“I have been using this wonderful system with my patients for a while now, and it has revolutionised my practice and my understanding of disease.”
Tom Kennedy, JFA graduate 2021
What is Jing Fang?
- Jing Fang means formula pattern.
- It is a name used to describe herbal medicine practice that uses the formula patterns in Zhang Zhong Jing’s Han Dynasty Classical texts; the Shang Han Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage) and the Jin Gui Yao Lue (Prescriptions from the Golden Cabinet).
Manageable and systematic
- Jing Fang allows us to reduce the number of herbs and formulas needed to be effective in practice
- Our learning becomes manageable
- Our study becomes rewarding and not overwhelming
Jing Fang Six Syndrome Differentiation System
- We teach the Jing Fang Six Syndrome differentiation system.
- This is the system of understanding of the Classics taught by Dr Feng Shi-Lun in the lineage of Dr Hu Xi-Shu.
- It includes an understanding of herbs, formulas, treatment protocols and treatment processes.
- It gives us clear guidelines about treatment strategy; namely how do we deal with the results of our formulas? What do these results mean? And what should we do next?
- It is extraordinary how much of the information written in classical texts over 2000 year old is still relevant today.
“Dr Feng, you have turned my world upside-down with this wonderful Jing Fang system… reading your case histories is inspirational.”
Gail Newton, Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine Practitioner, UK
Six Syndromes and Eight Principles
- Jing Fang is much more than just using classical formulas.
- It is a complete approach to diagnosis and treatment, based on the six syndromes (variously translated as the six divisions, six conformations or six warps) and the eight guiding principles.
- We are familiar with the eight principles from our work with TCM
- The six syndromes are less widely taught in the UK, and provide a theoretical basis for clinically effective herbal treatment.
- Teaching of Six Syndrome Theory is a fundamental part of the Jing Fang Apprenticeship.
Dr Feng Shi-Lun with Frances Turner in Oxfordshire, 2015
Dr Feng is an experienced doctor with immense practical experience, and to have his support and teaching as part of our clinic and Jing Fang Apprenticeship is an honour. We are fortunate that Suzanne Robidoux has facilitated the translation of his work into English, helping him to spread the Jing Fang Six Syndrome Differentiation System to the West. Dr Feng’s approach to Jing Fang can be further explored on the ChineseMedicineTraveller website.
“I have been very lucky to meet Frances Turner and study the Jing Fang tradition you have shared all over the world. It’s a truly wonderful medicine, which I absolutely love to continue learning and practicing. So many have benefited from these teachings.”
Naoko Taoka to Dr Feng Shi-Lun, JFA Graduate 2019
In China, the Classical Jing Fang approach of treating the person not the disease has been criticized as unscientific. In answer to this accusation, Professor Hu Xi-Shu would often say:
“Etiology, pathology and disease location constitute the three elements of disease classification. Western medicine can clearly tell people the name of their disease, even if can not cure it, therefore it is scientific. Chinese medicine can cure diseases, but cannot clearly name them, so it is unscientific”.
The famous 19th Century doctor Jiang Taiyin said:
“Chinese medicine stems from experience and is based on clinical evidence, which is scientific in nature. It comes from experiments on people, that are more reliable than experiments on animals!”