What Chinese herbal medicine is (and what it isn't)
Ben Cao versus Western herbalism, formula versus single herb, and the three mistakes that sink beginners.
How it starts
Chinese herbal medicine (Zhong Yao 中药) is the branch of Chinese medicine that works with substances —overwhelmingly plant-based, plus a few minerals and animal products— combined into formulas and prescribed according to a diagnostic pattern. In China it is the major branch: for every acupuncture visit there are several herbal ones. In the West the opposite is true, and that leaves many practitioners with half a…
The rest of the lesson opens with Chinese Herbal Medicine.
In this lesson you will learn
- Define Chinese herbal medicine and tell it apart from Western herbalism.
- Explain why the working unit is the formula and not the single herb.
- Place the four texts that underpin the discipline.
- Know what herbs solve best and what needles solve best.
- List the real risks of herbal medicine without falling back on "it's natural."
What is inside
- 1The three entry-level mistakes
- 2Why the unit is the formula
- 3The four texts behind it
- 4Needle or herb: how the work is divided
- 5What you already have on the platform
- 6What you won't find in this course
One of the 33 lessons in
Chinese Herbal MedicineMateria Medica and Formulas
“The needle moves; the herb replenishes.”
The other half of Chinese medicine. How a plant is described in the language of Chinese medicine (the four Qi, the five flavors, channel tropism), the nine major categories of the materia medica, the Jun-Chen-Zuo-Shi architecture of a formula, the twenty classical formulas that anchor practice, and real-world safety: interactions, hepatotoxicity, pregnancy, and product quality.
By the end of the course, you will know how to
- Read the profile of any Chinese herb and know what it does and where it acts.
- Recognize the nine categories of the materia medica and their leading herbs.
- Break down a classical formula into emperor, minister, assistant, and envoy.
- Modify a base formula to fit a specific patient.
- Spot the interactions and risks that mean you should not prescribe.
- Divide the work between needle and herb in the same case.
What you will study
Module 1 · 5 lessons
The language of herbs
Before the first herb: how Chinese medicine describes what a remedy does.
- What Chinese herbal medicine is (and what it isn't)You are here
- The four Qi and the five flavors
- Channel tropism, direction, and tendency
- Toxicity, processing (Pao Zhi), and quality
- Dosage forms: from decoction to granules
Module 2 · 8 lessons
The materia medica
The nine major categories, with the key herbs of each and their full profile.
- Releasing the exterior (Jie Biao Yao)
- Clearing Heat (Qing Re Yao)
- Purging and warming the interior
- Dampness, water, and Bi pattern
- Phlegm, cough, and dyspnea
- Regulating Qi and resolving food stagnation
- Moving Blood and stopping bleeding
- Calming the Shen, pacifying the Liver, and opening the orifices
Module 3 · 3 lessons
The tonics
Bu Xu Yao: the star category of modern herbal medicine, and the one most often misprescribed.
- Tonifying Qi and Yang
- Nourishing Blood and Yin
- Astringents and antiparasitics
Module 4 · 5 lessons
Building a formula
From the single herb to the prescription: the part that truly sets Chinese herbal medicine apart.
- Jun, Chen, Zuo, and Shi: the architecture
- The classical formulas you need to know
- The practice formulary
- Modifying a formula
- Prescribing: dose, preparation, and regimen
Module 5 · 3 lessons
Beyond the decoction
The other three ways a plant enters treatment: the plate, the skin and the local herbalist.
- Chinese dietetics (Shi Liao)
- External use: washes, compresses, and plasters
- A bridge to Western herbalism
Module 6 · 9 lessons
Safety and clinical practice
The part that separates a professional from someone selling herbal teas.
- Interactions, liver, and kidney
- Pregnancy, breastfeeding, childhood, and older adults
- Clinic I: digestive and respiratory
- Clinic II: gynecology, Shen, and pain
- Clinic III: dermatology
- Supportive care in oncology
- Integrating needle and herb (and using Fitoki)
- Integrated clinical case
- Final exam · Chinese Herbal Medicine
Requirements
Acupuncture I, or equivalent knowledge of Yin-Yang, Wu Xing, the vital substances, and Zang-Fu.
How it works
Specialties
Save with a bundle
Complete Training
All five courses, saving you €180, plus five years of Atlas Pro and the game included.
You save $180 compared with buying the courses separately
5 years of Atlas Pro included
Valued at $395 free
Already have Atlas Pro? Nothing is overwritten: 5 years is added on top of whatever you have left.
Read “What Chinese herbal medicine is (and what it isn't)” today
This lesson and the rest of the course: 33 lessons, 10 hours, quizzes and exercises. You pay once and it is yours for life, with one year of Atlas Pro as a gift (if you already have it, it adds to the time you have left).
Chinese Herbal Medicine
One-time payment