Our Approach to Canonical Chinese Medicine
What is Canonical Chinese Medicine?
Canonical Chinese Medicine isn’t just a style; it’s the foundation—the clinical and theoretical bedrock of all Chinese Medicine as we practice it today. It is the medicine that adheres strictly to the principles laid out in the classic manuscripts, or canons, of the Western and Eastern Han dynasties.
This tradition is comprised of two core pillars:
- The Yellow Emperor Huangdi School of Medical Canons (yijing pai 醫經派)
- The Divine Farmer Shennong School of Canonical Formulas (jingfang pai 經方派)
For thousands of years, the profound knowledge of this medicine was a carefully guarded secret, passed down exclusively through a master-disciple discipleship (apprenticeship).
I am incredibly fortunate to have studied under the late Dr. Arnaud Versluys, who is the successor and most senior lineage holder of the distinguished Tian-Zeng Lineage®. Dr. Versluys was the main disciple of the late Zeng Rongxiu, MD, who was himself a disciple of the late Dr. Tian Heming. Part of my personal mission is to ensure this authentic, powerful knowledge is not only preserved but actively transmitted to a new generation of practitioners, securing its benefit for the future.
Integrating Ancient Knowledge with Modern Clinical Practice
My programs are designed to give clinicians an unprecedented access to the ancient classics that created East Asian medicine. The training focuses on the Han-dynasty (c. 200 CE) style, utilizing the principles of the Shanghan Lun and the Jingui Yaolue. This includes the profound herbal wisdom of the Tian-Zeng lineage—one of the most pragmatic and advanced systems of herbalism known.
This practice is deeply rooted in the core Han-dynasty classics:
- The Yellow Emperor Internal Canon (huangdi neijing)
- The Classic of Difficulties (nan jing)
- The Divine Farmer Classic of Materia Medicine (shennong bencao jing)
- The lost Decoction Classic (tangye jing)
It represents a powerful fusion: the clinical practicality of folk medicine combined with the advanced medical insight originally developed by the Confucian intelligentsia.
Our training is meticulously presented, covering:
- Diagnostic Mastery: Via advanced pulse diagnosis and abdominal palpation.
- Therapeutic Efficacy: By applying herbs and acupuncture as one streamlined, integrated process.
No clinical specialty is left unaddressed. My goal is for successful participants to master the true classical practice of Chinese Medicine, leading to greater applicability and unmatched efficacy in any modern clinical setting.
Why the Shanghan Zabing Lun is Essential
As an exemplary work of canonical Chinese Medicine, the Shanghan Zabing Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage and Complex Disorders) is a high-density, singular text that reveals the original identity of Han and pre-Han medical science. In fact, you can trace the origins of all later styles of Chinese medicine back to this work.
Investigating Zhang Zhongjing’s text allows us to understand both the past and future of Chinese Medicine, profoundly illuminating its theoretical foundations and its most effective clinical applications.
A Brief History: From Folk Medicine to Canonical Science
For centuries, Chinese Medicine was decentralized, existing primarily as folk medicine—a mix of traditional folklore and basic procedures. With the rise of more structured pre-Daoist and proto-Daoist naturalist thought, medical investigation gained the direction and focus needed for systematization. Medicine began its establishment as a consistent, discriminating science.
The unification of standardized Chinese script during the Qin dynasty marked the beginning of codification. Over the following centuries, scholars from the Hundred Schools of Thought compiled the first medical classics, including the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon and the Canon of Eighty-one Difficulties.
By the late Western Han dynasty, these books formed the corpus of standardized medicine, consolidating all valid theories into one coherent system. This standardization process was critical; it allowed us to discard the irrelevant noise inherited from folk beliefs. This point marks the birth of what we now call Canonical Chinese Medicine—the medicine practiced according to the canons and the clinical formula books of the Han period.
The Shanghan Zabing Lun: The Bridge
Proponents of the two main lineages (Medical Canons and Canonical Formulas) sought to mutually supplement their work, but it was not until the Eastern Han dynasty that the Treatise on Cold Damage and Complex Diseases by Zhang Zhongjing successfully approximated this integration.
Though primarily clinical (belonging to the Divine Farmer’s Formula tradition), this was the first manual to establish the full practice of clinical herbal medicine. Zhang Zhongjing explicitly states in his preface that he studied the theories of the Neijing and Nanjing, collected existing herbal knowledge, and adopted a Han dynasty pulse diagnosis system based on the Methods for Pulse Assessment and Differentiation. He also incorporated early Han climatological theories (Yin Yang, Five Phases, and Six Qi) into his brilliant, clinically relevant system of Six Conformation differentiation.
It is the synthesis of all these elements that makes his work the indispensable guide to authentic Chinese Medicine.