Memories of Claude Larre
Daoism and Acupuncture
A special conference in memoriam Claude Larre (1919-2001)
1st and 2nd May 2026, Cahors, France
I was invited to share my memories of my Chinese language and philosophy teacher Claude Larre at a conference held by the Association Française d’Acupuncture (AFA) on May 1st and 2nd 2026 at the Chateau Les Bouysses near Cahors in the south of France. It was entitled Taoïsme et Acupuncture and held in memoriam for Claude Larre on the 25th anniversary of his death. The AFA is the French medical acupuncture association, and the conference was proposed and organized by Dr. M. Vinogradoff.
Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallée was the main speaker, giving four presentations on Claude Larre, the European School of Acupuncture, Daoist texts and medical practice and medical texts and Daoist practice. Apart from myself, the other speakers included teachers and authors such as Dr. J.M. Kespi, Dr P. Sautreuil, Dr. J.L. Vicq, Dr. J. Chabbal, Dr. J.M. Eyssalet, Dr. B. Cygler, Dr. G. Andrés, Dr. P. Richer, Dr. B Cassuto, Dr. J. Montlouis and Dr. M. Vinogradoff. Many of these were present, some presented live online or on pre-recorded video.
It was wonderful to see how important Claude Larre’s influence has been on French acupuncture with his deep understanding of Daoist texts, particularly Laozi and Huainanzi, and how he was able to use these essential aspects of Chinese thinking to illuminate Chinese medicine. A Jesuit priest as well as an eminent sinologist, his patient and inspiring teaching reached many in the field, deepening their knowledge and improving their clinical practice.
I gave my own thoughts and memories of Claude Larre with photos and stories. They showed three of my music videos on screen, Chinese Medicine Blues, Shu Shu Cherie and Gan Qi Moving and I sang three songs live Yang Sheng Way, Ben Shen and Tong Bu Tong. It was a great occasion, wonderful to return to France with its fantastic Cahors Malbec wine, to return to the source of my own reconnection with Chinese culture at the deepest level and to treasure the memory of a kind and thoughtful man with a powerful intellect, a generous heart and authentic nature. I attach my presentation in both French and English and a video recording of the poem I wrote for Claude Larre entitled Radical Way. Enjoy!
Memories of Claude Larre
Peter Firebrace
I would like to share some memories of my friend and teacher, Claude Larre. He never inserted a single acupuncture needle, never prescribed a single herb, never offered any dietary advice, never gave a single tui na massage, never taught a single qi gong movement. How then did he have so much to bring to Chinese medicine?
I met him in 1983. I was participating in his seminar for several days. We were quite a small group, eight or nine people, in a quiet Quaker retreat house called Jordans, close to Oxford. We ate together, spoke together, discussed together. It was pleasant. I was an acupuncturist, but like the majority of the group, I knew nothing at all about Chinese language. After a short introduction, Claude Larre plunged us directly into the Chinese text of the Huangdi Neijing Suwen, the foundation classic of Chinese medicine. Suddenly we were face to face with the characters, immersed in the world of radicals and the unfolding of the text. I remember almost nothing of the details, but his way of giving us a direct experience of the Chinese vision took me immediately. He was friendly, he was kind, he spoke without notes with an easy fluidity, not to impress us with his scholarship, but to share what he knew himself by giving us direct access to the spirit of the Chinese.
This way of teaching impressed me enormously. He had a deep knowledge and such a generous way to share it. At the end of the week I knew that I wanted to continue on this road. I ordered all the books from the Institut Ricci, I bought Leon Wieger’s Chinese Characters and I began my studies of Chinese thinking and medicine in Chinese. Forty years later, I still continue in this way and it is not finished!
The following year I travelled to China with a group of acupuncturists and Claude Larre accompanied us. It was wonderful to be with him in China. And for the Chinese it was something quite astonishing for them to meet someone who knew their language and their culture so well. I remember once we were out in the street and he was right there in the middle of about a hundred people who were completely astonished that this friendly man was able to speak Chinese with so much facility and to discuss with them so freely.
