An employee of a traditional Chinese medicine drugstore is weighing medical herbs that are stored in a set of baizi gui (Chinese medicine cabinets) to make up prescriptions. Photo: TODAY MORNING EXPRESS

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Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an old system of medicine that has developed for thousands of years, independent of Western science and medicine. It is based on a complex theoretical system. This article aims to provide a deeper understanding of TCM by observing some of its main characteristics.

 

Prevention better than cure
According to the earliest extant medical canon in China, the Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine), TCM attaches much importance to the prevention of diseases. This is a basic theory that underlines the theoretical study and clinical practice of TCM. “The sages usually pay less attention to the treatment of a disease, but more to the prevention of it. To resort to treatment when a disease has already occurred and to resort to regulation when a disorder has already been caused is just like to dig a well [when one feels] thirsty and to make weapons when a war has already broken out. It is certainly too late!” (trans. Li Zhaoguo)

TCM believes that the root causes of a disease exist in the human body before the symptoms appear. Therefore, uncovering and eliminating the potential causes of a disease is an important step in practicing TCM. It coincides with its fundamental idea that during the process of clinical diagnosis, a treatment should be prescribed to alleviate the root cause of a particular illness instead of its symptoms. Based on these beliefs, TCM has done a lot in the study of prevention of illness, a big difference from Western medicine.

 

Balance
Chinese medicine views the body as a system in dynamic balance. As the Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine goes, “The sages in ancient times who knew the Dao (the tenets for cultivating health) followed [the rules of] Yin and Yang and adjusted Shushu (the ways to cultivate health). [They were] moderate in eating and drinking, regular in working and resting, avoiding any overstrain. That is why [they could maintain a desirable] harmony between the Shen (mind or spirit) and the body, enjoying good health and a long life.” TCM believes that either excessive intake of energy or overuse of energy will lead to a disturbance of inner balance and harm health.

For TCM, the first principle of balance lies in the intake of energy. Though energy is integral to life, TCM disagrees with taking in excess. It is believed that an overload of energy will become a burden for the human body, which forces the body to produce another kind of energy to balance out the redundant energy. The benefit of a sparing diet is often referred to in TCM. Given the much higher standard of living today, people consume a large quantity of food and nutrients, making overeating a worldwide problem. Over consumption of certain nutrients disturbs the delicate balance inside the body. The harm of this has been observed through cases of early puberty among children.

Moderate energy consumption is another principle of balance, which can be interpreted as “avoiding any overstrain” according to the Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine. This principle is associated with a basic idea in Chinese philosophy—Guben Peiyuan. Guben refers to consolidating essence while peiyuan is to cultivate vitality. Consolidating essence is like laying a solid foundation for a building. Excessively burning energy will weaken the foundation, disturb the inner balance of the body and finally cause disease.

According to the classical Chinese belief that the life and activity of an individual human being has an intimate relationship with the environment, for TCM, it is important to maintain the harmony between humans and nature. Since it is almost impossible to separate Chinese ideas of body and life from concepts of nature, changes in nature will affect the human body. So TCM suggests that people should be “regular in working and resting,” or follow the cosmic order—correspondence between microcosm (the body) and macrocosm (the cosmos). For instance, in spring, rising temperature leads to an “expansion” from winter’s “contraction” in the body.

 

The qi (the energy that constitutes and organizes matter and causes growth and change, translated as energy or life force, flows in a regular pattern through a system of channels to all parts of the body) and blood, after a season of rest deep inside the body, come up toward the surface. Skin becomes slack and sweat glands are rejuvenated, making pores “open” to the outside. All these changes may cause dampness and therefore the risk of pathogens in the body, bringing stagnation to the inner system. Therefore, TCM emphasizes the prevention of dampness in spring. Conditions are totally different in autumn. TCM believes that the qi and blood move from the external, expansive nature of spring and summer to the internal, contractive nature of autumn. Light diet and enough water are preferred in this season.

The core principle of prevention is the balance of emotions. TCM believes that emotional well-being is an integral part of health, which, if out of balance, will cause specific symptoms. Long-term mood disorders may cause disease. The idea of striving for balance with emotions in TCM coincides with the Chinese philosophy of self-cultivation, which is also a longevity approach. That is why the Chinese believe that people with a good temper tend to live longer.

 

Treatment
The treatment in TCM is based on a holistic concept, observing the human body as an organic whole with all the component parts being interconnected. They depend on and influence each other physiologically. Each part doesn’t only perform its own individual functions, but also complements other parts and even the entire internal system to perform life activities. The Wu Zang—heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney—act as the core functional units while the Liu Fu—small intestine, large intestine, gallbladder, urinary bladder, stomach and Sanjiao (a system used within the practice of TCM, viewed as the passage of heat and fluid throughout the body)—serve as complementary units. Linked together through the meridian system, a complex set of interrelationships is formed within the body. Therefore, if a patient suffers from a headache, TCM prefers to find its root from the whole body and those interactions within it, rather than looking for specific causes of headache and focusing on treating the head of the patient in particular (as TCM considers the holistic concept as the only way to eradicate headaches because it can restore the inner balance).

Furthermore, TCM views the human body not only as a physical but also a metaphysical whole. In other words, the human body is a dynamic system with qi circulating through the body at all times. It’s impossible to say anything about TCM without talking about qi, which is also an important subject in traditional Chinese culture. TCM considers qi as the foundation of life, which is not only the breath but also the vital energy of life. In traditional Chinese culture, it is the smooth flow of qi that sustains life.

 

Jing-luo
TCM believes that the Jing-luo system is the body’s interior network. The study of Jing-luo tries to explain and identify this network. If the human body is compared to the earth, Jing-luo, or the meridians, are the longitude and latitude. They are invisible channels running within the body, transporting qi and blood to keep the body functioning.

Illness occurs when Jing-luo is blocked. Given a traffic jam, cars may make a detour when the route is blocked, hence affecting the traffic of other routes. Similarly, the block of Jing-luo will disturb inner balance and cause illness. That is why TCM often focuses on clearing out these channels. The most typical medical practices of TCM, acupuncture and tui na (Chinese therapeutic massage), are based on the study of Jing-luo.

 

The article was edited and translated from Insights into Chinese Culture, published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Ye Lang and Zhu Liangzhi are professors at Peking University.

(edited by REN GUANHONG)