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Reviews
Illustrated Chinese Moxibustion
Techniques and Methods
Professor Chang Xiaorong, Professor Hong Jing
and Professor YI Shouxiang
Publishers: Singing Dragon Press, London
Paperback, pp.350
ISBN: 978-1-84819-087-0
Price (RRP): £29.99
blended with the cultural idiosyncrasies and artefacts of the
translation process that we have come to know and love.
The first 20 pages covers basic moxa theory well; its effects in
traditional terms, general indications and application in bu fa
and xie fa (strengthening and draining), warming, moving and so
on. Discussed too are numerous issues such as contraindications,
selection of suitable points, dealing with sores. All this is expressed
using the Chinese medicine explanatory model as well as
connecting, to some degree, to the realities of biomedicine.
For instance:
‘The heat of moxibustion can warm, supplement and support
yang qi and treat vacuity qi desertion. From the perspective of
modern western medicine it can regulate the body’s stress levels
and raise tolerance, regulating various glandular functions and
maintaining the organisms physiological functionality.’
Here we see another dimension of the concept ‘very Chinese’.
The biomedical notions alluded to seem rather vague and, to
the critical, raise more questions than they answer. You have got
to admit that it is hard to be much more vague than ‘regulating
various glandular functions’. These days it is possible to be
more specific and detailed about the effects of moxibustion on
physiological function; on the specific alterations in immune
responses it can elicit, its effects on nitric oxide, blood flow, and
so on. It seems a shame that such a detailed textbook should be
so coy about the literature on actual physiological effects.
First I should reveal a personal bias – I love moxibustion! If forced
to choose between needles or moxa I might well go for the smoky
option. Needles are nice but moxa is marvellous, it just does so
many things so well.
Following this we have 30 pages of basic data on the traditional
points with illustrations and basic indications tabulated – again
‘quite Chinese’, for instance the heavy emphasis on ‘atrophy and
paralysis of the legs’. Most leg points are given this attribution but
it is not too clear what actual conditions are referred to; stroke?
multiple sclerosis? traumatic nerve injury? spinal stenosis? old
age? This section is useful if you are a novice but less compelling
for experienced readers.
We have seen the publication of quite a few moxa texts in recent
times, each one taking a distinctive approach and each one very
distinct from the next. This book is quite different in style and
content from two other leading contenders; Moxibustion – the
power of mugwort fire by Lorraine Wilcox and The Moon Over
Mastushima by Merlin Young. Wilcox’s book takes as its reference
point the historical literature on moxa and so gives a strong sense
of treatment from the perspective of the historical tradition.
Young’s book is more like a collection of fascinating and chatty
miscellaneous essays on all aspects of moxa – a style and content
quite different to the text under review here, which is a bit
more normal.
I like the chapter on moxa for yang sheng – health cultivation with
its numerous subsections such as ‘foster and supplement original
qi and protect against disease’ and ‘perseverance is golden’ and
‘fortify brain, boost intelligence’. The key points and methods
used in yang sheng treatment are covered extensively and, again,
the pronouncements are couched in the classic Chinese style.
On Bl 43 we are informed that:
‘moxa of this point can perfuse and free yang qi, kill worms and
calm panting … A common folk custom is for children to moxa
this point at 17 or 18 years of age … to raise their ability to resist
tuberculosis and common cold.’
Illustrated Chinese Moxibustion – Techniques and Methods is ‘very
Chinese’ – personal shorthand for a mix of positive attributes
These days, part of our new-found maturity as a profession entails
applying a little more criticality to the representation of what
48 The European Journal of Oriental Medicine
Reviews
acumoxa can and cannot do (and equally to what modern
biomedicine can and cannot do). It is hard for me to adjudge
the effect of moxa on this point on killing worms but I do feel
that nowadays our textbooks should themselves include a
touch more criticality.
