The author chose the authoritative and consummate Chinese textbook version of The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor, edited by a Committee of the Ministry of Public Health of the PRC in 1982, with Cheng Shide of Beijing TCM College as chief editor, as the source work for his translation into English. The book is structured to present the translations of an original article or section of dialogue, followed by annotations and commentaries.

For example, the original article says, "Open the ghost gate and cleanse the clear fu-organ," while the annotation which follows says, "Diaphoresis and diuresis." The reason for the significant difference is that the latter presents a readily recognizable gloss in Western medical terminology, while the former presents a literal translation of the original text that is closer to the expression accepted by practitioners of TCM in China, and comes closer to reflecting the real meaning in the context of TCM conceptualization.

The style of translation is literal and verbatim, a choice made by the translator in order to avoid where possible the pitfalls of narrowly specialized experts who might thus inadvertently alter the transmission of information.

Overall, the text is arranged with an introduction and overview, and eight chapters covering the theory of yin-yang and the five elements, the zang-organs and manifestations, the theory of channels and network-channels, theory of pathogens and pathomechanisms, diseases and symptoms, diagnostic methods, therapeutic principles and methods, and the theory of health preservation.