Chinese Medicine

A Brief History

Traditional Chinese Medicine, a blend of Acupuncture and Herbology, has been around for thousands of years. Although the first recorded history of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) dates back to more than 2,000 years past, it is believed the origins of TCM go back more than 5,000 years. Bear in mind that, apart from the recorded documents much of what is told about the origins is more legend than history.

Legend tells us that the roots of TCM were brought about by three legendary emperors/mythical rulers: Fu Xi, Shen Nong, and Huang Di. Historians believe that Shen Nong and Fu Xi were early tribal leaders.

Fu Xi was a cultural hero who developed the trigrams of Yi Jing (I Ching) or Book of Changes. Ancient texts record that “Fu Xi drew the eight trigrams, and created nine needles.”Shen Nong, the legendary emperor who lived 5,000 years ago is hailed as the “Divine Cultivator”/”Divine Farmer” by the Chinese people because he is attributed as the founder of herbal medicine, and taught people how to farm. In order to determine the nature of different herbal medicines, Shen Nong sampled various plants, ingesting them himself to test and analyzes their individual effects. According to the ancient texts, Shen Nong tasted a hundred herbs including 70 toxic substances in a single day, in order to get rid of people’s pain from illness. As there were no written records, it is said that the discoveries of Shen Nong was passed down verbally from generation to generation.

The first written documentation on Traditional Chinese Medicine is the Hung-Di Nei-Jing (Yellow Emperor’s Cannon of Internal Medicine). Hung-Di Nei-Jing is the oldest medical textbook in the world; different opinions date the book back to between 800 BCE and 200 BCE. Yellow Emperor’s Cannon of Internal Medicine lays a primary foundation for the theories of Chinese Medicine which extensively summarizes and systemizes the previous experience of treatment and theories of medicine, such as the meridian theory, as well as many other issues, including physiology, pathology, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, acupuncture and moxibustion tuina, etc.

Zhang Zhongjing (150-219 CE0, the most famous of China’s ancient herbal doctors lived during the Eastern Han dynasty, was known for his remarkable medical skill. He wrote the medical book, a masterpiece, entitled Shang Han Lun or “Treatise on Febrile Diseases”. To date Zhang Zhongjing’s theory and prescriptions are still of great practical value. It is still used as a standard reference work for Traditional Chinese Medicine, including moxibustion, needling and herbal medicine.

One of the most famous physician/surgeons of Traditional Chinese Medicine was Hua To (110-207 CE), who also lived during the Eastern Han period. Hua To was the first of the Taosit physicians, the most famous doctor in ancient China, who developed/invented the use of anaesthesia called Mafei San, and furthered the limited Chinese knowledge of anatomy. He was the first person to use narcotic drugs in the world and his skill in this field was ahead of the west by about 1600-1700 years! He also developed Five Animal Play, exercises that mimic the movements and postures of five animals: tiger, deer, bear, ape, and bird. According to Hua To, the motion is fundamentally important to health and by mimicking the movements of different animals all parts of the body were exercised and stretched, thereby activating the flow of fluid and energy in the body.

During the Yuan Dynasty, China was controlled by Genghis Khan’s vast Mongolian Empire. During the period of Mongolian rule Chinese Medicine became increasingly specialized and the understanding of acupuncture was further detailed. In 1368 BCE, the Chinese regained control of their land under the Ming Dynasty. Li Shizen, (1518-1593 CE) was on of the greatest physicians and pharmacologists of the Ming Dynasty. His major contribution to medicine was his forty year work, which is found in his epic book Ben Cao Gang-Mu (The Compendium of Materia Medica). The text contains 1,900,000 Chinese characters and details more than 1,800 drugs, including 1,100 illustrations and 11,000 prescriptions, as well as record of 1,094 herbs, detain=ling their type, form, flavor, nature and application in treatment. The book is one of the greatest contributions to the development of pharmacology in both China and throughout the world. Materia Medica has been translated into many different languages and remains the premier reference work for herbal medicine.

The Revolution of 1911 saw the beginning of the People’s Republic of China. During this time, China developed a desire to modernize, and its people began to turn to Western medicine. The government of the time proposed the abolishment of Traditional Chinese Medicine and took great measures to stop its development and use. In 1928 the Communist Party of China was formed, under the leadership of Chairman Mao and in 1949 the Communist Party came to power. As there was very little and/or no medical services at the time, the new government encouraged the use of traditional Chinese remedies because they were cheap, acceptable to the Chinese, and used skills already available in the countryside. Finally, Traditional Chinese Medicine regained popularity by the early to mid 1950’s. The use of acupuncture and herbal medicine became the standard medicine practiced in many hospitals. Many hospitals opened clinics to provide, teach and investigate the traditional methods, the main research institutes being in Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing.

Unfortunately, Chinese Medicine, as a reflection of traditional culture, underwent a period of extreme hardship during the Cultural Revolution. From 1966-1976, traditional doctors were purged from the schools, hospitals and clinics, and many of the old practitioners were either jailed or killed. In 1979, the National Association for Chinese Medicine was established, and many traditional texts were edited and republished.

In 1980 The World Health Organization, WHO, released a list of 43 types of pathologies which can be effectively treated with acupuncture. Today Traditional Chinese Medicine, with its many branches, has become popular on a global scale.

The Practice Of Chinese Medicine

Acupuncture and Chinese Herbology comprise a system of health care which originated in China more than 3,00-5,000 years ago. It is a comprehensive system for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic disorders. An art and science based on natural law, its philosophy is to heal safely, gently and without side effects.

Central to the philosophy of Chinese Medicine is the premise of the self healing mechanism active in the body. The goal of Chinese Medicine is to promote this mechanism from within. With this in mind one can observe the body as a self healing dynamic whole, a network of interacting light, information, and robust energy. This unimpeded energy flow maintains health, while any stagnation leads to dis-ease.

The realignment of the energy fields is based on the concept of QI (Chi). Qi is the underlying energy of life. It flows throughout the body to regenerate and nourish. It is generated by the internal organs and flows along paths called meridians. Along the meridians are points where Qi can be affected by acupuncture needles or finger pressure. In this way Qi is invigorated and its functions of nourishing, transforming and protecting are enhanced.

The treatment strategy employed by a practitioner of Chinese Medicine is based on traditional diagnosis. This art and science is based on more than thirty centuries observation, research, and clinical success. There are many techniques utilized including – diagnosis, facial reading, pulse diagnosis, and tongue diagnosis. The palpating of the pulse is the most thorough, all encompassing technique. Each position relates to an internal organ complex – and there are 28 classical qualities. The data collected from all these techniques along with the physical, mental and emotional symptoms voiced, are used to identify and treat the pattern of disharmony.

The ageless wisdom of Chinese Medicine is keen to observe the relationship between Mind-Body-Spirit. With this premise in mind, it is a holistic approach and promotes healing on many levels. Clinically, it has been time tested to be a safe, natural way to restore and maintain health.