Canonical Chinese Medicine Training™
Jingui Yaolue Training Sequence
Curriculum Description

Jingui 1: March 2-3, 2013
Jingui 2: April 20-21, 2013
Jingui 3: June 8-9, 2013
Jingui 4: August 24-25, 2013 (Pulse)**
Jingui 5: October 12-13, 2013 (Tracy Thorne) Fukushin
Jingui 6: December 14-15, 2013

**(Jingui 1-3 are mandatory prerequisite for Pulse Seminar)

The Jingui Yaolue is the second manual written and developed by Zhang Zhongjing from the late Eastern Han Dynasty. The Jingui Yaolue is solidified in proper diagnosing and effective treatment of acute conditions that were not included in Zhang Zhongjing’s first manual the Shanghan za bing lun where the focus was to treat chronic conditions in accordance to the six conformations.

This portion of the Canonical Training ™ will include differentiation and diagnosis of all diseases as discussed in the Jingui Yaolue.  This will also include the lock and key method of Pulse and Abdominal palpation  (Fukushin) for fail safe formula prescribing.

The classes provide a means for practitioners to gain deeper understanding into the formula prescribing, methodology, modification, and principles as used by Zhang Zhongjing. Many, if not all the formulas are the root of most modern TCM formulas that are prescribed today.

Completion of all seminars of the Shanghan Lun and Jingui Yaolue Training Sequences of the Canonical Chinese Medicine Training™ leads to Certification as ‘Diplomat in Canonical Chinese Medicine (DCCM)’ by the Institute in Classics in East Asian Medicine, USA.

Each weekend seminar will meet from 9am-6pm  and is approved for CA CEU’s  and NCCAOM PDA’s providing 14 credit untis per weekend, 84 for the total program.

Weekends 1- 3

The Diseases of the Jingui Yaolue

This is the authoritative instruction of the etio-pathology and treatment of over 70 complex diseases recorded in the Essentials of the Golden Cabinet or Jingui Yaolue. During these two weekends, virtually all illnesses of the original text are discussed in great detail, allowing the student to gain an ultimate and conclusive insight into the pathomechanisms behind these often chronic, recalcitrant and debilitating illnesses. The formulas used in the Jingui are taught in their respective clinical contexts.

The first weekend starts with instruction on disease progression of complex illnesses, and treatment strategy along that sequence. The bulk of the instruction of both weekends follows the original order of the Jingui, chapter by chapter, line by line.

Furthermore, during the second weekend, all thirty-six women’s diseases are instructed in great detail. The thirty-six women’s diseases are the blueprint of all ob-gyn in Chinese medicine. Understanding of the thirty-six diseases allows the student to master obstetrics and gynecology as practiced by Zhang Zhongjing.

Content List:

Convulsion Disease (jing)
Dampness Disease (shi)
Summer-heat Disease (ye)
Lily Bulb Disease (baihe bing)
Fox and Confusion Disease (huhuo bing)
Yin Yang Toxin Disease (yinyang du bing)
Malaria Disease (nuebing)
Wind Strike Disease (zhongfeng bing)
Digit and Articulation Disease (lijie bing)
Blood Impediment Disease (xuebi bing)
Deficiency Taxation Disease (xulao bing)
Lung Wasting Disease (feiwei bing)
Lung Abscess Disease (feiyong)
Cough and Averse Qi Flow (kesou shangqi)
Running Piglet Disease (bentun bing)
Chest Obstruction Disease (xiongbi bing)
Heart Pain Disease (xintong bing)
Shortness of Breath (qi duan)
Abdominal Fullness Disease (fuman bing)
Cold Hernia Disease (hanshan bing)
Food Stagnation Disease (sushi bing)
Wind Cold Disease of the Five Solid Organs (wuzang fenghan bing)
Liver Stickiness
Spleen Constraint
Kidney Stickiness
Phlegm Rheum Cough Disease (tanyin kesou bing)
Consumptive Thirst Disease (xiaoke bing)
Dripping Urination Disease (xiaobian linli bing)
Water Qi Disease (shuiqi bing)
Jaundice Disease (huangdan bing)
Fright and Scare Disease (jingji bing)
Vomiting and Diarrhea Disease (outu xiali bing)
Vomiting of Blood, Nosebleeds and Collapse of Blood Disease (tu niu xiaxue bing)
Sores and Abscesses Disease (chuangyong bing)
Weeping Sores Disease (qinyin chuangbing)
Pregnancy Diseases: pregnancy (furen Renshen bing: renshen)
Pregnancy Diseases: preexisting mass disease (sujia bing)
Pregnancy Diseases: threatening miscarriage (cold)
Pregnancy Diseases: Womb Congestion (baozhu) with spotting (hot) (louxia)
Pregnancy Diseases: Abdominal Pain (jiaotong)
Pregnancy Diseases: Vomiting (outu)
Pregnancy Diseases: Difficult Urination (hot) (xiaobian nan)
Pregnancy Diseases: Water Qi, Difficult Urination (cold) (shuiqi)
Pregnancy Diseases: pregnancy support (hot)
Pregnancy Diseases: pregnancy support (cold)
Post-partum Diseases: post-partum cold (chanhou yumao)
Post-partum Diseases: post-partum fever (chanhou fare)
Post-partum Diseases: post-partum abdominal pain (chanhou futong)
Post-partum Diseases: post-partum abdominal pain (qi) (chanhou futong)
Post-partum Diseases: post-partum abdominal pain (blood) (chanhou futong)
Post-partum Diseases: post-partum abdominal pain (heat) (chanhou futong)
Post-partum Diseases: post-partum wind-cold (chronic) (chanhou zhongfeng)
Post-partum Diseases: post-partum wind-cold (acute) (chanhou zhongfeng)
Post-partum Diseases: post-partum dysentery and extreme deficiency (chanhou xiali jixu)
Post-partum Diseases: post-partum fatigue (chanhou xuying buzu)
Women’s Complex Diseases: Heat Entering the Blood Chamber (re ru xueshi)
Women’s Complex Diseases: Plumpit Qi (meihe qi)
Women’s Complex Diseases: Visceral Unrest (zangzao)
Women’s Complex Diseases: Below the Belt Disease (daixia bing)
Women’s Complex Diseases: Inhibited Menstrual Flow (jingshui buli)
Women’s Complex Diseases: Sharp Abdominal Pain (fuzheng chitong)
Women’s Complex Diseases: Twisted Bladder (zhuanbao)
Women’s Complex Diseases: Menstrual Collapse (xianjing)
Women’s Complex Diseases: Hard Uterus and Incessant Leucorrhea (zangjian pi buzhi)
Women’s Complex Diseases: Vaginal Flatulence (yin cui)

