Why study Jing Fang Classical Herbalism
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. It enables our learning to become manageable, and our study becomes rewarding and not overwhelming.
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 cannot 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!”
Dr Feng
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 Chinese Medicine Traveller website.
Testimonials from patients, students and graduates.
Your depth of knowledge, as well as your warmth and willingness to share it, have made the last two years the most important and enjoyable of my career to date.
Thank you for bringing Jing Fang into my life, it has done miracles for my health…I feel so privileged to have discovered this lineage.
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.
Frances does a wonderful job of teaching Jing Fang to us in England, online and in person. It has transformed my herbal practice into being more effective, with quicker results, and being more curative.
The Jing Fang introductory lectures are extremely useful. The information is explained in a very clear and structured manner, with case studies that illustrate all the different formula patterns. The audio is a bonus. These lectures provide a very solid base that complement the practical side of the apprenticeship and help consolidate your learning.
Dr Feng, you have turned my world upside-down with this wonderful Jing Fang system… reading your case histories is inspirational.
Jing fang has given me a way of understanding herbal medicine that is both profound and effective. For that I am eternally grateful!
It has been the single most helpful thing I’ve done for my health – it’s been life changing.
It is such a privilege to be studying the Jing Fang Apprenticeship with Frances Turner, and I cannot wait to incorporate this incredible system into my practice to help patients.
It has been rewarding and challenging to use this medicine. Every patient is a teacher!
It has been the most remarkable and fulfilling educational experience I have ever had, because the learning is done through observing real patients and seeing how Frances diagnoses and treats them. Every week I’m there, I learn something new whether it is about herbs or formulas or syndromes. And being at the clinic is always hugely interesting. Doing Frances’s course and learning the Jing Fang pattern diagnosis has changed the way I treat my own patients as an acupuncturist.
It has been the most remarkable and fulfilling educational experience I have ever had.