Discussion Of Cold Damage Shang Han Lun

A major new translation of the Chinese classic Shang Han Lun by scholar and medical doctor Guohui Liu makes this foundational text fully accessible to English speaking clinicians for the first time. Extensive study and research underpins the translation; the author's understanding of both classical and modern Chinese enables him to interpret fully the ancient work within the theory of Chinese medicine. An extensive commentary explains the translation, the difficulties with the text, how it has been subsequently translated and expands on the theory laid out in the original text to reach an understanding that can be applied in the clinic for diagnosis and treatment. The value of this classic text lies primarily in its establishment of a basic framework for differentiation and treatment, but it also presents 112 formulas and 88 medicinal substances, which are commonly applied in clinical work for various conditions. In this edition, the 112 formulas are fully explained in the context of the clinical experiences of well-known ancient and modern doctors, and they are also laid out in two appendices, cross referenced to the text.

The Shang Han Lun has been a primary treatment theory and practice source for nearly two millenia. Its author, Zhang Zhong Jing, has been named the “Chinese Hippocrates” to highlight the depth and breadth of his contribution to traditional Chinese drug therapy. This edition features the Chinese text, Pinyin transliteration, and an English translation of the entire Song Dynasty text, the content and textual order most used in Asia. Just as in Chinese language editions, it is fully supplemented with notes and commentaries. The notes describe the clinical symptoms Zhang Zhong Jing associated with the Chinese terms. For example, modern interpretations of a “moderate” pulse often refer to the speed of its beats. The same term, when used in the Shang Han Lun, refers to a pulse that is loose, soft, and harmonious. Such notes provide practitioners with the clinical observations necessary to properly apply the information. The commentaries further enhance the text’s clinical utility by explaining the theoretical and practical foundations behind the lines of text. Because entire bodies of theory and practice can be associated with the terms and expressions used in canonical works like the Shang Han Lun, commentaries have become a standard means of knowledge acquisition for Asian students. The commentaries in this edition serve exactly the same purpose, greatly enhancing its utility. The introductory matter explains the background of the text, the conceptual structure of its contents, and the problems of exegesis. The appendices are designed to assist those studying Chinese and the glossary and the full Pinyin-English index make this an easily accessed reference.

The Shang Han Lun (simplified Chinese: 伤寒论; traditional Chinese: 傷寒論; pinyin: Shānghán lùn) known in English as the Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders or the Treatise on Cold Injury, is a Chinese medical treatise that was compiled by Zhang Zhongjing sometime before the year 220, at the end of the Han dynasty. It is amongst the oldest complete clinical textbooks in the world, and one of the four canonical works that students must study in traditional Chinese medical education today. The current edition is in ten volumes including the first to chapters on pulse diagnosis. The Shang Han Lun has 398 sections with 113 herbal prescriptions, organised into the Six Divisions corresponding to six stages of disease.

Written by Cheng Wuji and published in 1144 this is a complete commentary on the entire text of On Cold Damage (the Shang Han Lun) in the Song dynasty order. The entire text means that Cheng's commentary includes the four chapters on the pulse, as well as the chapters on the prohibitions in the back of the Shang Han Lun. All told this adds another 250 lines of text to the Shang Han Lun. In addition to Cheng Wuji's commentary, Jonathan Schell has annotated and translated Cheng's lines with over 1600 lines from the Su Wen, 500 lines from the Ling Shu, 22 Difficulties from the Nan Jing, numerous passages from the Classic of the Pulse (Mai Jing), and commentary from Zhang Jingyue's Lei Jing, Zhang Zhicong's commentaries on the Su Wen and Ling Shu, Wang Bing's commentary on the Su Wen, and as well as numerous other Shang Han Lun commentators. This books has been produced in full color, where the color has been used to show the attributed and unattributed quotes which the commentators use to illustrate their points. This book also includes 52 illustrations, 35 of which were composed by Cheng Wuji and 17 which have been composed by Jonathan Schell. This book illustrates the pinnacle of classical thought, where the reader through the annotations can trace Cheng's thought process, and apply the canonical texts of Chinese medicine, as cited by Cheng, to the understanding of the Shang Han Lun.

Discussion of Cold Damage (Shang Han Lun) and contemporary texts of ancient China form the bedrock of modern Chinese medicine practice, yet these classic texts contain many concepts that are either hard to understand or confusing. Based on over thirty years' medical practice, and study of the texts, this book explains the concepts involved so that the clinical applications of the ancient texts can be better understood and put into practice. The author looks at the larger context of ancient Chinese culture and philosophy in terms of theoretical knowledge, scholarly approach, and mindset in order to explain the basis for the medical texts. He also discusses the work of later Chinese medical scholars in elucidating the texts. He then goes on to look at more specific issues, such as the six conformations, zang-fu organ theory, the theory of qi and blood, the theory of qi transformation, and how these are understood in the ancient texts. He also discusses shao yang and tai yang theory; the element of time, and its place in understanding six conformations diseases. This remarkable work of scholarship will clarify many questions about the interpretation of the ancient texts for modern use, and will find a place on the bookshelf of every practitioner of Chinese medicine, as well as on those of scholars of Chinese medicine.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the crucial second stage in the evolution of Chinese medicine by examining the changes during the pivotal era of the Song dynasty.

Professor Liu Duzhou was one of the giants of Chinese medicine in the twentieth century. His grasp of the Discussion of Cold Damage (Shang Han Lun) ) was unrivalled, and his use of simple direct Classical formulas to treat complex and puzzling diseases made his published work required reading for generations of Chinese herbal medicine students. These essays and case histories, translated by Steve Clavey, collect the best of over twenty years of publication in The Lantern, one of the most popular of the Chinese medicine journals published in the Western world. For the students of Classical Formulas, or for the Chinese herbs medicine student in general, this book provides access to the mind of a truly sophistticated practiioner of the art, whose experience and clinical flexibility are truly inspiring.

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.