The Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion

Book excerpt: The Zhen Jiu Zi Sheng Jing (The Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion) Volume IV-VII by Wang Zhizhong as translated by Yue Lu (with editing by Lorraine Wilcox) is the second half of an absolutely phenomenal resource for the clinical use of acupuncture and moxibustion. This text stands out amongst many of the classics for several reasons: the first is that Wang Zhizhong was a keen researcher, who would not only compare source materials against each other, but also cite which source materials he compared, and how they were the same or different. Secondly, while Wang was a gatherer of information, he was also practical, and this book is filled with his many pearls of how he used a point prescription, why, and what the results were of his own tests of the material. Thirdly, to date there is no other classical text which is as complete in subject matter as the Zhen Jiu Zi Sheng Jing. Wang categorized not only the point locations, and the methods for their use, but systematically collated 196 diseases from the most exterior down to the deepest levels, documenting multiple presentations and treatments for each disease. Lastly, Wang's primary focus was on supporting or nourishing life through the use of these techniques, and therefore there are a significant number of these treatments that either use moxibustion as the primary treatment method, or use moxibustion in addition to the primary treatment method. This second part of this two volume set includes the clinical information in chapters IV-VII, as well as a massive index of all entries for both books, and this gloss contains over 4000 words, many of which have never been translated before. In the modern age, we are extremely lucky to have access to the classical sources for East Asian Medicine, and this is partly because of the hard work of translators like Yue Lu and Lorraine Wilcox. We hope that you enjoy this most recent edition to our growing library of classical sources. Part 2 of a 2 part set."