Chinese Herbal Medicine [Paperback]

Daniel Reid (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 12, 1987

Over a span of 5,000 years, China has established the world's most extensive pharmacopoeia of medicinal herbs. Through empirical knowledge of nature, practical application, and gradual reasoning based on experience, a system of herbal medicine has evolved that is as highly developed as Western medicinal science. Chinese herbal medicine is a subject surprisingly neglected in current literature. The highly illustrated Chinese Herbal Medicine fills this void, providing the general reader with insight into one of the world's most complex and little-known sciences. It examines the natural flora and fauna on which herbal medicine is based and explains the philosophy that propelled its development. Describing the art and practice of herbal medicine as applied today, it also highlights the potential to combine modern Western diagnosis, and traditional Chinese treatment to form a complete and effective system for both preventative and curative medicine. Chinese Herbal Medicine is based on research provided by contemporary experts, among them Dr. Huang Powen, an herbal physician and acupuncturist, and Dr. Hong Yixiang, a kung fu master and licensed herbal doctor, both based in Taiwan. The text includes a color-illustrated list of 200 major herbs detailing their use, and provides herbal recipes for some common ailments.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Daniel Reid is a leading Western authority on traditional Chinese medicine and Taoist healing practices and has studied and practiced Chinese medicine for over twenty years. He is the author of The Complete Book of Chinese Health and Healing (Shambhala, 1993, 1994).

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala (February 12, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877733988
• ISBN-13: 978-0877733980
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #382,347 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good overview, little else..., December 13, 2000

By 

Mauricio C. Quintana "cintain" (Mexico City, DF Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chinese Herbal Medicine (Paperback)

It is definitely a good overview, and if they gave prizes for design of Chinese Medicine Books, this one woud've won them all. The full color format and abundant pictures and drawings make this book a beautiful gift, but that's about it. Like Reid's other books, it is intended as an informational book for laypersons, with a couple of interesting recipes and well-narrated anecdotes and folktales. You can see in CHM, which predates Reid's other books, that his ideas and convictions regarding chinese "self-healing" and energy medicine were not yet developed. The historical overview of Chinese Medicine is very good. The descriptions of practice, however, are confusing, cursory, and/or brief.

There are a couple of mistakes, too. The page facing the full-page reproduction of Hua To, the physician reputed with the discovery and first use of anesthesics, has pictures of the Five Animal Frolic qigong, erroneously described in the picture quotation as Taijiquan. The Five animal frolic predates taijiquan, and although similar, they should not be confused. The bibliography is very short, and not very good. The recipes are a sampling, not a balanced diet, and the index is neither complete nor useful. The last part of the book is a "materia medica", the practical use of which is negligible. The book is indeed not for practitioners of TCM, and this part attests to it. The selection of items for this section, is an arbitrary mixture of the most common and the most exotic. There is no detailed information on use or preparations of the materials listed, although some of them are used in the recipes described afterwards. The glossary and the categorization of the herbs and other substances is correct, though.

Reid is a very opinionated author, although a knowledgeable one, and he doesn't restrain himself much on his views. There is a comparative description of two physicians, where Reid contrasts Taoist and Confucian outlooks on the practice of medicine. It's a bit simplistic and stereotypical to me, but perhaps it can be useful and informative as a sampling of how medicine is practiced in non-communist China. This book is beautifully designed, and I keep it mostly for the pictures, which are well-chosen and illustrating. If you are looking for information on TCM, though, Ted Kaptchuk's The Web that has No Weaver is a better, deeper introduction to the subject.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great explanation of Chinese Medicine!, November 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Chinese Herbal Medicine (Paperback)

Chinese Herbal Medicine by Daniel P. Reid is a wonderful guide to Chinese Herbal Medicine and its philosophies. This is a breif, but understandable summary of the process of diagnosis and treatment from one of the world's most ancient forms of medicine.

Beth Anne Haigler, Medical Herbalist