Next we get some very good information on moxa itself; its
different forms, the manufacturing processes used, the use of
other combustible substances such as juncus grass pith, which
is referred to as juncibustion. This is where you take the pith
out of the Chinese grass deng xin cao, dip it in oil and then
apply burning end to acupoints. There is excellent information
on non-heat moxa methods – the use of irritant substances
on the skin such as mustard seeds and garlic that are quite
commonly used in China. The subsequent chapter, on special
moxa methods, is excellent too and describes many ways of
using moxa stick including one of my personal favourites –
pressing moxa. This involves momentarily pressing a moxa
stick into tissues using cloth or paper partitioning. I know from
experience, first as a patient and then in my practice, that this
produces a deeply penetrating sustained warmth that often
provides rapid results. Other partitioning methods include the
use of fuzi (aconite) cake, garlic, ginger and moxa of the eyes
using walnut shells – another wonderful, if slightly bizarre,
method to experience for yourself first.
terminology. Overall, as a student text or for one wishing to
develop high-level clinical moxa skills I warmly recommend
this book. For those fascinated by scholarship of classic
texts get Wilcox’s book and for endlessly engaging bedtime
reading seek out Merlin Young’s eclectic text and so help
fund his Moxafrica project.
Charlie Buck has enjoyed three decades in the world of
Chinese medicine and was one of the very first to practise
Chinese herbal medicine in the UK. As an author and
educator he has made significant contributions to the
development of Chinese medicine in the UK and Europe.
Rooted equally in both classical Chinese medical scholarship
and in science, Charlie’s teaching has been described as
lucid, engaging and insightful. He is currently chair of the
British Acupuncture Council.
ejom
The rest of the book is a reference formulary that discusses
well over 100 conditions, point selection and the most
appropriate moxa techniques for each condition. Some of the
conditions the authors cover here I have not seen discussed
elsewhere in relation to moxa treatment such as psoriasis
and chronic fatigue syndrome. As an example, a section on
excessive armpit sweating says:
‘… shave the armpit, and then mix starch into a paste with an
appropriate amount of water, applying it to the underarm. A
needle-like black point will appear on the surface of the starch
paste; this is the area of a large sweat gland. Put a small moxa
cone on the black point and perform direct moxa, 3-5 cones
each time 2-3 times per week.’
This is neat and, as with many of the numerous other
interesting clinical tips to be found here, is obviously born out
of practical experience.
All in all, this book succeeds in delivering a comprehensive
and enlightening Chinese-style presentation on the practice
of moxibustion. ‘Very Chinese’ is fine by me and is largely
the language-culture issue that we accept or even enjoy. The
weak point is the lack of anchoring of the material in efficacy
and mechanism research and in meaningful biomedical
The European Journal of Oriental Medicine 49
Reviews
The Double Aspect of the Heart
Elisabeth Rochat De La Vallée
Translated from the French by Madelaine Moulder
Publishers: Monkey Press, 2012
Paperback: pp.80
ISBN 978-1-872-468-129
Price: £7.50
The Double Aspect of
the Heart is one in a
series of titles offered by
Monkey Press, including
a translation and
commentary on chapter
8 of the Ling Shu; it joins
the existing works on The
Heart, The Heart Master
and The Triple Heater.
These are nicely framed
and attractive volumes,
reasonably priced. The
Double Aspect of the
Heart is a small pocketsized book; it consists of
an introduction by Alan
Hext, four main chapters
and a bibliography. This
is not an authored text, but a transcription of a lecture in the
French language.
The Double Aspect of the Heart has relatively few footnotes,
and uses Chinese characters and Mandarin pronunciation after
technical terms rendered into English. For example, Mr Hext
speaks of the zang fu, without an explanation but the text
supplies the Chinese characters and the Mandarin pronunciation
e.g. the formless (wu xing 無形). Mr Hext tells us that the text
is based upon the classic, the Ling Shu, and ‘complements
the teaching of the five elements/phases’ and that it ‘reveals
the relationship between the heart, the heart master and the
sovereign fire (jun huo), and the ministerial fire (xiang huo).’ There
are no illustrations, charts or graphs.
I imagine the intended readership of The Double Aspect of
the Heart to be attendees of De La Vallée’s lectures (held at
University of Westminster through Peter Firebrace’s Orientation)
or devotees of this tradition. Hence the text lacks explanatory
information which new readers require; there is simply not enough
introductory information or enough background. There is too
much Daoism for the practical acupuncturist, not enough ‘meat’
50 The European Journal of Oriental Medicine
to satisfy a Daoist seeker of truth (Mr Hext speaks of ‘the dao and
the de, the ways of manifesting virtue’), while charts of points
and pathways would be needed for the non-practitioner or the
neophyte. This book does not attract the novice to this lineage, or
speak to the unconverted.
