Class Five

The first part of Class Five will not be on a podcast, but the podcast will still be used to talk about Chapter five of Volume I. The reason I am not doing a podcast is because the subject of this class-writing characters-is best left to a post like this. If someone’s primary purpose in studying Chinese is learning to read, then writing is not a necessary skill to learn. However, I have found personally that learning to write the characters makes it MUCH easier to recall them later for reading. I have probably forgotten how to write (literally) thousands of characters that I had been able to write at one point; however, I can still pick them out of a book because the process of learning to write them ingrained them into my brain. Let me say that in learning to write them, you don’t have to go for perfection. If you are doing this on your own, the characters you write probably won’t be pretty-but that’s ok. No one has to see what you are writing anyway. It’s for you and for memorization of characters. The first thing you will need to know is a little something about stroke order. In general, characters are written from left to right, and up to down. This is pretty simple to see with the following example: Notice that the first stroke is the upper most stroke, and the long line under it is next (written from left to right). Below, there are two similar strokes, and the one on the left is first. This is a simple character meaning “six” and is quite simple to write. Things get a little more complicated with more complex characters, and you can see that the simple rules above do not apply: I think for those serious about developing a long-term ability to read, learning the basics of writing is essential. The reason I did not teach this in the first volume is simple-there is so much free information about writing characters that I didn’t feel it was necessary. I could not have provided anything more valuable than information that is already free online, and the only way to get more valuable information is to take a class with a teacher who helps you in person (or through the program I will mention below). Here are some of the resources I have found that can help you learn to write characters:

Zhongwen.com: A great introduction to all of the basics. Read this first.

Yellow Bridge: This free online dictionary includes stroke order animations so you can see how a specific character is written. I did a spot check, and most of the characters from Vol I are there. I suggest searching by pinyin and tone, as the classical medical meanings contained in Vol I won’t always be found in a dictionary like this. (This site seems a little buggy, but it might be my browser)

Skritter: This program isn’t free, but it may be well-worth the monthly charge. You can sign up for a free trial to see if it works for you. We have uploaded all of the characters for Vol I to this service and Vol II should be available shortly. This program allows users to create a their own online tests with whatever book they want to use (or whatever characters).

The podcast for class five will appear below soon!

Class Four

Class Four Podcast:

In the first part, I discuss approaches to terminology related to “spirit.” The second part of the podcast goes through Chapter Four.
天 tian1, the celestial, heaven
道 dao4, path, way, the Way
神 shen2, spirit, spirits (minds)
君 jun1, sovereign

Aihe Wang, Cosmology and Political Culture in Early China

Announcements and Feedback

By looking at this site, it may appear that I have been slacking-I can assure you this is not the case! However, I know many of you are waiting for the class to start back up again, and I am ready to commit to starting it next week. Look for a new class by Wednesday Oct. 14th at the very latest! After that, I will start a regular schedule and promise to have the whole class finished before the holiday season begins.

Second, I am going to change the format around a little. Instead of two different podcasts, I am going to combine everything into one. The first part of the class will be for people who do not have a copy of Classical Chinese Medical Texts Vol I, and the second part will follow the book chapter by chapter. I will make it clear in the recording when I am moving into the book.

Third, Volume II has been sent to the printer and should be available any day. I expect that for those who pre-ordered, the books will ship out by the end of the week. I have seen the first printed copy and I’m very excited to get this book into people’s hands. So far, those who have seen it agree that it looks and reads better than the first.

Finally, I want your feedback on two items.

1. I have noticed that less than 5% of people who have bought Volume I are downloading the free audio files that come with the book. This could be because people do not know they exist, or it could be that they don’t feel they need to use them. That leads me to the first question for you: Do you want audio files for Volume II? Have they helped you with Volume I?

2. I am already working on Volume III and have the first unit done! I don’t know how it happened, but I just kept working. Vol. III will be much more practical compared to the heavy theoretical information from the first two volumes. I have already decided on four of the five units’ topics: meridians, herbs and herb theory, formula discussions with cases, and specific diseases with their treatments. My question to you is, what else do you want? My initial thought was to do a whole unit on “points,” including their theories, relationships with the five phases and Shu correspondences, and a whole section on individual points taken from the Yi Xue Ru Men of the Ming Dynasty. Those are my thoughts, but what are yours?

Biggest Discount Ever

Just a quick note to let readers know that Amazon Canada is offering a 38% discount on Classical Chinese Medical Texts Vol I. This is perfect for Canadian buyers, but international residents who live outside of the US and Canada may also benefit (US buyers probably still get a better overall deal through Amazon US).

Amazon changes its discounts frequently, but I have never seen the book discounted this much, and it probably won’t last. If you want to get the book for less than US$25, then click here.

Updates and Pre-order

I have several updates. First, Windstone Press is now making Vol. II available for pre-order. They are giving a nice discount and shipping options for international residents. For more information, visit Windstone Press.

Second, the publication date has officially been moved to October 15th, 2009. This is mostly due to some last minute changes I decided to make with a few of the texts. I wanted to make sure this volume was as easy to follow as the first, and that was proving difficult with some of the texts I had chosen. I moved some things around and replaced some of the texts that were far too abstract for this type of book.  Hopefully, you will be very happy with the wait in the end-I know I feel a lot more at ease having made the changes I did.

