Navigating through the sea of medicine

During my Beijing days, Prof. Chen Jia-xu was my Master’s Degree supervisor (2004-2008). Chen is perhaps one of the most famous Chinese Diagnosticians, with a stellar career in the world of Chinese medicine over the last 10-15 years. He was recently awarded a Changjiang Scholar, and he has a long list of key publications, grants and recognitions.   I first met Prof. Chen in November 2002, during my  Master’s Degree  application at the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. At the BUCM, before a candidate is accepted to enroll, they should first obtain a signed document from a professor, affirming their willingness to supervise their research.   Of course, this is not an easy task, because all of the famous professors are really hard to approach, they have next-to-unrealistic standards, and the competition among potential candidates is fierce.  Also, in 2002 I didn’t speak any Chinese, and of course, the most famous and experienced professors did not speak any E...

As acupuncturists, we all wish to provide quality treatment and patient satisfaction, and each time a patient praises our healing abilities it reaffirms our belief that we are doing something right. However, what makes a patient happy is not always our level of competence in meridian diagnosis, but also various interpersonal and esoteric skills that some tend to identify and cultivate better than others. In this article, I will speak about the patient-doctor connections as described in the classical theories of Chinese acupuncture. According to the early Confucian traditions, when doctors exercise compassion and benevolence, they can become not only successful healers but also restore faith in the medical field. This is why a doctor-scholar should embark upon a meticulous study of the classics, and as Chen Shi Gong advised: “learn the contents by heart and understand them with the eyes”. The Confucian ideas about benevolence, compassion and seeking deeper understanding, were also evide...

How do you leave your mark on the ever-growing western TCM world? How do you distinguish yourself from the so many other acupuncturists that seem to know every technique and Asian healing approach under the sun?  In the late 90's I was one of the few lucky people to have been benefited from the collaboration between Middlesex University and the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. So lucky that upon graduation, I received a dual degree:  a Degree in Medicine from the Beijing TCM University, and a Bachelor's of Science from Middlesex. This enabled me to have access in both the Chinese medical world, and also the western TCM world.  However, that's only part of the point.  Back in those days, the TCM literature available to us westerners was so limited, that it only filled a couple of shelves in the basement of the Dillons Bookshop (later Waterstones) on Gower Street. Those who had access to the Wellcome Institute Library on the nearby Euston Rd, could access a lar...

It is a common theory in all the Chinese internal styles that the qi of the dantian must reach the tips of the fingers, although, how this is accomplished may differ majorly among different arts. The purpose is to make the strikes felt deep within the opponent’s body without damaging your hands. The training of such a skill, besides the internal cultivation practices, usually involves some form of punching or hitting to strengthen the ligaments of the hands, and also to make the hits (and touch) soft, powerful and precise, able to reach deep inside. Crossing over to healing, such a skill is also very important, because in your tuina you need to protect the health of your hands from harm, and in acupuncture also ensure that you have the correct kind of energy that reaches deep inside the patient’s body to activate the points and channels. The best tuina manuals usually offer some Neigong exercises designed to cultivate the right skill. Most of them include rigorous meditation while the ...

When you look through paintings of ancient acupuncturists, you can’t help noticing that most of them hold long walking sticks or calligraphy brushes, swords, or bottle gourds. Of course, these “objects” were included in the paintings for a special reason. The pole, the sword and the calligraphy brush share many common core theories, but ultimately these instruments are intended to become extensions of the hands, and connect with the inside, or as the Chinese say:  内外合一 (the internal and the external become as one). Only then, the energies can flow unobstructed and the Intention ( 意 ) can reach the tip of the instrument, like is demanded in the calligraphy or martial theory. The bottle gourds often represent the “dantian”. The ancient acupuncturists would often hang bottle gourds at the door of their clinics, as a sign that they are medical specialists and have entered the gate of the Tao. Most specifically for the pole, in basic Yiquan training, one first should pay attention in ho...

In pre-modern China, outbreaks of infectious/communicable diseases such as typhoid, plague, influenza, smallpox etc. were terribly common and dangerously contagious. Therefore, during such times, taking the pulse, speaking with the patient and even using acupuncture would often be a reckless way to interact with the sick. For remedying this situation there was a great need for the development of a new approach in diagnosis, so physicians would be able to provide appropriate treatment while having minimal physical contact with the patient. The first systematic Tongue Diagnosis system first appeared during the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, as an alternative to the Pulse method. It derived from the works of Scholar Ao (real name and period unknown) who was perhaps the first doctor to produce an ensemble of 12 tongue illustrations, in which appeared the common ailments of his era. Along with every image he also suggested a formula which – in his opinion – would be sufficient to appropriately man...

These are a couple of photos from a conference held in Shenzhen between August 9-12, as part of Prof. Zhu Jian-ping’s training series. I was invited to deliver a key note speech on my new book the  “Gold Mirrors and Tongue Reflections” . Among other speakers was a dream team of famous scholars, including Prof. Li Zhao-guo, Prof. Wang Kui, Prof. Zheng Mei-feng, Prof. Fang Ting-yu etc.  After the end of the end of my speech I took a train to Guangzhou, where I am planning to move later in the year.  I was sent these photos through the email, after the event. 

My book “Gold Mirrors and Tongue Reflections” has been reviewed in the latest issue of the Journal of Chinese Medicine:  This is a translation of two important historical sources on tongue diagnosis. The first is the Ao Shi Shanghan Jin Jing Lu (Scholar Ao's Golden Mirror Records in Cold Damage), which originated in the Yuan dynasty (1260-1368) and became more detailed as subsequent editions were authored during the Ming dynasty. The second is the Shanghan She Jian (Tongue Reflections in Cold Damage), which was published near the start of the Qing dynasty. Living and working in Beijing for the last ten years has allowed Ioannis Solos to collaborate with some leading Chinese medical experts on this subject. Commencing with a concise history of tongue observation in early Chinese medicine, we come to realise that the method was quite perfunctory until the Song-Jin-Yuan era (960-1368 CE), with references to the tongue...