5 Essential Chinese Medicine Books for Students
And new practitioners too.
I am often asked about what essential books I would recommend for students. These are the top 5 for students at any level and new practitioners.
Acupuncture Patterns and Practice
One of the best ways to learn Chinese Medicine is to analyze case studies. This book and its companion volume, Patterns & Practice in Chinese Medicine, systematically analyze patterns, pathomechanisms, and treatment. They are very accessible to students and new practitioners.
Patterns & Practice in Chinese Medicine
Building on its predecessor, Acupuncture Patterns & Practice, this book includes herbal formulas with detailed descriptions and reasoning. These two books are essential for students and new practitioners.
Applied Channel Theory in Chinese Medicine Wang Ju-Yi's Lectures on Channel Therapeutics
To call this book a modern classic would be an understatement. This is Wang Ju-yi’s exposition bridging clinical knowledge, channel palpation, and the classics of Chinese medicine. He was one of modern China’s most respected scholars, teachers, and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. New students and experienced practitioners will find great value in this book for years.
Navigating the Channels of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Channel theory is one of the most challenging topics for students to learn and teachers to teach. Dr. Yitian Ni was a teacher at PCOM, and this is a summary of her notes for her channel theory class. It presents this fundamental topic with many helpful tables to help students differentiate between Channel and organ dysfunction signs and symptoms. The case studies at the end of the book are very interesting, too.
Insights of a Senior Acupuncturist
Although a thin book, it is long on information and theory. Most readers think it is only about Miriam Lee’s Ten Needles, however throughout this book, there are nuggets of wisdom about hand technique, patient management, and clinical thinking. Pay special attention to the appendices at the end of the book.