With the current air of dissatisfaction surrounding the modern Chinese medical curriculum, I have spoken at some length with various practitioners and instructors on the subject of what a true reading list of traditional Chinese medicine should look like. Like a sampling of 'Greatest Jazz Albums' or any other such compilation, this list is by no means exclusive, though I feel that these works combine to create a fairly thorough picture of genuine TCM.
1. 《黄帝内经》, The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine: An obvious lead off choice, this is the classic that started it all. Compiled by a series of authors from hundreds of years of oral tradition, most researchers date it as a work of the Eastern Han period. It provides the theoretical framework for TCM right down to the present day. Often disregarded as outdated and overly esoteric, a thorough understanding of the NeiJing is not something that comes easily.
2. 《难经》, The Classic of Questioning: In classical form, the NanJing picks up where the NeiJing leaves off with a series of 81 expositions on difficult or incomplete portions of the text in question and answer format. Its authorship is unclear, though historically attributed to the legendary Warring States period physician BianQue, otherwise known as 秦越人 QinYueRen.
3. 《伤寒杂病论》, The Classic on Febrile and other Various Diseases: Often sited as the grandfather of clinical Chinese medicine, Zhang ZhongJing's classic work is now divided into two sections known as The Classic on Febrile Diseases and The Synopsis of the Golden Chamber. The former, as the more celebrated of the two, outlines the six meridian system of diagnosis and their associated prescriptions. More importantly, careful reading reveals it to be an invaluable resource for understanding the qi mechanism of the human body and its flow (which I will cover in a separate post). The contents of this work are essential for understanding the clinical application of all areas of Chinese medicine.
4. 《圆运动的古中医学》， The Circular Dynamics of Ancient Chinese Medicine by Peng ZiYi (Qing): Unavailable in English to the best of my knowledge, this book blew my mind from page 1. Heavily recommended by modern day master of TCM, Dr. Li Ke, this treatise places TCM back into its original context of the energy dynamics of the natural world. Drawing heavily upon theory from the Book of Changes, Circular Dynamics is a manual that seeks to help students grasp critical concepts, from theory to application, in as concise a manner as possible. Check back for selected translations in the future.
5. 《郑钦安医理真传，医法圆通，和伤寒恒论》, The Collected Works of Zheng QinAn (Qing): The founding works of the HuoShenPai (Fire Spirit School of TCM) that has recently come under national scrutiny with the publication of Lu ChongHan's Treatise in Support of YangQi, Zheng QinAn is considered by many of those in the know to be the most important TCM figure of the last 200 years. His system of thought rightfully places YangQi and its associated physiological functions at the forefront, faithfully following NeiJing/ShangHanLun theory. Both provocative and thought-provoking in their critique of the all too common misunderstandings of TCM theory, these works were used as texts for training some of the best TCM minds of the previous century. It is my sincere hope to see these profound works rendered into English someday.
6. 《神农本草经》, Shen Nong's Classic of Materia Medica: The founding work on the Chinese pharmacopoeia, the majority of herbs and their associated descriptions are still in use today. The classification of Upper/Middle/Lower herbs is of particular interest.
Having titled this 'Part 1' there will no doubt be additions to this list as time goes along.
The most important thing that I have taken away from my own cursory reading of these works is the need to construct the mind of a TCM practitioner. TCM is a medical science that works on three levels - 物 wu, 气 qi, 神 shen - that is material, energetic, and spiritual. We cannot allow our modern minds to be influenced by the nearly exclusive focus on the material level that pervades the Occidental approach to healing, in which the body is treated something akin to a car engine. You have the driving force of the pistons at the heart of the engine, the carburetor to 'digest' gasoline, a radiaotor to circulate and filter water, and so on and so forth. When once breaks down, simply isolate and replace. However, this model fails to consider the essential nature of the combustion-engine, which is to harness and efficiently utilize the power produced by the combustion of gasoline. In other words, without the introduction of energy in the form of a controlled explosion, or simply, fire, the rest of the engine is essentially meaningless. The human body is much the same. Qi is the energy that drives and unites the processes of the human body. Without it, the physical body is incapable of completing its proper functions, which in turn leads to the manifestation of illness.
