Study and semantic exploration of the terminology of "zhuan," "chuan," and "bian" in Huangdi Neijing

This study examines 419 related terms from the Huangdi Neijing using a corpus-driven approach combined with cognitive semantics to analyze their precise meanings and connections, thereby exploring the theoretical framework of disease pathogenesis and progression in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The terms "zhuan" "chuan", and "bian" in the Huangdi Neijing collectively describe alterations in the physiological or pathological states or properties of the human body. The terms "zhuan" and "chuan" focus on describing human physiological states, with the former highlighting the progression or transformation of diseases and the latter refers to the directional transport of physiological or pathological substances within the body. The term "bian" has a broader scope of application, describing both natural phenomena and human physiological or pathological conditions. Compound terms have formed a cohesive system centered on pathological transformation. "Bian" and "zhuan" are predominantly associated with the gastrointestinal tract, qi, and blood, while "chuan" is more commonly linked to viscera and meridians. From the perspective of cognition, it not only reflects the differences in the selection of perspective location, the breadth of observation perspective, and the characteristics of perspective mode, but also follows the observation path of psychological processing according to the sequence of events. The differentiation of these terms marks the embryonic formation of TCM′s disease pathogenesis and progression theory in the Huangdi Neijing, and their semantic framework and cognitive rationale have directly influenced the semantic divergence of related terms after the Eastern Han Dynasty.