In March 1985 I organized the first seminar in London in the Chinese Medicine from the Classics series, a series which continued until 2016, thirty one years later. It was my first meeting with Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallée and it was thanks to her that it continued so long, even after Claude’s death in 2001, and we never ever repeated a single seminar, but always covered new subjects, a testament to her extraordinary knowledge and hard work.
At this time, I went regularly to study in Paris with the European School of Acupuncture where Claude and Elisabeth were teaching a large group of both doctors and non-doctors. I brought my sleeping bag and Claude invited me to sleep in a small rather dusty room right at the top of the Institut Ricci that was filled with books everywhere. I put enough aside to be able to lay down. He was always kind like that.
In London we steadily covered key texts from the Suwen and Lingshu, that lay the foundation of Chinese medicine. Twenty or so of these seminars are available from Monkey Press, thanks to the efforts of Sandra Hill and Caroline Root, who made transcriptions of the seminars. At the same time in the philosophy group in Oxford we studied Laozi, Zhuangzi, Huainanzi, Liezi, Kongfuzi, Mengzi – all the great writers who formed Chinese thinking. For me that shed light on everything, to go to the roots, guided so skillfully by Claude Larre and Elisabeth, the ‘dynamic duo’ who had made such deep research into the philosophical as well as the medical texts. I think it is this capacity to show the links between the two and to unite them that gives the strength and depth of their teaching. It is interesting that the groups have always been quite small, ten or twenty people, but thanks to the Monkey Press books, their influence has spread widely in the whole world.
I remember in 1994 Elisabeth could not accompany Claude Larre to teach at the Rothenburg congress in Germany and he asked me if I wanted to take her place. I accepted with a certain apprehension. It is something to teach with your teacher! Our subject focused on the spiritual aspects in the Neijing Lingshu chapter 8, Ben Shen 本 神, the Rooting in the Spirits. We must have been quite a pair. I was nervous, he was calm, relaxed. I was standing, he was quite happy to remain seated. I had feverishly prepared, he had no need to prepare at all. We had to give the same course to a different audience in the morning and the afternoon. My course was the same, his was different, original, spontaneous, reacting to the present moment. I was in the presence of a jazz master who knew the theme by heart and improvised in a passionate and inspiring way. The teaching came with an unbelievable freshness, because the source was so extraordinarily deep. That day, I was the old one and he the young!
So, on this occasion of the 25th anniversary of his death, I remember Claude Larre with so much gratitude for what he gave me personally and with great affection for his spirit, his way of living and being with people. He inspired so many for so many years and perhaps it is this that is his way of heaven.
Peter Firebrace
Radical Way
He was clever, he was cool, he was kind, he was wise
He knew the colour of the ancient skies
He’s talked to Huainanzi, Laozi and Zhuang
And discovered that the short had far more in it than the long
He led us to expect that the secrets of the text
Could be found not by exertion, but by total textual immersion
This arcane knowledge (of which we shouldn’t really speak)
Enabled us to understand Chinese with the minimum of effort and the
maximum of ease
We didn’t try to pick the fruits, instead we’d dive down deep to the roots
It was a radical way indeed and a way that opened the door to the seed
We felt we were deaf, we were dumb, we were blind
Yet somehow it all came clear to our mind
We were given the key, so we could see
We heard the words of the past, as if spoken today
As if Huainanzi, Laozi and Zhuang had come to stay
We developed an intimate connection with the wisdom of the sages
We faithfully followed their directions that have proved true down the ages
And ended up nowhere, behind nothing and no one
In a place that was old before the birth of the sun
We spoke (without words of course) to the ancestor of time
Formless, timeless, shapeless, weightless
A cloud of unknowing in which everything was known
We saw the wind before it started blowing
And the fruit of every seed before even a shoot was showing
We saw the face of the faceless and drank at life’s source
Tasted the tasteless and felt the forceless force
And who have we to thank for this? Who was it opened the door?
