Nguyen Van Nghi — the French physician who brought true Chinese Medicine to the West.

Life account

Born in Hanoi

Hanoi

Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...

, French Indochina

French Indochina

French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....

 (present day Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

), Nguyen Van Nghi was educated in Vietnam, China and France. Completing his medical degree from the Montpellier University, he began a combined Eastern and Western medical practice in 1940.

In 1954 he devoted his practice entirely to acupuncture based on the classical texts: Huangdi Neijing (Suwen, Lingshu) and the Nan Jing

Nan Jing (Chinese medicine)

The Huangdi Bashiyi Nanjing , often referred to simply as the Nan Jing, is one of the classics of traditional Chinese medicine . Written in the late Han dynasty, the Nan Jing is so named because its 81 chapters seek to clarify enigmatic statements made in the Huangdi Neijing...

. He died December 17, 1999, in the town of his residence, Marseille

Marseille

Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

He was a doctor, author, teacher and scholar of the classic texts of Chinese Medicine (acupuncture

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is a type of alternative medicine that treats patients by insertion and manipulation of solid, generally thin needles in the body....

-moxibustion

Moxibustion

Moxibustion is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy using moxa, or mugwort herb. It plays an important role in the traditional medical systems of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet, and Mongolia. Suppliers usually age the mugwort and grind it up to a fluff; practitioners burn the fluff or...

). Much of Dr. Van Nghi's life's work revolved around translating and adding his own commentary to an unmolested Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

 copy of the Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic) from an ancient script into the French language

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

. What distinguished this particular version of the Huangdi Neijing from those available in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 was that it included commentary by two Tang Dynasty physicians, without which, Van Nghi claimed, made the texts indecipherable.

Van Nghi was insistent that Western medicine and Chinese Medicine were not separate scientific pursuits, but that there was One Medicine.

Works

• Pathogénie et pathologie energétique en médecine Chinoise: Traitement par acupuncture et massages. Marseille. 1977. — 727 p. (in French)
• Pathogenese und Pathologie der Energetik in der Chinesischen Medizin. Band 1 & Band 2. Uelzen
  Uelzen
  Uelzen is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the county of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a Hanseatic town and an independent municipality....
  
  , MLV, 1974 (in German)
• Pathogenese und Pathologie der Energetik in der Chinesischen Medizin (Behandlung durch Akupunktur und Massage). Band 1 & Band 2. Uelzen
  Uelzen
  Uelzen is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the county of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a Hanseatic town and an independent municipality....
  
  , MLV, zweite auflage, 1977 (in German)
• Патогенез и патология энергетики в китайской медицине. // Pathogenese und Pathologie der Energetik in der Chinesischen Medizin. Band 1 & Band 2. Contents (in Russian)
• Патогенез и патология энергетики в китайской медицине. Глава 3. Пять движений и Шесть энергий. // Pathogenese und pathologie der energetic in der chinesischen medizin (behandlung durch Akupunktur und Massage) — Band 1, 1977; Kapitel 3, SS. 45-63. Перевёл с немецкого Михаил Смирнов (1984), редактор и автор примечаний (in Russian)
• Патогенез заболеваний. Диагностика и лечение методами традиционной китайской медицины: иглоукалывание, массаж, прижигание. Тома 1, 2. [Перевод с китайского]. Редактор и переводчик . МП «Вен-Мер», фирма «Эврика», Новосибирск, 1992. — 584 с. // ISBN 5-87608-001-2 (in Russian)
• Albert Chamfrault, Nguyen Van Nghi. L' Energétique Humaine en Médecine Chinoise. (Traité de médecine chinoise: d'après les textes chinois anciens et modernes. Tome VI). Angoulême, Editions Chamfrault, Imprimerie de la Charente, 1969, 1981 [Réédition], 463 p. (in French)
• Albert Chamfrault, Nguyen Van Nghi. Atlas Anatomique. Imprimerie de la Charente, Angoulême, 1969, 73 p. (in French)

Indefinite publishings

• Théorie et pratique de l’analgésie par acupuncture (out of print) co-authors Dr Mai Van Dong, Dr Uld. Lanza
• Médecine traditionnelle chinoise, pathogenie et pathologie co-author Dr. Christine Recours Nguyen
• Semiologie et thérapeutique en médecine énergétique orientale Semeotica e terapia nelle medecina energetica orientale (italiano)
• Pharmacologie en médecine orientale co-author Dr Mai Van Dong

Translations and Exegesis of Ancient Texts:

• «The Suwen» Huangdi Neijing Suwen : Tome 1 Tome 2 Tome 3 co-author Dr Nguyen Patrick Tome 4 co-author Dr Ch. Recours Nguyen
• «Le Dacheng» : co-authors Dr Tran Viet Dzung, Dr Ch. Recours Nguyen Art et pratique de l’Acupuncture et de la moxibustion (selon Zhen Jiu Da Cheng) Tome 1 Tome 2 Tome 3
• «The Shangan Lun» : co-author Dr Ch. Recours Nguyen Maladies évolutives des 3 Yin et des 3 Yang (selon Shanghan Lun de Zhang Zhongjing)
• «The Maijing» : co-authors Dr Bui Van Tho, Dr Ch. Recours Nguyen Mai Jing, classique des pouls de Wang Shu He (210-285 ap. J-C)
• «The Lingshu» : co-authors Dr Tran Viet Dzung, Dr Ch. Recours Nguyen
• «Huangdi Neijing Lingshu» Tome 1 Tome 2 Tome 3
• «The Nanjing» : co-authors Dr Tran Viet Dzung, Dr Ch. Recours Nguyen

Bibliographies

• Nguyen, Van Nghi // 96 works in 119 publications in 7 languages and 340 library holdings
• Bibliografia di Agopuntura
• Books of Dr. Nguyen Van Nghi

External links

• Tribute Page Nguyen Van Nghi, MD - Tribute Page
• Institute Van Nghi Institute Van Nghi - Official Website of the Institute Van Nghi International
• JungTao.edu English translation of the Huangdi Neijing Lingshu published by Drs. Nguyen, Nguyen and Tran in 1994.