Classical Chinese Herbalism
Chinese herbal medicine is a highly sophisticated system of identifying and energetically describing medicinal materials in nature. While this system has survived in more prolific form than any other body of ancient healing, the subtleties of its practice are in the process of becoming forgotten today. This section is dedicated to preserving the core knowledge of the alchemical science of harvesting, processing, combining, preparing, and ingesting herbs in the various lineages of Chinese herbal prescription.
Gain access to members-only content. Learn more about becoming a member ››
SERIES
Paozhi (herb processing): The Field of Herbal Alchemy
HU CHANGJIANG
College of Pharmacology, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
In this series of lectures, one of China’s last remaining experts in the field of herbal alchemy gives a passionate introduction to the forgotten science of paozhi. He explains how processing raw herbs with honey, vinegar, alcohol, clay and other transformative substances can affect their clinical potency and direction. Additionally, he offers principles of paozhi application through the presentation of clinical case studies.
Chinese Medicine Cardiology: Approaches to Treating the Heart with Chinese Herbs (2 Parts)
HEINER FRUEHAUF
In this two part presentation, Heiner Fruehauf shares his longstanding experience of treating acute and chronic disorders of the Heart with Chinese herbs. The lecture includes insights into the nature of the Heart from the perspective of Chinese medical cosmology, as well as clinical instructions accompanied by case studies that illustrate how to approach chronic heart disease and acute heart failure in post-COVID and post-vaccine injury cases.
The Genius of the Shanghan lun
Reflections on My Stay in Wuhan During the Pandemic
LIU LIHONG & HEINER FRUEHAUF
In this video, Dr. Liu Lihong shares more of his experience as one of the first responders during the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan. He further reflects on the surprising efficacy of acupuncture during the pandemic, and the universal applicability of Shanghan lun methodology for both acute and chronic diseases.
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf
Approaches to Stroke Recovery with Chinese Herbs (2 Parts)
HU CHANGJIANG & HEINER FRUEHAUF
Dr. Hu Changjiang, senior professor at Chengdu University of TCM and China’s leading paozhi (herbal processing) expert, has had a life-long interest in the treatment of difficult and recalcitrant diseases with Chinese herbal medicine. In this lecture, he summarizes his personal insights and clinical experiences treating different stages of post-stroke recovery with Chinese herbs.
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf
Chinese Medicine Approaches to COVID: A Brief History and Differentiation of Stages (2 Parts)
HU CHANGJIANG & HEINER FRUEHAUF
Dr. Hu Changjiang, senior professor at Chengdu University of TCM and China’s leading paozhi (herbal processing) expert, has had a life-long interest in the treatment of difficult and recalcitrant diseases with Chinese herbal medicine. In this lecture, he summarizes his personal insights and clinical experiences while treating COVID-19 during the years of the pandemic.
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf
Li Shizhen, Mugwort, and Moxibustion (2 Parts)
ZOU HUI & HEINER FRUEHAUF
Clinical Insights About a Neglected Modality of Chinese Medicine
Moxibustion was once regarded as one of the main modalities of Chinese medicine. During the last 75 years, however, the quality of medicinal mugwort has gone into decline and many traditional Moxa techniques have been lost. In this presentation, Dr. Liu Lihong’s passionate associate Mrs. Zou Hui gives us a passionate account of her decade-long journey to revive this forgotten therapeutic art. She relates how she chanced upon the esoteric Daoist system of Hetu Luoshu Moxibustion near sacred Mt. Qingcheng in Sichuan, and how she rediscovered China’s lost mugwort terroir near Li Shizhen’s ancestral home in Hubei. A compelling presentation outlining the characteristics of high quality mugwort and the enormous clinical potential of moxibustion for physical and emotional rebalancing.
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf
The Alchemy of Cooking (2 Parts)
LIU LIHONG & HEINER FRUEHAUF
After several years of COVID-related lock-downs in China, we were able to spend precious time with Dr. Liu Lihong again this summer. We felt privileged to hear about his latest project probing the intricate depths of Chinese Medicine—the alchemy of food preparation. Dr. Liu’s passionate lecture includes unique insights into the energetic properties of water and an introduction to Nanshan Yinshi, a hermit lineage of food preparation that originated from sacred Mt. Zhongnan in Shaanxi.
