Chinese Medicine Notes

Feminine Philosophy

Posted on January 5, 2009 by Yael

I recieved 2 books by Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallee in the mail.
One of them, The Essential Woman,  is about women’s health and fertility in the Chinese classics.
Happy happy, joy joy! Here is a look at how the Chinese classics look at gynecology, a very important aspect if you ask me, especially those who chose Chinese gynecology as their main path in their clinic.
Truth should be told that I was a bit offended that Elisabeth wrote just 127 pages on the subject.  Is there really so little to be said about gynecology? And no, the woman on the cover, a painting dated back to the Tang dynasty, did not make me feel any better. I thought there’s a lot more to be said…

Of course- I was correct.
I say “of course” because for a moment there, I forgot we’re talking about Elisabeth, the woman with the amazing ability to read ancient texts, collect important information in Chinese philosophy and make it all usable for us to  practice daily in our clinic. Elisabeth always has a lot to say that way.
One should keep in mind that we’re talking about the classical text itself, which presents a certain amount of information. Elisabeth then translates the text so that we will understand it better.
So yes, it’s 127 pages, but just like in her other books, these are pages with wonderful deep knowledge that is worth knowing.

Elisabeth refers to important subjects that are important in understanding Chinese gynecology and Chinese feminine  psychology- Qi, blood, 8 extraordinary meridians, Bao Luo and the organs.
She then moves on to talk about the 7 year cycle, each cycle gets full attention.
As always, the Chinese characters are brought into light and are being explained so that we understand the philosophical idea behind it, which leads to a clinical understanding.
The number 7 is closely looked at, as it is an important number where women are concerned, one example- the 7 emotions.
The book closes with a look at infertility, menopause and 3 pathologies that have to do with the period.

If you read my previous reviews about books by Elisabeth, you know I’m a huge fan of her books.
At a time where we lack free access to the classics, Elisabeth’s books are some what of a treasure to those who study Chinese philosophy and Chinese Medicine.
While reading this book, I felt for the first time the need to go back to other books by Elisabeth and father Larre, mainly because in the other books I could find a discussion that in this book was mentioned briefly.
I think that it would be right to look at all the books as one big project, reading them and dwelling on the ideas in these books give us a deeper understanding of Chinese Medicine and it’s key ideas.

Treating women makes one understand that many are the things that affect women, most of them are underneath the surface.
This book helps understand at least some of them.

The Essential Woman
Female health and fertility in Chinese classical texts
Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallee
Monkey Press 2007