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Until 1827, Western medicine did not reach China, so from its origins and until that time, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) was the only modality of medical practice that was used in most of the Asian continent.
This very long period of exclusivity provided this medicine with a clinical casuistry that has allowed it to forge a theoretical model based entirely on the experience accumulated over thousands of years.
For Chinese medicine, understanding a disease involves grasping the relationship between all the patient's signs and symptoms. Therefore, the Chinese method is holistic and is based on the idea that the parts cannot be understood except in relation to the whole.
If a person has a symptom, Chinese medicine tries to figure out how that symptom fits into the patient's overall scheme. It has a highly developed diagnostic system that is based on four phases:
It is important to note that the Chinese diagnosis is not based on cutting-edge technology but on the human qualities of the therapist. Without denying the interest of certain modern examinations, a well-trained Chinese medicine professional can, for example, through taking the radial pulse, detect certain imbalances long before they can be detectable by other means.
TCM is also constituted by an extremely developed and perfected therapeutic system that has made this medical art famous throughout the world.
It is based on four fundamental pillars:
In ancient times, men lived according to the tao, the Principle. They observed the law of Yang and Yin, they were sober, they lived a regular and simple life. For this reason, healthy in body and spirit, they could live up to a hundred years. They were words addressed to Emperor Hoang-Ti by his minister Ji Pa.
"Everything is summarized in the word tao. The struggle in man between yang and yin is the tao of his life. The weaving of spirits in the universe is the tao of nature. The world has tao, because it has compass, rhythm, periodicity. The world has li (tension) because we know it and extract from it fixed relations for remote application. Time, fate, direction, race, history, all this contemplated with the great cosmic image of the first Chu era, all that is contained in the great word." (Oswald Spengler, historian and philosopher).
Chinese medicine is closely linked to its beautiful philosophy. Confucius encouraged man to achieve maximum wisdom not for his own benefit, but for the community, which is further reinforced by the doctrine of Mo-tsen that preaches universal love.
We owe Chinese culture the discovery of rhubarb, which was used to correct constipation, and opium with which it relieved pain. The great contribution to medicine was acupuncture.
The custom of boiling water to prepare tea and cooking vegetables meant that they did not suffer from the epidemics that plagued Europe for many centuries. (Chen-Nong and the Pen-ts'ao.)
The father of Chinese medicine was Chen Nong (27th century BC). He discovered the healing virtues of plants. He taught the people the art of agriculture which earned him the title of "divine farmer." Tradition says that he tried sixty poisons in one day without his health being affected. He also cared for the art of herbalism and medicine.
He is credited with having written the first Pen-ts'ao, or medical treatise that appeared in the world, in which he talks about medicinal plants and acupuncture. It contained three chapters and 365 drugs were described.
Immortality could be achieved through religious practices or through material means. In the 4th century BC. C., a researcher discovered alchemy who found in Taoism a means of dissemination and religious support.
The pills of immortality were prepared with powders of: Atratylis ovata, Acorus calamus, Rhemannia chinensis, gold, mercury, jade, sulfur, cinnabar, orpiment, quartz, lead.
These pills ensured rejuvenation, intellectual clarity, insensitivity to cold, night vision, psychic strength and a life of more than 100 years.
We also find this idea of immortality in the Hindus who took "the soma"; the Persians, "the naoma" and the Tibetans, "the pills of immortality."
In the Pen-ts'ao of the year 168 AD, ephedrine is described and later gin-seng, rhubarb, aloes, jusquiana. In 1178 the first scientific monograph on the species of the citrus genus (lemons and oranges) appears, written by Jin-Lou.
In the 16th century Li-Chi-Tschen codified all Chinese medical knowledge, describing 1,892 drugs, in 52 chapters. It is the Pen-ts’ao-mou that is still consulted today.
He divides medicinal plants into several groups: mountain plants (higher and lower class); aromatic plants; plants of humid soils (upper and lower); poisonous plants; climbing plants; aquatic plants; saxicolous plants that grow in association with rocks, mushrooms; algae, lichens and mosses; grain; legumes; fruits; trees.
The immobility of thought is striking in the history of China. The Chinese mentality is inspired by the philosophy of Confucius: "Cultivate the same field that your father cultivated, perform the same ceremonies, perform the same music, love your loved ones."
Acupuncture is also based on the philosophy of Confucius, which involves the human body being traversed by twelve channels that begin in the fingers and toes, through which two vital fluids circulate, one positive (yang) and the other negative (yin). ). There are 365 points known through which these channels can pass and where acupuncture can be practiced.
Just as the harmony of the universe is achieved thanks to the balance between yin and yang, this balance also preserves the health of the body, in such a way that when it moves in one direction or another, illness occurs and it is due to the hole produced. through the needle through which excess yin or yang can escape.
