Customer Reviews

A Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I received the book, 'The Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine' direct from Amazon. I have to say, there's nothing like it in English that I have encountered so far in my studies of Chinese medicine dating back to 1984. Of course, back then, Dan Bensky's book, 'Acupuncture, A Comprehensive Text' was still relatively hot off the press and his herbal series weren't out yet. The 'Essentials of Chinese Acupuncture' was the standard text at most acupuncture schools in the U.S. We've come a long way: clearly, Wiseman's terminological linguistics have made Chinese medical concepts and terms really accessible to the non-Chinese fluent student and practitioner. It's apparent that Wiseman is setting the standard for Chinese medical translations in English for our time. No one even comes close, though I do think that Blue Poppy Press puts out some outstanding books and there are other clinical publications that I have found very useful. All that said: an authoritative and linguistically consistent dictionary is absolutely necessary and I believe that Wiseman's is the one to get! I give this book 5+ stars. Of course, no book can ever have everything but that goes without saying.

June 20 2009 Additional Comments:

As an addendum to my review back in 2005, I was surprised to see a review that gave 'A Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine' only ONE star along with some very negative comments. This book is a complete encyclopedia (It's not just a dictionary!) of carefully translated terminology, concepts and treatment protocols rendered into high level English for those of us who haven't tackled the Chinese language. Lucky for us somebody did it! To those who don't want to approach Chinese medicine with technical precision, don't buy it! But if you want to upgrade your understanding of Chinese medicine using a terminology worthy of the breadth and scope of this traditional medicine's capacity, I can think of no other book in English that compares. It's easy to criticize and difficult to create something of value. This work is monumental in scope and I'd seriously suggest taking a hard look at this book before discounting its place in the development of Chinese medicine in the western world. While you're at it, you might want to try to obtain another Nigel Wiseman book, re-published in 2006, English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary of Chinese Medicine (really a glossary) ISBN: 7-5357-1656-3 This book may well help you to deal with the vast amount of terminology covered in A Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine. The two books are complimentary.

- Richard Caiander, Licensed Acupuncturist, Massachusetts

Every so often a book comes into existence that exerts a powerful influence on the zone of life for which it was intended. This new dictionary falls into this category. Since its arrival it has already become a lightning rod for discussion and debate concerning the whole conduct of the translation and therefore the transmission of traditional Chinese medicine into English and English-speaking areas. The authoring of dictionaries is a thankless task. Samuel Johnson, no stranger to this work, noted that mankind tends to consider the writers of dictionaries as the slaves of science. The work of Nigel Wiseman and Feng Ye reflects a deep sense of service to their chosen discipline, but far from being slaves they stand in the vanguard of a liberating force that is developing in Chinese medical studies. We all owe them our thanks for having put so much information between the covers of a single volume that can be used to forward the development of deeper understanding of this complex subject. To illustrate the utility of the book, I just came from a visit to the office of a friend, an MD who practices acupuncture to whom I recommended the dictionary when it was first publised. "Thanks for turning me on to this book," he said, pointing to the Practical Dictionary beside his desk. "I use it every day."

Serious students of Chinese medicine can essentially learn all of Chinese medicine from this single book. It is the single most important English language book currently available on Chinese medicine, bar none.

It'll take you forever to get through it- it's big, and it's a dictionary. Wiseman is the only scholar out there who has advanced a standard for Chinese medical translation. Until someone comes up with something better, it's the language we'll use. This dictionary is also packed with loads of useful clinical info you won't find anywhere else. It's pricey, but if you want the real Chinese Medicine, I'd suggest you keep it on your list.

As a student of TCM, I am always looking for reference books, and this one is excellent. I would recommend it to anyone, from student to practitioner.

A Pratical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine, by Nigel Wiseman, is the best, so far. The Chinese language is quite dificult. To be able to translate it one must also speak, read and write English very well. We still have to have more then one dictionary to compare.

The issue with all texts on Chinese medicine in English is translation. Given his penchant for ridiculously arcane terminology, Wiseman is no different. The outstanding feature of this dictionary and other Wiseman works, however, is the marriage of translation to Chinese, meaning one can examine his interpretation against the actual text. Pinyin is an obviously helpful bridge to understanding Chinese, but seeing the actual characters adds much to the understanding of TCM theory and application.

Such careful scholarship is worthy of acclaim.

*except for Flaws - they must use the same translation book.

This book has a lot of information; it is NOT a dictionary, - it has strategies, some history, and even prescribes a few formulas for certain conditions.

This book sucks...

1. because the authors choose to use words like vacuous and replete instead of excess and deficient (they use great big mouthy college words where a simple word works - an 8th grade paper that overuses the thesaurus);
2. because you need to sort through the 250 page index and still not find the topic you are looking for
3. because it is not organized well at all. POOR editing!

E.G.>>> look up thirsting and wasting, not there. look up xiao ke, it refers you to "dispersion thirst" - obviously the most common term for this condition?
Try finding wei syndrome, or muscle wasting. it is not there. But, I randomly found a snippet under "wilting."

Literally, 5/10 really common conditions, are really hard to find in this huge book. Huge because the author is trying to show up the most least used big words committee for abstraction and idioretardicalismaticism.