Too often I have been witness to this modern, clinical thought process being applied in treatment under the guise of Chinese medicine. "Oh, so you've got pain in your chest? Do an eco-cardiagram to confirm..." after which irregularities revealed through an ECG lead to a TCM diagnosis of some variation of "heart deficiency" and the prescription, some variation of ShengMaiYin, designed to either tonify the blood or invigorate the heart system directly. And when the patient returns with the inevitable, less than ideal results, everyone throws up their hands in bewilderment and resorts to the wonders of modern science to sort out this issue of faulty hardware.
The heavy hitters of Chinese medicine have been beating this dead horse for centuries - and that is simply put that TCM treatment should never be based on physical symptoms alone - much to the unbeknownst of the majortity of practitioners throughout history. In the above example, the next step should be to investigate the energetic state of the patient through information gathered through basic TCM diagnostic techniques, and if necessary, to further consider the lifestyle and emotional factors that may be contributing to this present condition. This leads to so many possible diagnoses that I think perhaps it is sheer intimidation that stops most people from going any further. "What if I get it wrong and someone comes questioning? Better just to stick with the book on this one..." And so it goes, case by case, until the big question of whether Chinese medicine is even effective at treating illness begins to arise in many people's minds.
In my early days as a student of TCM, I was once asked by a teacher to close my eyes and imagine the basic structure of the human body according to the modern biomedical model. Of course, this is not hard for most about any educated person you might ask at random on the street. He then told me to clear my mind, and to construct a model of that same human system, only this time completely utilizing TCM theory to do so. At the time, I was frustrated to say that I simply could not put it together in any concrete, functional manner. Since then, I continue to use this method to check my progress, noting where the grey areas still exist and utilizing the resources listed above to help fill them in.
The TCM model is one of dynamic motion that resists being pinned down through simple anatomical knowledge. Like the flow of a mountain stream, it differs from any one point in time to the next. It is only by abandoning this safety net of Western medicine (at least temporarily) and throwing ourselves headlong into these waters that we can hope to eventually draw near an understanding of the ocean of wisdom that is Chinese medicine.
二零零八年八月廿五
1. 《黄帝内经》, The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine: An obvious lead off choice, this is the classic that started it all. Compiled by a series of authors from hundreds of years of oral tradition, most researchers date it as a work of the Eastern Han period. It provides the theoretical framework for TCM right down to the present day. Often disregarded as outdated and overly esoteric, a thorough understanding of the NeiJing is not something that comes easily.
2. 《难经》, The Classic of Questioning: In classical form, the NanJing picks up where the NeiJing leaves off with a series of 81 expositions on difficult or incomplete portions of the text in question and answer format. Its authorship is unclear, though historically attributed to the legendary Warring States period physician BianQue, otherwise known as 秦越人 QinYueRen.
3. 《伤寒杂病论》, The Classic on Febrile and other Various Diseases: Often sited as the grandfather of clinical Chinese medicine, Zhang ZhongJing's classic work is now divided into two sections known as The Classic on Febrile Diseases and The Synopsis of the Golden Chamber. The former, as the more celebrated of the two, outlines the six meridian system of diagnosis and their associated prescriptions. More importantly, careful reading reveals it to be an invaluable resource for understanding the qi mechanism of the human body and its flow (which I will cover in a separate post). The contents of this work are essential for understanding the clinical application of all areas of Chinese medicine.
4. 《圆运动的古中医学》， The Circular Dynamics of Ancient Chinese Medicine by Peng ZiYi (Qing): Unavailable in English to the best of my knowledge, this book blew my mind from page 1. Heavily recommended by modern day master of TCM, Dr. Li Ke, this treatise places TCM back into its original context of the energy dynamics of the natural world. Drawing heavily upon theory from the Book of Changes, Circular Dynamics is a manual that seeks to help students grasp critical concepts, from theory to application, in as concise a manner as possible. Check back for selected translations in the future.
