Encounters with Qi

When Bill Moyers visited China to explore the mysteries, and the healing potential, of Chinese medicine for his acclaimed PBS series "Healing and the Mind," he sought out David Eisenberg as his guide. For every reader fascinated by the seemingly fantastical aspects of Chinese medicine, from acupuncture addiction to Qi Gong martial arts, this captivating book offers deeper and more detailed encounters with the physicians and patients, the mystics and the martial artists, who were featured on television.

Here is a sympathetic, yet objective appraisal of the concept of Qi (chee), the vital energy which is the unifying principle of Chinese medicine. Here are Chinese sages from the Yellow Emperor of 2700 B.C. to the very modern Dr. Fang, who remarks, "Acupuncture without Qi is only as effective as one man's sticking needles in another." And here are Chinese people from all walks of life as they seek relief, through a rebalancing of their Qi, their vital energy, for ailments from colds to cancer.

"No other firsthand account so vividly reveals . . . the puzzles and promises of traditional Chinese medicine." —H. Jack Geiger, M.D., Logan Professor of Community Medicine, City University of New York Medical School

David Eisenberg lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

1995 / paperback / ISBN 0-393-31213-5 / Photographs / 256 pages / HEALTH

• As featured on Bill Moyers's pathbreaking PBS series "Healing and the Mind"
• "The most honest account of China's medicine to appear in a long time." —Ted Kaptchuk, author of The Web That Has No Weaver
• "Vivid—highly readable." —New York Times Book Review