The Essential Book of Traditional Chinese Medicine

For more than four thousand years, Chinese scholars and medical practitioners have documented ways of maintaining health and treating illness, from theories of yin-yang and the zang-fu organs to the use of herbs and acupuncture. The Essential Book of Traditional Chinese Medicine marks the first time such concepts have been made accessible to Westerners in a comprehensive form.

In his unique sourcebooks, Liu Yanchi not only provides an invaluable reference for the practitioner of traditional medicine, but also an enlightening, readable introduction for anyone interested in Chinese culture or holistic medicine.

Now, for the first time, a complete account of traditional Chinese medicine....Volume One is devoted to theory [founded on] the Five Elements of water, fire, wood, metal, and earth, which categorized all natural phenomena including the interaction of body organs....Treatment is the subject of Volume Two, [which contains] a table covering all plants, animals, and minerals believed to have therapeutic activity.--Times Literary Supplement
Reflects a great deal of work not only by the author...but also by a group of ten highly proficient translators and editors on both sides of the Pacific who did a wonderful job.--Journal of the American Medical Association