The most important classical text of Chinese Medicine, The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Chinese Medicine is often seen as daunting by students who are faced with a variety of different translations, of which some may not be reliable. This introductory guide makes it accessible to all, providing a summary of each chapter which emphasises the clinical relevance of the text. The author draws out how the text can be used to inform and improve clinical practice. It avoids overly scholarly discussions, and does not dwell on the minutiae of translation, making this book an easy and enlightening read.
"This complete annotated translation of the Su Wen is exemplary in every respect. The translation will stimulate new directions in research while providing the first accurate guide to the basic concepts of traditional Chinese medicine for a wider readership."—Donald Harper, The University of Chicago
The Neijing is one of the most important classics of Taoism, as well as the highest authority on traditional Chinese medicine. Its authorship is attributed to the great Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, who reigned during the third millennium BCE. This new translation consists of the eighty-one chapters of the section of the Neijing known as the Suwen, or "Questions of Organic and Fundamental Nature." (The other section, called the Lingshu, is a technical book on acupuncture and is not included here.) Written in the form of a discourse between Huang Di and his ministers, The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine contains a wealth of knowledge, including etiology, physiology, diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of disease, as well as in-depth investigation of such diverse subjects as ethics, psychology, and cosmology. All of these subjects are discussed in a holistic context that says life is not fragmented, as in the model provided by modern science, but rather that all the pieces make up an interconnected whole. By revealing the natural laws of this holistic universe, the book offers much practical advice on how to promote a long, happy, and healthy life. The original text of the Neijing presents broad concepts and is often brief with details. The translator's elucidations and interpretations, incorporated into the translation, help not only to clarify the meaning of the text but also to make it a highly readable narrative for students—as well as for everyone curious about the underlying principles of Chinese medicine.
This newly revised and updated edition of Paul U. Unschuld’s original 1986 groundbreaking translation reflects the latest philological, methodological, and sinological standards of the past thirty years. The Nan Jing was compiled in China during the first century C.E., marking both an apex and a conclusion to the initial development stages of Chinese medicine. Based on the doctrines of the Five Phases and yinyang, the Nan Jing covers all aspects of theoretical and practical health care in an unusually systematic fashion. Most important is its innovative discussion of pulse diagnosis and needle treatment. This new edition also includes selected commentaries by twenty Chinese and Japanese authors from the past seventeen centuries. The commentaries provide insights into the processes of reception and transmission of ancient Chinese concepts from the Han era to the present time. Together with the Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen and the Huang Di Nei Jing Ling Shu, this new translation of the Nan Jing constitutes a trilogy of writings offering scholars and practitioners today unprecedented insights into the beginnings of a two-millennium tradition of what was a revolutionary understanding of human physiology and pathology.
Catherine Despeux’s book Taoism and Self Knowledge is a study of the Internal Alchemical text "Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection." It begins with an analysis of pictographic and symbolic representation of the body in early Taoism after which the author examines different extant versions of the "Chart" as it was transmitted among Quanzhen groups in the Qing dynasty. The book is comprised of four main parts: the principal parts of the body and their nomenclature in Internal Alchemy, the spirits in the human body, and the alchemical processes and procedures used in thunder rituals and self-cultivation. This is a revised, expanded edition of the original French edition Taoïsme et connaissance de soi. La carte de la culture de la perfection (Xiuzhen tu) Paris, 2012.
Open access edition: DOI 10.6069/9780295749013 At first glance, medicine and poison might seem to be opposites. But in China’s formative era of pharmacy (200–800 CE), poisons were strategically employed as healing agents to cure everything from abdominal pain to epidemic disease. Healing with Poisons explores the ways physicians, religious figures, court officials, and laypersons used toxic substances to both relieve acute illnesses and enhance life. It illustrates how the Chinese concept of du—a word carrying a core meaning of “potency”—led practitioners to devise a variety of methods to transform dangerous poisons into effective medicines. Recounting scandals and controversies involving poisons from the Era of Division to the Tang, historian Yan Liu considers how the concept of du was central to how the people of medieval China perceived both their bodies and the body politic. He also examines the wide range of toxic minerals, plants, and animal products used in classical Chinese pharmacy, including everything from the herb aconite to the popular recreational drug Five-Stone Powder. By recovering alternative modes of understanding wellness and the body’s interaction with foreign substances, this study cautions against arbitrary classifications and exemplifies the importance of paying attention to the technical, political, and cultural conditions in which substances become truly meaningful. Healing with Poisons is freely available in an open access edition thanks to TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem) and the generous support of the University of Buffalo.
A literal translation of the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic (Huang Di Nei Jing), Plain Questions (Su Wen), chapter Five, this book also includes historical and contemporary clinical and philosophical commentary, as well as a discussion by Dr. Wilms.
The second edition of this popular text systematically addresses all aspects of treatment of infertility using Chinese medicine. Clinically focused and with a new easy-to-navigate design, the book begins by covering all the essential fundamentals you will need to understand and treat infertility, before going on to look at what Chinese medicine offers in the way of treatment for functional infertility in men and women, gynecological disorders which contribute to infertility and relevant lifestyle factors. Jane Lyttleton importantly devotes a large part of the book to discussing ways in which Chinese medicine and Western medicine might work together to overcome infertility, and details the increased experience over the past decade in working with IVF patients and their specialists. Leaps forward have also been made in the understanding of conditions such as Polycystic ovarian syndrome and immune infertility. New Features · Greatly expanded section on the place of Chinese medicine and IVF in treatment of infertility · New information on Polycystic ovarian disease and immune infertility and how Chinese medicine approaches their treatment · Updated and balanced advice on pre-conception care · Clinically focused, with easy-to-navigate design
From an internationally known expert in the teaching and practice of Fukushin, this is a unique book defining the therapeutic and diagnostic significance of the abdomen in East Asian medicine. Nigel Dawes provides a comprehensive description of the practical application of abdominal palpation in clinical settings, as well as offering hands-on descriptions of the precise methodology of the abdominal exam with supporting visual aids. Focusing on specific clinical application in the field of Kampo (Sino-Japanese Herbal Medicine), it allows for the subtleties of the Fukushin method to be disseminated in order to complement Traditional Chinese Medicine training. Highly visual and practical, Fukushin is the perfect guide for both Japanese and Chinese medicine students and practitioners looking to develop their toolbox of skills in abdominal palpation.
