The Basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine

260 Pages·1996·15.56 MB·English

by  Shen Ziyin

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The Basis of
Traditional Chinese
Medicine
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The Basis of
Traditional Chinese
Medicine
S h e n Ziyin and (hen Z e
I i
SHAHBHAIA
BOSTON & LONDON
1996
d
Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Horticultural Hall
300 MassachusettsAvenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
©1994TheCommercial Press(HongKong) Ltd.
Translators: Tian Peiming, ZhangKai, CaiJingfeng
ScientificandTranslation Editor:
FungKam-Pui, MB, BS,MRCP (UK), FRCPE
Publishedbyagreementwith
TheCommercial Press (HongKong) Ltd.
Allrightsreserved. Nopartofthisbookmaybe
reproducedinanyformorbyanymeans, electronic
ormechanical, includingphotocopying, recording, orby
anyinformationstorageandretrievalsystem, without
permissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
987654321
FirstShambhalaEdition
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
®
Thiseditionisprintedonacid-freepaperthatmeets
theAmericanNationalStandardsInstituteZ39.48Standard.
DistributedintheUnitedStatesby Random House, Inc.,
andinCanadabyRandom HouseofCanadaLtd
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-Publication Data
Shen, Tzu-yin.
Thebasisoftraditional Chinese medicine/ShenZiyinand
Chen Zelin.
p. cm.
Originallypublished: HongKong: Commercial Press, cl994.
ISBN 1-57062-192-6 (alk. paper)
1. Medicine, Chinese. I. Ch'en, Tse-lin. II. Title.
R602.S478 1996 96-15548
610.951—dc20 CIP
FOREWORD
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a history of
over three thousand years, and has been developed almost
entirely free from the influence ofthe Western world. Over
the centuries, it has been proven to be efficacious and has
provided cures for both acute diseases and chronic illnesses.
It is still practised widely in China and Chinese communities
all over the world, including localities where Western
medicine is the mainstream of medical practice, such as in
HongKong.
In Western countries, many people have heard of
traditional Chinese medicine, but generally only in regard to
acupuncture, which has been used to a small degree in the
West in recent decades. Herbal medicine has also become
increasingly interesting to Westerners who wish to take
fewer pills and have more control over their own health care.
However, these two areas are only apartofTCM, and do not
explain the theoretical basis behind it, or how it actually
works.
This book attempts to introduce the general reader to
the fundamental concepts and workings of TCM in a way
that the layman can easilyunderstand. TCM has agreatdeal
to offer to the Western world. Although some of the ideas
may be quite foreign, TCM is without doubt worthy of
attention, study and research. We hope that this book will
help readers see the enormous contributions that can be
made by TCM, and will bring people to a greater
understandingofthe Chinese view ofmedicine and healing.
Foreword I

CONTENTS
Foreword
/
1 A Brief History of the Development
of Traditional Chinese Medicine /
2~i
Yin-Yang and the Five Elements 9
The Theory ofYin-Yang (9)
The Theory ofthe Five Elements (16)
The Relationship between Yin-Yang and
the Five Elements (20)
3\ The Organs 23
TheZang-Fu Organs (23)
The Extraordinary Fu Organs (33)
A Comparison ofthe Views of TCM and
Western Medicine on the FiveZang
Organs (34)
4
Q/, Blood and Body Fluids 39
|
Qi (39)
Blood (41)
Body Fluids (42)
Appendix: Modern Interpretation ofthe
"Blood Stasis" Syndrome (44)
5 Causes of Disease 47
Exogenous Factors (48)
Endogenous Factors (52)
Contents III
A
6 Methods of Diagnosis and Differentiation
of Syndromes 57
The Four Diagnostic Methods (57)
Differentiation of Syndromes accordingto
the Eight Principles (69)
Differentiation of Syndromes accordingto
the Theory ofthe Six Meridians (77)
Differentiation of Syndromes accordingto
the Theory of Wei, Q/, Ying and Xue (80)
Differentiation of Syndromes accordingto
the Theory oftheZang-fu Organs (81)
Conclusion (89)
7\ Principles of Treatment and Prescription 91
Strategyforthe Definitive Treatment of
Disease (91)
Dosage (93)
The Physical Constitution ofthe Patient (94)
Guidelines ofTreatmentfor Deficiency
and Excess (95)
Recent Research Concerningthe Principles
ofTreatment (100)
The Practice of Prescription (103)
Types of Preparations (104)
Traditional Chinese Herbs 107
The Nomenclature of Traditional Chinese
Herbs (107)
The ProcessingofChinese Medicine
(UO)
The Properties ofChinese Drugs (115)
The Combined Use ofChinese Medicines
(116)
IV The BasisofTraditionalChinese Medicine
L