Weekend 4:

Jingui Yaolue Pulse Diagnosis

Diagnosis in Han-dynasty was primarily done by taking the pulse. Every formula can be identified through one or more pulse patterns presenting in the patient. Though many pulses are mentioned in the Jingui Yaolue, crucial detail is often hidden, and it is as if this knowledge is merely implicitly present, as if it were embedded. Therefore, the Tian Heming Canonical Formula lineage’s main strength and contribution to the field of Chinese medicine to have made this advanced knowledge on pulse diagnosis crystal clear and evident. This knowledge has never been recorded in any book, but was rather transmitted orally from Dr. Tian Heming through Dr. Zeng Rongxiu to Dr. Arnaud Versluys. The latter of which has been teaching this material around the world in more systematized and structured format since a few years.

The Jingui Yaolue pulse diagnosis weekend will introduce the student to the pulse patterns associated with all the formulas taught in Jingui weekends 1 and 2. This will enable the practitioner to diagnose and prescribe directly from the pulse as usually performed by Canonical masters of yore. While in the Shanghan Lun Pulse Diagnosis of the Tian lineage, the pulses are very linear and structured along the six conformations, the Jingui pulses associated with the Complex Disease zabing, are more thorny and non-linear, reflecting the complicated and convoluted nature of the diseases. A much greater emphasis on the pathological products (phlegm, stasis, pus, etc) is evident in the pulse patterns.

During this seminar you will be taught the primary and secondary pulse patterns for all the Jingui Yaolue formulas mentioned in the first two weekends of the series. As such, this weekend cannot be taken as a stand-alone seminar and must be taken in succession.

Weekend 5:

Jingui Yaolue Abdominal Diagnosis: Fukushin

Japanese abdominal diagnosis or Fukushin is the diagnostic art developed in medieval Japan based on the canonical writings by Zhang Zhongjing. Careful inspection of the Shanghan Zabing Lun reveals countless references to abdominal conditions that could only have been diagnosed by actual palpation of the abdomen. The skill however never fully developed in China but flourished in Japan. Fukushin 腹診 refers specifically to the style of abdominal diagnosis developed by Japanese scholars during the Edo period (1603-1867 CE) for the purpose of prescribing the Han dynasty formulas of Zhang Zhongjing.

As an integral part of the Canonical Chinese Medicine Training™ of Dr. Arnaud Versluys, Fukushin is taught to match the abdominal patterns with formula methods and formula families. The pulse diagnosis seminar introduces a lock-and-key system for recognizing pulses for the various prescriptions while the Fukushin part of the canonical training introduces the second leg of Zhang Zhongjing’s original diagnostic methods as a mirror to the practice of pulse diagnosis, allowing for a failsafe system of diagnostic checks and balances.

