Treatise on the Spleen and Stomach: A Translation of the Pi Wei Lun

Yang Shou-zhong was born in Tangshan, Hebei into a family of Confucian scholars. He was raised and educated by his uncle who tutored him in the Chinese classics, including medicine, from 1950-1960. From 1960-64, Yang studied English at the Tangshan Teachers' College from which he graduated with a B.A. degree. From 1966-68, Yang studied Chinese medicine and acupuncture-moxibustion with Dr. Xu Shou-wen, a pupil of Shi Jin-mo, a very famous modern TCM scholar. During the Cultural Revolution, Yang, like so many other Chinese, was "sent down to the countryside to learn from the Chinese people." While there, he practiced Chinese medicine and gained a reputation as being a very effective healer. At the same time, from 1972-79, he was principal of a middle school and a tutor in a special training course for "barefoot doctors."

After the Cultural Revolution, from 1979-81, Yang studied English postgraduate at the Beijing Languages Institute, and, in 1981, he got a job as an English teacher at the North China Coal Mines Medical College. This allowed him to continue his personal medical studies from 1982-84 in the Rehabilitation Research Center of the Teaching Hospital of the North China coal Mines Medical College. Yang has continued teaching English at this college to this day where he is also A) editor of the North China Cola Mines Medical College Journal of Medicine, B) director of the Qigong Research Center, and C) instructor of foreign students in Chinese medicine and acupuncture.

In terms of publications, Yang has published scores of poems, literary criticisms, essays, and papers on Chinese literature and history in various Chinese newspapers, magazines, and academic journals. In addition, he has also published dozens of papers on the English language in Chinese and is the author of two books on English grammar published in China. Yang is also the senior translator and Chinese coordinator of Blue Poppy Press's Great Masters Series. This is a collection of premodern Chinese medical books selected for their continued importance within Chinese medicine. Yang is the translator of the following Great Masters books: Fu Qing-zhu's Fu Qing Zhu Nu Ke (Fu Qing-zhu's Gynecology); Li Dong-yuan's Pi Wei Lun (Treatise on the Spleen & Stomach); Hua Tuo's Zhong Zang Jing (Classic of the Central Viscera); Zhu Zhen-heng's Dan Xi Zhi Fa Xin Yao (The Heart & Essence of Dan-xi's Methods of Treatment) and Ge Zhi Yu Lun (Extra Treatises Based on Investigation & Inquiry); Huang-fu Mi's Huang Ti Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing (The Yellow Emperor's Acupuncture & Moxibustion Systematic Classic); Yang Ji-zhou's Shen Ying Jing (The Divinely Responding Classic); Tao Hong-jing's Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (The Divine Farmers Materia Medica Classic); Liu Yi-ren's Yi Xue Zhuan Xin Lu (The Heart Transmission of Medicine); and Wang Bing's Mai Jing (The Pulse Classic).

Yang Shou-zhong is married and has two children, a son and a daughter.

This is the book which introduced the concept of yin fire, one of the most important concepts in understanding complicated internal diseases and their systemic ramifications. Li’s formulas are treasure troves for those dealing with autoimmune and immune deficiency diseases. This book will help clinicians solve many thorny problems in practice. This new translation includes detailed commentary, relevant case histories and random clinical trial reports for each chapter.