Alternative Medicine From China

What Makes the Alternative Medicine from the East so Popular?

Chinese Medicine is over 3,000 years old.

In the ancient times, in China, interested people in the various tribes and cultures, through observation, noted the healing effects of various elements in nature on the human body. Somewhere around year 90BC this knowledge was then brought together to standardize and systematize the scattered and seemingly confusing information.

In Chinese medicine a medical problem is considered a symptom rather than a disease. The emphasis is on curing the cause and not the symptom of the disease. So no cause means no disease.

It is based on the Chi (the balance of circulating energy in the body), Yin-Yang (the complementary and opposite forces that make up the life force) and the Theory of Five Elements (wind, fire, earth, metal and water), which emphasize the relationship between the human body and its natural environment and its inter-dependence.

The conviction is that all the elements in nature are forever changing and influence the human body and their inter-dependence. And all these elements exist in cosmic balance dictated by the laws of nature.

The disease of the body cannot be treated alone; the mind has to be treated as well. A balance exists between the influences of the body and mind on each other. A sick body can make the mind sick and conversely a sick mind can make a body sick.

The knowledge and technique of traditional Chinese medicine was unknown until the early 17th century when missionaries came to China. They then brought to the Western world translations of the Chinese medicine test books on techniques and methods of natural healing. Interestingly Western medicine practice was first introduced into China soon after.





Not all ancient text, however, has been translated into Western languages so the practice of traditional Chinese medicine is limited to a few practitioners who can read ancient Chinese text. Something to keep in mind when deciding to consult a Chinese Medicine practitioner.

When you walk into the practitioner's room with stomachache, he will not just examine that one problem. He will attempt to determine the cause and thus the imbalance in the body that is causing the stomachache and be able to bring harmony back to the body.

Even before you have mentioned your problem, the practitioner would have completed part of his investigation by observing the posture, the color of the skin, the state of the eye, the body odor, etc.

The practitioner will then continue the inquiry by asking relevant questions and touching the pulse, etc. So he completes the four form of inquiry for the correct diagnosis of the problem,

1. Looking,
2. Listening & Smelling,
3. Asking and
4. Touching.

Traditional Chinese medicine these days is practiced all over the world and the herbs used in the healing do not only come from China, for example cinnamon from India, cloves from Vietnam and Ginseng which is grown locally in Wisconsin.
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Reviews of Chinese Medicinal Approaches

China is a country thousands of years old. The history of Chinese medicinal approaches is nearly as long and definitely interesting.

Traditional Chinese Medicine had its earliest beginning over five thousand years ago. This date is most likely in error as the true origins began even before this as the very first humans to live in the area of what is now China began to discover herbal cures for ailments. The accumulated knowledge of centuries was handed down from generation to generation in a verbal form. It was during the reign of the famous Yellow Emperor between 2698 B.C. and 2596 B.C. that the first written record was made.




This document was called the Neijing Suwen, or "Basic Questions of Internal Medicine." The Neijing Suwen was lost for centuries after this time. From time to time, as the dynasties of China changed, a reference was made to this lost ancient work. Eventually, copies of it were claimed to have been discovered. This edited version may or may not have been actual copies of the original, but regardless, the traditional methods continued to be passed on in a verbal manner as had always been happening in China.

This body of knowledge and philosophy was known as Classical Chinese Medicine or CCM. It was a very complete and organized system that differed very much from traditional Western Medicine. It was much more grounded in a spiritual and philosophical base. The use of acupuncture, massage, and herbal folk medicines all became established methods of treatment and prevention of disease. The final revised version of the Neijing Suwen appeared around the 11th century AD.

When the Nationalist Government took over China at the end of the 19th century, they decided to abandon and even outlaw Classical Chinese Medicine in favor of the more Western and accepted scientific systems that were being developed in the Industrial powers of the time. This decision was based on a fear of being left behind in scientific knowledge. It can be seen as a concession to the idea that if a Nation could build bigger ships and cannons, it must have a superior medical system. However, the belief in and practice of CCM never faltered in rural China despite people being prosecuted for adhering to it.

When the Communist Government took over China, they continued the ban on CCM. Their main objection was the spiritual and religious implications and connection. The need to provide less expensive medical treatment to the masses in rural China eventually called for a rethinking of this stance. In the 1960's, Mao Zedong finally relented and commissioned a group of the top ten doctors in China to reexamine CCM and create a standard for its practice and application. This standard is what is referred to today as Traditional Chinese Medicine.

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