During the first two weekends of the Jingui Yaolue sequence, the practitioner learns about the etio-pathology of the various diseases of the Jingui. The third weekend instructs how to diagnose these conditions from the pulse. But pulse diagnosis is difficult and slow to grasp, as such Zhang Zhongjing used a secondary diagnostic tool of abdominal palpation to verify findings in the pulse. The two diagnostic methods in conjunction ensure accuracy and speed in identifying which formula is indicated. Furthermore, abdominal diagnosis can even clarify sometimes obscure pulse findings or identify certain conditions before they evolve to the pulse stage.

Through this training, the participant will learn the theory behind Jingui Yaolue abdominal diagnosis for complex diseases, including an in-depth understanding of the pathomechanism of the abdominal patterns, as well as the interpretation of these actionable findings and their direct translation into herbal treatment with classical formulas. The second part of the course will instruct in the hands-on procedure of the abdominal examination.

Instructor: Tracy Thorne, MS, LAc

Weekend 6:

Jingui Yaolue Clinical Strategies and Case Studies

The Shanghan Zabing Lun is the first historical manual to teach the treatment of both acute and chronic complex diseases that have been triggered externally or have arisen from internal damage. Though a classical work, it is of great clinical value for modern day practice.

During this seminar, Dr. Versluys will provide a case-based instruction on the pathomechanism and herbal treatment of a core selection of modern diseases as analyzed and regarded through the classical lens of Zhang Zhongjing. The cases all come from Dr. Versluys’ personal clinic and are of great relevance in modern Chinese medicine clinic in the West. Dr. Versluys has for years exclusively been practicing the classical style of internal medicine as instructed in the Shanghan and the Jingui, and has amassed a great amount of experience in this field.

The lectures are divided in clinical specialties and will present case studies covering all systems, such as: Respirology, contagious illnesses, gastroenterology, neurology, cardiology, rheumatology, oncology, gynecology, obstetrics, urology and dermatology.

Some of the diseases discussed will be: Viral Influenza, Hypertension, Meniere’s Disease, Crohn’s Disease, Depressive Disorder, Insomnia, Coronary Heart Disease, Emphysema, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Hemophilia, Cerebrovascular Accident, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Asthma, Cancer (benign and malignant tumors), Arrhythmia, Infertility, Dysmenorrhea, Amenorrhea, Infertility, Miscarriage, etc, to name but a few.

The lecture will provide the student with an in-depth and advanced instruction on how to effectively treat common disorders with herbal medicine. Insight in the pathomechanism of the disorders will be obtained through case analysis and herbal formulas will be explained and discussed with practical examples from clinic. This seminar is the culmination of all previous seminars and discusses theory as well as pulse and abdomen diagnosis, formula modifications, etc, effectively preparing the participant for the clinical practice of Canonical Chinese Medicine.

Dr. Versluys is one of the very few Western scholars to have received his full medical training in China. He spent over ten years at the Chinese medical universities of Wuhan, Beijing and Chengdu, where he consecutively pursued his Bachelor, Master and Doctor Degrees in Chinese medicine and acupuncture.

Dr. Versluys is an herbalist and acupuncturist specialized in the classics of the oriental medical doctrine while in clinic concentrates on internal medicine with an emphasis on autoimmune diseases and rheumatology.
Dr. Versluys worked as assistant professor and clinical supervisor at the Chinese medicine program at NCNM from 2003 to 2008. He is an internationally renowned lecturer often teaching in Europe, Canada and Australia. He has published many articles on acupuncture and botanical medicine and has completed a book on the science of herbal prescriptions.

Tracy Thorne earned her B.A. in Theology from the University of Portland and her Masters in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. She worked at Reebok in product marketing and as a software industry analyst before attending the New England School of Acupuncture. She earned an MAOM in the dual degree program of Japanese meridian therapy (JMT) acupuncture and TCM acupuncture and herbs.  She also did a two-year assistantship with a practitioner of Kiiko Matsumoto style acupuncture and has continued to study Japanese acupuncture styles & physical medicine including Shaku Jyu, Shonishin, Koshi balancing, Toyohari and Sotai.  She is a clinical supervisor at NCNM and OCOM and teaches an introductory Japanese meridian therapy course at OCOM.  In 2006 she began studying Kampo through seminars taught by Nigel Dawes. Tracy started the ICEAM program in 2008 and completed it in 2010.  She became an instructor for ICEAM in 2012.  She currently has a private practice in SE Portland and enjoys incorporating her experience in exercise physiology, fitness training and yoga instruction with Chinese medicine. Tracy can be reached at tthorne@portland.iceam.org

For information regarding further training with Dr. Versluys please visit:

ICEAM.org or contact Andrea Plichta via email at aplichta@sandiego.iceam.org

To register, please click here.