The Authors

Traditional Acupuncture Society Journal

"Two dedicated interpreters of classical medical texts."

Journal of Traditional Acupuncture (USA)

"Claude Larre and Elisabeth Rochat: putting tradition back into the study of traditional Chinese medicine."

European Journal of Oriental Medicine

"Their work [has] a depth and authenticity which is virtually unique among books about Chinese medicine."

Traditional Acupuncture Society Journal

"If we accept the premise that going back to the roots in the classics is a discovery of the foundation stones of Chinese medicine and that they are the most important in the longer term, I do not know of two more qualified people to show us the way in this fascinating discovery."

Claude Larre s.j.

Father Larre was born in France in 1919. After taking a degree in Law at the Sorbonne, he entered a Jesuit Seminary at the age of 20. He spent five years in China at a very turbulent point in its history (1947-52), finally leaving for Hongkong when all foreign priests were expelled. From there he travelled to the Philippines, before returning to France to study Chinese Philosophy at the and afterwards spending a year in Japan. In 1957 he left for what was to be a nine year stay in Vietnam, first as Director of the Jesuit School for Vietnamese Language and later as Professor of Oriental Philosophy at the universities of Saigon and Dalat. His links with Vietnam lasted throughout his life, in his dedication and support for Vietnamese refugees in France.

On his return to France, he pursued further Chinese studies at the Sorbonne culminating in his doctorate in Philosophy and Sinology. His dissertation was on Huainanzi chapter 7, Jing Shen Xun, A Commentary on Jingshen.

At the age of 52, in 1971, he founded the Ricci Institute in Paris, a centre for research on the Chinese language and civilisation. In 1976 The French Dictionary of the Chinese Language was jointly published by the Ricci Institutes of Taipei and Paris. It contained 6,500 characters and nearly 50,000 compounds. The last ten years of his life were focussed especially on the production of the Grand Ricci Dictionary of the Chinese Language, the largest dictionary of Chinese into any European language. It was finally published a month after his death, in seven volumes, and contains 13,500 single characters and 300,000 Chinese compounds.

In 1977 he made a translation of Laozi¹s Daodejing, returning to the same subject with a new translation in 1994. He was fascinated by its subtlety and simplicity and would often quote it by heart in Chinese medical seminars to illustrate the deeper origins of what became the principles of medicine. In 1981 he wrote Les Chinois, a study on the spirit and behaviour of the Chinese as shown in their books and their life from their origins to the end of the Ming Dynasty. It displayed his deep knowledge of the Chinese culture and its people, their language, philosophy, classics, poetry, painting, medicine, inventions, war, government and history. His specific publications on Chinese medicine (some co-authored) include the Survey of Chinese Medicine, The Way of Heaven (Suwen chapters 1 and 2), Rooted in Spirit (Lingshu chapter 8) and Suwen chapters 1-11. With Elisabeth Rochat he has also co-authored translations and commentaries on Zhuangzi and Huainanzi, and presented a study of the Mawangdui funeral banner.

With the founding of the European School of Acupuncture, in Paris, in 1976, he began a period of teaching on Chinese philosophy, Chinese language and traditional Chinese medicine in various countries in Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. The European school of Acupuncture has been running regular programmes ever since.

Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallee

Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallée was born in Paris in 1949. She studied philosophy, literature and classics at the Paris University and completed her Masters degree in Classics. When she was 20 she met Claude Larre s.j. while he was working on his PhD thesis on the Huainanzi and making a translation of the Laozi. As a result of his influence she began to study Chinese, working with him on Chinese classical texts. She also studied modern Chinese with a native speaker and spent a year in Taiwan to further her studies.

In the early 1970s Father Larre met Dr Jean Schatz, a western physician and acupuncturist, and together they began to work on translations of the classical medical texts. At this time Elisabeth embarked on a study of Chinese medicine, and together with Dr Schatz and Father Larre, began the first study group of the classical medical texts in Paris. This lead to the founding of the European School of Acupuncture in Paris in 1976. From this work together Father Larre, Dr Schatz and Elisabeth co-authored A Survey of Chinese Medicine, published in 1979. Under the auspices of the Ricci Institute in Paris, Elisabeth also published numerous booklets on the seminal texts of Chinese medicine and philosophy including Rooted in Spirit (Lingshu chapter 8) and Suwen chapters 1-11. Elisabeth also co-authored translations and commentaries on Zhuangzi and Huainanzi, and presented a study of the Mawangdui funeral banner.

In the mid 1980s Elisabeth began to accompany Father Larre on his teaching engagements in both the UK and the US. Her encyclopaedic knowledge of the medical texts and Father Larre's subtle understanding of the background culture and philosophy combined to produce a unique teaching team.

Elisabeth worked closely with Father Larre on the Grand Ricci dictionary, managing the project as father Larre's health declined. The first edition - two volumes of single characters - was completed in 1999. The second edition of seven volumes was finally published at the time of Father Larre's death in December 2001. This awsome achievement is testament to an inspiring collaboration which lasted over 30 years.

Elisabeth continues to teach worldwide, working with both classical medical and philosophical texts.