Alchemy and Symbolism in Chinese Medicine: A Reading List of Relevant Materials

Compiled by Heiner Fruehauf

Allan, Sarah. The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art, and Cosmos in Early China. New York: State University of New York Press, 1991.

Allan, Sarah. The Way of Water and Sprouts of Virtue. New York: State University of New York Press, 1997.

Bamford, Christopher, ed. Homage to Pythagoras: Rediscovering Sacred Science. Lindisfarne Press, 1994.

Birrell, Anne. Chinese Mythology: An Introduction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.

Birrel, Anne, trans. The Classic of Mountains and Seas. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1999.

Fiedeler, Frank. Die Monde des Yijing: Symbolschopfung und Evolution (The Moons of the Yijing: Symbol Creation and Evolution). Munich: Diederichs, 1988.

Fiedeler, Frank. Yin und Yang (Yin and Yang). Munich: Diederichs, 2003. English translation partially available for download at the Associates Forum of ClassicalChineseMedicine.org

Fruehauf, Heiner. “Macrocosmic Alchemy: The Hidden Code to Deciphering the Function of the Organ Networks of Chinese Medicine.” Part I and II. Video presentation, available for viewing at the Associates Forum of ClassicalChineseMedicine.org

Fruehauf, Heiner. “Restoring the Clinical Power of Chinese Medicine: Theory, Diagnosis and Treatment.” Part I—III. Video presentation, available for viewing at the Associates Forum of ClassicalChineseMedicine.org

Fruehauf, Heiner. “The Organ Networks: The Lung.” Part I—III. Video presentation, available for viewing at the Associates Forum of ClassicalChineseMedicine.org

Fruehauf, Heiner. “The Organ Networks: The Large Intestine.” Part I—III. Video presentation, available for viewing at the Associates Forum of ClassicalChineseMedicine.org

Fruehauf, Heiner. “Correlative Cosmology in Chinese Medicine: The 12 Organ Systems and their Relationship to the 12 Months of the Year, the 24 Seasonal Nodes (jieqi), and the 72 Material Manifestations (wuhou).” Available for download

Fruehauf, Heiner. “Correlative Cosmology: Energetics of the First Month of Spring and Lung Function—A Comprehensive Collection of Relevant Classical Sources.” Available for download at the Associates Forum of ClassicalChineseMedicine.org

Fruehauf, Heiner. “Correlative Cosmology: Energetics of the Second Month of Spring
and Large Intestine Function—A Comprehensive Collection of Relevant Classical Sources. Available for download at the Associates Forum of ClassicalChineseMedicine.org

Fruehauf, Heiner. “Fei: An Etymological Analysis of the Pictogram for Lung.” Available for download

Fruehauf, Heiner. “Etymological Analysis of the Defining Quote on the Lung Official in Chapter Eight of the Huangdi neijing suwen.” Available for download at the Associates Forum of ClassicalChineseMedicine.org

Fruehauf, Heiner. “The Lung and the Tiger Image: An Example of Decoding the Symbolic Record of Chinese Medicine.” Available for download at the Associates Forum of ClassicalChineseMedicine.org

Fruehauf, Heiner. “Ein Blick der klassischen chinesischen Medizin auf die Natur des Alterns und der Langlebigkeit” (A Classical Chinese Medicine Perspective on the Nature of Aging and Longevity), in Andreas Noll and Birgit Ziegler, ed., Altern und Tod in der Chinesischen Medizin (Aging and Dying in Chinese Medicine), Munchen (Elsevier, 2006), p. 63-78. English version available for download at the Associates Forum of ClassicalChineseMedicine.org

Fruehauf, Heiner. “The Science of Symbols: Exploring a Forgotten Gateway to Chinese Medicine (Part Two),” The Journal of Chinese Medicine, Summer 2002. Available for download

Fruehauf, Heiner. “The Science of Symbols: Exploring a Forgotten Gateway to Chinese Medicine (Part One),” The Journal of Chinese Medicine, Spring 2002. Available for download

Fruehauf, Heiner. “Die Wurzeln der chinesische Medizin: Daoistische Kosmologie und die Alchimie der Symbole, Teil 2” (The Roots of Chinese Medicine: Daoist Cosmology and the Alchemy of Symbols, Part Two), Societas Medicinae Sinensis, 3/2002. View this page

Fruehauf, Heiner. “Die Wurzeln der chinesischen Medizin: Daoistische Kosmologie und die Alchimie der Symbole, Teil 1” (The Roots of Chinese Medicine: Daoist Cosmology and the Alchemy of Symbols, Part One), Societas Medicinae Sinenesis, 2/2002. View this page

Fruehauf, Heiner. “On the Relationship of Medicine and Philosophy: From Zhang Xichun, ‘Chinese at Heart But Western Where Appropriate: Essays Investigating an Integrated Form of Medicine,’” The Empty Vessel, Winter 1999. View this page

Karcher, Stephen, trans. Ta Chuan: The Great Treatise. St. Martins Press, 2000.

