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The explanatory layer of Bencao Dian. From yin-yang and the five phases to the eight principles and six channels, from the four natures and five flavors to sovereign-minister-assistant-envoy — these fifteen articles lay the conceptual ground on which every herb, formula, and pattern in the database stands.
Grouped by subject area — foundations, diagnosis, materia medica, formula theory.
The foundational categorical pair of Chinese medicine. Every phenomenon can be analyzed as a relationship of yin and yang — mutually rooted, dynamically waxing and waning, and capable of transforming into one another.
The five fundamental phases — wood, fire, earth, metal, and water — and the relationships of generation and control among them, used to map correspondences between the organs, seasons, emotions, colors, and tastes.
The three classes of vital substance that constitute and maintain the human body. Qi propels and warms; blood nourishes and gives form; jin-ye are the lighter and heavier fluids that moisten the tissues.
The Chinese medical organ system. The five zang (Heart, Liver, Spleen, Lung, Kidney) store the essential substances and do not discharge them; the six fu (Gallbladder, Stomach, Small Intestine, Large Intestine, Bladder, Triple Burner) transmit and transform but do not store.
Wind, cold, summer-heat, dampness, dryness, and fire — the six external pathogenic factors of Chinese medicine, the standard framework for understanding how environmental influences cause disease.
The diagnostic framework of the Treatise on Cold Damage (《傷寒論》, Shānghán Lùn) by Zhang Zhongjing, organizing the progression of externally contracted febrile disease into six stages — Tai Yang, Yang Ming, Shao Yang, Tai Yin, Shao Yin, and Jue Yin.
The most fundamental diagnostic framework in Chinese medicine — four polarities (yin/yang, exterior/interior, cold/heat, vacuity/excess) that organize every clinical presentation. Every other system of pattern differentiation rests on it.
The four examination methods of Chinese medicine — looking, listening and smelling, asking, and touching — used together to compose a complete clinical picture.
The Chinese medical art of palpating the radial pulse to read the state of qi, blood, and the internal organs. Three positions and three depths combine with twenty-eight named pulse qualities to compose a remarkably granular clinical sign.
The inspection of tongue body and tongue coating — color, shape, moisture, and texture — to read the state of the internal organs, qi, blood, and pathogens. One of the most distinctive diagnostic methods of Chinese medicine.
The two core axes describing the property of any Chinese herb. The four natures classify thermal effect (cold, cool, warm, hot, plus neutral); the five flavors classify functional taste (acrid, sweet, sour, bitter, salty, plus bland and astringent).
The doctrine that each herb "enters" specific meridians and organs preferentially, allowing therapy to be targeted to particular regions of the body.
The seven possible modes by which two herbs may interact when used together — ranging from synergy to outright antagonism. The basis of safe and effective formula construction.
The traditional methods of preparing Chinese herbs before use. The same plant, processed differently, can become essentially different medicines — with shifted thermal nature, altered direction of action, and reduced or eliminated toxicity.
Read straight through from yin-yang onward — the linear 1-through-15 reading sequence.
The foundational categorical pair of Chinese medicine. Every phenomenon can be analyzed as a relationship of yin and yang — mutually rooted, dynamically waxing and waning, and capable of transforming into one another.
The five fundamental phases — wood, fire, earth, metal, and water — and the relationships of generation and control among them, used to map correspondences between the organs, seasons, emotions, colors, and tastes.
The three classes of vital substance that constitute and maintain the human body. Qi propels and warms; blood nourishes and gives form; jin-ye are the lighter and heavier fluids that moisten the tissues.
The Chinese medical organ system. The five zang (Heart, Liver, Spleen, Lung, Kidney) store the essential substances and do not discharge them; the six fu (Gallbladder, Stomach, Small Intestine, Large Intestine, Bladder, Triple Burner) transmit and transform but do not store.
The diagnostic framework of the Treatise on Cold Damage (《傷寒論》, Shānghán Lùn) by Zhang Zhongjing, organizing the progression of externally contracted febrile disease into six stages — Tai Yang, Yang Ming, Shao Yang, Tai Yin, Shao Yin, and Jue Yin.
The most fundamental diagnostic framework in Chinese medicine — four polarities (yin/yang, exterior/interior, cold/heat, vacuity/excess) that organize every clinical presentation. Every other system of pattern differentiation rests on it.
The two core axes describing the property of any Chinese herb. The four natures classify thermal effect (cold, cool, warm, hot, plus neutral); the five flavors classify functional taste (acrid, sweet, sour, bitter, salty, plus bland and astringent).
The doctrine that each herb "enters" specific meridians and organs preferentially, allowing therapy to be targeted to particular regions of the body.
The fundamental hierarchy of formula composition in Chinese medicine. Each herb in a formula occupies one of four roles, contributing a distinct function so that the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
The seven possible modes by which two herbs may interact when used together — ranging from synergy to outright antagonism. The basis of safe and effective formula construction.
The traditional methods of preparing Chinese herbs before use. The same plant, processed differently, can become essentially different medicines — with shifted thermal nature, altered direction of action, and reduced or eliminated toxicity.
The four examination methods of Chinese medicine — looking, listening and smelling, asking, and touching — used together to compose a complete clinical picture.
The Chinese medical art of palpating the radial pulse to read the state of qi, blood, and the internal organs. Three positions and three depths combine with twenty-eight named pulse qualities to compose a remarkably granular clinical sign.
The inspection of tongue body and tongue coating — color, shape, moisture, and texture — to read the state of the internal organs, qi, blood, and pathogens. One of the most distinctive diagnostic methods of Chinese medicine.
Wind, cold, summer-heat, dampness, dryness, and fire — the six external pathogenic factors of Chinese medicine, the standard framework for understanding how environmental influences cause disease.