The practice of acupuncture within the clinical setting requires
us to perform the roles of clinician, historian and anthropologist.
My criticisms here are with the presentation of the text, rather
than the commentaries by De La Vallée. From the standpoint of
a historian, the introduction is misinformed: there is no extant,
original copy of any of the classics referred to; these and all
medical books were rewritten and reconfigured by government
in the Song period (960–1279 AD). The new Song government
required structure and textual information to conform to its
agenda. The allusions to ‘one ruler, and obedient ministers’ suit
that agenda precisely. These political ideals intended to bring
order to the world by replacing the previous aristocratic order.
Texts which could not be made to conform to Song policy had
their wooden plates burned, and ceased to exist. Hence being a
‘classic’ is no reason in itself for a text to have merit, especially
when what exists is a replacement text under the name of the
original. A text must prove itself to be relevant to each generation
of users by being relevant in place and time. Repeated references
to ‘the classics’ coupled with a bibliographical reference as brief
as the Ling Shu tend to imply reference to an unambiguous, solid
authority. Thus keeping to the illusion of textual authority, the
bibliography simply lists documents, and would be more correctly
described as suggestions for further reading than as a tool for
exploring and further understanding the comments from De La
Vallée. It is not made clear who De La Vallée is, nor the sources
and origins of her commentaries.
As a practitioner, and one who has not studied acupuncture
or herbal medicine in Europe, but in Tokyo and in Beijing, this
text is difficult to place clinically. Mr Hext describes the dao and
the de, the ways of manifesting virtue. Daoism, and mysticism
do not sit well with the attention to substance in the Japanese
interpretations of medicine. In some traditions, illnesses described
as resulting from problems with the flow of qi are to be treated as
‘internal’ problems. Does that apply to this text?
Rather than the virtue of being based on a classic, it is the
practitioner aspects common to medical anthropology which
commend this book and indeed I recommend it as essential
reading for acupuncturists, shiatsu practitioners, reflexologists,
kinesiologists, those interested in macrobiotics and all Western
practitioners who wish to understand all medical traditions related
to the ideas of pathways, meridians, channels, qi, five element
theories, etc. Attending such lectures on medical classics and
Reviews
listening to commentaries from elder statesmen of
acupuncture or medical history is an established
and a treasured way of study. For how else is
the novice student to reflect on why treatments
come to produce successes or failures, or to move
beyond the mechanical point prescriptions of the
classroom? Without interpretative readings, we will
find the students of Chinese medicine supplement
their lack of reflective understanding with bits from
other disciplines, homeopathy, or the transient
truths of ‘science’. These commentaries give a
framework and vocabulary useful for describing to
European patients how Chinese medicine might
be working for them. The commentaries provide a
language and framework for debates such as the
role of a revival of the sensory aspects of the four
diagnostic procedures. For a practitioner to note
appropriate that ‘in case of fullness there is pressure
in the diaphragm, in the case of emptiness, one
can no longer speak’, from chapter 10 of the Ling
Shu, requires the development of a keen skill set
in listening, touching, and the sensory aspects that
come from patient/practitioner contact.
Following the advice from the conclusion on
page 66: ‘through the heart the human being
takes responsibility in life’, I would like to see
Monkey Press take responsibility for these works
by producing a heart-led introduction that places
the teaching inside some known category; to
clarify its translated sources and to offer a proper
bibliography. It would also be helpful to provide a
commentary/context to De La Vallée’s commentary.
In summary, the kind of commentary De La
Vallée presents is essential for those who wish
to understand Chinese medicine in the English
language, and there are many keen to do so.
The potential is immense.
Gretchen De Soriano is an acupuncturist and
medical anthropologist (Oxford University 2010).
She was awarded Wellcome Trust funding to
investigate medical illustration in early Japanese
texts. She studied acupuncture and the Japanese
herbal tradition, kampo, for eight years in Tokyo,
and a year in Beijing. Her translation of the text,
Kampo I Gaku,漢方医学 was published in 2010;
from 2012 she is leading a team developing an
app to reference kampo terminology.
ejom
The European Journal of Oriental Medicine 51