The Atlas of Layered Anatomy of Acupoints
The Atlas of Layered Anatomy of Acupoints Books
Product Description
The Atlas of Layered Anatomy of Acupoints gives details on top location, depth, direction, in many full color illustrations, and is an invaluable reference. Included Prof. Gao’s book are the names of the acupoints, main diseases treatable at each acupoint, direction and depth of needling, basic principles of acupuncture, precautions to be taken at each top, and more. Richly illustrated with many color illustrations.
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I am not sure the prior reviewer realized the intent of this book as an anatomical atlas, rather than a introductory textbook. This book is proposed for one who has other books which suit that purpose, or who has already travelled some distance into the world of acupuncture. It also appears to have been proposed first for a chinese audience, later adapted to English.
Its goal is not to teach channels, techniques or the purpose of points. Instead, it is a precise artistic work of hand-drawn detailed anatomy which attempts to show the user how a given top relates to the underlying structure of muscles, vessels, major nerves and bone. I have the first edition from 1999. In our computer age, I reckon we no longer readily appreciate the effort invested in older medical illustrations. This is analogous to the “NETTER” books of western medical illustration provided for the world of acupuncture. It was developed by a remarkable man, Gao Hualing, born in 1926 as a native of Heilongjian Province, predating the communist revolution. He is clearly a talented anatomist, clinician and artist. A combination we don’t see too often nowdays, but who would have been a significant part of the history of acupuncture in Plates before TCM.
The anatomical drawings are done with evident loving care, accuracy, precision and certainly hold my respect. The translation to English requires the reader to work a bit harder. Some diagrams may not show the English name or WHO numerals and it is sometimes necessary for me to track points of interest across 2-3 drawings in order to clarify. But after gaining experience with the points through other texts, then this is a lovely resource to which I return and ponder the deeper spacial relationships between points and their underlying anatomy.
I know there may be newer atlases with the same material, perhaps some with photographs of points superimposed on cadaver photos. I have Q-dex which uses computer-simulated layering of the underlying structure. It is no where near sufficient in the vital detail provided on every one of Gao Hualing’s drawings.
Just like in western anatomy — I have times when I need a detailed photograph derived from cadaver, Xray, CT or MRI imaging. Sometimes instead I need the uncluttered, elegant drawings of Frank Netter which are right and “to the top”. I experience this as an analogous work from a chinese anatomist and artist whom I suspect Frank Netter would have respected as well.
Consistent with the intent of the book, all explanatory text, other than marks on the drawings, is organized in appendices (as shown below). It is certainly not a how-to manual for new students. It is a summary for more advanced students who are digging deeper. And with that purpose in mind it is small enough to carry nearly in a briefcase or backpack.
Appendix 1: Is curiously in the middle of the book and briefly describes nomenclature organized by MERIDIANS and the general course of their points with cursory in rank about their global functions.
Appendix 2: Includes top names and WHO numbers organized by REGION of the body with criptic reminders of position for needling, depth and a few representative indications.
Appendix 3: Summarizes precautions for points organized by MERIDIANS.
Apprendix 4: Includes some selected top combinations and their modifications for common illnesses — these only show the top names in Pin-Yin, so one would need to thwart-reference to get back to WHO numbers. The organization of the illnesses is not apparent to English readers (nonalphabetical, nor by province or meridians) but perhaps was alphabetical in the original chinese version. One just has to scan through here to see what treasure is calling out at the moment to be excavated.
Given that it is now translated and aimed at an english speaking audience, I would have rated it a 4,
–if there were an updated edition correcting some of the gone top names (English or WHO numerals) on all the drawings
–and if it underwent a excellent publishers transformation of the organization of these appendices to correspond with those of us users who are unfortunately confined frequently to english.
Rating: 3 / 5
As a beginning TCM student, I was looking for a reference on the order of Worsley’s (hard to find) Habitual Chinese Acupuncture. I ordered this “Atlas” sight unseen, and was rather disappointed.
The plates are a bit small to be as precise as I would like, especially for the feet. The book is arranged according to body area rather than channels (which I find frustrating for learning purposes). Not all of the apt points are shown on the expected plates. The written descriptions are in a different section of the book than the plates, so comparing them is unecessarily inconvenient.
Also, the nice small prescription section in the back lists points only by their pinyin name. There’s no alphabetical thwart reference, so they are pretty darn hard to find unless you know them already by pinyin name.
Rating: 2 / 5