Laviolette, Paul A. Beyond the Big Bang: Ancient Myth and the Science of Continuous Creation. Park Street Press, 1995.

Major, John. Heaven and Earth in Early Han Thought: Chapters Three, Four, and Five of the Huainanzi. Albany: SUNY Press.

Mitchell, John. The Dimensions of Paradise: The Proportions and Symbolic Numbers of Ancient Cosmology. Harper & Row, 1988.

Schwaller de Lubicz, R. A. The Temple of Man: Apet of the South at Luxor. 2 volumes. Translated by Robert and Deborah Lawlor. Inner Traditions, 1998.

Sun, Xiaochun and Kistemaker, Jacob. The Chinese Sky During the Han: Constellating Stars and Society. Leiden; New York: Brill, 1997.

Tjan, Tjoe Som (Tseng Chu-sen). Po Hu T’ung: The Comprehensive Discussions in the White Tiger Hall. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1949 & 1952.

West, John Anthony. Serpent in the Sky: The High Wisdom of Ancient Egypt. First Quest, 1993.

Single Reading Can't Gauge Blood Pressure Control: Study (HealthDay)

By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter by Kathleen Doheny
healthday Reporter – Mon?Jun?20, 11:48?pm?ET

MONDAY, June 20 (HealthDay News) -- Evaluating how well a person responds to medication meant to lower blood pressure requires multiple readings, new research suggests.

Blood pressure often spikes at doctor appointments, a condition known as "white coat" hypertension, so readings should also be taken by patients at home, said the study's lead author, Dr. Benjamin Powers, assistant professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center.

''Collecting just a few, five or six, blood pressure readings from home will help your doctor make much better decisions about whether your blood pressure is in or out of control," Powers said.

For the study, Powers and his colleagues evaluated 444 U.S. veterans with high blood pressure, about 90 percent of them men with an average age of 64. All had been diagnosed about 10 years earlier. Their blood pressure was considered uncontrolled, even though most took multiple blood pressure-lowering medications. Untreated, high blood pressure can lead to stroke.

The study compared blood pressure readings taken in three settings -- at home, in a doctor's office, and at a clinical research setting -- at the study start and again at 6, 12 and 18 months. The findings are published in the June 21 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The measurements varied widely, Powers found. "Only a third of them were consistently categorized as in or out of control by all three measures," he said.

That points to the importance of getting multiple measures from different settings, said Powers, who is also with the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Using just one reading as the basis for prescribing or adjusting blood pressure medication could endanger patients who suffer from "white coat" hypertension, the study authors said.

As many as six readings were needed to obtain the best estimate of true blood pressure, the authors said, adding that doctors should average the results.

Home monitoring of blood pressure has gained respect in recent years, Powers said. About 43 percent of people with high blood pressure use home monitors, according to background information in the study. Powers and his colleagues said their results support recent calls for reimbursement of home blood pressure monitoring.

"I think patients should expect their doctors to make decisions based on home blood pressure [in addition to other measures]," he said.

Those who buy a home blood pressure monitor should get it validated for accuracy at their doctor's office, Powers added.

Patients should be advised to measure their blood pressure at different times of the day, and to sit and relax for five minutes before taking it, Powers explained. Variations are to be expected, he noted.

According to Dr. Joseph Diamond, director of nuclear cardiology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Hyde Park, N.Y., blood pressure readings are perhaps "the most frequent assessment that results in a change of medical therapy."

Even so, the procedure is frequently flawed because of poor measurement technique or insufficient measurements, he said.

"This study confirms the need to improve both measurement technique and the number of measurements obtained so that a therapeutic decision to start or change medication is based on more accurate information," said Diamond.

Writing in an accompanying editorial of the journal, Dr. Lawrence J. Appel and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University said the findings point to a need for regulation of blood pressure screening. "It is time to get serious about BP measurement," they wrote.

More information

To learn more about home blood pressure monitoring, visit the British Hypertension Society.