Foreword by Joseph Ranallo

The Huangdi Neijing, Shanghan Lun, Jingui Yaolue and Study on Warm Disease, are known as the earliest and most important documents on the theoretical origin of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). These texts guided the past human thinking away from the Daost shamanistic conviction that body disorders and diseases are caused by varied demonic pathogenic influences and refocused our thoughts on how our lifestyles and the universal forces impact our health and well being. This new approach stressed that our diet, emotions, and thinking, as well the varied laws, forces,energies, and universal postulates can and do affect our lives. These texts confirm that to sustain good health, we need to access and retain the balance level of these life and universal traits. The Classics contend that it is more important to prevent than to cure diseases.The best healing modalities, according to these texts, are those that can help us to meet these goals.

The Huangdi Neijing and other Classical texts claim that successful healing modalities feature these and other common components:Yin/Yang forces, the Five elements, health preservation, balanced mental states, the capacity to keep the body in balance as we age,and the safe and easy accessibility to effective treatments. Through analyzing symptoms and pulse, TCM practitioners can determine which viscera are becoming excessive or deficient. Because these imbalances can lead to diseases and other pathogens, practitioners can needle the appropriate acupoints or prescribe herbal formulas to rebalance the viscera, bypass the diseases, and, by so doing,maintain a health preservation status. The Classical TCM approach can provide patients with a healthy longevity. By keeping the Kidneys in balance, it can also assist patients to pass with ease through their childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, menopause/andropause, and senior phases. All of these life enhancements are prominently promoted by the TCM classics.

Along with a rapid spreading of TCM throughout the world, more and more foreign people, especially young persons, are studying and practicing TCM in China and at abroad now. I believe that the publishing of the textbooks of four TCM classical courses in English editions will not only fill up the blank space of the same kind of publications, but will also meet their demand for improvement of proficiency of both TCM theory and practice so as to make a greater contribution to the people’s general health in the world.

By Joseph Ranallo BA, MA, R. AC.

Joseph Ranallo is a Registered Acupuncturist in British Columbia(B.C.), Canada. He holds a BA from the University of Victoria, and an MA from Washington State University. Joseph has taught and administered in schools at the Elementary, Secondary, College, and University levels. Since 2001, he has managed a part time Acupuncture Practice in Rossland, B.C. He has made academic presentations at major universities and events in Canada, U.S.A., Italy, and China.Joseph has taken an active role in the governance of his varied professions. In his TCM practice, he has served on the Board of ATCMA (B.C.’s largest Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Practitioners). Since 2016, he has been an elected member of the Board of Directors of CTCMA, the provincial regulatory body for Traditional Chinese Medicine.