Pursuing The Elixir Of Life: Chinese Medicine For Health

by Hai Hong, Karen Wee

Overview

Since time immemorial Man has pursued the elusive elixir of life. The wisdom of ancient Chinese medicine declared immortality unattainable, but offered the elixir of longevity through lifestyle, diet, the judicious use of herbal tonics and the practice of subtle but powerful exercises of qigong and taijiquan.This concise volume explains in modern scientific language the principles of ancient Chinese methods of health and the practice of yangsheng 养生 or life cultivation. Natural holistic solutions to health issues and the intricacies of Chinese diagnosis and therapies are brilliantly exposed, complete with detailed descriptions of herbs, acupuncture and tuina.Discover appetizing recipes for soups, porridges and teas that give you that healthy glow and nourish your body and soul. Based on a series of popular lectures by the authors, this book opens a new chapter in your pursuit of a long and fulfilling life. It is also excellent preparation for more advanced studies in Chinese medicine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789813207042
Publisher:	World Scientific Publishing Company, Incorporated
Publication date:	02/03/2017
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.60(d)

Table of Contents

Preface v

Chapter 1 From Spirits to Natural Science: The origins of Chinese medicine 1

Chapter 2 Why Chinese Medicine Matters: Ten distinguishing characteristics of TCM 7

Chapter 3 The Precious Ingredients of Life: Basic substances in the body 22

Chapter 4 The Inner Workings of the Human Body: A unique narrative drawn from experience 28

Chapter 5 Why We Fall III: Diagnosis and principles of therapy 45

Chapter 6 Hope Springs Eternal: Ancient wisdom on the elixir of life 62

Chapter 7 Nature's Goodness in a Humble Root: The nature and flavour of herbs 69

Chapter 8 Potions That Heal: Herbs and herbal formulations 83

Chapter 9 Navigating the Body's Meridian Network: Acupuncture and Tuina 107

Chapter 10 Attaining Longevity and Vitality: The art and science of cultivating life 119

Chapter 11 Medicated Foods and Teas: Healthy recipes that please the gourmet 137

Chapter 12 Nip It in the Bud: The prevention and management of chronic diseases 153

Chapter 13 A Brave New World: Will TCM and biomedicine converge? 171

Annex 1 Common Chinese Herbs 179

Annex 2 Common Chinese Prescriptions 201

Annex 3 Glossary of Common Names of Herbs 209

References 219

Additional In formation on TCM 221

Index 222