A Manual of Chinese Herbal Medicine: Principles and Practice for Easy Reference

I found this book in a state of confused abandonment at my local bookstore, lost among a mumbo-jumbo of unrelated material. I took it home and doubted my purchase until I had tried to obtain TCM information from about five other sources and felt completely confused. TCM can be very difficult to understand, let alone explain, without the guidance of such clear minds as Dr. Fan's. Many books on TCM fail to follow a clear line of explanation and get lost among the confusing similarity and seeming interchangeability of terms found in many sources, but Dr. Fan never does that. Clear, scholarly, a bit dry at times, he never leaves the reader in a void, but rather goes back on himself so as to ensure understanding. His presentation really does TCM a great service, as he dispenses completely with esoteric-sounding, tried and trite pseudo-explanations found elsewhere, and shows how TCM really is a scientific, integrated, logical science. Even obscure concepts such as "disrespect" among the five phases are explained clearly. Differential diagnosis is covered step by step, and Dr. Fan again shows he did extensive homework by summarizing and giving clear correlations between all stages of this most important TCM diagnostic technique. The explanations are brief, but they are a sure starting point and landmark for the student pursuing in-depth knowledge of TCM. For anyone who is looking to study TCM, and for students already lost in the half-english works of authors whose use of the language is their most appalling shortcoming, Dr. Fan's work is my recommendation. And for all practitioners of TCM, please give this book a read, you will find in it a renewed sense of the scientific coherence and depth of TCM at its best.

For both acupuncturists and herbologists, a clean and clear review of Chinese Traditional Medicine techniques and diagnotstics. One of the best teaching guides/references I have read thus far.

This is the book that I find that I consult most often on questions of Chinese medecine. I think the book is easy to read, interesting, and filled with useful information.