Traditional Chinese Medicine, also known as TCM, describes the modern practice of Chinese medicine as a result of sweeping reforms that took place after 1950 in the People’s Republic of China. The term Classical Chinese medicine (CCM) often refers to medical practices that rely on theories and methods dating from before the fall of the Qing Dynasty (1911). Advocates of CCM portray it as less influenced by Western and political agendas than TCM.

Classical Chinese medicine, from which TCM is derived, is full of wisdom, drawing on natural healing sources and the resources of body and mind itself to heal from within. It is not a quick fix, and it doesn’t aggressively attack any symptom. It’s a natural, a slow and sustaining holistic process, where the whole being is taken into consideration.

TCM includes a range of traditional medical practices originating in China. Although well accepted in the mainstream of medical care throughout East Asia, it is considered an alternative medicine (or ‘complementary therapy’) in much of the western world.

TCM practices include such treatments as herbal medicine, acupuncture, dietary therapy including herbs and Aloe Vera, and both Tui na and Shiatsu massage. TCM theory originated thousands of years ago through meticulous observation of nature, the cosmos, and the human body. Major theories include those of Yin yang, the Five Phases (or Five Elements), the human body Channel system and Zang Fu organ theory.

Ancient (classical) TCM history

Much of the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine is strongly influenced by Taoist and Buddhist thought, and reflects the classical Chinese belief that the life and activity of individual human beings have an intimate relationship with the environment on all levels.

In legend, as a result of a dialogue with his minister, the Yellow Emperor (2698 – 2596 BCE) is supposed by Chinese tradition to have composed his Basic Questions, also known as the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon. The book’s title is often mistranslated as Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine. Modern scholarly opinion holds that the extant text of this title was compiled by an anonymous scholar just over two-thousand years ago. During the Han Dynasty (202 BC–220 AD), Zhang Zhongjing, the Hippocrates of China, wrote a Treatise on Cold Damage, which contains the earliest known reference to the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine.

Another prominent Eastern Han physician was Hua Tuo (c. 140–208 AD), who anesthetized patients during surgery with a formula of wine and powdered hemp. Hua’s physical, surgical, and herbal treatments were also used to cure headaches, dizziness, internal worms, fevers, coughing, blocked throat, amongst others. The Jin dynasty practitioner and advocate of acupuncture and moxibustion (or ‘moxa’), Huang-fu Mi (215-282 AD), also quoted the Yellow Emperor in his Jia Yi Jing 265 AD.

There were noted advances in Chinese medicine during the Middle Ages. Emperor Gaozong (r. 649–683) of the Tang Dynasty (618–907) commissioned the scholarly compilation of a Materia Medica in 657 that documented 833 medicinal substances taken from stones, minerals, metals, plants, herbs, animals, vegetables, fruits, and cereal crops.

Contact with Western culture and medicine has not displaced TCM. While there may be traditional factors involved in the persistent practice, two reasons are most obvious in the westward spread of TCM in recent decades.

Firstly, TCM practices are believed by many to be very effective, sometimes offering palliative efficacy where the practices of Western medicine fail or are unable to provide treatment, especially for routine ailments such as flu and allergies, or when Western medicine fails to relieve patients suffering from chronic ailments. TCM has been shown to be effective in the treatment of chronic, functional disorders, such as migraines and osteoarthritis, and is traditionally used for a wide range of functional disorders.

Secondly, TCM provides an alternative to otherwise costly procedures whom many can’t afford, or which isn’t covered by insurance. There are also many who turn to TCM to avoid the toxic side effects of pharmaceuticals.

TCM has, over its history, been analysed extensively, and the practice and development of it has waxed and waned over the centuries and cultures through which it has travelled – yet the system has not only survived, but is increasingly being viewed as a ‘first choice’ Complementary Therapy.

Source: highlights of Wikipedia -Traditional Chinese Medicine

Author: Liz Knox