Principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine: The Essential Guide to Understanding the Human Body

Discover the foundation behind the fascinating TCM system of holistic health based on several thousand years of real clinical experience.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a unique, comprehensive, and scientific system, maintaining that the root of a disease must be found, and that a patient must be treated according to their whole being as well as their surrounding natural conditions.

Viewing the human as a single, integrated entity that relates with nature, TCM maintains that the human body is affected by any changes that occur in nature, and must be treated as such.

Since its beginnings, not only has TCM been well preserved and documented but it has also been continuously developing and growing. Having remarkable curative abilities and few side effects, it is an effective means to prevent and treat diseases and to keep yourself strong and healthy. 

Principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine is systematic, concise, practical and easy to read. Originally published in China, this re-edited edition (the 3rd book in our Practical TCM series) will provide you with the principles of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases.

• Discover the principles of treatment and prevention of diseases.
• Learn essential primary theories, such as Yin and Yang and the Five Elements Theory, as well as their use in clinical applications.
• Discover the foundations for diagnostic methods.

Essential for today's alternative health library.

Xu Xiangcai was born in 1943 in a small village on the banks of the Yellow River near the city of Jinan, the capital of Shandong province of China.

In 1963, he passed the state entrance examination to enter Shandong Teachers' University to learn English. Five years later, he graduated and began his career as an English teacher. By the mid-80s, he had published essays, worked as an editor and had comprehensively studied traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In 1986, he created and designed The English-Chinese Encyclopedia of Practical Traditional Chinese Medicine, inviting 200 specialists from 28 institutes all over China to work on this 21 volume series. While working on this encyclopedia, he also compiled and translated The Complete External Therapies of Chinese Drugs.

Xu Xiangcai has the distinction of publishing the most books on traditional Chinese medicine in English as well as directing the first two All-China Symposiums of TCM in English.