One technique for learning TCM herbalism at home

[Guest guest]

Sometimes people who want to learn can't or don't want to go away to

school. Or, the person wants to learn all s/he can on his/her own

so that when s/he does enter a formal education program, it goes a

lot quicker and easier than it would have.

 

One technique for learning involves the use of the Chinese Herbal

Medicine Materia Medica by Dan Bensky and Andrew Gamble, 630

Questions And Answers About Chinese Herbal Medicine: A Workbook And

Study Guide by Bob Flaws, and the tape A Pronunciation Guide to

Chinese Materia Medica in Chinese and Latin by Zong Xiao-fan and Bob

Flaws.

 

One thing that slows down learning for many people is not knowing

how to pronounce the names of the herbs or being unsure of one's

pronunciation. Zong Xiao-fan repeats the Chinese name of each herb

twice, and Flaws repeats the Latin pharmaceutical name once.

 

The listing of the herbs on the tape roughly follows Bensky's and

Gamble's listing of herbs in their Materia Medica. (A Materia

Medica is a list of healing substances used in a system of medicine.

There are several different Chinese Materia Medicas in English

available, but the Bensky and Gamble one is perhaps the best known

and the most-used in the US. There are other Chinese Materia Medicas

in other languages.)

 

The workbook and study guide gives insight into the types of things

one needs to know if one becomes a TCM herbalist. For example, the

flavor(s) of the herb, the thermal energy of the herb (does it heat

or cool the body or have no temperature effect on the body), the

Organs and channels entered by the herb, the uses of the herb, and

other herbs which the herb in question often is combined with and

why. The workbook also helps facts about various herbs to stick in

one's mind.

 

Learning TCM can seem daunting at times. I recommend starting with

what one has a need to know and has a special interest in. For me

this is treating Cold conditions and Deficiency. I started with the

chapter in the Materia Medica on Herbs that Warm the Interior and

Expel Cold. I played this section of the tape several times while

looking at the pinyin spellings of the names in Bensky's and Gamble

Materia Medica. For readers new to TCM, the Chinese language doesn't

use an alphabet. Pinyin refers to the transscibing of Chinese words

into a form using the English language alphabet. For example fu zi

is aconite. Radix (Root of) Lateralis Aconiti Carmichaeli

Praeparata is the Latin pharmaceutical name. The " Praeparata " part

of the name means that this is the processed form of the herb.

Aconite is toxic without processing. The word " Radix "

means " root " . Different parts of a plant may be used, and different

parts of the plant can have different properties. Sometimes

different parts of the plant (for example, the leaves and the root)

can have opposite properties. This is why the Latin pharmaceutical

name always includes the part of the plant used. Chinse also

indicates specific things about the herbs. Fu zi is prepared

aconite, but sheng fu zi is untreated aconite. The Latin

pharmaceutical name for unprocessed aconite does not have

the " Praeparata " in the name.

 

In the back of Bensky's and Gamble's Materia Medica, there is

further help in learning to pronounce the Chinese words. Appendix

One in the Revised Edition of their book is A Guide to Pinyin

Pronunciation. For example, ch- is pronounced like ch- in chair but

with the tongue on the palate. J is pronounced as in English but

with the tip of the tonue on the lower teeth.

 

Chinese is a tonal language. What this means is that meaning of a

word can change based on the tone of voice. A mark like - over a

letter means that the tone is high and held steady. A small mark

over a letter that looks like / means the tone is in the midrange

and rises. A small mark that looks like \ means the tone begins

high but drops. A small mark that looks like a v means the tone

falls and then rises. Bensky and Gamble use tonal marks throughout

their text to help with the correct pronunciation of Chinese terms.

 

After becoming somewhat comfortable with the Chinese names of the

herbs, I turned to the chapter in Flaws's workbook on Herbs That

Warm the Interior and Expel Cold. I read the first multiple choice

question, and then checked my answer in the answer section at the

back of the book. Then I tried the second question and checked it,

and so on.

