Eighty-one questions, each one a problem the Inner Canon leaves open.
The Nanjing takes the shape of an examination: eighty-one questions, each pressing on a point the Inner Canon states but does not defend — why the pulse is taken at the wrist, why one vessel is called the source, what the three burners are.
Its importance for a reader is that it is the earliest text that argues rather than asserts. Nothing is transcribed yet.
Chapters are listed in the order of the base text. Those already transcribed open into the three-layer reader.
Cite this page
Nanjing 難經 (Traditionally attributed to Qin Yueren (Bian Que); in its present form no earlier than the Han.). [Classic of Difficult Issues]. In Classica Sinica Medica. Retrieved 28 October 2026, from https://classicstcm.com/classics/nanjing/
Nanjing 難經. Classic of Difficult Issues. Classica Sinica Medica, 2026, https://classicstcm.com/classics/nanjing/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.
《難經》（Nàn jīng）。成書年代：Traditionally attributed to Qin Yueren (Bian Que); in its present form no earlier than the Han.。Classica Sinica Medica，2026 年 10 月 28 日 存取，https://classicstcm.com/classics/nanjing/。
For classical material the edition is what makes a citation checkable: cite the base text, not the web page alone.
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