The Great Intent

Acupuncture Odes, Songs and Rhymes

Harriet E J Lewars, Richard Bertschinger

• Publisher: Singing Dragon
• Print ISBN: 9781848191327
• eBook ISBN: 9780857011114
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Alternative & Complementary Medicine

Songs and rhymes have been used by physicians for centuries in China as a means of memorising and passing on methods of practice and behaviour, moral attitudes, effective points, diagnostic tips and rules of thumb. These newly translated poems offer a rich insight into the life and thought of these skilled doctors, as well as practical indications for treatment. Contemporary acupuncturists can see from these poems the depths of the tradition, better understand a breadth of diagnostic skills and treatment planning, and as a result greatly improve their appreciation of intent within their own practice. The poems also serve as a gentle introduction to the philosophy behind acupuncture practice.

This is the first translation of these acupuncture odes, songs and rhymes from the Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion compiled by the Chinese physician Yang Jizhou during late Ming China. The book includes a comprehensive introduction that places the work in historical, cultural, and medical context, a symptom index, a point index glossary and a list of helpful points for common signs and symptoms encountered in acupuncture and physiotherapy clinics.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise
• By the Same Author
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Preface
• Original Preface to The Golden Needle
• Contents
• Original Introduction to The Golden Needle
• Introducing The Great Intent
• The Odes, Songs and Rhymes
• Ode to the Whole Body’s Points and Channels
• Ode to the One Hundred Symptoms
• A Song on the Rule of the Hundred Points
• A Song on how the Six Qi Create Disease
• The Song ‘The Four All-encompassing Points’
• The Song ‘Nine Needles which Revive the Yang’
• Ode to the Streamer out of the Dark
• Ode to the Magnanimity of the Mat
• Ode to the Golden Needle
• A Song on how the Cycling Five of Heaven Control Disease
• A Rhyming Guide to Essential Indications When Needling
• Ode to the Jade Dragon
• Old Teacher Mulberry’s Rhyme ‘Secrets of the Stars’
• Ma Danyang’s Song ‘Twelve Points Shining Bright as the Starry Sky and Able to Heal All the Many Diseases’
• Ode to the Importance of Penetrating the Dark Mystery
• Ode to the Magic Brightness
• Ode to Holding Back the River
• Ode to Intricacies in the Circulating Flow
• The Song ‘Tricks to Keep up Your Sleeve’
• The Secret Rhyme on Needling ‘Barriers Within’
• Tonifying and Reduction ‘Swept Clear as Snow’
• The Song ‘General Pointers When Needling’
• The Song ‘Opening the Door to Needling Law’
• Notes
• Symptom Index
• Point Index
• Index to English Point-Names
• Index to Chinese Point-Names
• General Index to the Odes
• Partial Glossary
• Brief Dynastic Timeline
• Bibliography