"treatise On The Mind Permits

In the United States, three different groups of people use Chinese medicine (CM): the first group are those who consider CM to be primary care and who will seek CM first for any illness;the second group are those who recognize that CM is effective for certain illnesses, such as headaches or menstrual disorders and they will seek out CM only for these illnesses;the third group are those who use CM as a last resort, because all other forms of treatment have been ineffective. In the West, many people view the mind and the body as two distinct entities;thus, if they have a psycho-emotional complaint, patients in the West will tend to see a psychiatrist or a psychologist. However, because CM does not make this separation, many CM patients will bring up psycho-emotional complaints during a visit. As such, it is important that practitioners of CM in the West understand effective strategies for these disorders. As a student of the Shang Han Lun for more than 15 years, I have come to recognize the clinical efficacy of the theories and formulas. Having been fortunate enough to meet Nie Hui Min, I have come to appreciate her deep understanding of the text and its clinical applications. Thus, I enthusiastically accepted the opportunity to study with her.The Shang Han Lun contains a great deal of information about psycho-emotional disorders and the suggested treatments are very effective. Studying this group of disorders belongs to the category of "symptom typology" (lei zheng: 类证) , which has a rich history in CM. Dr. Nie places considerable importance on this field of study, as demonstrated in her own work, "Dr. Nie's Study of Cold Damage." She devotes a good deal of time to the typology of symptoms such as, wheezing, palpitations, glomus, etc. However, in her work, although she discusses psycho-emotional disorders, she has not done so in an extensive way;therefore, she decided that it would be a useful project for me to do so in this thesis. I first created 11 categories: hypersomnia, insomnia, speech disorders, vexation and agitation, heart-spirit disorders, mania, movement disorders, fright, taciturnity, forgetfulness, and clouding. I then placed all of the psycho-emotional symptoms in the Shang Han Lun into one of these categories.Within each of these categories, I discuss the etymology of the characters used in the source text, considering both classical and modern usage. I then discuss each of the lines from the source text in which the symptom appears, drawing out the pathological processes that lead to the appearance of these symptoms in different circumstances. I provide citations from modern and pre-modern commentators to give the reader a perspective on some of the disagreements that exist with regard to the understanding of the source text and the import ofspecific symptoms. Finally, I have included many cases from both modern and pre-modern physicians to illustrate the clinical realities of these symptoms and their treatment.Chinese medicine has already spread throughout the world and the numbers of patients who have been treated grows larger every day. Nonetheless, CM has encountered certain problems in the West, from confusion over the diagnostic paradigm to dislike of the taste and fuss of cooking herbs to serious mistrust of the medicine on the part of Western medical professionals. In order to address these problems, we will have to utilize the languages of the West and specifically, we will have to communicate in English. Thus, translation of Chinese medicine texts into English is a critical aspect that limits the growth of CM in the West. When translations are done poorly, they give students and doctors in the West skewed views of the medicine, obscuring its subtlety and creating false impressions. When it is done well, translation gives people in the West a unique view into the depth and distinctiveness of CM. Thus, in this paper, I discuss some basic ideas about translation, using material from the Shang Han Lun to illustrate my basic points.Pattern differentiation and treatment selection is a fundamental aspect of treatment in CM. In order to do this effectively, one must be able to understand the etiology and pathology of symptoms, especially when the same symptom occurs in very different situations. Symptom typology is one method that gets to the heart of this matter. By looking at the same symptom or similar symptoms as they occur in different situations, one can develop a more complete understanding of the symptoms themselves, as well as the different pathological processes that may lead to their manifestation.