Claude Larre and Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallée

Essence, spirit, blood and qi are the fundamental and indispensable elements comprising life in a human being. This book explores these ideas, considers each of the substances and presents observations which are rooted in a deep knowledge of the classical Chinese texts.

The book begins with a description of duality and oneness in the Chinese system. There follows a section which looks more closely at the jing (essences), and goes on to describe their relationship to the tastes (jingwei), with the spirit (jingshen) and the relationship between jing and shen. The second part of the book is a presentation of qi and blood and their inter-relationships looked at from the classical perspective.

Sprinkled with classical quotes, and with a clear index, this book serves as an essential reference book for these basic concepts of Chinese medicine.