"The ideal method in Chinese Herbology is to combine, in hand-tailored formulas, herbs that balance and match the unique energy configuration each person encompasses. This skill, craft and art is complex and involves a lifetime of dedicated learning. Yet, there have always been prefabricated or “patent” formulas that have been time-tested and are considered especially elegant. Master practitioners as well as beginners frequently rely on such formulas. Most of my formulas are derived from these popular patents.

“In developing these formulas I have tried to remain aware of the tension between East and West, old and new, preservation and growth, accuracy and adaptation. These formulas are, and will continue to be, the outgrowth of an immersion in classical Chinese herbal texts, along with an attentiveness to the energies and concerns of Western individuals. The intention is to be faithful to China’s ancient herbal wisdom, while conscious of the contemporary needs of Westerners. This ancient system, which includes its herbal techniques, has always been able to address the configurations of being and behavior that delineate humanness. Its scope of concern is not necessarily limited to any one sphere of human activity. Instead, it embraces the total matrix of physical, mental, emotional, behavioral, social, ecological, moral, existential and spiritual activities that encompasses a human life. In the crafting of these formulas, I have tried to maintain this scope of possibility.”

—Ted Kaptchuk

Masterful adaptations of ancient traditions for modern health.