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Ted J. Kaptchuk

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The Web That Has No Weaver : Understanding Chinese Medicine Paperback – May 2, 2000

by Ted J. Kaptchuk (Author)

4.7 842 ratings

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A Doody’s Core Title for 2024 & 2022!

The Web That Has No Weaver is the classic, comprehensive guide to the theory and practice of Chinese alternative medicine. This accessible and invaluable resource has earned its place as the foremost authority in synthesizing Western and Eastern healing practices. This revised edition is the product of years of further reflection on ancient Chinese sources and active involvement in cutting-edge scientific research.

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As a leading global education company, our mission is to partner with educators, learners, and professionals to help them access all the value that education can offer, no matter where their starting points may be.

For over 130 years, we have never stopped innovating to meet the ever-changing needs of educators and learners around the world – and will continue to support and celebrate their efforts every step of the way.

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From the Publisher

Ted J. Kaptchuk, O.M.D., is associate director of the Center for Alternative Medicine Research and Education at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

About the Author

Ted J. Kaptchuk, O.M.D., is associate director of the Center for Alternative Medicine Research and Education at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0809228408
Publisher ‏ : ‎ McGraw Hill; 2nd edition (May 2, 2000)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143122487
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0809228409
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.4 x 1.01 x 8.2 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #11,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2 in Chinese Medicine
- #10 in History of Medicine (Books)
- #16 in Immune Systems (Books)

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4.7 842 ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book informative and well-written. It provides a comprehensive explanation of Chinese medicine, covering topics like Qi and Essence in detail. Readers appreciate the author's thorough knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. Overall, the book is described as an interesting and useful resource for learning about Chinese medicine.

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69 customers mention "Readability"69 positive0 negative

Customers find the book provides useful information and insights for those interested in learning about TCM. They find the content interesting and to the point. While some readers find it difficult to follow, they consider it worth reading. The cases are logical and provide a clear understanding of an approach.

"...So far has been very invaluable . Great addition to my holistic health collection of books." Read more

"About halfway through – really good book. Although it is a great overview for someone who isn’t familiar with TCM, it is still a heavy read...." Read more

"...Reading from this perspective I truly enjoyed the book, its artistry and the holistic, natural metaphors connecting the microcosm of the body with..." Read more

"...Yet is very readable and gives one a definite feel for an approach to medicine that is completely different from western medicine." Read more

65 customers mention "Information quality"62 positive3 negative

Customers find the book informative and interesting. They say it explains certain topics in depth, providing great insight into Chinese medicine. The book provides a wealth of information for western readers, with personal insights from studies.

"...So far has been very invaluable . Great addition to my holistic health collection of books." Read more

"...Refreshing!!! I found it to be a wonderful invitation into the world of eastern medicine, whetting a respectful longing to learn more...." Read more

"The author does a great jobs displaying fact from studies with personal insight, for both Chinese and western medicine." Read more

"...Easy to follow and covers all the basic concepts and cites research sources." Read more

44 customers mention "Ease of understanding"36 positive8 negative

Customers find the book easy to understand and well-written. They appreciate the quality of instruction and the author's deep knowledge of Chinese medicine. The book provides a great overview and introduction to the main principles of Chinese medicine. It is comprehensive and clear in its presentation of acupuncture intricacies.

"About halfway through – really good book. Although it is a great overview for someone who isn’t familiar with TCM, it is still a heavy read...." Read more

"...the book, its artistry and the holistic, natural metaphors connecting the microcosm of the body with the greater world and universe in which we exist..." Read more

"...Easy to follow and covers all the basic concepts and cites research sources." Read more

"My acupuncturist recommended this book and it is a winner. The author has thorough and deep knowledge of Chinese medicine...." Read more

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Amazon Customer
Great intro to Chinese medicine.
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2025
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I just started Massage Therapy school, this book was on a recommended reading list. So far has been very invaluable . Great addition to my holistic health collection of books.

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Great intro to Chinese medicine.
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2025
I just started Massage Therapy school, this book was on a recommended reading list. So far has been very invaluable . Great addition to my holistic health collection of books.

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Lore
Highly recommend
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2024
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About halfway through – really good book. Although it is a great overview for someone who isn’t familiar with TCM, it is still a heavy read. If you’re not already familiar with Chinese medicine somewhat, you may have to do a little extra searching here and there to make sure you understand what you’re reading. But I’m not so sure TCM is something that has a simple version, if it does tho this is probably it. Worth reading even if you have no interest in pursuing TCM, shows a whole other world of medical thinking

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13 people found this helpful

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Quadradox
Excellent beginning for Oriental Medicine
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2009
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I realize enthusiasm among reviewers for this text varies greatly. In the absence of identifying specific flaws, what we write may say more about us at the moment of our reading, than it says the about the text. However, I am personally skeptical about any review written by someone who did not bother to complete the book!!!

I had the first edition and admit I did not finish it. That was nearly 2 decades ago. I am not sure whether it was too far a stretch from my western graduate school and medical school education...or that I was just too busy to devote sufficient time and attention combined with an open mind.

I now have the 2000 edition. I intentionally approached this time with an open and curious mind -- looking for the bridges between eastern and western concepts of health and illness. Instead of rushing through to condense it into logical, highlighted memory bites, I simply let it wash over me. And during this time I attempted to let my western concepts of how the body works float in a suspended state to be retrieved and integrated at a later time.