5. 《郑钦安医理真传，医法圆通，和伤寒恒论》, The Collected Works of Zheng QinAn (Qing): The founding works of the HuoShenPai (Fire Spirit School of TCM) that has recently come under national scrutiny with the publication of Lu ChongHan's Treatise in Support of YangQi, Zheng QinAn is considered by many of those in the know to be the most important TCM figure of the last 200 years. His system of thought rightfully places YangQi and its associated physiological functions at the forefront, faithfully following NeiJing/ShangHanLun theory. Both provocative and thought-provoking in their critique of the all too common misunderstandings of TCM theory, these works were used as texts for training some of the best TCM minds of the previous century. It is my sincere hope to see these profound works rendered into English someday.
6. 《神农本草经》, Shen Nong's Classic of Materia Medica: The founding work on the Chinese pharmacopoeia, the majority of herbs and their associated descriptions are still in use today. The classification of Upper/Middle/Lower herbs is of particular interest.
Having titled this 'Part 1' there will no doubt be additions to this list as time goes along.
The most important thing that I have taken away from my own cursory reading of these works is the need to construct the mind of a TCM practitioner. TCM is a medical science that works on three levels - 物 wu, 气 qi, 神 shen - that is material, energetic, and spiritual. We cannot allow our modern minds to be influenced by the nearly exclusive focus on the material level that pervades the Occidental approach to healing, in which the body is treated something akin to a car engine. You have the driving force of the pistons at the heart of the engine, the carburetor to 'digest' gasoline, a radiaotor to circulate and filter water, and so on and so forth. When once breaks down, simply isolate and replace. However, this model fails to consider the essential nature of the combustion-engine, which is to harness and efficiently utilize the power produced by the combustion of gasoline. In other words, without the introduction of energy in the form of a controlled explosion, or simply, fire, the rest of the engine is essentially meaningless. The human body is much the same. Qi is the energy that drives and unites the processes of the human body. Without it, the physical body is incapable of completing its proper functions, which in turn leads to the manifestation of illness.
Too often I have been witness to this modern, clinical thought process being applied in treatment under the guise of Chinese medicine. "Oh, so you've got pain in your chest? Do an eco-cardiagram to confirm..." after which irregularities revealed through an ECG lead to a TCM diagnosis of some variation of "heart deficiency" and the prescription, some variation of ShengMaiYin, designed to either tonify the blood or invigorate the heart system directly. And when the patient returns with the inevitable, less than ideal results, everyone throws up their hands in bewilderment and resorts to the wonders of modern science to sort out this issue of faulty hardware.
The heavy hitters of Chinese medicine have been beating this dead horse for centuries - and that is simply put that TCM treatment should never be based on physical symptoms alone - much to the unbeknownst of the majortity of practitioners throughout history. In the above example, the next step should be to investigate the energetic state of the patient through information gathered through basic TCM diagnostic techniques, and if necessary, to further consider the lifestyle and emotional factors that may be contributing to this present condition. This leads to so many possible diagnoses that I think perhaps it is sheer intimidation that stops most people from going any further. "What if I get it wrong and someone comes questioning? Better just to stick with the book on this one..." And so it goes, case by case, until the big question of whether Chinese medicine is even effective at treating illness begins to arise in many people's minds.
In my early days as a student of TCM, I was once asked by a teacher to close my eyes and imagine the basic structure of the human body according to the modern biomedical model. Of course, this is not hard for most about any educated person you might ask at random on the street. He then told me to clear my mind, and to construct a model of that same human system, only this time completely utilizing TCM theory to do so. At the time, I was frustrated to say that I simply could not put it together in any concrete, functional manner. Since then, I continue to use this method to check my progress, noting where the grey areas still exist and utilizing the resources listed above to help fill them in.
The TCM model is one of dynamic motion that resists being pinned down through simple anatomical knowledge. Like the flow of a mountain stream, it differs from any one point in time to the next. It is only by abandoning this safety net of Western medicine (at least temporarily) and throwing ourselves headlong into these waters that we can hope to eventually draw near an understanding of the ocean of wisdom that is Chinese medicine.
二零零八年八月廿五
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