Description

Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine
Harriet Beinfield & Efrem Korngold (1991) 431pages

We have divided our discussion of Chinese medicine into three overlapping parts: * Theory: the ideas-about nature, the human body, and the self-upon which the medicine is based * Types: the psychology in Chinese medicine – how five archetypes symbolize human character, illuminating our personal tao, the way we are * Therapy: the treatment methods of acupuncture, herbs, diet-what they are and how to use them…What makes Chinese medicine distinct, even more than its needles and herbs, is its metaphysics (assumptions about reality) epistemology (ways of acquiring knowledge) and ideology (systems of beliefs and values), all of which find their expression in the Taoist imperatives of preserving life and living in accord with nature – with our own nature, each other, and the earth – we have freedom, power and purpose and can enjoy life. To the extent that we do not, we suffer. For us, the ethic of Chinese medicine is to assist us in this striving. – from the author’s Foreword