Wang Mianzhi's Lectures on Formulas

Author: Wang Mianzhi
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Based on my over six decades of experience in practicing Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), one must approach TCM with the following mindset: delve in, step back, continuously engage in clinical practice, and always focus on the art of comprehension. At the beginning, one must study diligently, read with full concentration, repeatedly contemplate the true meanings in the texts, and earnestly understand them in clinical practice. At a certain point, one will inevitably achieve enlightenment. Blindly reading without understanding is incorrect. Strictly separating reading from clinical practice is also wrong. Through clinical practice, with a purposeful approach to reading, one can review the old while discovering the new, and this is equally a key to learning about herbal formulas. Professor Wang Mianzhi is a renowned TCM scholar in China and one of the founders of modern TCM formula studies. His lecture notes from the National Formula Teaching Advanced Training Class in the early 1980s are considered invaluable resources. They are now compiled and published to serve a broad readership. The book is divided into two parts: the first part, General Principles, discusses the formation, development, and fundamental principles of formula studies, while the second part, consisting of seventeen chapters, explains over two hundred commonly used modern clinical formulas. Overall, there are two prominent features: first, it emphasizes key points, providing detailed interpretations of the medical principles behind important formulas; second, Professor Wang Mianzhi incorporates his decades of clinical experience into the explanations, closely integrating theory and practice, which greatly benefits readers in understanding the properties of herbs, their compatibility, and the essence of formulas. This book is suitable for students, teachers, researchers, and those engaged in formula studies, as well as clinicians seeking to enhance their TCM diagnostic and therapeutic skills.