1.14 Handle with Care

The Chinese people are justly proud of their food, martial arts and traditional medicine, regarding them as China’s national treasure. Millions overseas enjoy Chinese martial arts for physical fitness as well as self-defense. But as far as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is concerned, many have heard of it, but few put it to the test.

The Huang Di Internal Canon written in the 2^nd century BC is to the Chinese what Hippocrates and his theories are for Europeans. It is the first written account of what is now known as traditional Chinese medicine. It coins the contemporary observation that it is better to stay healthy than fall ill in the words: “A wise man cures a disease before it becomes apparent and puts his organs in order before they fall into disrepair. Taking medicine after illness strikes and attempting to regulate health that it is in an abnormal state is like digging a well when thirsty or making weapons when a battle has already begun”. 

The achievements of ancient Chinese scientists are undeniably impressive. The principles of blood circulation were first ascribed to 16^th and 17^th century Europeans, but to second century BC Chinese physicians, circulation was as fundamental as the movement of the vital energy qi. As to the concept of bio-rhythms that didn’t emerge in the West till 1960-s, in ancient China the humblest of doctors know the significance of a patient’s “inner clock” when making diagnoses and prescribing treatments, also that asthma attacks are most serious at night when corticoid hormone secretion is lowest. The Chinese may also claim to be pioneers of endocrinology, as it was in the second century BC that they began to extract steroids from urine for treatment of diseases, a process that was not discovered in Europe until 2,200 years later. Yet more proof of ancient Chinese medical prowess can be found in seventh century medical books, and the first description of the symptoms of diabetes. It was in 10^th century China, as compared to 18^th century Europe, that smallpox vaccination was discovered.

Chinese and Western medicine work on entirely different principles. As a medical student friend once told me: “The only way to understand TCM is to disregard any Western medicine”. Ancient Chinese medics paid scant attention to anatomy and had immense reservation about surgical operations. This stemmed from a different approach to healing. They regarded the human body as a mass of energy rather than a physical object, and believed health and longevity to be the products of daily renovation. 

Chinese are above all convinced that good health depends upon the balance and harmony of each organ’s yin and yang, and that their imbalance brings disease. Balance may be relative but imbalance is absolute, which is why humans are generally in a state of in-between. Chinese medicine works on holistic principles rather than treating discrete organs or areas, and is prescribed in order to maintain yin/yang equilibrium.

Working on these principles, Chinese doctors can more successfully treat certain diseases than European physicians, in particular kidney ailments and central nervous system disorders. A major advantage of TCM is that the herbal medicine it prescribes has few side effects.

European and American experts say that the main reason TCM has yet to achieve official recognition overseas is that there are no records of scientific experimentation to corroborate its effectiveness. To this charge, Chinese doctors say: “Yes, we have never conducted experiments on mice or other animals, but during our 4,000 years of practicing TCM millions of people have been cured and had the quality of their lives improved. This seems to us ample experimental data”. Such logical proof of the reliability and efficiency of TCM is impossible to refute.

Chinese practitioners of TCM believe that diseases and disorders are caused by six pathogenic factors, one of which, wind, is present in other five: cold, heat, dampness and summer sultriness. The negative impact of wind is apparent in chills that damage the vital energy qi, as coldness causes muscular spasms and upsets qi circulation. Dampness is at the root of headaches and dizziness, and dryness exhausts bodily fluids and is particularly bad for the lungs.

According to TCM doctors, the key factor to keeping and maintaining health is good spirits. Excessive emotions, desires and passions – both negative and positive – harm the health. Tradition prescribes avoidance of the seven emotions of joy, fear, depression, anxiety, sorrow, anger and fright. Depression and anger are bad for the liver, and anxiety and sorrow do harm to the spleen.

Good eating habits are regarded as main source of qi, and in these terms people nowadays eat excessively and their diet is unbalanced. The Chinese also believe that illness is the result of working too hard, taking insufficient rest and doing no exercise. To them, living this way is like spending more than you earn rather than putting a little away for a rainy day.

Different methods of medical treatment have developed in China over millennia. Rural physicians have always paid great attention to the healing power of plants, minerals and substances of animal origin. Chinese pharmacology probably encompasses the world’s most comprehensive range of drugs. Looking inside an average medicine store, dried snakes, seahorses, scorpions and powdered antler immediately spring to view, as well as prosaic pills, powders and tablets. 

Another approach is one of influencing an organism’s vital points, better known as acupuncture. This was first mentioned in medical books of the Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) and has long since been perfected. There are 12 types of needle manipulation that work on the principle of stimulating or suppressing the function of a specific organ.

There is no modern scientific explanation why acupuncture is so effective, only the TCM principle that needles applied to specific points correspond to certain organs and connect the energy meridians through which qi moves.  A needle can block the stream of meridian energy, but exactly how is unclear.  

Traditional Chinese medicine still has many unexplained areas. It is said that TCM can work miracles, but in these rational times not miracles but detailed explanations are required. This is a tall order for TCM, as in many cases Chinese practitioners themselves cannot give precise analyses of how or why their treatment and remedies works.

But then, is it really that important for a sick person to know how he or she recovers from an ailment? To my mind, most important is that traditional Chinese medicine has healed people for centuries. Isn’t this the main aim of medical doctors the world over? 

Book “Chinese Customs and Wisdoms” (translated into English by the author) was published in Beijing in 2007 by the Foreign Language Press