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Herbal Pearls: Traditional Chinese Folk
Wisdom
Stories collected by Miao Wen-wei, Translated by Yue Chong-xi, Edited and
Annotated by Steven Foster, 2008
Hidden within the great treasure house of
Traditional Chinese Medicine are many gems of folk wisdom. One form is oral
folk tales, word-of-mouth explanations of plant names and how a plant came to
be used as a drug. Was it chance discovery? Intervention by immortal beings?
Observation of diseased animals eating a plant and returning to health? From
1934 to 1980, Chinese folklorist Miao Wen-wei collected these stories from
farmers, peasants, and traditional doctors in China's central coastal region.
This collection of 53 folk tales was first published in Chinese in 1981. The
English language edition of Herbal Peals: Traditional Chinese Folk Wisdom, was
translated by Yue Chong-xi and edited by Steven Foster, author of 15 books on
herbs including Peterson Field Guides and the National Geographic Desk Reference
to Nature's Medicine.
Read an excerpt of Steven Foster’s Herbal Pearls (pdf)
Visit
the ABC Web site to buy Herbal Pearls:
Traditional Chinese Folk Wisdom |