Book Review Graphic Chinese Herb Cards
by Deborah Keller Lyons

Reviewed by Al Stone


Finally, someone did it right.

With color and flair, style and concise presentation, these herb cards are a wonderful tool for any student of herbology.

Santa Barbara, California TCM student Deborah Keller Lyons is to be commended. She has created a full set of herb cards (about 340) designed for students planning on taking the California state board examinations.

Good Points:

The visual presentation of these cards makes use of numerous colorful icons, font sizes and styles. At a glance, one can see the key function of any herb as well as important contraindications. Simply be looking at the type face of the Pinyin name of the herb one can quickly see whether the herb is:
  1. On the California State Board List and in one of the 63 required formulas.
  2. On the California State Board List but not in one of the 63 required formulas.
  3. Not on the California State Board list, but a popular herb taught in TCM schools.

These herb cards provide an important element missing from most other herb card sets, and that is the graphic element. There are many herb card sets available and they all look like the same dry, boring, and sterile cards. That's the last thing I need when struggling to memorize herb properties and functions, more boredom.

Bad points:

These cards are water soluble. Until you laminate these cards printed on business card stock with a color laserjet printer, the ink can print run. You can also insert them into a folder or notebook designed for business cards. That's how these cards are actually designed to be used, inserted into a business card notebook. I don't consider that a plus or a minus, I'm using them as flashcards.

Another problem that can be easily corrected by the manufacturer is the numerous errors in the categorization of the herbs into what we, in California call "A", "B" and "C" Class herbs. As mentioned above, the "A" herbs are on the state board list and in the formulas, etc ... However, the herbs that are considered "A", "B" or "C" herbs among these cards are inconsistent with the list that I've put together based on the Acupuncture Committee's list and my list of the ingredients of the 63 state board formulas.

Conclusion:

All in all, I think that these are really fun cards to work with and small enough to fit into any place you can stack business cards. After you pass your state board and become licensed, you can write your office phone number on the back of these cards until you make enough money to buy your own business cards. : )

Here are some examples of the cards. The 72 dpi images really don't do them justice, they are very readable and attractive.

I don't know how much they cost, but you can find out at the Chinese Herb Cards web site.


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