Core Thinking of Huáng Yuányù’s One Qi Flowing in an Unbroken Cycle
This post introduces a new translation project focused on the Qing-dynasty physician Huáng Yuányù, whose work offers a strikingly coherent vision of physiology rooted in the unity of qi. Rather than proposing a formal doctrine, Huáng consistently explains health and disease through the smooth—or disrupted—circulation of a single qi, governed by ascent and descent around the spleen–stomach axis. The modern phrase “one qi flowing in an unbroken cycle” is a later synthesis of this core insight. Drawing from Huáng’s life, influences, and clinical thinking, the article explores how illness arises when qi cannot rise or descend freely, and how treatment aims not at isolated symptoms but at restoring the continuity of movement itself. Huáng distilled this perspective in his seminal work Sì Shèng Xīn Yuán, demonstrating how simple formulas, precisely applied, can produce profound results. For the translator, Huáng Yuányù’s thinking resonates deeply with a contemporary, systems-based understanding of medicine. This first translated excerpt offers a glimpse into a classical voice that feels unexpectedly current—and sets the stage for further exploration of his work.
The following is a preface to the recently published book “Medical Cases from the Flower Charm Studio” which was translated by Lorraine Wilcox and edited by Marnae Ergil. The preface is written by Sharon Weizenbaum.