Essentials of Chinese Medicine: Materia Medica

Essentials of Chinese Medicine is a unified series consisting of multiple volumes. It aims to use concise, accurate and simple language to devote the essential knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine to our readers.
Consideration was taken into account to depict the characteristics of "essentials" when designing this series. "Essentials" signifies that each volume must clearly introduce to our readers the essence of the selected subject. In addition, the text is structured to be user-friendly for readers to comprehend the contents. For that reason, this series was provided to the academy of Chinese medicine as a study tool for instructors and students.

There are 318 commonly used herbs in this book categorized into 19 chapters based on their therapeutic effects. The most common or the imperial herbs are presented in depth, each on a full page. Ever y herb is introduced by its unique characteristics and compared to its related herbs. Supplemental information is also provided in the comments section to clarify or to express some important concepts. Remarks and differentiations are provided at the end of each chapter. Herbs are usually combined to bring out their therapeutic effects. It is from this perspective that this book was structured to incor porate all three major points (functions, indications and combinations) into one section. This structure can help students understand the application of herbs and be consistent in their learning process. Combining these points into one section is a unique feature of this book.