Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a long history. It is a collection of methods and theories that have developed over thousands of years in the fight against disease. These theories include the theory of yin and yang, the wuxing theory, the theory of treatment based on an overall analysis of the patient’s condition, the science of Chinese materia medica, and the science of acupuncture and moxibustion.
The yin-yang theory can be traced back to an ancient Chinese way of looking at the world. According to this theory, everything in the world exists as a unity of yin and yang (dark and light, or negative and positive). They are interdependent and mutually exclusive. As there is an increase in one, there will be a proportionate decrease in the other. Over time, this idea became the guiding principle for traditional Chinese medicine. According to the theory, the human body is like a small universe with its own yin and yang, the balance of which decides the health of the body.
The wuxing (Five Elements) theory was originally a philosophical idea. The Five Elements refer to metal, wood, water, fire and earth. The relationships between the Five Elements, in terms of action and counteraction, constitute the basic law that governs the movement, change and development of everything in the universe. This theory is related to traditional Chinese medicine through the correspondence of each element to the five major internal organs; wood-liver, fire-heart, earth- spleen, metal lungs, water -kidneys. The interactions between the Five Elements are used to explain the causes and development of the illness in each of these organs.
Diagnosis and treatment in traditional Chinese medicine are based on a holistic analysis of the patient’s condition, which is briefly called the “four diagnostic methods” and “eight diagnostic principles”. The four diagnostic methods refer to observation, listening and smelling, inquiry, and taking the pulse. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners connect and analyze the complex clinical manifestations observed through the four diagnostic methods and categorize the symptoms using the eight diagnostic principles: yin, yang, exterior, interior, cold, heat, deficiency, and excess. Once the symptoms have been categorized in this way, they are used to identify and summarize the nature and cause of the illness, the location of the disease, and the patient’s resilience towards the disease and to determine the methods and means of treatment.
As an important part of traditional Chinese medicine, the science of Chinese materia medica is devoted to the study of the nature and functions of traditional Chinese medicines, most of which are plants and the rest of which come from animals and minerals. There are hundreds of types of Chinese materia medica, some of which are familiar to the public in China, including ginseng, tortoiseshell, villous amomum fruit, licorice root, golden thread, danshen root, honeysuckle bud and flower, saffron, tall gastrodia tuber, epimedium herb, and Chinese Caterpillar Fungus.
Acupuncture and moxibustion are two simple and effective forms of treatment with few side effects and can be used in the treatment and prevention of a wider range of diseases usually seen in branches of medicine including internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, and ENT dept. They are actually two separate kinds of treatment. In acupuncture treatment, special thin needles are inserted into superficial structures of the body (skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscles) at acupuncture points (acupoints); moxibustion treatment refers to moxibustion with Chinese mugwort, that is, to fumigate acupoints on the skin with burning Chinese mugwort sticks.
The acupuncture and moxibustion theory holds that invisible channels or lines, called meridians, exist in the human body, serving to connect all parts of the body to each other. Meridians carry qi (vigor or life energy), which circulates through the channels smoothly if one is in good health. Along the meridians, there are many acupoints where qi gathers. If qi does not circulate smoothly in the body, people will fall ill. If this happens, acupuncture and moxibustion treatment can be used to stimulate the acupoints to help the blocked qi run smoothly again, by which diseases are cured.
Qigong, as a regimen, is a part of China’s precious cultural heritage, with thousands of years of history. It combines physical exercises with healing practices, with the goal of achieving physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Digong can be divided into hard qigong and calm qigong, the latter often simply referred to as qigong.
Traditional Chinese medical theory holds that qi refers to both the air people breathe and yuanqi (vigor or life energy), which exists in the body. The purpose of qigong practice is to build up resistance to diseases, adaptability to the surroundings, and self-recovery of health. Qigong has a unique self-training method, including three aspects–adjustment of posture, adjustment of breath, and adjustment of mentality(nerves)-which are called the “three adjustments”. They are interrelated and interact with each other. As part of the practice of qigong, it is important to have a good grasp of the three adjustments, as well as adopt the “inner” method in order to actively control one’s own consciousness, know one’s own inner movement well, motivate and enhance the function of all the organs, and arouse the inherent potential in the body.
Chinese wushu originated from ancient activities of fishing and hunting and wars between tribes. In the late Han Dynasty, a famous doctor Hua Tuo created wuqinxi (five-animal exercises), a practice of imitating the movements of the five animals-_tiger, deer, bear, ape, and crane. By doing wuqinxi, one can gain strength, exercise joints, and increase blood circulation so as to improve health and keep fit. From this time onward, Chinese martial arts developed gradually. After the Song Dynasty, wushu evolved into different schools with their own systematic forms (taolu, i.e. combination of predetermined moves) in barehanded forms and weaponed forms, such as taijiquan, taijijian (taiji double-edged sword), xingyiquan(shape-intent boxing), Shaolin boxing, Shaolin stick and so on.
The term taiji can be traced back to ancient Chinese philosophy. It means that the origin of the universe is primal chaos, which was represented with a circular taiji first drawn in the Song Dynasty. Later, in order to express the interaction between yin and yang, the circular diagram was divided into two parts, yin and yang, which were symbolized by a black fish and a white fish, respectively. The eye of the white fish is black, which means there is yin in yang, while the eye of the black fish is white, which means there is yang in yin.
In the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty, inspired by the taiji diagram, Chen Wang ting, a villager from Chenjiagou, Wen County, Henan Province, invented taijiquan (tai chi, or shadow boxing). The roundness of the taiji diagram is represented in the circularity of all the movements in taijiquan. The taiji diagram consists of yin and yang, with an emphasis on one existing in the other. Similarly, taijiquan is characterized by a combination of strength and suppleness, also with an emphasis on one existing in the other. Practitioners of taijiquan believe that the primary force responsible for changes in the universe originates from taiji, just as the force which allows us to move our bodies also comes from taiji (the center of the body, i.e. the abdomen). Therefore, the movements of taijiquan are started by the abdomen, which activates the whole body.
The form of taijiquan created by Chen Wang ting is called Chen-style taijiquan,on the basis of which later generations created other styles of taijiquan such as the Wu style, Sun style, Yang style, etc. In spite of the differences in forms (taolu), they all follow the same principle.
The earliest Chinese medical book is Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon), which was written in the Warring States Period (475 BC -221 BC)
The skill in wielding the 18 kinds of weapons is often mentioned in wuxia (Chinese martial arts) novels. It refers to the skill and method of using the 18 kinds of ancient Chinese weapons- sword, spear, two-edged sword, halberd, axe, yue (a big axe), hook, two-or-three-pointed fork, bian, jian(a three-or-four-edged iron stick with a handle), hammer, iron talon, tang(three-pointed spear), stick, shuo (a long spear), bang (a cudgel, sometimes with a shaped piece of metal attached to the end), guai (a T-shaped or F-shaped stick), liuxingchui (a rope with fist-sized pieces of shaped metal attached to one end or both ends).
In the early periods of ancient China, dafu was a senior official rank. Most dafu were important officers or advisers in the court rather than official medical doctors. In the Song Dynasty, the ranks of official medical doctors were divided into seven levels, the highest being dafu, which was used as a term of respect for all doctors in general and handed down today.
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