Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) 中医

    Chinese people knew how to safeguard their health with medical science and drugs long ago. The origins of traditional Chinese medicine can be traced to Shennong, a mythological figure from about 5,000 years ago, who tasted hundreds of herbs for use as medicines. The formal history of TCM starts about 2,500 years ago with the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, the first written account of its practice.

    The basic theory of Chinese medicine attempts to explain the nature of the life cycle and disease changes. It includes five theories: yin and yang, the five elements（五行）, how to direct one’s strength, internal body organs（zangfu）, and meridans（经脉）. It also explains why diseases occur, how to diagnose and prevent diseases, and how to keep the body healthy. Health is perceived as the harmonious interaction of these entities and the outside world, and disease is interpreted as a disharmony in interaction. TCM diagnosis aims to trace symptoms to patterns of an underlying disharmony. TCM uses the system of inter-relationships between the five elements to understand how the various processes of the body support and control each other. Because of these inter-relationships, when one of the organs and its associated element is out of balance, the other elements are also affected. This imbalance will manifest in the individual with many different signs and symptoms. It may show in the facial color, the sound of the voice, or a change in the emotional state as well as disharmony in the functioning of the relevant organs.

    And the famous doctor of the Warring States Period Bian Que was the first to use observation, auscultation, interrogation, and palpation① for diagnosis. Observation is to observe the patient’s appearance and mental state; auscultation is to listen to the patient’s breathing; interrogation is to inquire about the onset (起源) of the problem and the patient’s own feelings, his diet and daily life; and palpation is to feel the pulse of the patient.

     Chinese people generally perceive TCM as more effective for disease and chronic illness prevention, and they view Western medicine as being more effective for acute and serious illnesses. Another major difference between TCM and Western medicine is that, until recently, TCM has relied on patient experience, not clinical trials, for proof of effectiveness.TCM combines raw materials, principally herbs, to treat disease. Historically, the prescription incorporated as many as 10,000 ingredients, 90 percent extracted from herbs(草药) and 10 percent from animal byproducts and minerals. These are made into oral or external medicines after being specially prepared. Today, practitioners of TCM regularly use around 300 ingredients in their widely available prescriptions. Any given prescription requires four to eight ingredients on average. It usually needs an imperial herb, the chief herb or main ingredient; the ministerial herb, ancillary to the imperial herb, which augments and promotes the function of the main ingredient; the assistant herb, which reduces side effects of the imperial herb; and the servant herb, which harmonizes or coordinates the actions of the other herbs. which was documented 5,000 years ago in Shennong’s Herbal Classic.  

   The famous medical book Compendium of Materia Medica②, written by the famous doctor Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty, included nearly 2,000 medicines and 10,000 prescriptions. There are numerous famous doctors in Chinese history, such as Bian Que, Hua Tuo, Zhang Zhongjing, Sun Simiao, Li Shizhen, who relieved patients of pain with their consummate (无上的) medical skills. In modern China, there are also many famous doctors who try hard to resolve serious difficulties and work for the well-being of the people.

                                                         Abridged and revised from

                        http://www1.chinaculture.org/info/2013-04/25/content_456622.htm

Notes:

① Observation, auscultation, interrogation, and palpation：望闻问切是中医用语。望，指观气色；闻，指听声息；问；指询问症状；切；指摸脉象。

② Compendium of Materia Medica：《本草纲目》，中国药学著作，五十二卷，明朝李时珍撰，刊于1590年。全书共190多万字，载有药物1892种，收集医方11096个，绘制精美插图1160幅，分为16部、60类，是中国古代汉族传统医学集大成者。