Secret Passages:
the Language of the Shang Han Lun
with Genevieve Le Goff
63 CEU/PDA
(CAB provider #1005, NCCAOM #1134)
~A LINE-BY-LINE STUDY OF THE SHANG HAN LUN~
Self-paced, recorded course
Welcome!
This course will be a line by line exegesis of the Shang Han Lun傷寒論 in the Song edition order. Drawing from the Mai Jing 脈經, Nei Jing 內經, Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing 神農本草經, Tang Ye Jing Fa 湯液經法 and other classics, we will endeavor to understand the deepest meaning of the text and its context in a cosmological view of ancient medicine, starting with the study of the 4 images 四象 and ancient astronomy; drawing from lineage acquired clinical experience, we will strive for precise and excellent application for our patients. For each line, there will be a detailed analysis of patho-physiology and formula composition, and we will illustrate with many a case study.
In the study of the Shang Han Lun 傷寒論, the living practice of clinical herbalism ties into a systemic understanding of the cosmos, and time and space meet nature and and physiology. The masterful Han dynasty work by Zhang Zhong Jing 张仲景 evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the body in relation to surrounding natural influences and the passage of time, and delineates the probability tree of the possible transformations of cold damage, prognosticating and treating disease.
The 6 conformations represent more than stages of disease in the body; they are aspects of time, life and physiology, linked by the intricate relationships of fire, water, blood, ministerial fire, yang and yin. These very relationships are what explains the various passages and transmutations of disease that the Shang Han Lun is famous for exposing, and they are the key to the mastery of clinical practice.
It would be a reductionist outlook to think that the Shang Han Lun is a book that only treats wind-cold; cold damage can be understood in a much broader sense, the desertion of life’s energy from the body, leading to the eventual coldness of death. In essence, Shang Han Lun theory is therefore alchemy, the Yi Jing of health and disease: by understanding what leads to the decrepitude of life, one can also understand what repairs it, and what preserves it.
Classical formula architecture is a form of language： the composition of a prescription reflects a certain understanding of the human body in relationship with the world, distilled into herbal agents imbued with direction and purpose. The sometimes sibylline words of the Shang Han Lun simultaneously reveal and hide so much depth, that this work has induced fascination for over 2 millennia; as a result, there have been much debate and conjecture as to the meaning of such or such symptom, passage, herb, etc. over the centuries. This stems from the fact that the basic tenets of classical physiology, the relationships between yin and yang, inner and outer, time and center, are not always crystal clear to the reader, and further confused by evolving medical theories throughout history. The aim of this class is therefore to go back to the roots of classical medicine as a time-based medicine; not to learn formulae to apply blindly, but to foster a deep understanding of the physiological processes behind each formula pattern. To this effect, we will study classical cosmology, physiology and formula architecture theory as presented in the Nei Jing 內經 and the Fu Xing Jue Zang Fu Yong Yao Fa Yao 辅行诀脏腑用药法要 , and study the entire Shang Han Za Bing Lun 傷寒雜病論 line by line, in the deemed original Song order.
Comprehending the language of the Shang Han Lun not only leads to wonderfully efficacious clinical results and a better life for patients. It is also is a vehicle for personal cultivation and one’s relationship to the world, which, like any discipline, has benefits one cannot even fathom when one begins the journey!
This course proposes:
It is my hope that soon after starting the class, you will be as mesmerized by this vast topic as I have been for the past 15 years!
In the study of the Shang Han Lun 傷寒論, the living practice of clinical herbalism ties into a systemic understanding of the cosmos, and time and space meet nature and and physiology. The masterful Han dynasty work by Zhang Zhong Jing 张仲景 evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the body in relation to surrounding natural influences and the passage of time, and delineates the probability tree of the possible transformations of cold damage, prognosticating and treating disease.
The 6 conformations represent more than stages of disease in the body; they are aspects of time, life and physiology, linked by the intricate relationships of fire, water, blood, ministerial fire, yang and yin. These very relationships are what explains the various passages and transmutations of disease that the Shang Han Lun is famous for exposing, and they are the key to the mastery of clinical practice.
It would be a reductionist outlook to think that the Shang Han Lun is a book that only treats wind-cold; cold damage can be understood in a much broader sense, the desertion of life’s energy from the body, leading to the eventual coldness of death. In essence, Shang Han Lun theory is therefore alchemy, the Yi Jing of health and disease: by understanding what leads to the decrepitude of life, one can also understand what repairs it, and what preserves it.
Classical formula architecture is a form of language： the composition of a prescription reflects a certain understanding of the human body in relationship with the world, distilled into herbal agents imbued with direction and purpose. The sometimes sibylline words of the Shang Han Lun simultaneously reveal and hide so much depth, that this work has induced fascination for over 2 millennia; as a result, there have been much debate and conjecture as to the meaning of such or such symptom, passage, herb, etc. over the centuries. This stems from the fact that the basic tenets of classical physiology, the relationships between yin and yang, inner and outer, time and center, are not always crystal clear to the reader, and further confused by evolving medical theories throughout history. The aim of this class is therefore to go back to the roots of classical medicine as a time-based medicine; not to learn formulae to apply blindly, but to foster a deep understanding of the physiological processes behind each formula pattern. To this effect, we will study classical cosmology, physiology and formula architecture theory as presented in the Nei Jing 內經 and the Fu Xing Jue Zang Fu Yong Yao Fa Yao 辅行诀脏腑用药法要 , and study the entire Shang Han Za Bing Lun 傷寒雜病論 line by line, in the deemed original Song order.
Comprehending the language of the Shang Han Lun not only leads to wonderfully efficacious clinical results and a better life for patients. It is also is a vehicle for personal cultivation and one’s relationship to the world, which, like any discipline, has benefits one cannot even fathom when one begins the journey!
This course proposes:
- to explore and analyze, line by line, in the (deemed) original Song dynasty order, the entirety of the Shang Han Lun
- to let natural philosophies of the pre-Han eras, ancient astronomy and history inform our understanding of physiology
- to study in detail the language of herbs and flavors through the lens of the Nei Jing 內經, Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing 神農本草經, Tang Ye Jing 湯液經, and a back-and-forth process of analysis of the formulae
- to understand the ways formula architecture reflects the secret or not-so-secret physiological relationships of fire and water, and speak of passage and transformation
It is my hope that soon after starting the class, you will be as mesmerized by this vast topic as I have been for the past 15 years!