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf
Essential Prescriptions for Pregnancy and Post-Partum Care
HEINER FRUEHAUF
This month’s offering features a video summary of Heiner Fruehauf’s teaching about fertility, pregnancy and postpartum care given during a seminar on Mt. Qingcheng in Sichuan Province during the summer of 2019—an introduction to the practical use of the five most fundamental prescriptions for getting pregnant, staying pregnant, easy delivery and postpartum recovery.
Total running time: 29 mins
Treating Cancer with Chinese Herbs (2 Parts)
DENG ZHONGJIA
In this 2-part lecture series, China’s premier expert of Chinese formula studies systematically outlines his differentiated approach to the treatment of common cancer types.
Total running time: 134 mins
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf
The Six Conformations (liujing): Reflections by a Shanghan Expert (2 Parts)
LIU LIHONG
The organization of the 12 organ systems into 3 yang pairs and 3 yin pairs and the associated system of six conformation diagnostics (liujing bianzheng) remains one of the less explored areas of contemporary Chinese medicine. Twenty five years ago, Dr. Liu Lihong wrote one of China’s first doctoral dissertations in the field of Chinese medicine on the six conformation approach to diagnosis and therapy. Since then, he has become known for his deep and clinically relevant lectures on this classical system that was first outlined in the Neijing and Shanghan lan.
Total running time: 112 mins.
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf
Restoring the Vital Link Between Gut Chemistry and Brain Chemistry: Using Chinese Herbs to Treat Food Allergies, Leaky Gut Syndrome, IBS, SIBO and GAPS (2 Parts)
HEINER FRUEHAUF
In this 2-part series, Heiner Fruehauf explains how to restore gut terrain with Chinese herbs and re-establish the important connection between the body’s digestive system and the nervous system and brain. Particularly, he focuses on digestive impairments such as food allergies, leaky gut, irritable bowel syndrome, small intestine bacterial overgrowth, and gut and physiology syndrome.
Total running time: 96 mins.
English
Formula Family Series: Xiexin Tang, Sini San, and Baihe Tang Formulas (3 Parts)
ZENG RONGXIU
An 84-year old master of the Tian Heming Shanghan lineage of Sichuan herbalism shares practical case examples that illuminate important aspects of Shanghan lun formula application.
Total running time: 167 mins.
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf
A Practical Introduction to Dr. Wu Sheng’an’s Method of Ascending/Descending Chinese Herbal Prescriptions
WU ZHAOQING
Xi'an Master Folk Physician
WU ZHAOQING
Eldest son of Dr. Wu
Dr. Wu Sheng’an is a classically trained master physician whose practice combines many traditional skills that are virtually impossible to find in Dr. Wu Sheng'anone person in modern-day China: chrono-acupuncturist, wildcrafter and processor of medicinal plants, internal medicine expert specializing in difficult and recalcitrant diseases, Taiji master, and active proponent of Sun Simiao’s medical ethics. In a medical practice that has spanned more than 50 years, Dr. Wu has synthesized core teachings of several historically renowned lineages into one highly effective and cohesive clinical system. In video lecture, Dr. Wu’s eldest son Wu Zhaoqing provides a practical and systematic introduction to the unique herbal approach of the Wu Sheng’an lineage.
Total running time: 134 mins
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf
A Synthesis of liujing bianzheng (Six Conformation Diagnostics) and the Practical Application of Shanghan lun Formulas (3 Parts)
ZENG RONGXIU
Dr. Zeng was a veteran physician from Chengdu (Sichuan) who specialized in the treatment of difficult and recalcitrant diseases with herbal formulas from the Shanghan lan and Jingui yaolüe. The simplicity of his clinical approach, combined with the fervent belief that all disease can be healed with natural methods, transmit the core essence of the practical aspects of classical Chinese medicine. Until his passing in 2014, he was living in retirement in Los Angeles and continued to teach students at Five Branches University and the College of Classical Chinese Medicine at National University of Natural Medicine.
Total running time: 178 mins.
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf
Understanding Cancer: Spiritual and Physical Reasons for Its Development and Complementary Treatment Strategies with Chinese Herbs (3 Parts)
HEINER FRUEHAUF
Heiner Fruehauf found his way to the profession of classical Chinese medicine more than two decades ago while healing from cancer. Since then, he has explored many alternative cancer treatments and accumulated a host of information on how to accompany conventional treatments of cancer with Chinese herbs, Qigong, emotional therapy, and other modalities. In this multi-part lecture at his home in the Sandy River Gorge in Oregon, Heiner systematically shares his clinical approach to this difficult disorder.
