Complete External Therapies of Chinese Drugs [Xu Xiangcai]

Foreword

    Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is unique in theories, drugs and therapies. Its therapies are classified as drug-one and non-drug-one with the latter mainly referring to acupuncture, moxibustion and Tuina massage. But they can also be divided into internal therapy and external therapy with the latter including not only therapies of acupuncture, moxibustion, Tuina but also external therapy with Chinese drugs which is an important component part of TCM.

    External therapy with Chinese drugs is effective and practical, and has wide indications. Recently, books on theories of TCM, on Chinese drugs, on acupuncture and moxibustion, and on Tuina have been translated into English one after another and distributed abroad successively. But it's a pity that not a single book on external therapy with Chinese drugs has been published in English. Even in the domestic market, a comprehensive, systematic and practical book on external therapy with Chinese drugs in Chinese has not yet been found published.

    Therefore as early as in 1988, 1 decided and worked out a plan to compile such a book. I thought the book must be comprehensive, systematic, practical and easy to read. and then had it translated into plain English. Later, with the help of Mr. You Ke, I chose and invited several writers, who are either professors, associate professors or doctors and masters of TCM, and started to work on it. By 1991, the Chinese manuscripts of the book entitled The Encyclopedia of Diseases Treated Externally with Chinese Drugs had been completed. But I hadn't had a time to put it into English until last year. Recently, I have revised the book again and put it into English with the help of my assistants. I do think this is Just what I wanted it to be.

    Consisting of five volumes, this encyclopedia is a unique comprehensive monograph dealing with external therapy with Chinese drugs. It was co-written through one collective discussion after another by the authors who had consulted plenty of both ancient and modern relevant materials, studied relevant experiences of many others' and summed up our own clinical practice. Its features are as follows.

1. Comprehensive and Systematic
    This encyclopedia covers nearly all the clinical departments of TCM such as medicine. surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, dermatology, orthopedics, proctology, ophthalmology, otology, rhinology, laryngology, stomatology and dentology; deals with nearly all the main external therapeutic methods with Chinese drugs such as Yan Xun Fa method of drug-smoking, Xun Xi Fa method of steaming and dripwashing with drug decoction, Tie Fa method of sticking a plaster to the skin, Fu Fa method of coating the affected part with drug paste, Tu Fa method of painting the affected part with drug paste, Re Hong Fa method of drug-toasting, Qi Wu Ji Xi Ru Fa method of aerosol inhalation, Se Ru Fa method of tucking drug into a cavity, etc.; introduces the external treatment of 167 diseases with Chinese drugs, and involves more than 600 prescriptions. In other words, in this encyclopedia, not a single clinical department is not included, not a single common or frequently-encountered disease is not dealt with, not a single chief prescription for external use is not interpreted, and not a single chief external therapeutic method with Chinese drug(s) is not referred to.

2. Diseases Followed by Prescriptions and Methods
    As a monograph dealing with external therapy with Chinese drugs, this encyclopedia centers not only on prescriptions for external use not only on external therapeutic methods with Chinese drugs as some other books of the same kind. It introduces not only "prescription" and "method" but also "disease." And in the book "disease" comes first, "prescription" second, and "method" third. That is, before a method, a prescription is given; before a prescription, a disease is discussed. The purpose is to enable the reader not only to select a prescription according to the disease but also to choose a method according to the prescription. And the prescription selected in such a way would be applicable to the disease, and the method chosen in such a way would be a sound one.
    In this encyclopedia, a disease is presented by its "name first in Western medicine then in Chinese medicine," followed by its "etiology and pathogenesis," "clinical manifestations," and its "differentiation and treatment." "Differentiation and treat-merit" are presented by "main symptoms, I'll method of treatment," and "prescription." "Prescription" is presented by "recipe," "Ingredient," "preparation," "application," and relevant "notes." And "Ingredient" is presented by its latinized "Chinese name" (in Pinyin) followed by its "Latin name," and "dosage."

3. More Practical
    In this encyclopedia, how to make up a prescription, how to process a medicinal paste, ointment, powder, etc., how to apply and conserve a prepared medicine, how to make a dressing change, how attention should be paid when a particular medicine is prepared or applied or a dressing change should be made, what are the relationships between an external treatment and an internal one and the parallel therapeutic method of Western medicine, what are the effects of a certain prescription or method and why it works, ... are all introduced explicitly under the headings of "Ingredient," preparation," "application" and "Notes." This, as a creative feature among literature of this kind, is a distinguished merit of this book.
    The above features make this encyclopedia a good reference book of a medical worker and a good consultant of a patient, and all of them can put what is written in the book into practical use and enjoy being a self-taught doctor of traditional Chinese medicine.

Chief Editor-translator: Xu Xiangcai