Stepping into the Gateway of the Treatise on Cold Damage

Name: Stepping into the Gateway of the Treatise on Cold Damage
ISBN: 9787117256551

温兴韬People's Medical Publishing House · ChinaJan 2025

3.8

Word count: 168K words
Chapters: 31
ISBN: 9787117256551

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Summary

After more than two decades of winding study and clinical exploration, especially his recent teaching of classical formulas, the author has come to feel the wonder and charm of classical formulas, and also their utmost plainness and ease. As long as one correctly grasps classical-formula thinking and handles formula patterns well, one can enter the gate and then proceed to the inner chambers. The author sums up a trilogy of learning and using classical formulas—understand, master, adapt: understand the theoretical system and clinical thinking of classical formulas; master formula patterns; and be good at flexible adaptation. He also uses the computer as an analogy: in the 1980s, when learning computers, teachers lectured on繁杂 command programming, and few listened. When the Windows operating system appeared, combining efficiency with simplicity, even primary school students could use computers skillfully, without needing to master the basic principles of computing and繁杂 commands. Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases is the most efficient and simplest clinical "Windows operating system" in the TCM system, and the best clinical guide in TCM. As a clinician, one need not consider the繁杂 causes and mechanisms of disease and cumbersome theories; one need only comprehend the six-disease outlines and master basic formula patterns, and clinical practice will be effortless.

Editor's review

Entering the Gate of Treatise on Cold Damage is the culmination of Dr. Wen Xingtao's thirty years of clinical experience and classical-formula teaching. Unlike the common annotations or lecture notes on Treatise on Cold Damage on the market, the book's greatest feature is its "clinically oriented" interpretive perspective. Dr. Wen restores Treatise on Cold Damage from an abstruse classical medical text to an operable, verifiable manual of "clinical diagnostic and therapeutic response studies." He does not cling to word-by-word exegesis and textual research, but focuses on explaining the logic of "formula-pattern correspondence" and the laws of "pathomechanism evolution" behind the clauses, guiding readers to establish the clinical thinking of "where there is this pattern, use this formula." The book's organization of core formula groups such as "Cinnamon Twig Decoction formulas" and "Bupleurum Decoction formulas" is especially brilliant; through numerous real medical cases, it shows the charm of classical formulas' "few drugs, focused power" and the flexibility of "treating according to the pattern." Regarding the substantive question of the "six channels" that troubles beginners, the author proposes the pragmatic view that "the six channels are six major groups of pathological-stage responses," lowering the threshold for entry. Overall, this is a guide to Treatise on Cold Damage that enables TCM learners and clinicians to truly "use it." Its value lies not in providing standard answers but in igniting sparks of clinical thinking and helping readers build their own framework for applying classical formulas.

Who it's for

A good fit for

TCM students or young physicians with some theoretical foundation in TCM who wish to deepen their clinical application of Treatise on Cold Damage.
Self-learners interested in classical-formula medicine but blocked by the obscurity of the original text of Treatise on Cold Damage, seeking a clear path to entry.
Practicing physicians accustomed to contemporary formulas or warm-disease formulas in clinic who wish to expand classical-formula thinking and improve their ability to identify formula patterns.
TCM enthusiasts who love TCM culture and wish to understand how the classics guide modern diagnosis and treatment.

Not a good fit for

Pure academic textual researchers seeking detailed word-by-word exegesis and documentary research on Treatise on Cold Damage.
Readers with no basic concepts of TCM who expect to fully master TCM diagnosis and treatment through one book.

Reading tips

It is recommended to first read through the introduction and the first two chapters to grasp the author's core methodology (formula-pattern correspondence, dynamic view of pathomechanism), then proceed to the study of specific clauses and formulas.
When reading, keep a copy of the original text of Treatise on Cold Damage for reference, and focus on the author's distillation of clinical indicators in the clauses and case verification rather than rote memorization.
The medical cases in the book are the essence; repeatedly ponder the author's approach to pattern identification, formula selection, and modification, and try to simulate analysis with your own or others' cases.