 

My next step after answering all the questions one by one (and

learning what I knew and didn't know) was to start studying the

chapter on Interior Warming Herbs in Bensky's and Gamble's Materia

Medica. After I read through it and study it, I'll do the test

again. I'll repeat this until I feel very comfortable with Herbs

That Warm the Interior and Expel Cold. Because of my particular

health problems I want very in-depth and thorough knowledge of this

particular class of herbs. One might say I specialize in Cold

conditions and their treatment.

 

One point that Flaws makes at the beginning of his workbook is that

the questions are designed to enable the student to build upon

previous information. It's true. The answer to subsequent questions

often is contained in correctly answered previous answers. Or at

least clues are.

 

For those new to TCM, one of the biggest contributions that TCM

makes to healing is the concept of Hot and Cold. For various

reasons, a person may be too Cold. Another may be too Hot for

various reasons. In the case of a person who is too Cold, part of

the treatment will consist of warming the person and expeling the

Cold. In the case of a person who is too Hot, part of the treatment

*may* be to clear Heat (depending on why the person is too Hot).

There is a class of herbs called Herbs That Clear Heat. In TCM,

herbs are classified according to their main function.

 

For TCM students or health care professionals who want a copy of

Bensky's and Gamble's Materia Medica, I recommend checking for the

cheapest price as this is a very large, hardback reference book.

There are sites on the Internet which will tell one what various

companies are charging for a specific book.

 

The workbook and tape are available from Blue Poppy Press. They have

a website. There also is a pronunciation guide to acupoints tape.

[Guest guest]

Great post, victoria_dragon!

 

If anyone is interested in trying coffee or hot chocolate with

ganoderma- an extract from the reishi mushroom- go to

www.KatesHealthyCoffee.com for a free sample. This stuff is great and

it has less caffeine than decaf plus all the added benefits of Reishi!

 

Chinese Traditional Medicine , " victoria_dragon "

<victoria_dragon> wrote:

>

>

> Sometimes people who want to learn can't or don't want to go away

to

> school. Or, the person wants to learn all s/he can on his/her own

> so that when s/he does enter a formal education program, it goes a

> lot quicker and easier than it would have.

>

> One technique for learning involves the use of the Chinese Herbal

> Medicine Materia Medica by Dan Bensky and Andrew Gamble, 630

> Questions And Answers About Chinese Herbal Medicine: A Workbook And

> Study Guide by Bob Flaws, and the tape A Pronunciation Guide to

> Chinese Materia Medica in Chinese and Latin by Zong Xiao-fan and

Bob

> Flaws.

>

> One thing that slows down learning for many people is not knowing

> how to pronounce the names of the herbs or being unsure of one's

> pronunciation. Zong Xiao-fan repeats the Chinese name of each herb

> twice, and Flaws repeats the Latin pharmaceutical name once.

>

> The listing of the herbs on the tape roughly follows Bensky's and

> Gamble's listing of herbs in their Materia Medica. (A Materia

> Medica is a list of healing substances used in a system of

medicine.

> There are several different Chinese Materia Medicas in English

> available, but the Bensky and Gamble one is perhaps the best known

> and the most-used in the US. There are other Chinese Materia

Medicas

> in other languages.)

>

> The workbook and study guide gives insight into the types of things

> one needs to know if one becomes a TCM herbalist. For example, the

> flavor(s) of the herb, the thermal energy of the herb (does it heat

> or cool the body or have no temperature effect on the body), the

> Organs and channels entered by the herb, the uses of the herb, and

> other herbs which the herb in question often is combined with and

> why. The workbook also helps facts about various herbs to stick in

> one's mind.