Who told us that the secret was in knowing less, not more?
Who showed us that the meaning was in the pattern, not just the words?
Who took us to a realm that’s usually reserved for soaring birds?
Who showed us where the rainclouds form over the highest mountain peaks
And how the roaring rivers rush to where the ocean speaks?
Who showed us the stillness at the heart of life’s ever-spinning wheel
The stillness of the spirit without which no one can ever heal?
Who showed us the space that has no place is what lets in all the light
And that the inaudible, invisible, imperceptible, intangible
Is the inexhaustible source of life?
Who gave us the key and said “Go on, explore
When you think you’ve reached the end, you’ll find more and more and more”
Was it Kongfuzi? Liezi? Mengzi? Laozi?
Was it Huananzi? Zhuangzi?
No!
It was Claude Larre zi
Peter Firebrace
Souvenirs de Père Larre
Peter Firebrace
Pas comme les autres
Il était un homme extraordinaire
Lisant les textes anciens chinois
Comme les autres les journaux
Il nous a guidé à travers
Une veritable forêt de caractères
Brillant comme le feu glissant comme l’eau
Portant légèrement son fardeau
Comme les autres leurs chapeaux
On dirait qu’il n’était pas comme les autres
Il semblait suivre un plan différent
Il connaissait bien la Voie du Ciel
Comme une abeille sait bien comment faire du miel
Et il l’a suivi sans errant
Il traversait tranquillement le pont entre l’ouest et l’est
Où les autres se brouillaient et tombaient en bataille
Enseignant avec le mot just ou des gestes
Exposant avec subtilité les moindres détails
Comprenant la voie le reste est compris
Il n’y a pas de division quand tout est uni
Et Laozi et Zhuangzi se rejouissent avec lui
La plupart prennent la route régulière
Mais ce n’est pas la voie des hommes extraordinaires
Je voudrais partager quelques souvenirs de mon ami et professeur, le Père Larre. Il n’a jamais posé une seule aiguille d’acupuncture, jamais prescrit une seule plante médicinale, jamais donné de conseils diététiques, jamais pratiqué un seul massage tui na, jamais enseigné un seul mouvement de qi gong. Comment aurait-il pu avoir autant à apporter à la medicine chinoise?
Je l’ai rencontré en 1983. Je participais à un sèminaire pendant plusieurs jours. Nous étions un groupe assez petit, huit ou neuf personnes, dans une retraite assez tranquille des Quakers, qui s’appelle Jordans tout près d’Oxford. Nous avons diné ensemble, parlé ensemble, discuté ensemble. C’était génial. J’étais acupuncteur, mais je ne connaissait rien du tout de la langue chinoise, comme la plupart du groupe et le Père Larre a commencé après une introduction assez brève à nous plonger directement dans le texte du Huangdi Neijing Suwen, le classique de base pour la medicine chinoise. Nous étions face à face avec des caractères, immersés tout de suite dans le monde des radicaux et le déroulement du texte. Je m’en souviens presque pas du tout des détails, mais sa façon de nous donner une expérience directe de la vision chinoise m’a pris tout de suite. Il était sympa, it était gentil, il parlait presque sans notes de cours avec une fluidité facile, pas pour nous impressioner de son érudition, mais pour partager ce qu’il savait lui-même pour nous rendre accès directement à l’esprit chinois.
Cette manière de nous enseigner m’a beaucoup impressioné. Il avait une profonde connaissance des choses et une largesse tellement généreuse pour nous la faire comprendre. À la fin du semaine je savais que je voulais continuer sur cette route. J’ai commandé tous les livres de l’Institut Ricci, j’ai acheté un Wieger et j’ai commencé mes études de la pensée et medicine chinoise en chinois. Quarante ans plus tard, je continue toujours et ce n’est pas du tout fini!
