Posted on April 12, 2009 by Yael
Sometimes it feels as though there’s a sea of books in Chinese Medicine.
So many interesting books, how can one choose what to buy?
I will try in this post to write the must have books I feel are essential for practitioners and/or students in Chinese Medicine. This list also contains some books that are still on my wish-list, due to lack of funds they are still on the list and not on my book shelf…
This is of course just what I think, there are many wonderful books out there that can help you grow in your career.
The I Ching- Richard Wilhelm
I just started reading it, but this book talks about a field in it’s own right.
Not to mention one of the most interesting books I have ever read.
Essentially, this is the book that talks about the change between Yin and Yang. And this is one of the more important ideas in Chinese philosophy. Understanding it will give us a better grasp on Chinese Medicine.
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.
Posted on November 9, 2008 by Yael
It is a common fact that the information we have today in the west about the 8 extraordinary meridians is insufficient- at best.
Historically speaking, they are mentioned in the Su Wen and Ling Shu but separated from each other, or mentioned by pairs. It is in the Nan Jing that they were first mentioned as one group.
The loss of information has various reasons, and we are left with knowledge that is being passed from practitioner to his student.
The extraordinary meridians are the foundation for life from the beginning to end, as it is clearly stated in the first page of the introduction of the book by Elizabeth Rochat de la Valleeand Father Claude Larre.
They are the “blueprint” on which the human body is built on, and on the rest of the body are being added to- 12 meridians, organs and so on.
It is, therefore, very important to understand them, their functions and when to treat them.
And how are we supposed to know all that if we don’t read about it?
2 main books were written on the subject, one by Kiiko Matsumoto
and the second by Rochat and Larre. I will discuss the latter.
