, polemical Dayan and collational Benyi: even within the same Difficulty, what is written and how it is presented become fingerprints of a tradition.
Philologically, Difficulty One appears to function not simply as the opening of diagnostic theory but as a starting point for examining date, authenticity and variants and distinguishing edition lineages.
Clinical Perspective
Why can the whole body be diagnosed at cunkou alone? Three clinical grounds are proposed. First, ‘the Lung receives the hundred vessels; the vessels gather at Taiyuan.’ Since the Lung governs the body’s qi and the qi of all channels gathers at Taiyuan on Hand Taiyin Lung, cunkou becomes a miniature of the whole body. 難経註疏 (rb00000698) aptly expresses this through the analogy ‘cunkou is like the imperial court: disease, life and death in the twelve channels appear there as the safety and danger of the states are reported to court.’ Second, assessment of stomach qi. 難経古義 (rb00004585, Teng Wanqing) states, ‘This Difficulty chiefly concerns stomach qi; when food and drink enter the mouth, the vessel pathways open,’ emphasizing that cunkou reflects stomach qi, the postnatal foundation or vital force. Harmonious qi appears in health, while the pulse changes with the depth of the pathogenic influence in disease—a view directly resembling present pulse diagnosis.
For point selection, Yiyangzi’s supplementary annotations (rb00013401) are practical: after listing pulse points of the twelve channels, they give five-phase points—metal/Lung at Chize, wood/Liver at Taichong, water/Kidney at Taixi, fire/Heart at Shenmen, and earth/Spleen at Chongyang. The Jishi Beikao (rb00002419, 清川靄墩) provides precise measured locations, such as Zhongfu one cun below Yunmen in the depression between three ribs above the breast, immediately applicable to locating points.
Careful differentiation of pulse sites also matters. Xu Dachun’s Jingshi (rb00004583) recognizes only Jingqu, Taixi and Renying as true pulsating vessels, indicating an approach that checks Kidney original qi and the Stomach’s postnatal basis through foot pulses. The validity of three-position examination on both hands is disputed; 難経達言 regards it as a later addition after Yueren and sharply condemns Wang Shuhe.
Clinically, the practical core of Difficulty One is reading stomach qi, spirit and root reflected at cunkou; mechanical assignments to cun–guan–chi and numerical schemes remain frameworks. In severe cases, pulses at Taixi, Chongyang and Renying on the feet and neck are examined together, and standards are adjusted for age and physique. This adaptable, whole-body approach appears to represent the clinical wisdom running through the editions.
Theoretical and Mathematical Perspective
At first sight Difficulty One concerns why only cunkou is examined. Read theoretically and mathematically, however, it becomes a declaration that numbers join body and cosmos into one order.
Its core is the mathematics of pulse circulation: six cun per breath; sixteen zhang and two chi, or one body circuit, in 270 breaths; fifty circuits and 810 zhang in 13,500 breaths per day and night. The Nanjing Kō (rb00004584) derives these numbers step by step, explaining ‘I do not understand the calculation, so I diagram its meaning.’ The 難経或問 (rb00004599) calculates circulation on the left and right separately and explicitly gives 2,700 breaths as eighty-one zhang. The appearance of eighty-one in pulse circulation is decisive.
The book itself, after all, has eighty-one Difficulties. The general section of 難経経釈 (rb00004583, Xu Dachun) cites the Suwen’s Lihe Zhenxie Lun: ‘nine times nine makes eighty-one chapters, bringing forth the Huangzhong number.’ The Nanjing notes (rb00019981) explain that old yang reaches its extreme at nine, and nine multiplied by nine yields eighty-one chapters. Nine and its square thus run through diagnosis (pulse cycles), physiology (distance traveled) and textual structure (chapter count). Difficulty Two again inscribes nine: yang occupies nine fen within cun.
This is more than calculation. The 難経蒼璧 (rb00004586, 柳寛) says Yueren followed the earth’s principles, gathered the essentials in sanjiao, and established the ultimate numerical standard before teaching, elevating pulse numbers into a philosophy of sanjiao and original qi. The supplementary corrections to Hua’s interpretation (rb00004580 and rb00004581) further connect 13,500 breaths to Daoist breathing—exhalation after the winter solstice, inhalation after the summer solstice—and Luoshu numbers.
Theoretically and mathematically, Difficulty One translates the bodily phenomenon of the pulse into six cun, 810 zhang, fifty circuits and eighty-one, linking these with old yang (nine), Huangzhong and sanjiao original qi. A single wrist pulsation thereby becomes a miniature of cosmic order: the opening step in a numerical correspondence bridging body and Heaven and Earth.
Where the Three Perspectives Differ
The three readings clearly divide on one point. The theoretical/mathematical view treats the pulse numbers—fifty circuits, 810 zhang and eighty-one—as Difficulty One’s substantive core, the essence connecting the body to cosmic order. The clinical view treats the same numbers as only a framework; practice centers instead on reading stomach qi, spirit and root at cunkou and, when needed, examining foot and neck pulses together. Is the numerical system the essence or a supporting framework? This marks a divide between theoretical and clinical interpretation. The philological perspective differs from both, reading the Difficulty chiefly as a higher-level entry into dating, edition lineages and character usage rather than its medical content. This site deliberately presents these perspectives side by side without merging them.