Traditional Chinese Medicine, commonly abbreviated TCM, is a range of traditional medical practises originating in China. The practises range from dietary therapy and herbal remedies to masage like shitatsu and Tui na and acupuncture. 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). TCM can find a lot of its roots in general ideas from the Taoistic and Buddhistic religions.
One of the most important sources of about traditional Chinese medicine is a 2000 year old book calledShen 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 be effective against a long row of different illnesses and have few if any side effects.
- 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. Different treatments can contain anything from 1 to 25 different herbs that together give the concoctions the desired properties.
While some part of traditional Chinese medicine is very well known to westerners such as thai chi and acupuncture thre are other practices that are still rather unknown outside China such as the Zang Fu organ. To put it simple, the Zang Fu organ theory describes the functions of the organs in the human body and the interactions that occur between them. The Zang Fu theori and the theory of Jing andjang are closely linked together and some organs are linked to Jing and Jang.
Kidneys, spleen, lungs, heart, pericardium and liver are all considered zang (i.e. yin) organs, while the large and small intestine, gall bladder, stomach, urinary bladder and gall bladder are considered fu (i.e. yang) organs. The San Jiao organ is also on the fu list, but this is said to be a primarily energetic organ and does not have a physical component.
Each of the organs mentioned above have a corresponding organ, except the pericardium and san jiao. Each zang organ is paired up with a fu organ, and each pair is assigned to one of the five Wu Xing phases. The heart and the small intestine is assigned to fire, spleen and stomach to earth, liver and gallbladder to wood, lung and large intestine to metal, and kidney and urinary bladder to water.
