JCM Review
As Giovanni Maciocia says in the preface to this vast and comprehensive textbook "The longer I practise, the more I appreciate the importance of diagnosis to Chinese medicine in particular and to medicine in general. Indeed, one could say that the value of Chinese medicine lies not in its theories of Yin-Yang, Five Elements, Eight Principles, etc., but in diagnosis itself".
Whilst this may seem self-evident, what he is referring to is the extraordinary focus on, and expertise in, the arts of observation and examination that form one of the richest parts of Chinese medicine, and which have so declined in modern western medicine. A traditional medicine, the major part of whose history predates modern biomedical diagnostics, has only the human senses to rely on, and the science and art of Chinese medicine diagnosis concerns itself with everything that can be seen, smelt, palpated, heard and asked about. How comprehensive this knowledge is, is illustrated by the breadth of this monumental work that goes so much further than anything yet published in English on this subject.
The book is divided into 5 major parts: diagnosis by observation, diagnosis by interrogation, diagnosis by palpation, diagnosis by hearing and smelling, and symptoms and signs. Several of these parts are subdivided into sections, and then each section is further subdivided into chapters (there are 111 chapters in the whole book). Thus section one (diagnosis by observation) is subdivided into i. observation of the body, mind and complexion, ii. observation of parts of the body, and iii. tongue diagnosis. The first of these (observation of the body etc.) has chapters on observing body shape (according to yin and yang, according to the five elements, according to prenatal and postnatal influences, according to body build, according to pain and drug tolerance), observing the mind, spirit and emotion (the three aspects of the spirit, the three conditions of the spirit, the spirit and constitution, the spirit and the emotions), observing the complexion and so on.
Section 5, Symptoms and signs, is the largest, and the previous sections frequently refer to it. For example, diagnosis by observation of the neck illustrates and gives brief differentiations of variations in neck length and width, neck rigidity, soft neck, deviated neck etc. Similarly, diagnosis by interrogation covers goitre and pain and stiffness of the neck. In both cases, however, for each disorder or pattern the reader is referred to a chapter in section 5 where a full discussion of the presentation is given (pattern, symptoms and signs, pulse etc.). For a book of this size, it would have been more helpful here to refer readers to the relevant page number in section 5, as it can take a bit of time to track down the right passage in the text.
It is hard in a review to convey the immensity of this book. It can really only be repeated that nothing as ambitious has been attempted in English before, and that it is inconceivable that anyone studying or practising Chinese medicine can afford to be without it.
Peter Deadman
Contents
Foreword xxxv
Preface xxxvii
Acknowledgements xli
Note on the translation of Chinese terms xliii
How to use this book xlv
Index of symptoms and signs xlix
List of abbreviations liii
PART 1
DIAGNOSIS BY OBSERVATION 1
CHAPTER 1
OBSERVATION OF THE BODY SHAPE, PHYSIQUE AND DEMEANOUR 11
INTRODUCTION 11
CHAPTER 2
OBSERVATION OF THE MIND, SPIRIT AND EMOTIONS 31
CHAPTER 3
OBSERVATION OF THE COMPLEXION COLOUR 39
CHAPTER 4
OBSERVATION OF BODY MOVEMENTS 59
CHAPTER 5
OBSERVATION OF HEAD, FACE AND HAIR 69
CHAPTER 6
OBSERVATION OF THE EYES 75
CHAPTER 7
OBSERVATION OF THE NOSE 87
CHAPTER 8
OBSERVATION OF LIPS, MOUTH, PALATE, TEETH, GUMS
AND PHILTRUM 93
CHAPTER 9
OBSERVATION OF THE EARS 105
CHAPTER 10
OBSERVATION OF THE THROAT AND NECK 109
CHAPTER 11
OBSERVATION OF THE BACK 115
CHAPTER 12
OBSERVATION OF WOMEN'S BREASTS 121
CHAPTER 13
OBSERVATION OF THE HEARTBEAT 127
CHAPTER 14
OBSERVATION OF THE HANDS 129
CHAPTER 15
OBSERVATION OF THE NAILS 137
CHAPTER 16
OBSERVATION OF THE CHEST AND ABDOMEN 143
CHAPTER 17
OBSERVATION OF THE GENITALIA 149
CHAPTER 18
