Customer Reviews

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Chinese Medicine: A Comprehensive System for Health and Fitness

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Over 3000 years old, Chinese medicine is based on the Taoist holistic vision of balancing all the body harmonies. This book is a lavishly illustrated and complete guide to every aspects of this tradition. It is not a self-help book, but a guide explaining the concepts and principles and providing a detailed description of certain therapeutic exercises that everyone can use to optimise health.

Part One explores the theories behind the medicine, including basic principles like Yi and Yang, the basic substances like Qi and energy flow, the meridian system, the zangfu system and the causes of disharmony.

Part Two considers the Chinese approach to diagnosis, including diagnostic techniques like looking, hearing, questioning and touching, and includes an overview of the patterns of disharmony.

Part Three deals with Chinese approaches to treatment, including the principles of treatment and diagnosis and specific modalities like acupuncture, herbalism, qigong and lifestyle factors such as exercise, diet and feng shui.

The Further Reading section consists of bibliographies under headings like general, herbal, diet and others. A list of useful addresses in various countries is supplied and the At-A-Glance Directory is an illustrative index to finding treatments. The book concludes with a glossary and index and contains full colour illustrations and photographs.

As a physician who is studying and doing acupuncture, I find this a good basic introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is heavily illustrated, which helps the reader to understand some very difficult concepts, which are alien to the Western mind, especially for medical personnel. I can highly recommend it for someone who is interested in becoming familiar with Acupuncture and other Traditional Chinese Medicine.

This book was loaned to me by a fellow physician and I had a hard time giving it back. It's a great resource for information that covers a little of everything in Chinese Medicine. I practice acupuncture and have found much of the information useful for preparing lectures, not only for the general public, but for other physicians as well. It's a versatile book good not only for it's comprehensive content, but also as a coffee table book as the illustrations are great. Would heartily recommend it to anyone interested in understanding the vast offerings of Chinese Medicine.

My partner is a Chinese Medicine Acupuncturist and Herbalist. Her basic education took 5 years to complete. Five years later, she still takes many supplementary courses each year to continue her education. Most of her free time is spend with distance learning courses or reaching herbs. Chinese Medicine is vast and deep. A 5 year basic study is not nearly enough time to understand this medicine. In Chinese Medicine, they say even a lifetime is not long enough to understand this medicine. Thankfully for the lay person we have this book!

I personally own 2 copies of this book. One I have at home, the other is in our Chinese Medicine office. Many of our patients have purchased their own copy of this book after reading our office copy.

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Chinese Medicine is the best book that I have read to understand what my partner practices. I have read other books, like The Web That Has No Weaver : Understanding Chinese Medicine and Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine, although highly recommended, these 2 books are much more technical and can be overwhelming at times (especially The Web 2nd edition). After reading The Complete Illustrated Guide, if you want to learn more then these other two books are worth a read. Far and away the best dietary book on Chinese Medicine is Bob Flaw's The Tao of Healthy Eating: Dietary Wisdom According to Traditional Chinese Medicine. Also, The Book of Jook: Chinese Medicinal Porridges--A Healthy Alternative to the Typical Western Breakfast by Bob Flaws is a good helpful for breakfast food and as a total diet longevity practice (similar to Kitchari in Ayurveda).

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Chinese Medicine provides a complete overview of all of the modalities included under the largre umbrella of Chinese Medicine. You'll learn about the medicine theory, diagnosis, energetic "anatomy", acupuncture, herbal medicine, diet, exercise, qi gong, tai chi, meditation, and lifestyle theory.

The section on diet is lacking, in my opinion, however the author does state that information on diet could fill an entire book itself - which is definitely true. Read The Tao of Healthy Eating: Dietary Wisdom According to Traditional Chinese Medicine for proper Chinese Medicine dietary knowledge.

The sections on Qi Gong and Tai Chi are great for a general book. You'll be taught a basic sequence in each. For additional learning, Mantak Chia's books and DVDs are some of the most complete spiritual-style Qi Gong practices practices. Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming has created some of the best martial arts style Qi Gong and Tai Chi books and DVDs.

The theory and science sections make up the majority of this book, providing an excellent introduction with much knowledge and no fluff. Someone interesting in attending TCM school would greatly benefit by reading this book first. You'll understand what TCM is and have good preparation for the conceptual basis of Chinese Medicine.

The entire book is filled with pictures to support the information. A picture is worth 1,000 words and many times it is only through pictures that proper understanding can be attained (like meridians, tongue diagnosis, etc). The book is very well organized with section titles and concise paragraphs with subtitles. It is clear that the authors spent much time and calculation to create this book.

Personally, I can't think of anything missing from this book. Although I would have liked to see another 2-4 pages on dietary theory and practice, it is not strong enough of a complaint to remove a star from my rating. This book is 5 stars all the way!

Additional note:

It is important to remember that Chinese Medicine is a medicine and should only be practiced by a trained professional. There is a lot that a person can do to improve health and grow spiritually without the help of a Chinese Medicine practitioner/doctor - like diet, exercise, meditation, qi gong, yoga, etc. However when it comes to deeper knowledge and practices like Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine, these are best left to the professionals. My partner is a professional Chinese Medicine Acupuncturist and Herbalist. It is common that people come into her office who are worse off after having self-treated using herbal knowledge from books, magazines, and newscasts. Taking herbs for symptom relief is not anywhere close to the Chinese Medicine herbal understanding. If you are suffering from health problems, please see a professional.

After it's complete, an education in Chinese Medicine is a 5 year Ph.D. program (including both Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine). This is an entire year longer than Western Medicine. This is not to say that Chinese Medicine is superior, but rather that both studies are long and difficult. Chinese Medicine should not be looked at to be inferior to modern Western medicine. Rather both are complete forms of medicine and require much more understanding than can be gained by a single text book.

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Chinese Medicine is the best place to start to better understand what Chinese Medicine is and how you can live a healthier and happier life.

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This is an excellent book to have as a reference fo eastern methodologies in medicine and healing. Unfortunately it is long out of print, but if you can get your hands on a copy of this text, you will not be dissappointed. In fact, if you are unhappy with it, I will be happy to purchase it from you as I have many peers that would happily use it.

By this I mean that the illustrations are beautiful, sure, but that they show so much. Color illustrations on every page: photos, diagrams, charts, drawings, art.

Table of Contents Highlights...

Foreword
How to Use This Book
Introduction

The Whole View
Historical Overview
The Future

The Ideas Behind Chinese Medicine
- Basic Principles
- Basic Substances
- The Meridian System
- Zangfu System
- Causes of Disharmony

The Chinese Approach to Diagnosis
- Diagnostic Techniques
- Patters of Disharmony

The Chinese Approach to Treatment
- Modalities
- Accupuncture
- Herbalism
- Quigong
- Lifestyle
- Bringing It Together

Next Steps
Further Reading
Glossary
Index

As someone who has been practicing Chinese Medicine for 16 years in San Diego (www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com), I find this book an excellent resource for anyone who wants and in dept primer into the theoretical basis and practical application of a system of medicine that originates in the Chinese philosophy that emphasizes the natural balance found in Nature and agriculture.

This book is great. It is very informative. It is easy to read and understand and has alot of pictures. i would recommend this book for any one wanting to learn about Chinese Medicine.

Concise and clear introduction to Chinese Medicine. Easy to read and understand.