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# WITHIN ONE SINGLE GRAIN
- URL: https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/within-one-single-grain/
- Published: 2026-05-12T12:14:51.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-04T12:28:30.000Z
- Description: introduction - MICRO AND MACRO
- Author: ACHTismeerdanDUIZEND
- Tags: The Sketchbook of Changes, #lightbox

… I still return to China frequently, but as a traveller I remain even more of an outsider than before. On what is likely to be my last trip for the time being, in 2013, I slip away from the obligations of the group I am travelling with and spend a few days at the Taoist Bai Yun Guan, the Temple of the White Cloud 白雲觀, on the outskirts of Beijing. I had been introduced to Heven Qiu, one of the leading monks there, and he turns out to be the best guide I could have wished for at this historic site...

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/c4bcf530-2b9d-4f52-8b15-211b9c023928_3888x2592-2.png)

Heven Qiu en de schrijver in de Bai Yun Guan.

..In a garden at the rear of the extensive Bai Yun Guan complex stands a stele, a vertical stone, bearing an engraved drawing and text. It is the Nei Jing Tu 內經圖, the ‘Image of the Inner Landscape’. I had often seen reproductions of the stele’s engraving, but now, in the quiet enclave of the monastery garden, I see in the marvellous image the essence of an entire culture. Simple in presentation, light-hearted and at times humorous, yet also profound and fundamental in meaning. The mutual reflection of the macrocosm and the microcosm…  

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/2970ff1a-a6a2-45ca-b0b1-0683c47b6786_1948x4601-jpeg-2.jpg)

Nei Jing Tu

The image shows a human figure, seen in profile. Only the torso and head are depicted. The whole composition bears a resemblance to a fetus. Inside the body, there are no bones, organs, or blood vessels, as one might expect. Instead, there is a grove of mulberry trees, the Great Dipper constellation, a mountain range, a ploughing farmer, a raging torrent, a pagoda, a bridge, and much more. The entire outside world can be found inside the human body. An unexpected interpretation of anatomical illustration.

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/50245952-28c4-4214-9204-d093df36732a_1250x1666-jpeg-2.jpg)

There is one exception. One single object is depicted outside the body. Just above the crown, a tiny grain of millet floats. The accompanying text states:

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/7be5a5e7-bc96-4aa7-b465-a3355a00f95a_1116x64-2.png)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/a6722fcf-c590-4e98-b00f-2cf6ee99b3bc_1388x264-2.png)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/c31d8f17-5643-4f53-b949-d2b71f62f94d_1000x1332-jpeg-2.jpg)

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