RECOMMENDED READING
Here is a list of books to get you started on your amazing Classic Acupuncture journey... and keep you exploring for a little longer.
Registered students get access to a much more comprehensive list of recommended readings, suppliers and resources in the the Student Area.
Pictorial Atlas of Acupuncture
Yu-Lin Lian, et al.
From the editor:
The Pictorial Atlas of Acupuncture not only provides beginners with an overview of the most important acupuncture points, but experienced practitioners can also extend their knowledge. The combination of Chinese sources and the authors' therapeutic experiences provides a sensible balance between the most important indications and practical needs.
Teachers' Note:
This is a good reference book for points and meridians, however you will find that some of the points in this book (and as practiced by most TCM acupuncturists) are located wrongly. We will take care of that during the course, as well as making sure you understand and are able to use the energetic function of the points effectively in your treatments.
In the Footsteps of the Yellow Emperor
Peter Eckman
From the editor:
This book is the product of decades of research. It represents one doctor’s personal and professional quest to explore the rich healing traditions of the East, and to learn how the transmission of knowledge from teacher to student helped define the course of acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine as we know it today.
Teachers' Note:
This is essential reading if you want to understand the complicated history of acupuncture and provide context to your learning.
The Spark in the Machine
Dr. Daniel Keown
From the editor:
Dan Keown's highly accessible, witty, and original book shows how western medicine validates the theories of Chinese medicine, and how Chinese medicine explains the mysteries of the body that western medicine largely ignores. He explains the generative force of embryology [...] how neural crest cells determine our lifespan.
The book shows how the theories of western and Chinese medicine support each other, and how the integrated theory enlarges our understanding of how bodies work on every level.
Teachers' Note:
Daniel Keown's embryology approach to meridian theory is a brilliant and interesting one. This is a book that opens the mind to the possibilities of integrating the concepts of Western and Chinese medicine. This book is a good stepping stone to start understanding the mechanism of energetics.
Chinese Medicine Masquerading as Yi
Rhonda Chang
From the editor:
Before the introduction of Western medicine into China, medicine was Yi. Beginning in the 1950s, the Chinese government made concerted efforts to reformulate Yi. How this new medicine was created was by stripping away the traditional theories of yinyang and wuxing (5 elements) and replacing them with a concept called bianzheng lunzhi which hoped to mimic a Western biomedical approach to the body and healing.
Teachers' Note:
Rhonda Chang's work is fundamental to understand the real history of Chinese Medicine and how TCM separated itself from traditional Classic Acupuncture as well as the essential differences between the two.