L'année prochaine j’ai voyagé en Chine avec un groupe d’acupuncteurs et le Père Larre nous a accompagné. C’était fantastique d’être avec lui en Chine. Et pour les chinois c’était une chose assez étonnante de rencontrer quelqu’un qui connaissait si bien leur langue et leur culture. Je me rappelle une fois nous étions dans la rue et il était là en plein centre d’une centaine de gens, qui étaient complètement émerveillés que cet homme amical était capable de parler chinois avec autant d’aisance et discuter aussi librement avec eux.
En mars 1985 j’ai organisé à Londres le premier séminaire dans la série La Medicine Chinoise à travers des Textes Classiques, une série qui continuait jusqu’à 2016, trente et un ans plus tard. C’était ma premiére rencontre avec Elisabeth et bien sûr c’est grâce à elle que ça a continué si longtemps et nous n’avons jamais répété une séminaire, toujours des sujets nouveaux.
En ce temps là je venais étudier regulièrement à Paris avec l’Ecole Européenne d’Acupuncture. Je prenais mon sac de couchage et le Père m’a invité de dormir dans une petite chambre un peu poussièreuse tout en haut de l’Institut Ricci, avec plein de livres partout. Je les ai mis de coté suffisament pour me coucher. Il était toujours gentil comme ça.
À Londres tout doucement nous avons couvert les textes importants du Suwen et Lingshu, et toute la base de la medicine chinoise. Une vingtaine de ces séminaires sont toujours disponible chez Monkey Press, grâce aux efforts de Sandra Hill et Caroline Root qui ont fait des transcriptions des séminaires. En même temps à Oxford nous avons étudié le Lao zi, Zhuang zi, Huainan zi, Lie zi, Kongfu zi, Meng zi – tous les grands écrivains qui ont formé la pensée chinoise. Pour moi ça a tout éclairé, d’aller aux racines, guidé si habilement par le Père Larre et Elisabeth, le ‘dynamic duo’ qui avaient fait des recherches si profondes des textes philosophiques aussi bien que medicaux. Je pense que c’est cette capacité de montrer les liens entre les deux et les unir qui donne la force et la profondeur de leur enseignement. Ce qui est intéressant c’est que les groupes ont été toujours assez petits, une dizaine, une vingtaine de gens, mais grâce aux livres de Monkey Press leurs effets ont repandu énormement dans le monde entier.
Je me rappelle en 1994 Elisabeth ne pouvait pas accompagner le Père Larre pour enseigner au congrès de Rothenburg en Allemagne et il m’a demandé si je voulais prendre sa place. J’ai accepté avec une certaine appréhension. C’est quelque chose à enseigner avec votre professeur! Notre sujet portait sur les aspects spirituels dans le Neijing Lingshu chapiter 8, ben shen 本 神, l’enracinement dans les esprits. Nous devions former un sacré duo. J’étais nerveux, il était détendu, tranquille. J’étais debout, il était tout à fait content d’être assis. Je m’étais preparé avec fièvre, il n’avait pas besoin de se préparer. Nous devions donner le même cours à un public différent le matin et l’aprés-midi. Mon parcours était le même, le sien était différent, original, spontané, en réaction à l’instant présent. J’étais en présence d’un maître de jazz qui connaissait le théme par coeur et qui a improvisé d’une manière passionnante et inspirante. C’était d’une fraîcheur incroyable, car la source était d’une profondeur extraordinaire. Ce jour là, c’était moi le vieux et lui le jeune!
Ce soir je m’en souviens du Père Larre avec beaucoup de reconaissance pour ce qu’il m’a donné personellement et avec tendresse pour son ésprit, sa manière de vivre et être avec des gens. Il a inspiré tant de personnes pendant tant d’années et c’est peut-être là sa voie du ciel.
Peter Firebrace