Medical Forest Pointer

A Pointer Through the Medical Forest is a medical work by Liu Xuezhu, a TCM clinician from Tianjin. Liu Xuezhu (1906–1988), courtesy name Puquan, art name Yihai Yio, was a native of Wuqing, Tianjin. In 1929 he became a disciple of Zhang Xichun; he later studied in Lu Yuanlei's national medicine correspondence course and was in close contact with Zhang Shanlei. He practiced medicine for over sixty years and was known for combining classical formulas, contemporary formulas, and folk remedies, achieving high efficacy with few drugs. The present book is a combined edition of two of his manuscripts, Collected Essentials of the Diagnosis and Treatment of Postpartum Fever and Random Notes After Diagnosis, recommended by Professor Ren Yingqiu and first published in 1984 by Tianjin Science and Technology Press. In 2013, Professor Chen Baogui, his disciple, collated and revised it for a revised edition published by China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The book is divided into three parts. The first part, Collected Essentials of the Diagnosis and Treatment of Postpartum Fever, systematically compiles the diagnostic and therapeutic discussions of postpartum fever by physicians of past dynasties; each quoted passage is followed by a commentary that either expounds the essence of earlier masters, compares the similarities and differences among various schools, or evaluates the merits and faults of formulas and drugs. The second part, Jottings from Clinical Practice, is arranged by category—external contraction, internal injury, external medicine, gynecology, pediatrics, and the five sense organs; it collects medical cases from these departments, involving the pattern identification and treatment of warm diseases, hypertension, and other conditions, with more than 250 cases recorded in the book, of which over 80 are based mainly on classical formulas. The third part, Informal Talks on Medicine, consists of miscellaneous discussions and special topics, including academic inquiries such as heat entering the blood chamber and insights on the use of drugs. The book gathers classical formulas, contemporary formulas, and folk remedies, with apt commentaries, and concentratedly reflects the author's scholarly approach of mutually corroborating classical theory with sixty years of clinical experience. In the revised edition, the chapters have been rearranged, drug names and dosages standardized, and some medical cases and case discussions added; the book involves rhinoceros horn, antelope horn, pangolin scales, and other items that are banned or restricted for sale by the state, and the original book states that they are for study and reference only, to be replaced in clinical practice by corresponding substitutes.