Total running time: 148 mins.
English
Clinical Realizations of a Chinese Medicine Physician (2 Parts)
LU CHONGHAN
In this passionate video lecture, the main successor of the Sichuan “Fire Spirit” school of aconite, ginger, and cinnamon usage reveals the clinical secrets of his herbal lineage. In an unveiled challenge to the textbook parameters of TCM, Dr. Lu contents that support of yang-qi must override most superficial symptoms of heat and yin deficiency.
Total running time: 120 mins.
Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles
The Foundation of Life: How to Ensure Clinical Success by Safeguarding the Yang (3 Parts)
LIU LIHONG
In the final installment of this 3-part lecture series, Prof. Liu Lihong, the author of the best-selling book Sikao zhongyi (Rethinking Chinese Medicine) and one of the leading proponents of the so-called Fire School of Chinese herbalism, lays out in great detail the theoretical reasons for using the herbs aconite, cinnamon, and ginger as the keystone for the treatment of most chronic and severe illnesses.
Total running time: 180 mins.
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf
On the Concept of “Fang” (Formula Science): The Design and Clinical Power of Guizhi Tang (Cinnamon Decoction) (2 Parts)
LIU LIHONG
In this educational presentation filled with important practical clinical information, Prof. Liu Lihong offers insight into “fang”, or formula science. He utilizes guizhi tang (cinnamon decoction), one of the premier and most important formulas in Chinese herbalism, as the example to illuminate his lesson.
Total running time: 120 mins.
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf
King of 100 Herbs: The Central Role of Aconite in the Fire Spirit Lineage (3 Parts)
LIU LIHONG
Aconite plays a central role in the classical materia medica, yet is rarely used anymore by Chinese herbalists in modern clinical practice. Dr. Liu Lihong, China’s most prominent proponent of yang tonic therapy and a formal disciple of the Fire Spirit Lineage of Southwest China illuminates the rich story of aconite in this lecture. He explains the reasons why it has become a forgotten herb, and what needs to be done to reclaim it as one of the most powerful healing substances in the treatment of difficult and recalcitrant diseases.
Total running time: 180 mins.
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf
Herb Pairs: Mastering the Alchemical Element of Chinese Herbal Medicine (2 Parts)
DENG ZHONGJIA
In this concise and data-packed lecture, China’s premier expert on herb combinations and herbal formulas illuminates one of the most important yet little talked about aspects of Chinese herbology. In this segment he focuses on the laws of alchemy, by explaining how the combining and dosing of single herbs can emphasize one specific function of a multi-spectrum herb over another.
Total running time: 134 mins.
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf
Gu Syndrome: Effective Ancient Approaches to Chronic Inflammatory Disease and Other Silent Epidemics of Our Time (2 Parts)
HEINER FRUEHAUF
The concept of Gu Syndrome (“Possession Syndrome”) is an important feature of classical Chinese medicine that has been thoroughly misunderstood and subsequently disappeared from the historical record of TCM. During the last 15 years, Dr. Fruehauf has tirelessly researched this topic to demonstrate how forgotten ancient medical wisdom can provide effective solutions for difficult clinical problems in our time. In his most detailed lecture on the subject to date, he explains how Qing Dynasty Gu-parasitology can provide unique approaches to chronic infections caused by viruses, fungi, spirochetes, and intestinal parasites–beneficial information for practitioners treating patients who suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Lyme Disease, IBS, and related auto-immune disorders with “strange” symptoms.
Total running time: 120 mins.
English
Conversations with the Salt Doctor (2 Parts)
JIAN YUGUANG
An accomplished Sichuanese village doctor who hails from a long lineage that traces its roots to the Ming dynasty Daoist alchemist Zhang Sanfeng talks about his discipleship studies and life-long clinical usage of an alchemical remedy made from brine and salt. According to him and his teachers, it represents the lost remedy of the miraculous “tangye laoli” (decoctions and medicinal wines) that is the topic of Neijing chapter 14.
Total running time: 120 mins.
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf
Clinical Insights from a Fever School Expert (Part 2)
ZHANG ZHIWEN
In Part 2 of a two part interview, China’s most distinguished Fever School expert explores diagnostic parameters and main treatment approaches of the Fever School of Chinese herbalism (includes case examples).
Total running time: 45 mins.
Mandarin Chinese, translated into English by Heiner Fruehauf