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Chinese Medicine
Until very recently little information was available regarding the practice of medicine that existed in China before the writing of the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic (Huang di nei jing), compiled by unknown authors between 200 BC and 10 A.D, it is the oldest major Chinese medical text. Health and illness are described as natural phenomena subject to investigation and observation. Natural Law operates upon the Cosmos, the human body, and the connection between them. In the Inner Classic the theories of elemental, humoral and energetic forces are the basis for understanding what is observed clinically. Therapeutic modalities discussed include herbs, acupuncture, diet and exercise.
Beginning’s : Shamanistic Medicine
Scattered evidence demonstrates that at the dawn of Chinese history before the second Millennium B.C. Chinese medicine was very different from that described in the Inner Classic. The primary health care providers were Shamans many of whom where women.
By the later Han dynasty ( 25 – 220 A.D ) when most of the Inner Classic had been compiled, medicine had changed. People believed in their ability to observe and understand the natural world, and that health and disease were subject to the principle of natural order. It followed that the practice of medicine should be based on these principles. The Universe is composed of various forces, the complementary opposites of Yin and Yang and the five phases. The human microcosm is a miniature of these forces. There are rules and relationships in nature that have Universal validity. The practice of medicine is the application of the knowledge of these rules, to the treatment of disease and the promotion of health.
The traditional Chinese Materia Medica, have been increasing in number throughout the last two thousand years. This increase has resulted from the integration of substances into the official tradition from both China’s folk medicine as well as from other parts of the world. Many substances now used in traditional Chinese medicine originate in places such as South East Asia, India, the Middle East, and the Americas.
The first Major Materia Medica contained 854 entries and was the official pharmacopoeia of the Tang dynasty ( 659 A.D. ) and was China’s first illustrated Materia Medica.
China’s most celebrated herbal book was printed in 1596 A.D. It includes 1,892 substances 1,173 from plants, 444 from animals, and 275 minerals. Many of the substances described in these books came from the folk tradition. In 1949 the communist party of China encouraged the use of Chinese herbs as a cost effective alternative to western drugs and a tool of self – reliance. Chinese herbs were plentiful and locally available while modern pharmaceuticals were both difficult to obtain and expensive.
Since the early nineteenth century attempts have been made to understand the actions and properties of traditional Chinese medicinal substances through scientific research. The vast majority of this work was conducted primarily in laboratories in China, Korea, Japan, Russia and Germany.
Herbs of all types including those from China are composed of a multitude of interactions and are exceedingly complex. A high level of sophistication of research methodology is necessary to describe the interaction between the human body and substances as those used in Chinese medicine.
Our ancestors recognised their dependence upon nature in both health and illness, led by instinct, taste and experience. Primitive men and women used plants, animal parts, and minerals that were not part of their usual diet. People in widely separated parts of the world recognise the most fatal poisons in their environment, they have also learned how to tame poisonous substances and use them successfully for treating disease.
Actual physical evidence of human beings using herbal remedies goes back some 60,000 years to a burial site of Neanderthal man, uncovered in 1960’s. Analysis of the soil surrounding human bones revealed a quantity of plant pollens. Someone has consciously gathered eight species of plants to surround the dead, several of these are medicinal plants still used today.
I have talked about Yin and Yang previously but in Chinese medicine Yin and Yang provide the intellectual framework of much of Chinese scientific thinking especially in fields like biology and medicine. The organs of the body were seen to be interrelated in the same sorts of ways as other natural phenomena, and best understood by looking for correlations and correspondences. Illness was seen as a disturbance in the balance of Yin and Yang or the five agents caused by emotions, heat or cold, or other influences. Therapy thus depended on accurate diagnosis of the source on imbalance.
The principle of Yin and Yang is said to be the foundation of the entire universe. It underlies everything in creation. It brings about the development of parenthood; it is the root and source of life and death. In order to treat and cure disease one must search for their origins.
Earth was created by the concentration of Yin, the forces of darkness. Yang stands for peace and serenity; Yin stands for confusion and turmoil. Yang stands for destruction; Yin stands for conversation. Yang brings about disintegration; Yin gives shape to things.
The pure and lucid element of light is manifested in the upper artifices and the turbid element of darkness is manifested in the lower orifices. Yang the element of light, originates in the pores. Yin the element of darkness moves within the five viscera. Water is an embodiment of Yin as fire is an embodiment of Yang. Yang creates the air, while Yin creates the senses which belong to the physical body. When the physical body dies, the spirit is restored to the air, its natural environment. The spirit receives its nourishment through the air, and the body receives its nourishment through the senses.
If Yang is over powerful, then Yin may be too weak and if Yin is particularly strong, Yang is apt to be defective. If the male force is overwhelming, there will be excessive heat, if the female force is overwhelming, there will be excessive cold. Exposure to repeated and severe heat will induce chills. Cold injures the body while heat injures the spirit, and when the spirit is hurt, severe pain will ensue. When the body is hurt, there will be swelling. Thus, when severe pain occurs first and swelling comes later, one may infer that a disharmony in the spirit has done harm to the body. Likewise when swelling appears first and severe pain is felt later, one can say that a dysfunction in the body has injured the spirit.
Nature has four seasons and five elements. To grant long life, these seasons and elements must store up the power of creation in cold, heat, dryness, moisture and wind. Man has five viscera in which these five climates are transformed into joy, anger, sympathy, grief and fear. The emotions of joy and anger are injurious to the spirit just as cold and heat can be injurious to the body. Violent anger depletes Yin; violent joy depletes Yang. When joy and anger are without moderation, then cold and heat exceed all measure and life is no longer secure. Yin and Yang should be respected to an equal extent.
Despite the growing interest in Chinese medicine, even in our times, ancient Chinese medical writings with a few exceptions, are still not available in any of the main European languages. The range of specialists who could make serious and reliable research into Chinese medicine is limited to a few people who are able to read the original text.
all copyright belongs to Lynne Wheatman, Natural-Homeopathy
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