Chinese Traditional Healing

Reprint of: Essence of traditional Chinese medicine / compiled by Asiapac editorial; illustrated by Fu Chunjiang; translated by Y.N. Han. 2003.

Research on past knowledge, practices, personnel and institutions of Chinese health care has focussed on printed text for many decades. The Berlin collections of handwritten Chinese volumes on health and healing from the past 400 years provide a hitherto unprecedented access to a wide range of data. They extend the reach of medical historiography beyond the literature written by and for a small social elite to the reality of health care as practiced by private households, lay healers, pharmacists, professional doctors, magicians, itinerant healers and others. The nearly 900 volumes surveyed here for the first time demonstrate the heterogeneity of Chinese traditional healing. They evidence the continuation of millennia-old therapeutic approaches long discarded by the elite, and they show continuous adaptation to more recent trends.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) originated from the traditional medical system in the Chinese civilization, with influences from the Daoist and Chinese folk traditions in bodily cultivation and longevity techniques. In the past few decades, TCM has become one of the leading alternative medical systems in the United States. This book demonstrates the fluidity of a medical ideological system with a rich history of methodological development and internal theoretical conflicts, continuing to transform in our postmodern world where people and ideas transcend geographic, ethnic, and linguistic limitations. The unique historical trajectories and cultural dynamics of the American society are crticial nutrients for the localization of TCM, while the constant traffic of travelers and immigrants foster the globalizing tendency of TCM. The practitioners in this book represent an incredible range of clinical applications, personal styles, theoretical rationalizations, and business models. What really unifies all these practitioners is not their specific practices but the goal of these practices. The shared goal is to strive for health, not just health in terms of the lack of illness but the ultimate health of achieving perfect balance in every aspect of the being of a person—physically, mentally, spiritually, and energetically.

This brief discourse is an introduction to the historical development of medicine in China, whose influence on Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia was profound and even reached far west into the Islamic world. The authors wish to make the interested reader aware of China's rich contribution to the world growth of the medical sciences. Too often the view has been taken that the history of medicine began with the discoveries of the Greeks and those ancient nations from whom they learnt. The authors want to redress this view and acquaint readers with a glimpse of the concepts and history of Chinese medicine and hope that they will feel encouraged to delve deeper.

The practice of Chinese Traditional Medicine is one of the oldest forms of medicine known. This book provides a look into the background, meaning, history, and practice of traditional therapies. It is a must read for students and those interested in the healing arts.

In covering the subject of Chinese medicine, this book addresses topics such as oracle bones, the treatment of women, fertility and childbirth, nutrition, acupuncture, and Qi as well as examining Chinese medicine as practiced globally in places such as Africa, Australia, Vietnam, Korea, and the United States.

SARS is a newly identified human infection caused by a corona virus unlike any other known human or animal virus in its family. The analysis of epidemiological information obtained from the sites of the outbreaks of SARS is still underway but the overall case fatality ratio is known to approach 11% although the rate among the elderly is much higher. Currently the major challenges for the treatment of SARS are: the source of the SARS virus and mode of transmission are still not well understood; there are problems with diagnostic tools; there is no effective treatment; and there is no vaccine for SARS. The above-mentioned difficulties and challenges have motivated national authorities health workers and scientists to explore the potential of complementary treatment. The results of research on integrated treatment with TCM and Western medicine showed that it is safe and that it also has some potential clinical benefits. Therefore the experts suggested that records of such experience could serve as reference material for treatment of SARS in the future. This publication is intended to share experience in the complementary treatment of SARS patients; share the experience of clinical studies in the field of traditional medicine for treatment of SARS between the physicians and researchers; and to further encourage and promote the quality of research in the filed of traditional medicine.

The English edition of Liu Lihong’s milestone work is a sublime beacon for the profession of Chinese medicine in the 21st century. Classical Chinese Medicine delivers a straightforward critique of the politically motivated “integration” of traditional Chinese wisdom with Western science during the last sixty years, and represents an ardent appeal for the recognition of Chinese medicine as a science in its own right. Professor Liu’s candid presentation has made this book a bestseller in China, treasured not only by medical students and doctors, but by vast numbers of non-professionals who long for a state of health and well-being that is founded in a deeper sense of cultural identity. Oriental medicine education has made great strides in the West since the 1970s, but clear guidelines regarding the “traditional” nature of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) remain undefined. Classical Chinese Medicine not only delineates the educational and clinical problems faced by the profession in both East and West, but transmits concrete and inspiring guidance on how to effectively engage with ancient texts and designs in the postmodern age. Using the example of the Shanghanlun (Treatise on Cold Damage), one of the most important Chinese medicine classics, Liu Lihong develops a compelling roadmap for holistic medical thinking that links the human body to nature and the universe at large.