Beginners tips for the Shang Han Lun

The Shang Han Lun is, despite its tremendous age, one of the most
sophisticated and useful medical manuals ever written. It’s also big,
scary, and poorly taught in many schools. However, if you want to be
able to successfully treat everything from the annual suffering caused
by cold and flu to the big bugs that scare the pants off the M.D.’s
(SARS, Bird Flu, MRSA) you have to know this document like your own
middle name. Here’s a couple helpful tips to begin your campaign:

1. Buy this version of the book. While there are other versions out there, I’ve found that many of them are rather confusing. This version-while likely using language a bit different from what a lot of TCM students are used to-really takes things apart well. The commentary is also very helpful.

2. Read the title.
*It’s called “Cold damage treatise” for a reason. Keep in mind that
we’re dealing with the invasion of exogenous Cold, as in a pathogen with
a particular nature. Don’t start throwing other things-like
Wind-Heat-into the mix accidentally. We’re following something in
particular. Now there are other (very advanced) ways of using the
formulas contained herein, but that’s not exactly in our scope of
support here.

3. Read Zhang Zhong Jing’s introduction.
This is primarily to give you a sense of what the man went through
to come up with this stuff and also to teach you a couple important
points: 1. these strategies were developed against a backdrop of serious
and devastating disease. They were designed to _save lives_ not “ease
pain” or compliment “more traditional” forms of treatment (AKA Western
Medicine). You can and should put your trust in Dr. Zhang. 2. Know
what’s expected of you. It has been pointed out to me that in ancient
China physicians had to be intimately familiar with the pathomechanisms
of disease, up to knowing without a shred of doubt whether a patient
would live or die. This was because if a patient died in his care, he
was eligible for revenge from the patients family. Wong Fei Hong aside,
that’s pretty good motivation to be good at what you do. That’s also
pretty hard evidence of the level of reliance both the ancient physician
and ancient patient placed on this stuff.

4. Read all the channel introductions first.
The next thing you’re going to need is a very clear picture of the
path followed by the invading pathogen. Memorize and understand (at
least superficially) the potential for transmutation and interior
movement at every stage. The chapter introductions will explain the why,
all you have to do is memorize and extrapolate a bit.

5. Try it.
The next time you get a textbook Wind-Cold, open to the Tai Yang
section and find the formula pattern that corresponds to your symptoms,
then prepare it and dose appropriately. However, make sure you have some
idea of where things could go next if you picked the wrong formula. The
nice thing is that the Shang Han Lun accounts for iatrogenesis and
provides instructions for fixing treatment mistakes, whether by you or
someone else. Not many other you’ll find that, now are there?

The key to treating invasive disease is to understand its behavior, its
location, and its current activity and the Shang Han Lun has you covered
on all these fronts. Make no mistake, this is tough stuff and the “big
leagues” of herbal medicine. The principles that apply to treatment of
exogenous attack also can be applied to chronic internal disease, as a
quick search for Gui Zhi Tang or Chai Hu Jia Long Gu Mu Li Tang will
prove, once you understand the principles.

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