I found that it provides a detailed but very readable "sky-view" of oriental medicine. It is not intended to provide specific treatment or diagnostic recommendations for an individual patient. Rather it builds the concepts upon which these later efforts can be refined. When you can see the bird's eye view of the terrain from above, its easier to see how cities, trees and rivers relate to each other and then draw your own map.

Reading from this perspective I truly enjoyed the book, its artistry and the holistic, natural metaphors connecting the microcosm of the body with the greater world and universe in which we exist. Refreshing!!!

I found it to be a wonderful invitation into the world of eastern medicine, whetting a respectful longing to learn more. I'm probably glad I lost the first edition and started over with the newer one.

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103 people found this helpful

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MV
Great Book! Wonderful insight into how Western and Chinese Medicine overlap.
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2024
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The author does a great jobs displaying fact from studies with personal insight, for both Chinese and western medicine.

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2 people found this helpful

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Ethan Klivans
Required Text, Be Aware of Biases
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2015
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This is still, after 40+ years, the 'standard' text available in the US as an introduction to TCM. It is on the shelf at every TCM college, and the book acupuncturists recommend to their patients who inquire about learning more about TCM.

Understand the angle from which Dr. Kaptchuk comes from. This text definitely sees foundational TCM and Taoist constructs as needing explanation, justification, and analysis from Westerners. This is a flaw: it makes this text apologist in tone when one reads the chapter endnotes. It is classic Westerner behavior to have to explain and provide academic expositions on things which to the Chinese just exists. Of course there is compare/contrast of Western/Eastern in China as well, but is this so germane to a layman's book about the mechanisms of TCM? I do not think so. I believe that it detracts form the text.

Note that Dr. Kaptchuk, now a Professor at Harvard University, stopped practicing Chinese Medicine over 25 years ago. His chief interest now is the placebo effect, and the role of suggestion and the mind in healing. This echoes other Anglophone TCM authors (Eckman, Worsely, Macioca to a much less extent) who put what I feel is overemphasis and 'over interpretation' into terms and constructs which they feel correlates to individual human choice and thought. Through reading (translations) of Daoist texts, especially 'The Secret of the Golden Flower' and the books of Eva Wong, It is clear that these sorts of 'things' are the domain of Daoism, and that a contemporary TCM doctor, who has not immersed him/herself in the practices elucidated in the ancient and medieval Chinese texts, is ill-advised to walk in this muck: this is not what they are qualified to do. An orthopedist/internist/other specialist does not prescribe Zoloft, even if they are qualified to do so.

Coming to terms with life as it is lived is not an easy task, and it is foolish to think that seeing a Chinese Medical doctor will do much towards this end. What a TCM doctor can do is replace destructive practices (lifestyle, certain medications) which can lessen the obstructions towards a fuller, healthier life in the holistic sense. To think though that the bodhi/moksha will occur through contact with an acupuncturist is delusional and destructive. Freedom from lower back pain, asthma, or irritable bowels? Certainly. A resolution to life's existential questions? find your nearest yoga teacher or meditation center: the TCM clinic is no place for that. These stages are beyond what we define as 'holistic health' and without deep and serious study, which can be independent/concurrent with acupuncture studies, TCM doctors are not qualified for this pursuit.

Read Kaptchuk for the terse descriptions of the Vital Substances, Zang Fu, Meridian Channels, Pulse Diagnosis, Tongue Diagnosis, and so forth. Do not get mired in his descriptions of Shen, Po, and Hun. While valuable, to me they left too many questions opened and not answered, and the chapter endnotes do not provide a resolution. For this, as stated above, you must seek out a qualified teacher (the only one I know of who is publicly presenting in the US is Dr. Jeffrey Yuen jadepurityfoundation.org) for transmission

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85 people found this helpful

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KT.
Wonderful & clarifying book
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2024
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The entire presentation. Nothing in this book that I didn’t like.

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One person found this helpful

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Seth Chapin
Excellent book for those interested in learning TCM
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2023
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If you are interested in learning the core concepts behind TCM , then this book is for you. Easy to follow and covers all the basic concepts and cites research sources.

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11 people found this helpful

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Frederick Bauman
Well written & informative
Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2022
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My acupuncturist recommended this book and it is a winner. The author has thorough and deep knowledge of Chinese medicine. Yet is very readable and gives one a definite feel for an approach to medicine that is completely different from western medicine.

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8 people found this helpful

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Giulio Perroni
Best description of Chinese medicine and the philosophy behind it I've seen
Reviewed in Canada on July 27, 2023
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Chinese people perceive the world and think differently. I worked there for 6 years. Their medicine works - from personal experience. This book explains how Chinese understand the world as a whole, interconnecting entity - not separate parts, and treat patients accordingly. Chinese are aware of our inner energies, such as our Chi, and listen to them for diagnosis and treatment.

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Amazon Customer
100%
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 23, 2022
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Everything 100%

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Amazon Customer
Non L ho ancora letto tutto quindi nn posso rispondere a questa domanda
Reviewed in Italy on February 8, 2019
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Frequento la scuola di shiatsu e questo libro è utilissimo per approfondire le mie conoscenze. Ottimo libro e facilmente comprensibile.

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Phiroz
Five Stars
Reviewed in India on January 12, 2017
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Very interesting for the open minded people interested in TCM

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Dee
Understanding TCM In Layman Terms - Perfect Reference
Reviewed in Canada on February 20, 2018
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This book is amazing. I have been seeing an TCM doctor for 3 months now and she recommended this book to me. This book explains TCM in layman terms. It is a perfect reference.

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