Written by Jonathan Shubs.
“Stories are how we remember; We tend to forget lists and bullet points.” Robert McKee
The power of story is that it makes the information personal. Story allows us to travel with the content and to transform it into something more than just facts: Story brings information to life.
This book is meant to facilitate information on Chinese Medicine becoming alive. Chinese Medicine has fallen into the pedantic, where theories and concepts are told and not discussed. In Sun’s Season of Channels, I aim to bring back the story and hark back to the lively interactions of the classics. The stories, metaphors and analogies that I include in this book come from my experiences over the last 10 years of teaching the basics of Chinese medicine (Yin Yang theory, five element theory, and channel theory).
These experiences made me realize that we need stories and logical steps to connect to the vast universe of Chinese medicine. It is not enough to just memorize the channel pathways and the element correspondences: We need to connect to the liveliness of this rich heritage. It is through the imaginal and metaphorical that we can really interact and be part of what we are studying. This book aims to fulfil this missing aspect in our medicine. The theory is transmitted in the oldest form possible, from teacher to pupil. The teachers are the old wise grandparents, and the pupil is the young bright grandchild. With humor and patience, the holistic vision of Chinese medicine comes alive for the student and the reader.
When I started this endeavor, I was still blocked in the traditional idea of how theoretical books were meant to be written: Put down the facts and perhaps add a story along the way to emphasis a point.
I tried this approach and it seemed dry and did not engage in the wonder that is Chinese medicine. I went back to where I felt the most at ease, the interaction of the live classroom. Here, the didactic rules and both the teacher and the students embark on a journey together, not knowing exactly where they will end up.
And so Sun and the Grandparents Terra were born and instead of having a few stories in the theory, we have the theory in the story. Not only does this form give space for the reader to engage with the information in a more holistic manner, but also allowed me to open to my own imagination and allow my vision to flow onto the page.
Readers who are already acquainted with the theories talked about here, will notice that there are some new or different explanations to the traditional. This is for two reasons. Firstly, this is part of the story. When told in this way, these changes allow for the reader to follow in a fluid manner. Secondly and perhaps more importantly, I have attempted to bypass the social-political influences that have infiltrated the theory over the centuries. I have taken the parts of the theory that can be applied universally, i.e. Yin and Yang, the associations of the 5 elements, and the placements of the channels, and attempted to find logical explanations that are not confined to the particular geographical or political explanations that are abundant in the texts explaining Chinese medicine.
I hope the reader will enjoy the journey of Sun and their Grandparents and will embark on this learning journey with them.
You can learn more and get your copy of Sun’s Season of Channels, here.