WITH HEINER FRUEHAUF
INTERVIEW BY BOB QUINN
Heiner Fruehauf sat down recently with his long-time student and colleague at National University of Natural Medicine, Bob Quinn, to discuss ascending and descending functions in the body. While on the surface a seemingly simple topic, it is in reality crucial to understand the up-down movement dynamic if one is to practice herbal medicine effectively.
BY WU SHENG'AN (Xi'an Master Folk Physician)
INTERPRETED AND TRANSLATED
BY HEINER FRUEHAUF
It has been the declared purpose of ClassicalChineseMedicine.org to rediscover and preserve some of the diverse classical and folk medicine practices that have been neglected in standardized TCM teaching in both China and the West. One of the clinical gems we discovered during the last 3 years is the unique clinical system of Dr. Wu Sheng’an from Xi’an, who is a 6th generation disciple of the Qing dynasty scholar physician Huang Yuanyu (1704-1758), more often referred to by his nickname Huang Kunzai (Huang Who Stabilizes Like the Earth, a reference to the spleen/stomach focused approach by this influential doctor).
GERMAN TRANSLATION BY ALEXANDER SIMON
BY HEINER FRUEHAUF
GERMAN TRANSLATION BY MARKUS GOEKE
Gancao Xiexin Tang was first recorded by the Han physician Zhang Zhongjing about 1,800 years ago. Both Shanghan lun and Jingui yaolüe, the now separated parts of his classic guidebook on herbal formulas (Shanghan zabing lun), cite this particular formula. In modern times, this formula is usually regarded as a variation of the widely used Pinellia Purge the Heart Decoction (Banxia Xiexin Tang) and thus most often prescribed as a remedy for Banxia Xiexin Tang symptom complex (discomfort in stomach area, belching, diarrhea). This is precisely the usage suggested for this remedy in the Shanghai lan, where Gancao Xiexin Tang and Shengjiang Xiexin Tang are listed as variations of the standard Banxia Xiexin Tang.
BY HEINER FRUEHAUF
The concept of an inseparable body mind continuum is one of the main characteristics of Eastern thought. In classical Chinese medicine, therefore, bodymind continuum mental activity has always been considered to be inseparable from bodily functions, and mental diseases were generally not treated differently from any other disorder. The Chinese term 'yuzheng' (depression), for instance, refers to stagnation on both a physical and mental plane, and is usually addressed with the same diagnostic and therapeutic means as diseases that would be considered to have entirely physi cal origins in the West.
BY VARIOUS AUTHORS
TRANSLATED BY HEINER FRUEHAUF
Prior to the process of treating disease, the sage (superior doctor) must be able to distinguish the Yin and Yang of Heaven and Earth. S/he must know the rhythmic flow of the four seasons and the intricate relationships between the five organ networks and the six bowel systems. S/he must be able to distinguish the Yin/Yang and exterior/interior quality of the meridians, and know what kind of diseases to treat with acupuncture, what kind with moxibustion, and what kind with herbs. S/he must understand the relationship between health and social interaction, master the standard procedure of diagnosis and treatment, and discern the constitutional differences in rich and poor people.
FROM INNER CANON OF THE YELLOW EMPEROR (NEIJING SUWEN, CHAPTER 77: "ANALYZING THE FIVE MISTAKES IN DIAGNOSIS" (FL. 200 B.C.