Traditional Chinese Medicine: a Manual of A–Z; Symptoms, Therapy and Herbal Remedies

This book deals with about 5000 terms used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). As the subtitle, ‘Encyclopaedic Reference’ suggests, the editors have compiled terminology with concise annotations in alphabetical order and attached some pictures of selected medicinal plants. The annotations include symptoms, pathogenesis and therapeutic principles for an entry of symptoms, and definition, effect and indication for those of medicinal materials. Some entries, relating to the structure and procedures of diagnosis and therapy, have either a definition or therapeutic principle. The content covers Chinese understandings of body structure, medicinal materials, knowledge and techniques of acupuncture, massage, and qigong.

Despite a vast coverage of the content, this reviewer thinks that the potential readership is still limited. The editors admit that this book does not cover the field as thoroughly as would be desirable. In addition, the terms used need more revision to serve general readers. The reviewer envisages that readers would find it hard to identify a target term unless they have ample knowledge of them or are already committed to TCM. One may suggest that the terms be classified into several sub-categories, and the contents be explicitly presented to improve the user-friendliness.

However, when the ease of use is appropriately resolved, this encyclopaedic reference could be useful to anyone who seeks information on TCM in English. The reader should be reminded of the lack of scientific rigour in the text and the limitations of the translation.