Book Review: Bob Flaws, Statements of Fact in Traditional Chinese Medicine
I am pleased to review Bob Flaws‘ latest book, an updated and revised version of his Statements of Fact in Traditional Chinese Medicine
This book is, essentially, a highly organized collection of statements culled from various texts of Chinese medicine thematically represented with English, Chinese and pinyin included. It contains statements about a number of essential topics, from basic theory to individual Zang-Fu organs to pathological processes to treatment principles. So, for instance, in the section on physiology we find a subsection about the Zang and Fu organs. Within that section, under the subheading Lung, we find 49 Chinese statements and their translation from a variety of source texts. There are statements about the Lung’s function in the body, the things that easily harm it, some of its pathological states as well as some more symbolic information pertaining to it. Additionally, Flaws provides a brief yet rich interpretation of each statement and its relevance.
Statements of Fact is intended to be a companion to beginning theory classes in Chinese medicine. In the preface of the book, Flaws discusses the challenges faced by Western students of Chinese Medicine. I have to agree with him on his basic assessment of the situation. We are not commonly asked to memorize pieces of texts or the many poems that Chinese speaking students do. We tend not to have basic theoretical information imprinted on our minds and so when we are in clinic or in conversation with a Chinese-trained practitioner, we may be at a disadvantage. Having the basics of theory at hand make it easier to understand inferences, make connections between treatments and their patterns and generally make us more effective students and practitioners. In the introduction, Flaws states:
“Therefore, I recommend that students study this book along with whatever basic theory text their school has chosen. Then, along with understanding the theory contained in that text, they should try to memorize as many of the corresponding statements of fact as possible. That way, one will have remembered the words and the understood their meaning.”
Further, in many schools of CM doctors make many statements in lecture and clinic that have their roots in the voluminous Chinese medicine literature. Only rarely do they have time to verbally source every statement! The ability for an English speaking student to quickly and easily locate that statement as part of the literature is invaluable. Yet this is also where the book finds its primary weakness. While an extensive bibliography is provided, Flaws was unable to follow each statement with a listing of its source text. He explains in the book that this was impractical. Those statements that did not come directly from a Classical text came mostly from Chinese language compendiums of classical statements and knowledge. He explains that the Chinese sources he utilized did not always list their original source for each statement. However, I feel that it would have been wonderful if he could have at least told us which Chinese source each statement came from, regardless of whether that was likely to have referenced the original source. Additionally, for those statements that he was able to trace back to their original source he could easily have listed them. This would have increased the book’s value immeasurably. However, this omission does not significantly alter my overall positive rating.
Overall, the book is a fine effort. As I’ve already mentioned, the organization is first rate and the inclusion of characters, English and pinyin is most appreciated. All of these elements are improvements over the previous edition. Flaws’ explanations of each statement or group of statements is very nice for beginners, but it will be important for students to be careful of taking these as absolute truth. They are Flaws’ interpretation, and while he is a very experienced practitioner and worthy of great respect, he of course interprets these statements through his own point of view. Using his interpretation as a guide will help new students to get a grasp of the basic idea and they can do further investigation to come to a fuller understanding for themselves.
The book is a great value for the price and I believe it will make a good addition to your Chinese medicine library. You can visit Blue Poppy Press’ website for more information and to purchase yourself a copy. You can also simply click on the picture of the book at the beginning of this article. When you do and have had a chance to use it for a while, please do come and let us know how you enjoyed it.
Eric
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Tags: blue-poppy-press, bob-flaws, book-review, books, Character, Classical Texts (general), textual-analysis, Theory, translations
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