Dui Yao – The Art of Combining Chinese Medicinals

This book has been enthusiastically received by Chinese herbal students throughout the U.S. We are constantly told how useful this book is. It is always one of the first books to sell out whenever we visit schools or display at conventions where there are large numbers of students. Philippe Sionneau has done a very worthwhile and much-appreciated piece of work with the compilation of this book.
BACK COVER description:
Typically, students of Chinese medicine first study the individual materia medica (ben cao xue) and then study formulas and prescriptions (fang ji xue). However, there is an important intermediary step which is often overlooked. This is called dui yao in Chinese, the art of combining medicinals. Based on thousands of years of recorded clinical experience, certain combinations of Chinese medicinals work better than others. Although theoretically there may be several possible combinations which might achieve a certain therapeutic effect, in actual fact, one combination, in particular, gets definite, dependable clinical results.

This book describes over 100 of the best known, most useful two medicinal combinations in Chinese medicine. By studying these two medicinal combinations, students and practitioners alike will:
understand the construction of standard, time-tested formulas all the more easily and thoroughly be able to modify standard formulas to fit individual needs be able to draft completely new formulas out of empirically verified building blocks Whether you are a beginning student or a professional practitioner of Chinese medicine, this book is sure to help you reach a new level of understanding and expertise.