  He then turns to the Huang Di neijing, which begins with a chapter titled “Discourse on the True [Qi Endowed by] Heaven in High Antiquity” (Shang Gu Tian Zhen Lun). It says: “In highest antiquity there were true men (zhen ren) who upheld [the patterns of] heaven and earth and grasped yin and yang, exhaled and inhaled essence qi (jing qi), stood alone and guarded their spirit (shen), and their muscles and flesh were like one, and thus they were able to achieve longevity in correspondence with heaven and earth” (Huang Di neijing 1, trans. after Unschuld 2011, 42).