China is a country with an old history and with an old medical history, some of those traditional Chinese medical practices found in the medical history is what we today call Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM as it is often abbreviated. The practises range from dietary therapy and herbal remedies to acupuncture and various types of massage, including Shitatsu and Tui na. The martial art Tau chi chuan is performed for health reason rather than protection and is together with the practice of Qigong associated with TCM.
When studying Traditional Chinese Medicine you will encounter belief systems such as Yin and Yang, the Zang Fu organ hypothesis, Wu Xing (the five phases), and the human body channel system (meridians). Traditional Chinese medicine derives a lot of its basic philosophy from the same general ideas that inform Taoist and Buddhist thought.
An important and impressive source of information about Traditional Chinese Medicine is the 2000 year old bookShen Nong’s Herbal Classic“. It is the worlds oldest book on the topic of Chinese herbal remedies and is divided into three different categories or chapters and contain information on how to use 365 species of animals and plants
- The three chapters all deals with different aspects of medicine and the first one contains information about herbs that can help the body maintain balance and thereby stay healthy. The book claims that these herbal supplements have virtually no undesirable side-effects and are affective against multiple diseases.
- The second chapter of the book contains recipies for different boosters and tonics which can have negative side effects if used during prolonged periods.
- The third category is made up by items that are taken for the treatment of specific ailments only. The herb used in the third chapter should only be used in small doses and can have severe side effects.
Two thousand years after the book was composed, herbal medicine is still considered the primary therapeutic modality of internal medicine by a large part of the Chinese population. Single herbs are often combined with each other to form mixtures consisting of anything from two to over 25 herbs.
Although most westerners have come in contact with Chinese herbs, thai chi and acupuncture, the abovementioned Zang Fu organ hypothesis is much less known outside China. Zang Fu is built around a belief system on how the organs in the body work and how they interact with eachother. The Zang Fu theori and the theory of Jing andjang are closely linked together and some organs are linked to Jing and Jang.
Heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen and pericardium are all zang (i.e. yin) organs, while the stomach, large and small intestine, gall bladder and urinary bladder are fu (i.e. yang) organs. The fu list also contain the San Jiao organ but this organ does not have a physical component and is likely primarely a energetic organ.
Each of the organs mentioned above have a corresponding organ, except the pericardium and san jiao. In this practice the fu and zang organs are paired up with eachother and assigned on of the WU Xing phases. The lung and large intestine to metal, heart and the small intestine is assigned to fire,liver and gallbladder to wood, spleen and stomach to earth,and kidney and urinary bladder to water.
