Editorial Policy

Separate the questions#

Every topic can raise several different questions: what a tradition means by a term, how a procedure works, when a text or practice took shape, and whether a claim predicts an observable outcome. We keep these questions distinct.

Translation and terminology#

The glossary is the house style guide. We use the most common English label as the primary term when it differs from the English Wikipedia title, preserve Chinese characters and Hanyu Pinyin at first use, and list variants in the glossary. Where English usage is divided, the page says so instead of pretending that one translation is universal.

Sources#

We link to classical texts, excavation records, and modern scholarship where available. We distinguish quotations, paraphrases, and our own explanations. A source's presence does not mean that every claim it contains is endorsed as fact.

Evidence and health boundaries#

We describe traditional interpretations as interpretations. Correctly performing a calculation does not establish predictive accuracy. Historical medical cosmology and self-cultivation texts are discussed as intellectual and cultural history, not as diagnosis, treatment, or proof of health effects.

Updates#

Pages may be revised when a source, translation, or example needs correction. Significant changes should be described on the page or in a dated update note.