THE FOUNDATIONS OF CHINESE MEDICINE: SECOND EDITION
by Giovanni Maciocia
Churchill Livingstone, hardback, 1236 pagesv

Ever since the first edition of The Foundations of Chinese Medicine was published in 1989, it has been the ‘industry standard’ textbook for the theory of Chinese medicine, translated into numerous languages and used as a core text in just about every non-Asian school of Chinese medicine. It is probably also the single best-selling text ever on Chinese medicine outside Asia.

Building on this solid foundation, this second edition is bigger and better in every way, though some students might groan at the tendency of Chinese medicine texts to get heavier and heavier. It is substantially expanded, thoroughly revised and peppered with numerous illustrations, diagrams, boxes for key information and case examples.

Specifically, expanded sections include: discussion of the functions and nature of the Pericardium and Triple Burner; the external pathogenic factors as both causes of disease and patterns presenting in disease; diagnosis (now nearly 100 pages); two new chapters on pathology (full and empty conditions, yin-yang imbalance, and the pathology of the qi mechanism); a thorough revision of differentiation of patterns of the zangfu with a clearer distinction between yin deficiency and empty heat patterns; the addition of herbal formulas to the treatment options for zangfu disharmony patterns; patterns according to the four levels, six stages and the three burners; the functions and application of the eight extraordinary vessels; a discussion of more categories of points including points of the eye system; the functions of the points, now with added indications and some points not discussed in the first edition; discussion of the principles of combining acupuncture points; more discussion of the five spiritual aspects; the addition of pinyin equivalents to technical terms; clear learning outcomes at the end of many chapters to assist students in absorbing the material presented.
In addition a CD-ROM that comes with the book includes 750 self-testing questions and 65 surface anatomy images.

This version remedies some of the shortcomings of the first edition and is now as near a complete exposition of Chinese medicine theory as could be presented in a single text. It is unlikely to be supplanted for years to come, if ever, and with Giovanni’s similarly seminal textbooks on clinical practice, diagnostics, gynaecology and obstetrics and tongue diagnosis, forms the bedrock for all practitioners of Chinese medicine in the West.

Peter Deadman