中医-Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).docVIP

/ Introduction to TCM With a history of 2000 to 3000 years, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has formed a unique system to diagnose and cure illness. The TCM approach is fundamentally different from that of Western medicine. In TCM, the understanding of the human body is based on the holistic（整体的） understanding of the universe as described in Daoism, and the treatment of illness is based primarily on the diagnosis and differentiation of syndromes（综合症）. The TCM approach treats zang--fu organs as the core of the human body. Tissue（组织） and organs are connected through a network of channels and blood vessels inside human body. Qi (or Chi) acts as some kind of carrier of information that is expressed externally through jingluo system. Pathologically（病理上）, a dysfunction（功能失调） of the zang-fu organs may be reflected on the body surface through the network, and meanwhile, diseases of body surface tissues may also affect their related zang or fu organs. Affected zang or fu organs may also influence each other through internal connections. Traditional Chinese medicine treatment starts with the analysis of the entire system, then focuses on the correction of pathological changes（病变） through readjusting the functions of the zang-fu organs. Evaluation of a syndrome not only includes the cause, mechanism（原理）, location, and nature of the disease, but also the confrontation between the pathogenic（致病的） factor and body resistance. Treatment is not based only on the symptoms, but differentiation of syndromes. Therefore, those with an identical disease may be treated in different ways, and on the other hand, different diseases may result in the same syndrome and are treated in similar ways. The clinical diagnosis（临床诊断） and treatment in Traditional Chinese Medicine are mainly based on the yin-yang and five elements theories. These theories apply the phenomena and laws of nature to the study of the physiological activities（生理活性） and pathological changes of the human body and its inte