Why it is vital to study the Classical Texts of Chinese medicine

National College of Natural Medicine, where I go to school, is outstanding on a number of fronts. It’s the longest running college of naturopathic medicine in the country. It’s in the city that is widely recognized as being at the forefront of the natural medicine revolution – PORTLAND, OR. But most important for me, it’s the home of the Classical Chinese Medicine (CCM) program begun by Dr. Heiner Fruehauf and others – one of the only programs of CCM in the world and I believe the most potent and viable. I love my school, I love my program.

Our training is rigorous. In some ways, it’s like three programs in one. First, we learn Western medicine in a manner similar to M.D. students. Second, we learn Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in a manner similar to other Chinese medicine and acupuncture students in the US and abroad. Third, and most important, we learn Classical Chinese Medicine. This has resulted in some amount of mental anguish for some students – it’s hard to keep everything straight in one’s mind – but as time goes on we can all see the wisdom in the way the program is put together.

There are several aspects to our classical training:

• Chinese language: No one is required to learn Chinese in order to graduate. However, it is widely recognized to be the easiest way to take one’s education to the next level. Many of the most pivotal medical texts are translated into English, but some gaps remain. Further, most of the commentary and almost all of the contemporary TCM research is published in Chinese. Being able to access this information is vital to rise to the next level of competency. Further, because Chinese is such a baldly symbolic language, understanding its intricacies helps one “think Chinese” which I think is ultimately helpful.

• Medical classics: There is a program-long series of courses specifically devoted to translating and beginning to understand the Chinese medical classics such as the Huang Di Nei Jing and Shang Han Lun. Most of these courses are taught by professors that urge us to come into relationship with the material, creating our own translations of the texts. These texts are also referred to quite frequently in courses that are not specifically devoted to their study. I feel this latter aspect encourages students to read and study the texts on their own even if they don’t take the Classical Texts series.

• Other Chinese classics, culture: There are frequent discussions concerning ancient Chinese history and aspects of both ancient and contemporary Chinese culture. In fact, our entire first year is basically devoted to getting ourselves to think in an ancient Chinese context. The thought is that we are going to be more capable of truly understanding vital CM concepts if we are able to step out of our thoroughly Westernized mindset. To this end, we have studied the Dao De Jing and various Confucian classics as part of several classes. This is another aspect of study that many students take into their free time.

• Classical diagnostics: Many of our professors have made it their lifework to go deeper into the diagnostic process, including pulse, tongue and palpation. Thus in courses and in our clinical experience, we have the unique opportunity to study with people who are putting Classical principles into practice. I feel that the expansion of palpation skills is an important part of this process – we have learned to palpate channels and points in a way that takes us beyond seeing an acupuncture point in the static way they are presented in most textbooks. In the realm of pulse and tongue, widely accepted by the Chinese medicine mainstream, we learn to apply classical principles to our use of these skills. It results in a more nuanced understanding of the human body, one that increases the likelihood of an excellent diagnosis, and thus, excellent treatment.

• Classical treatment: Following from the training in classical diagnosis, we learn classical treatment principles. We follow closely the protocols listed in the medical classics, only expanding on them in ways that are fully congruent with a deep understanding of theory. For instance, we learn Shang Han Lun herbal treatment principles, primarily from the incredible Arnaud Versluys. Packaged along with this, we learn the unbelievably complex understanding of physiology and pathology developed by Shang Han Lun author, Zhang Zhong Jing. This is not something most Chinese medicine students learn. It’s also difficult to learn, and some of us gnash our teeth a bit because of it. But ultimately, we are being trained to treat people based on theory and using methods that were created through countless years of clinical practice by individuals who are probably, to this day, unsurpassed in their understanding of the human being.

Why does this matter? Why should we spend so much time studying works that are thousands of years old – based on theories that are even older? In our modernity obsessed culture, in a time when TOMORROW seems most promising and old things are spurned unless they are likely to make someone a bucketload of money… why bother?

Well, first, as I’ve said before – it is clinically superior. People who have been through the Western medical system with no relief, then through the “alternative” medical system without relief who happen upon a Classical Chinese medicine physician often find relief. My understanding is not yet deep enough to know why this is the case. But medicine is meant to heal, and if it heals, I’m behind it.

Further, consider this – within Western medicine to become a great doctor one has to keep up with current research, one has to constantly refine one’s own skills to keep up with one’s peers and changing technology. A M.D. who treats every cold and flu today with antibiotics is behind even in her own profession – Western medicine has come to understand the folly of treating every illness with a single medication.

Classical Chinese medicine does not share a scientific basis with Western medicine – it has its own foundations, its own systems and its own conclusions. The obsession with “proving” Chinese medicine concepts with Western methods is misguided at best. As a profession, Chinese medicine is deeply different. The classical texts urge Chinese medicine physicians to be devoted to their own cultivation, to the rigorous study of the medical classics and to the full understanding of nature. In a way, then, “keeping up with our profession” means a very different set of things. We must still constantly seek to improve our diagnostic skills, must constantly seek to deepen our understanding of the principles of our medicine – but instead of using the future as our standard, we must use the past and – most importantly – the present. The present state of our own personal growth and the present state of the improvement of our patients and our ability to care for them.

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