Publisher's Synopsis
From the legendary Fire Emperor and his magical whisk, to herbal solutions for the modern population crisis, this is the first Western account of medicine in China from earliest times to the present day. The story begins in the myth and legend of the Shang dynasty of 1766-1122 B.C. A thousand years pass and the theories of yin and yang and the five elements arrive, bringing with them a basis for the newly developing art. Indeed, so advanced were the country's medical achievements that, by the Tang dynasty (7- 10th century A.D.), China well deserved its title as the 'medical centre of Asia', having had a significant influence on the development of Arab medicine as well.
