Afterglow

In Afterglow: Ministerial Fire in Chinese Medicine, Z'ev Rosenberg takes us on a wide-ranging journey that is about so much more than the title implies. When I attended acupuncture college in the 1970s, Ministerial Fire was never mentioned once! Thankfully I had a Korean preceptor who filled in this gap early in my career, but I have never lost my interest in what this term meant to the Chinese scholar physicians who coined it. As Z'ev notes, "Ministerial fire, as an essential principle and force in Chinese medicine and philosophy, has been approached from multiple and sometimes contradictory angles throughout its history." I learned a lot from the citations Z'ev shares, and he provides an impetus for others to expand on his presentation. However, in spite of the title, I think the major contribution of this book resides in its repeated warning that humanity cannot escape the consequences of ignoring the natural laws governing the relationships of Heaven and Earth with mankind. The ecological focus of this text is a clarion call for all of us to rectify our behavior towards our natural environment, lest we forfeit the possibility for future generations to experience truly healthy lives. In his own words, Z'ev tells us towards the end of Afterglow, "This little book is a plea for ecological and physiological sanity in an era of chaos."

Don't let the title of this book fool you. Yes, it is a brilliant explanation of key concepts in Chinese medicine. But it is much more than that. Like the ancient Chinese philosophy of Heaven (Tian), Earth (Di) and Human (Ren), Dr. Rosenberg explores the spiritual, ecological, and personal dimensions of healing. His style of prose, like his style of medicine, is "precise and gentle" with a "refined diagnosis" of the ills that face us. The past comes alive through his clear sourcing in classical texts and commentary. In an age when people are increasingly separated by specialties and narrow focus, how refreshing to read an author who delights in interconnections. Medicine, he shows us, cannot be separated from ethics; our own inner health and health of the planet depend on each other. Afterglow: Ministerial Fire in Chinese Medicine is, indeed, a luminous work. I highly recommend it.

I was truly honoured to receive Z'ev's request to review his latest book, a captivating and beautifully written account on ministerial fire, a subject so important yet rarely discussed or written about, even in Chinese. Finally, a source based manual on the history, importance, and clinical relevancy of Ministerial fire and its various permutations. It is a true gift to the field of Chinese medicine, to have a book like this, written by one of our greatest teachers and clinicians in the west. I am confident that this book will be a true gem among the growing sea of Chinese medicine literature in the West, and be of great service in the elevation of the field