The Future of Chinese Herbalism

Started 4/13/25 – Last updated 4/13/25

This is the beginning of an open inquiry into the practical future of Chinese herbal medicine. Like all pages in the Living Threads series, this is a living document: incomplete by design, regularly revisited.

Seeds of Inquiry

These are the early questions guiding this exploration. Some may bloom into essays, others may shift, combine, or fall away.

• What does it mean to ethically source Chinese herbs?
• How will geopolitical instability—brought on by trade wars, climate disruption, or nationalism—impact clinical access to herbs?
• Is Chinese herbalism sustainable as a modality given the ecological and economic conditions of the 21st century and beyond?
• Are there ways to reduce the amount of herbs needed for effective treatment WITHOUT dramatically impacting the energetics of said treatment?
• Which Chinese herbs can be grown in one's local bioregion, and what happens—chemically, clinically, energetically—when they are?
• How important is terroir in the growth of potent Chinese herbs? Can we learn from other horticultural enterprises that utilize this concept in our own work?

Fragments, Notes & Essays

This space will contain links to post, pages and off-site content that grow from the seeds above.