Forgotten Traditions of Ancient Chinese Medicine: A Chinese View from the Eighteenth Century

Rating:
Summary: Forgotten Traditions of Ancient Chinese Medicine
Review: This book is a translation of a text from 1757 by Hsu Ta-ch'un, translated by Paul U. Unschuld.

This book will be of particular interest to those who have a background in traditional Chinese medicine and are knowledgeable with TCM terminology. It is not a book recommended for beginners wishing to study TCM.

The book is fascinating, delving deeper into the mysteries of TCM classifications and diagnosis and will be difficult for anyone trained in TCM to put down.

The chapters are short, to the point and full of ancient wisdom. One chapter I enjoyed deals with asking the patient for his/her preferences and aversions, what gives them joy or misery, etc. This will further enable the trained practitioner to diagnose the nature of the patient's illness. Fascinating reading.

This is not an herbal material medica and if anyone is looking for such a book I would not suggest this. It's more for diagnosis and understanding the nature of illnesses rather than specific herbs and formulas.