Many 1st year students don’t really know which are the best books to buy. Some of them just buy everything they can get their hands on- which isn’t a very good way to go, one reason is that it’s pretty expensive, and another reason is that many books that are recommended by the school are still in a very strange language which you just started to learn (Chinese Medicine).
Others don’t buy books at all- which is definifly not a good way to go! When studying Chinese Medicine, one should remember to buy books, but one should always try to make a good decision on what to buy.

So we will try to give you a number of ideas for that good decision, giving you titles we think just might help you along the way and make your first year easier.

The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine (Suwen and NeiJing) is an important book to own and read in from time to time. This is one of the most valuable books in Chinese philosophy and many important authors in Chinese philosophy and medicine dedicated years of their lives to translate and understand what these books are trying to tell us. This is the best translation yet, to my humble opinion, and this will be a book you will find yourself reading many times as you go along.

One of my personal favorite books, which I read and re-read a number of times throughout my years in Chinese Medicine is The Web That Has No Weaver by Ted Kaptchuk (remember the name and Google the guy, you will find wonderful information). The author helps understand basic ideas of Chinese philosophy such as Qi and Yin and Yang- which are very important ideas to understand by the end of the first year. Qi, Yin Yang, Heaven-Man-Earth, Five Elements and other basic ideas that will become a second language to you as time goes by.

If you already are a student, you probably heard about Giovanni Maciocia’s The Foundations of Chinese Medicine. As you go on with your studies, you will discover that Maciocia wrote many books, and that sometimes- just sometimes- you would like to throw the book on somebody’s head; so much information, so many words- and it’s all in boring lists, why oh why is TCM so annoying?! Well, truth should be told- Maciocia studied TCM and Stems and Branches and Five Elements. While we’re at it, he also fluent in Chinese and has much knowledge under his belt. When he uses so many words to describe a certain idea, it’s only because he’s trying to be true to the original Chinese text, and that is very difficult to do when you translate Chinese to English. So if you get frustrated with Maciocia’s writing, keep in mind that he’s just trying to keep the spirit of the original text in the English translation.

Grasping The Wind is not a book for everyone. You might find it to be a wonderful book that will make your first year experience all that more spiritual, and a friend of yours will think it’s a complete waste of time. In my experience, the book helps connect with the acupuncture points, but doesn’t always give the correct meaning of the point’s name. It is a very good way for the first year student to try and connect more with the points and their functions, so it just might be a good book for you to explore.

 Healing With Whole Foods is a book that if you find nutrition to be one of the main tools you will use in your clinic- you will simply must have it in your book-case! The book is good for all years, as it also presents certain basic ideas of Chinese philosophy, and for people who want to heal through food this is the best way to go, with much information about different types of foods through the eyes of oriental and Chinese Medicine.

Between Heaven and Earth is a book I didn’t really like but I know that many people found it to be very useful in understanding more about the Five elements. I don’t think it’s a bad book, but I do feel that it is not a good enough book for those of us studying Chinese Medicine. If you are interested in Chinese Medicine but not studying it- this book will be just fine. On the other hand- many fine schools recommend this book, and who am I to argue? So I felt it would be just right to mention the book in this post. 

These are I think six of the most basic books you can find in stores. There are of course books about pulse diagnosis, tongue diagnosis, many other books about the organs and Five Elements- when it comes to books, you really can pick your favorites. But for the first year, I think the six books I mentioned are a good way to start, and with other books you can for now look at them when you’re in the library. You still have three more years in which you can go on buying books, and believe me- you have so many books to choose from!

Are there any books that you found useful that I didn’t mention? Do you think different than I do about certain books I mentioned? Leave your comments so others might benefit from your opinions.