Acupuncture and East Asian Medicine

Used with copyright permission (2018) from: Institute of Traditional Medicine. Resources for the Study of Chinese Medicine. The books in this document were selected by Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D. for use by the Institute for Traditional Medicine in preparing articles about Chinese medicine, especially about herbal medicine.

HISTORICAL RECORDS

Practitioners of Chinese herbal medicine are expected to be familiar with the Nei Jing (which has two component parts, Su Wen and Ling Shu) and with the Shang Han Lun (also having two parts, Shang Han Lun and Jin Gui Yao Lue); additionally, it is helpful to be aware of one or more works of famous physicians, such as Li Dongyuan (a.k.a. Li Gao). Translation of these ancient texts is no easy matter. Chinese writing tends to be quite succinct and readers (especially translators) often read into the text things that may or may not have been intended by the original author(s). Often, the book that is being translated has already been modified from the original by Chinese authors who not only copied the text, but made corrections, re-arrangements, and interpretations. Several books have been placed in a section headed “advanced reading/reference.”  This means that the texts may be especially difficult to understand or may have a rather limited realm of application to modern education in Chinese medicine. While most books are translations, some of these texts are modern explanations with many quotations from ancient sources.   This collection involves books published from 1981-2001. These are titles that practitioners today might not find featured in book lists. 

Recommended Reading/Reference

• Maoshing Ni, The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine: A New Translation of the Neijing Suwen with Commentary, 1995 Shambhala, Boston, MA.
• Unschuld PU, Forgotten Traditions of Ancient Chinese Medicine, 1990 Paradigm Publications, Brookline, MA.
• Wu Jingnuan (translator), Ling Shu, or The Spiritual Pivot, 1993 Taoist Center, Washington, D.C.
• Chen Ping (editor in chief), History and Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1999 Science Press, Beijing.
• Hsu HY and Peacher WG (editors), Shang Han Lun: The Great Classic of Chinese Medicine, 1981 Oriental Healing Arts Institute, Long Beach, CA.

• Hsu HY and Wang SY (translators), Chin Kuei You Lueh, 1983 Oriental Healing Arts Institute, Long Beach, CA.
• Hsu HY and Wang SY, The Theory of Feverish Diseases and Its Clinical Applications, 1985 Oriental Healing Arts Institute, Long Beach, CA.
• Unschuld PU, Medicine in China: History of Pharmaceutics, 1986 University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.
• Unschuld PU, Medicine in China: A History of Ideas, 1985 University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.
• Yang Shouzhong and Li Jianyong (translators), Li Dongyuan’s Treatise on the Spleen and Stomach, 1993 Blue Poppy Press, Boulder, CO.
• Yang Shouzhong (translator), The Heart and Essence of Danxi’s Methods of Treatment, 1993 Blue Poppy Press, Boulder, CO.
• Zhu Ming, The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor, 2001 Foreign Languages Press, Beijing.

Advanced Reading/Reference

• Chace C and Zhang Tingliang, A Qin Bowei Anthology, 1997 Paradigm Publications, Brookline, MA
• Unschuld PU, Introductory Readings in Classical Chinese Medicine, 1988, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Holland.
• Unschuld PU, Medicine in China: Nan-Ching, 1986 University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.
• Unschuld PU, Medicine in China: Historical Artifacts and Images, 2000 Prestel Verlag, Munich.
• Yang Shouzhong (translator), Extra Treatises based on Investigation and Inquiry (Gezhi Yulun), 1994 Blue Poppy Press, Boulder, CO.
• Yang Shouzhong (translator), The Heart Transmission of Medicine, 1997 Blue Poppy Press, Boulder, CO.
• Yang Shouzhong, Master Hua’s Classic of the Central Viscera, 1993 Blue Poppy Press, Boulder, CO.
• Yang Shouzhong (translator), The Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica, 1997 Blue Poppy Press, Boulder, CO.
• Yang Shouzhong and Chace C, The Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, 1994 Blue Poppy Press, Boulder, CO.
• Zhang Zhongjing, Synopsis of Prescriptions of the Golden Chamber, 1987 New World Press, Beijing.
• Zhang Zhongjing, Treatise on Febrile Diseases Caused by Cold with 500 Cases, 1993 New World Press, Beijing.

Last updated 8/27/2021.

Last updated 9/28/17.