Currently reading and appreciating “Ten Key Formula Families in Chinese Medicine” by Huang Huang. The organization of the book is simple and direct, dedicating a chapter each to the formula families of ten key herbs. Huang begins each chapter, not by jumping in to an analysis of the formulas themselves, but first by outlining the formula family presentation or symptom-sign complex as well as the formula family constitution. When looked at in this way, it helps streamline one’s diagnostic categorization by helping to understand the ‘personality’ of each formula family by first understanding the key functions of the chief herb itself and how each formula within the family highlights one of those key functions. Interspersed with nice case statistics and appendices it is a book I definitely recommend.
Acupuncture, Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, alternative medicine, pulse diagnosis, trauma