Western Herbs in CM

[Guest guest]

Bill, Z'ev, Alon, et al,

 

Thanks Bill, I have said something that I don't think I have

mentioned in this thread, but do make a point of discussing in the my

book--I by no means consider what I have written as absolute. In

fact, I am quite sure that years down the line I will look at some of

it and say to myself, " Wow, I wrote that? " It happens to all authors

of original work, why should I be any different. However, if your

afraid to step out the door, you'll never get to the store.

 

I didn't start this trend. Michael Tierra did with Planetary

Herbology. Peter Holms' work was a weak attempt, but none the less is

another work in the right direction, sort of. I don't want to bash

Peter's work. The beginning of the first volume is excellent. Then as

I was querying publishers Jeremy Ross published his work. I find it

to be not at all like what I have done. He, like Holms, has mixed

traditions that I feel make it difficult for the Chinese herbalist to

use. I initially didn't like it at all, but I have found it to be

somewhat useful, but then I have training in Western herbalism.

 

What sets my work apart is that it is the first one to use ONLY

Chinese jargon to discribe how the herb works and how you, the

Chinese herbalist, can use the herbs. I didn't make up any theory to

try to describe what I was seeing, I relied on the theories of

Chinese medicine as I understand them. The only place you will find

anything that doesn't look like it came out of Bensky (except I use

Wiseman/Feng terminology, both for consistancy and ease of

reference), or any other Chinese materia medica, is in the commentary

where you will find lots of other interesting data culled from lots

of sources, including some translation of either the same or related

species used in China, some ethnobotany, some anacdotal stuff, etc.

Oh, and btw, it has full color photos of the plants throughout, all

of which were taken by yours truly, with the exception of two which

were taken by Mimi Kamp, an excellent herbalist and talented artist

from the Southwest.

 

OK, enough about my book. I will just say, SHAMELESSLY, go buy it

(its not like I am really making much money, I am making more money

here in Beijing doing " editing, " read as back-translation, for PMPH).

I truly believe you will like it. If you don't, I want to hear about

it, please. I really mean it, email me, vent on this forum, send me a

post card, or hate mail if that's what you think will be effective. I

believe this work is very important and I also believe that it is

through discussion that it will improve and hopefully relieve some

suffering in the process. That is, in the end, my true motivation.

Oh, and hey, if you do like it, I wouldn't mind hearing that either,

I am a human with an ego that likes to be stroked every now and

again :-}

 

May All Beings Find True Happiness!

 

Thomas

 

 

, " bill_schoenbart "

<plantmed2 wrote:

>

> I think Thomas and Zev are both making valid points.

> Adding " Western " herbs to a TCM formula isn't technically pure TCM,

> since the Western herbs don't have the same level of testing and

> discussion over time. Western herbs that are already incorporated

> into TCM have undergone centuries of this sort of testing. On the

> other hand, I don't think that should stop us from using Western

> herbs along with TCM formulas. I have been doing it for 17 years,

> with no adverse effects. It is in fact a form of Jia Jian, which is

> an important principle in modifying TCM formulas. I see no problem

> in adding Cramp Bark to an Invigorate Blood formula for

> dysmenorrhea, for example. It's only one herb, so its energetics

are

> less important than its action in this case. Or giving Echinacea to

> a patient with weak Wei Qi. Clinical studies and personal

experience

> have shown that it is effective in preventing colds. Does that make

> it tonifying? Don't know; don't care. It works.

>

> Do we know exactly Western herbs will blend with the Chinese herbs?

> Not exactly, which is why books like Thomas' are so important. That

> sort of text is the BEGINNING of the discussion, not the end of it.

> After 100 or so years of testing those herbs in TCM formulas, the

> discussion will begin to rise to the level of experience that is

> inherent in traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Thomas or his

> descendants can edit the info accordingly. The discussion and

> exploration has to start sometime; why not now? I'm not suggesting

> that people with no experience using Western herbs start randomly

> giving them to patients. On the other hand, with some education and

> experience, the powerful Qi of organic or wildcrafted local herbs

> can greatly enhance the efficacy of a traditional formula.

>

> - Bill Schoenbart