Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine is a range of traditional medical practices originating in China that developed over several thousand years. In fact, Traditional Chinese medicine is a modern compilation of traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine practices include theories, diagnosis and treatments such as herbal medicine, massage, acupuncture and moxibustion; often Qigong is also strongly affiliated with Traditional Chinese medicine.
In the West, traditional Chinese medicine is considered alternative medicine. In China, Traditional Chinese medicine is considered an integral part of the health care system. For example, TCM treatments may be prescribed to counter the side effects of chemotherapy, cravings and withdrawal symptoms of drug addicts, and a variety of chronic conditions.
Traditional Chinese medicine theory asserts that processes of the human body are interrelated and in constant interaction with the environment. Signs of disharmony help the Traditional Chinese medicine practitioner to understand, treat and prevent illness and disease.
Traditional Chinese medicine reckons that the human body is a small universe with a set of complete and sophisticated interconnected systems, and that those systems usually work in balance to maintain the healthy function of the human body. The balance of yin and yang is considered with respect to Qi (breath, life force, or spiritual energy), blood, Jing (kidney essence or semen), other bodily fluids, the Five Elements, emotions, and the soul or spirit . Traditional Chinese medicine has a unique model of the body, notably concerned with the meridian system. Unlike the Western anatomical model which divides the physical body into parts, the Chinese model is more concerned with function. Thus, the Traditional Chinese medicine spleen is not a specific piece of flesh, but an aspect of function related to transformation and transportation within the body, and of the mental functions of thinking and studying.
The Concepts of Yin-Yang
The concepts of Yin and Yang originate in ancient Chinese philosophy and metaphysics, which describes two primal opposing but complementary forces found in all things in the universe.
Yin (shady place, north slope of the hill, south bank of the river, cloudy) is the darker element; it is sad, passive, dark, feminine, downward-seeking, and corresponds to the night.
Yang (sunny place, south slope of the hill, north bank of the river, sunshiny) is the brighter element; it is happy, active, light, masculine, upward-seeking and corresponds to the day. Yin is often symbolized by water or earth, while Yang is symbolized by fire or wind.
Yin (receptive, feminine, dark, passive force) and Yang (creative, masculine, bright, active force) are descriptions of complementary opposites rather than absolutes. Any Yin-Yang dichotomy can be seen as its opposite when viewed from another perspective.
The categorization is seen as one of convenience. Most forces in nature can be seen as having Yin and Yang states, and the two are usually in movement rather than held in absolute stasis.
Summary of Yin and Yang Concepts
Everything can be described as both Yin and Yang.
1. Yin and Yang do not exclude each other.
Everything has its opposite although this is never absolute, only relative. No one thing is completely Yin or completely Yang. Each contains the seed of its opposite. For example, winter can turn into summer; “what goes up must come down”.
2. Yin and Yang are interdependent.
One cannot exist without the other. For example, day cannot exist without night. Light cannot exist without darkness.
3. Yin and Yang can be further subdivided into Yin and Yang.
Any Yin or Yang aspect can be further subdivided into Yin and Yang. For example, temperature can be seen as either hot or cold. However, hot can be further divided into warm or burning; cold into cool or icy. Within each spectrum, there is a smaller spectrum; every beginning is a moment in time, and has a beginning and end, just as every hour has a beginning and end.
4. Yin and Yang consume and support each other.
Yin and Yang are usually held in balance-as one increases, the other decreases. However, imbalances can occur. There are four possible imbalances: excess Yin, excess Yang, deficient Yin, and deficient Yang. They can again be seen as a pair: by excess of Yin there is a Yang deficiency and vice versa. The imbalance is also a relative factor: the excess of Yang “forces” Yin to be more “concentrated”.
5. Yin and Yang can transform into one another.
At a particular stage, Yin can transform into Yang and vice versa. For example, night changes into day; warmth to coolness; life to death. However, this transformation is relative too. Night and day coexist on the earth at the same time when shown from space.
6. Part of Yin is in Yang, and part of Yang is in Yin.
The dots in each serve as a reminder that there are always traces of one in the other. For example, there is always light within the dark (e.g., the stars at night); these qualities are never completely one or the other, as a reminder that absolute extreme side transforms instantly into the opposite, or that the labels Yin and Yang are conditioned by an observer’s point of view. For example, the hardest stone is easiest to break. This can show that absolute discrimination between the two is artificial.
the Five Elements
Like the concept of yin and yang, the Five Elements theory is at the cornerstone of Chinese culture. In traditional Chinese philosophy, natural phenomena can be classified into the Five Elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. These elements were used for describing interactions and relationships between phenomena.
The doctrine of the Five Elements (five phases) describes both a generating cycle and an overcoming or restraining cycle of the five phases. In the generating cycle, wood generates fire, fire generates earth (ash), earth generates metal, metal generates water (if metal is left out at night water will have condensed on it by morning), and water generates wood. In the overcoming cycle, wood grows in earth, earth absorbs water, water quenches fire, fire melts metal, and metal cuts wood.
The doctrine of the Five Elements was employed in many fields of early Chinese philosophy, including seemingly disparate fields such as music, traditional Chinese medicine, and military strategy.
Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine rely on the Five Elements theory to explain the relationships between the body organs and tissues, as well as between the body and the outside environment.
Once the Chinese identified the Five Elements, they set about categorizing all phenomena within the five categories. Everything, from a river to sounds to the organs in our bodies, can be described in terms of the Five Elements. How things are characterized depends on their individual qualities. For example, earth is associated with growth and nourishment, so the spleen, which monitors the blood, digesting debris and producing antibodies when necessary, is categorized as an earth element.
Just as an imbalance between Yin and Yang can produce destructive forces, keeping all elements in balance promotes harmony both in our surroundings and ourselves. Of course, balancing the Five Elements is a little more complicated than achieving harmony between two opposing forces. According to Chinese belief, each element acts upon two others, either giving birth to it or controlling it. For example, wood gives birth to fire and controls or suppresses earth. Similarly, fire gives birth to earth and controls metal. All the elements are constantly interacting with other elements-none stand alone.
Adherence to the Five Elements theory can be seen in many facets of Chinese life. As for diet, Chinese herbalists believe that, to properly treat a patient, you must know the state of the Five Elements in their body. A deficiency or an excess of an element can lead to illness.
Meridian System
In traditional Chinese medicine theory, the meridians-channels carry and distribute Qi and blood to all parts of the body, connect the organs, limbs and joints. When this flow of vital energy is disrupted, disease and poor health follow. Acupuncture evolved as a way of keeping channels open and energy flowing. Primary and Secondary Meridians
Meridians, or channels, can be classified into two groups: primary and secondary. Primary meridians are those that pass through internal organs, while the secondary meridians do not. There are 12 pairs of primary meridians flowing in a never-ending circle. These 12 primary meridians are symmetrical on the right and left sides of the body, and they all interconnected with each other.
They are:
Lung Meridian
Colon Meridian
Stomach Meridian
Spleen Meridian
Heart Meridian
Small Intestine Meridian
Urinary Bladder Meridian
Kidney Meridian
Pericardium Meridian
Triple Warmer Meridian
Gall Bladder Meridian
Liver Meridian
Our Qi begins its flow in the lungs, then travels to the large intestine. From there it goes to the stomach, then to the spleen. Next it travels to the heart, then to the small intestine. Next it goes to the urinary bladder and the kidneys. After this it heads toward the pericardium and the Sanjiao (triple warmer). Finally it goes to the gall bladder, then the liver, then back to the lungs where it starts its circular journey again.
For a healthy person, the Qi travels smoothly through each of the organs at a specific time of the day.