Finally, I am hoping to start a more regular blogging and class schedule in mid-September. By then, the book will be out of my hands and I will have more time. The schedule for Volume III is tight, but I already have selected many of the texts for that volume and yet am in no rush to get at it yet.

Name Change

I have changed the name of this site from “Classical Chinese Medicine” to “Classical Chinese & Medicine.” This is not a big change, but the reasons for doing so have multiplied recently.

I do not belong to any modern (or classical) school of thought when I think, write, or talk about Chinese medicine. My interests are in the studying the medicine through classical texts. When I said Classical Chinese Medicine, I was referring to the language: “Classical Chinese” Medicine.

The main reason I take this stance (or non-stance) is because the classics have a very diverse set of ideas which many modern people see as contradictions. I do not want to attach to any one book or group of ancient practitioners who can be lumped together and decide that is how to best proceed. I equally enjoy reading Han and Ming dynasty texts and see neither time period as superior. I also enjoy Xu Da-chun and Li Dong-yuan equally, even thought the former severely criticized that latter. I enjoy the criticisms, but do not necessarily need to take them as fact.

People were also assuming I am affiliated with a group of practitioners who call themselves practitioners of CCM, which I am not. This is not a snub of people who do practice CCM, it’s just that I do not wish to define what I do in that way. Recently, someone tried to insist that I must have a school of thought I subscribe to saying, “You have to be believe in something!”  Actually, I am equally comfortable studying with Toyohari practitioners as those who practice TCM, CCM, or Kototama styles.

My goal with this website is to support people in learning to read the classics in whatever way that I can. My ability to read classical Chinese in no way makes me feel superior to those who do not and I am not here with an agenda to push a movement, but to support people who also enjoy or want to learn to enjoy the knowledge contained within classical texts.

I do not wish to debate people about different schools of thought. People can believe whatever interpretations they want to believe, whether they are rooted in the classics or not. I’m not interested in changing anyone’s mind, nor am I interested in being converted into believing other people’s interpretations. Debating means people take a position of being “right”, and the only time I need to take a position that matters is when a patient is in front of me, and they don’t care about the debate.

I encourage your feedback about this and hope that this will clarify where I’m coming from.

Course Schedule Change

The schedule of the free online course is changing for August, and more than likely through the early part of September. I have put far too much on my plate for a short period of time. Vol II will need to be sent to the printer in the next couple of weeks, and I’m behind to the point that I may need to change the publication date.

So, this is what I’m going to do. Instead of posting weekly podcasts every week at the same time, I’m going to do them as I can. I still plan on finishing 15 weeks worth of material, it just won’t be posted on a schedule. I may post more when I have extra time and some weeks I may take a break from posting. The main idea for this course stands-I want to create something that people can use on their own schedule that makes Classical Chinese Medical Texts more practical. The only change is that I’m extending the flexibility to myself so that I have the space to do what I need to do every day.

If you have anything that you would like me to talk about in the first part of the podcasts, please leave a comment and let me know. I’m open to ideas and if I feel I have something to add to a subject I will (there are many subjects I do not feel qualified to talk about).

Thanks for your patience and I am truly looking forward to adding more classes soon!

In Gratitude

There have been so many people supporting me personally and supporting my work that I cannot help but to feel overwhelmed.

When I first set out to write Classical Chinese Medical Texts, the idea was met with skepticism. I was told that such books do not sell well and it would be impossible to get Chinese medicine practitioners to want to learn to read the classics. Those skeptics were, I’m quite happy to say, far too pessimistic about your capabilities.

My only satisfaction comes from knowing that people are using the book and learning something valuable. I get either positive comments through email or here on the blog at least once per day, which tells me that people are using the book and learning from it.

I have to be honest: I did not want to start this blog initially, as I’m quite happy being reclusive in every way possible. The idea for the blog and free class came from other people, and I went along. I’m very glad I did, as I’m learning a lot too and I’m enjoying the process. So thank you to all of you who are reading, listening, commenting, and interacting. Especially thank you to those of you who are spreading the word.

Interpreting-Class Three

Part One Podcast:Translation and Interpretation

Notes and Links

治 (zhi4), to treat or to govern

Part Two Podcast: (Podcast Link)

Chapter Three of Classical Chinese Medical Texts Vol I (Amazon site)

Please leave any comments or questions below. Your email address will not show up on the page.

Interview

Yael Ernst at Chinese Medicine Notes recently interviewed me on her website. She asked a lot of great questions, from the professional to the personal. I think an interview is only as good as the questions asked, and her questions are really good! Here is a sample:

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Posted on July 27, 2009 by Yael

I asked Richard to answer a number of questions, and being the nice guy that he is, he didn’t complain about the long list of questions I sent him. He actually answered them all.
I hope you enjoy this interview.

What does it mean, for you, to write a book?
For me, any book is a beginning to a new set of skills or knowledge. I have never read anything definitive, even if that is the intention of the author and I’m certainly not trying to write anything definitive. I wrote this book hoping to open people to new possibilities. There are as many perspectives as there are people, and the authors of classical texts are not a cohesive group at all.

I hope that people can discover a whole new world that they previously did not know existed. That is what reading the classics is like for me. Everyday, I discover something new. I have also found that the more I learn and read, the less I find I actually know. I find something that surprises me regularly. There is nothing more humbling than standing in front of thousands of texts that I have not yet read. We have not even begun to get into the depths of this medicine.

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Click here to read the rest of the interview over on Yael’s blog.