III　Model Dialogues

Conversation 1

Lucy：Hi，Li Ming.What is the thick book you are reading？

Li Ming：I am reading Huangdi's Internal Classic，one of the four greatest TCM classic literature works.

Lucy：Amazing.I am very interested in Chinese medicine，and I’ve heard of the book before，but honestly I know nothing about it.Could you tell me something about it？

Li Ming：Well，the book can be divided into two volumes— Su Wen（Plain Conversation）and Ling Shu（Spiritual Pivot），each containing 81 chapters，so that’s 162 chapters in total.

Lucy：Wow，that is truly a big book to read.

Li Ming：Yes，it’s a comprehensive book which contains theories on yin and yang，pulse manifestation，visceral manifestation，channels and collaterals，syndrome differentiation，health preservation，etiology，etc.

Lucy：So，the book is just like an encyclopedia on Chinese medicine.

Li Ming：Yes，you can say that again.The book puts forward a complete medical system for TCM and has laid the foundation for human physiology，pathology，diagnosis and treatment in traditional Chinese medicine.

Lucy：Can I borrow your book？ I can’t wait to read it.

Li Ming：Of course，you can.I mean you can have my book，but it might be difficult for you to understand.The book is written in ancient Chinese style，and it is even difficult for me，let alone a foreigner like you.But don’t worry ，you can read the express edition.

Lucy：Good idea.Where can I have the express edition？

Li Ming：You can borrow it from the school library.

Conversation 2

Jason：I was told that there are many famous TCM doctors in ancient times in China，especially during the Jin and Yuan Dynasties.

Li Ming：Yes，there were four representative TCM doctors during that time，and they are called The Great Doctors in Jin and Yuan Dynasties.

Jason：I know，one of the doctors is called Liu Wansu，and he propounded the theory of fire-heat，right？

Li Ming：Yes，he believed that six kinds of climatic factors could become internal fire and most diseases were caused by fire and heat，so he preferred using medicines which are cold and cool by nature when treating diseases，and for this reason he was labeled as the school of cold-cool.

Jason：Wow，unbelievable！ You are almost like an expert on TCM.

Li Ming：You flattered me.I am a layman of TCM.I read a book about Liu Wansu last week.It said that Liu was smart when he was a child.When he was 25 years old，his mother was badly sick，and he tried to send for a doctor for 3 times，but in vain and his mother passed away shortly after that.Due to this incident，Liu made up his mind to study on Chinese medicine.

Jason：I feel sorry for his loss.So what about other three doctors？

Li Ming：They are Zhang Congzheng，Li Gao and Zhu Zhenheng.

Jason：Can you tell me more about them？

Li Ming：Come on，Jason.I know you are interested in them，but it’s a long story to go.Maybe we can sit down in a cafe and talk about them over a coffee.

Jason：Yeah，that is a good idea.My treat.