>

> Learning TCM can seem daunting at times. I recommend starting with

> what one has a need to know and has a special interest in. For me

> this is treating Cold conditions and Deficiency. I started with the

> chapter in the Materia Medica on Herbs that Warm the Interior and

> Expel Cold. I played this section of the tape several times while

> looking at the pinyin spellings of the names in Bensky's and Gamble

> Materia Medica. For readers new to TCM, the Chinese language

doesn't

> use an alphabet. Pinyin refers to the transscibing of Chinese words

> into a form using the English language alphabet. For example fu zi

> is aconite. Radix (Root of) Lateralis Aconiti Carmichaeli

> Praeparata is the Latin pharmaceutical name. The " Praeparata " part

> of the name means that this is the processed form of the herb.

> Aconite is toxic without processing. The word " Radix "

> means " root " . Different parts of a plant may be used, and

different

> parts of the plant can have different properties. Sometimes

> different parts of the plant (for example, the leaves and the root)

> can have opposite properties. This is why the Latin pharmaceutical

> name always includes the part of the plant used. Chinse also

> indicates specific things about the herbs. Fu zi is prepared

> aconite, but sheng fu zi is untreated aconite. The Latin

> pharmaceutical name for unprocessed aconite does not have

> the " Praeparata " in the name.

>

> In the back of Bensky's and Gamble's Materia Medica, there is

> further help in learning to pronounce the Chinese words. Appendix

> One in the Revised Edition of their book is A Guide to Pinyin

> Pronunciation. For example, ch- is pronounced like ch- in chair

but

> with the tongue on the palate. J is pronounced as in English but

> with the tip of the tonue on the lower teeth.

>

> Chinese is a tonal language. What this means is that meaning of a

> word can change based on the tone of voice. A mark like - over a

> letter means that the tone is high and held steady. A small mark

> over a letter that looks like / means the tone is in the midrange

> and rises. A small mark that looks like \ means the tone begins

> high but drops. A small mark that looks like a v means the tone

> falls and then rises. Bensky and Gamble use tonal marks throughout

> their text to help with the correct pronunciation of Chinese terms.

>

> After becoming somewhat comfortable with the Chinese names of the

> herbs, I turned to the chapter in Flaws's workbook on Herbs That

> Warm the Interior and Expel Cold. I read the first multiple choice

> question, and then checked my answer in the answer section at the

> back of the book. Then I tried the second question and checked it,

> and so on.

>

> My next step after answering all the questions one by one (and

> learning what I knew and didn't know) was to start studying the

> chapter on Interior Warming Herbs in Bensky's and Gamble's Materia

> Medica. After I read through it and study it, I'll do the test

> again. I'll repeat this until I feel very comfortable with Herbs

> That Warm the Interior and Expel Cold. Because of my particular

> health problems I want very in-depth and thorough knowledge of this

> particular class of herbs. One might say I specialize in Cold

> conditions and their treatment.

>

> One point that Flaws makes at the beginning of his workbook is that

> the questions are designed to enable the student to build upon

> previous information. It's true. The answer to subsequent

questions

> often is contained in correctly answered previous answers. Or at

> least clues are.

>

> For those new to TCM, one of the biggest contributions that TCM

> makes to healing is the concept of Hot and Cold. For various

> reasons, a person may be too Cold. Another may be too Hot for

> various reasons. In the case of a person who is too Cold, part of

> the treatment will consist of warming the person and expeling the

> Cold. In the case of a person who is too Hot, part of the

treatment

> *may* be to clear Heat (depending on why the person is too Hot).

> There is a class of herbs called Herbs That Clear Heat. In TCM,

> herbs are classified according to their main function.

>

> For TCM students or health care professionals who want a copy of

> Bensky's and Gamble's Materia Medica, I recommend checking for the

> cheapest price as this is a very large, hardback reference book.

> There are sites on the Internet which will tell one what various

> companies are charging for a specific book.

>

> The workbook and tape are available from Blue Poppy Press. They

have

> a website. There also is a pronunciation guide to acupoints tape.