About the publisher

People's Medical Publishing House China · Founded in 1953

Founded in 1953, the People's Medical Publishing House is an important institution in China's medical publishing field, with publishing directions covering medical textbooks, academic monographs, medical journals, and popular science books. Its collection contains 2,503 titles, mainly classified under medicine. Representative works include the Complete Book of Chinese Nutrition Science (2nd Edition, 2 volumes), Guide to Clinical Practice with Medical Records, the Golden Mirror of Medicine (Volume 1), Chinese Medical Imaging: Head and Neck Volume (3rd Edition), and the Essentials of the Golden Cabinet from the Collected Clinical Chinese Medicine Must-Read Series (Collector's Edition), spanning both modern medicine and classical Chinese medical texts. Representative authors include Yang Yuexin, Ge Keyou, Ye Tianshi, Su Li, Wu Qian, Zheng Jinsheng, Wang Zhenchang, and Xian Junfang, covering fields such as nutrition, Chinese medicine, and medical imaging. With a publishing approach that balances textbooks and academic monographs, the press has established the "Renwei" brand.

版权信息
内容提要
序一黄煌序
序二风雨经方路，万里中医缘
序三衡先培序
前言
第一章我的经方之路
第二章经方临床入门捷径
第一节如何认识学习《伤寒论》
第二节对经方的宏观认识
第三节对经方的微观探索
第三章方证探析举例
第四章学用经方三步曲——一明二熟三变通
第五章知常达变——谈经方的变与不变
第六章不能忽视的表证
第七章六病昭昭何容篡改？——令人困惑而又无法回避的六病
第八章漫谈经方——对经方若干问题的思考
第九章学习《伤寒论》需要注意的若干问题
第十章经方研究的误区种种
第十一章书贵得间医贵识证
第十二章条文译释举例
第十三章经方医案选
附录
附录A 仲景之道至平至易——浅谈经方临床入门捷径
附录B 《伤寒论》与《黄帝内经》的比较
附录C 漫话经方附子及其类方——浅谈附子功效剂量配伍禁忌及误解
附录D 宋本《伤寒论》四逆散方证探析与临证心得
附录E 表里兼证治则探讨
附录F 一位老民警的经方历程
附录G 经方语录
附录H 经方吟咏

FAQ

What is the difference between this book and the Treatise on Cold Damage textbook used in universities?

University textbooks focus on systematic knowledge transmission and introduction of various schools of thought; they are relatively comprehensive but sometimes not directly enough connected to clinical practice. This book starts entirely from clinical practice, focusing on how to identify formula patterns and how to use the clauses to solve practical problems, more like a clinical mentor generously sharing experience.

Do the views in the book represent the orthodox interpretation of Treatise on Cold Damage?

The author's views are based on his deep clinical practice and his inheritance and development of the scholarship of modern classical-formula masters such as Hu Xishu and Liu Duzhou, and are one of the important clinical schools of thought. Learning Treatise on Cold Damage should draw on the strengths of many; this book provides a highly valuable, clinically verified interpretive perspective, but it is not the only standard answer.

For self-learners without conditions for apprenticeship, is this book very helpful?

The help is significant. Through systematic formula-pattern analysis and numerous detailed medical cases, the book simulates the process of "clinical apprenticeship" to a large extent, effectively making up for the shortcoming of lacking practical scenarios in self-study, and is an excellent self-study reader for building a bridge between theory and clinic.

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About the author

温兴韬 Author

Wen Xingtao is an author about whom little public information is available; what can be confirmed centers on a single health-related work, Stepping Through the Door of Treatise on Cold Damage. Judging from its title and category, the book deals with the classic Chinese medical text Treatise on Cold Damage and is aimed at readers who wish to understand or begin studying this classic, placing it in the genre of popularizing and guiding readers into traditional medical knowledge. The author's role is that of a guide and expositor, helping readers grasp the basic outline of the Treatise and find a way into reading it, rather than undertaking abstruse scholarly textual research. Since birth and death dates, nationality, education, teachers, and writing background cannot be verified, his personal experience and academic lineage cannot be introduced. On the available evidence, Wen Xingtao's writing style appears to be accessible explanation and step-by-step guidance, focused on lowering the threshold for reading the classic. Though the oeuvre consists of only one work, it offers enthusiasts of Chinese medicine a practicable path into the Treatise on Cold Damage and has some reference value in the field of health and traditional Chinese medicine popular reading.