OBSERVATION OF THE FOUR LIMBS 153
CHAPTER 19
OBSERVATION OF THE LEGS 159
CHAPTER 20
OBSERVATION OF EXCRETIONS 163
CHAPTER 21
OBSERVATION OF THE SKIN 169
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
TONGUE DIAGNOSIS 203
CONDITIONS FOR EXAMINING THE TONGUE 203
CHAPTER 24
TONGUE-BODY COLOUR 209
CHAPTER 25
TONGUE-BODY SHAPE 215
CHAPTER 26
TONGUE COATING 221
CHAPTER 27
TONGUE IMAGES AND PATTERNS 227
PART 2
DIAGNOSIS BY INTERROGATION 233
CHAPTER 28
INTRODUCTION 235
CHAPTER 29
PAIN 253
CHAPTER 30
FOOD AND TASTE 261
CHAPTER 31
STOOLS AND URINE 269
CHAPTER 32
THIRST AND DRINK 277
CHAPTER 33
ENERGY LEVELS 281
CHAPTER 34
HEAD 287
CHAPTER 35
FACE 301
CHAPTER 36
THROAT AND NECK 311
CHAPTER 37
BODY 317
CHAPTER 38
CHEST AND ABDOMEN 321
CHAPTER 39
LIMBS 337
CHAPTER 40
SLEEP 347
CHAPTER 41
SWEATING 351
CHAPTER 42
EARS AND EYES 355
CHAPTER 43
FEELING OF COLD, FEELING OF HEAT AND FEVER 361
CHAPTER 44
MENTAL'EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMS 379
CHAPTER 45
SEXUAL SYMPTOMS 391
CHAPTER 46
WOMEN'S SYMPTOMS 395
CHAPTER 47
CHILDREN'S SYMPTOMS 411
CHAPTER 48
DIAGNOSING THE CAUSES OF DISEASE 415
INTRODUCTION 415
CHAPTER 49
PULSE DIAGNOSIS 433
CHAPTER 50
PULSE QUALITIES 465
CHAPTER 51
PALPATION OF PARTS OF THE BODY 509
CHAPTER 52
PALPATION OF CHANNELS 525
PART 4
DIAGNOSIS BY HEARING AND SMELLING 539
CHAPTER 53
DIAGNOSIS BY HEARING 541
CHAPTER 54
DIAGNOSIS BY SMELLING 549
CHAPTER 55
HEAD, HAIR AND FACE 559
CHAPTER 56
FACE COLOUR 575
CHAPTER 57
EARS 581
CHAPTER 58
NOSE 589
CHAPTER 59
THROAT 601
CHAPTER 60
MOUTH, TONGUE, TEETH, GUMS, LIPS, PALATE AND
PHILTRUM 609
CHAPTER 61
EYES 627
CHAPTER 62
NECK, SHOULDERS AND UPPER BACK 653
CHAPTER 63
CHEST 659
CHAPTER 64
LIMBS 671
MUSCLE ACHE IN THE LIMBS 671
CHAPTER 65
ARMS 679
CHAPTER 66
LEGS 693
CHAPTER 67
LOWER BACK 703
CHAPTER 68
BODY 709
CHAPTER 69
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM AND TASTE 717
CHAPTER 70
THIRST AND DRINK 731
CHAPTER 71
ABDOMEN 735
CHAPTER 72
DEFECATION 747
CHAPTER 73
URINATION 753
CHAPTER 74
ANUS 761
CHAPTER 75
MEN'S SEXUAL AND GENITAL SYMPTOMS 765
CHAPTER 76
SWEATING 775
CHAPTER 77
SKIN SIGNS 781
CHAPTER 78
EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMS 791
CHAPTER 79
MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMS 797
CHAPTER 80
MENTAL DIFFICULTIES 803
CHAPTER 81
SLEEP PROBLEMS 807
CHAPTER 82
FEELING OF COLD, FEELING OF HEAT, FEVER 813
CHAPTER 83
VOICE, SPEECH AND SOUNDS 819
SECTION 2
GYNAECOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS 823
CHAPTER 84
CHAPTER 85
PROBLEMS AT PERIOD TIME 831
CHAPTER 86
PROBLEMS DURING PREGNANCY 837
CHAPTER 87
PROBLEMS AFTER CHILDBIRTH 843
CHAPTER 88
BREAST SIGNS 849
CHAPTER 89
MISCELLAENOUS GYNAECOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS 855
SECTION 3
CHAPTER 90
CHILDREN'S PROBLEMS 863
PART 6
IDENTIFICATION OF PATTERNS 873
CHAPTER 91
HEART 879
CHAPTER 92
SPLEEN 885
CHAPTER 93
LIVER 891
CHAPTER 94
LUNGS 899
CHAPTER 95
KIDNEYS 905
CHAPTER 96
SMALL INTESTINE 911
CHAPTER 97
STOMACH 913
CHAPTER 98
GALL-BLADDER 917
CHAPTER 99
LARGE INTESTINE 921
CHAPTER 100
BLADDER 925
DAMP-HEAT IN THE BLADDER 925
SECTION 2
CHAPTER 101
IDENTIFICATION OF PATTERNS ACCORDING TO QI,
BLOOD, YANG AND YIN 929
CHAPTER 102
IDENTIFICATION OF PATTERNS ACCORDING TO BODY
FLUIDS 935
CHAPTER 103
IDENTIFICATION OF PATTERNS ACCORDING TO
PATHOGENIC FACTORS 943
CHAPTER 104
IDENTIFICATION OF PATTERNS ACCORDING TO THE
FOUR LEVELS 953
CHAPTER 105
IDENTIFICATION OF PATTERNS ACCORDING TO THE
SIX STAGES 965
CHAPTER 106
IDENTIFICATION OF PATTERNS ACCORDING TO THE
THREE BURNERS 969
CHAPTER 107
RESIDUAL PATHOGENIC FACTOR 973
SECTION 4
CHAPTER 108
IDENTIFICATION OF PATTERNS ACCORDING TO THE
EIGHT PRINCIPLES 983
CHAPTER 109
IDENTIFICATION OF PATTERNS ACCORDING TO THE
12 CHANNELS 993
CHAPTER 110
IDENTIFICATION OF PATTERNS ACCORDING TO THE
EIGHT EXTRAORDINARY VESSELS 997
INTRODUCTION 997
CHAPTER 111
IDENTIFICATION OF PATTERNS ACCORDING TO THE
FIVE ELEMENTS 1007
APPENDICES 1011
Appendix 1 Case histories 1013
Appendix 2 Prescriptions 1025
Appendix 3 History of diagnosis in Chinese
Medicine 1051
Glossary of Chinese terms 1061
Bibliography 1067
Chinese chronology 1069
INDEX 1071
