Running head: Introduction to Chinese Medicine 1

Introduction to Chinese Medicine

James Shaffer Tien

12/04/2018
Introduction to Chinese Medicine 2

Medicine in the modern Western world is primarily dominated by the world view of materialism.

Materialism proposes that matter is the most fundamental substance composing living organisms, and

all scientific discovery is rooted in knowing the unchanging properties of matter, theories are validated

by repeatability and objectivity, meaning the same result can be reproduced under the same conditions

for a majority of sampled individuals, compared against placebos in double blind studies, meaning two

groups will be given a medicine and a fake, neither group knowing which they received, and the results

will show the efficacy of something against the fake. The medicine that has developed from this world

view is based in neurochemistry and biochemistry. Western drugs are primarily single molecules that

key in to a specific site in the body and alter its functioning. Pharmaceuticals are meant to have nearly

the same effect in every persons body. The precision of this system allows for a never before seen level

of control of known pathways and interactions. On the negative side however, changing of the body

systems exogenously often effects more than what was intended, resulting in side effects which are

mitigated with further prescriptions. For example, someone takes Alprazolam (Xanax) to control their

anxiety, when the drug causes them to be tired they are given another prescription for a stimulant like

Amphetamine (Adderall). The further induced side effects than demand more pharmaceutical

tampering, in a self-perpetuating loop. Alternative medicine is a field that is rapidly resurfacing

mutually with spirituality, self-awareness, meditation, and holistic views of nature. Ways of seeing the

world integrated with vitality are becoming increasingly popular. In many ways these world views are

filling in the blanks left by materialism, without trying to remove all the mystery of being in the same

way as materialism, the role of the unobservable and the subtle is still significant. Among these

Alternative medicines are the ancient methods of Tibetan Medicine, Ayurveda, and Chinese Medicine.

What sets many Alternative medicines apart from materialist theories is a stance of non-intervention.

That less assistance is required to reestablish harmonious health. In this paper Chinese Medicine theory,

applications, and uses will be presented for readers of any level of exposure.
Introduction to Chinese Medicine 3

Chinese Medicine describes the overall state of a person's health as Qi. Healthy Qi shows up in the

quality of the skin, efficiency of work, radiance in the eyes, and the overall integration of a person. Qi

also unites humans with heaven and earth, heaven being all things pertaining to the sky, weather and

seasons, and times of day, and earth as the conditions on the ground, in the cities, landscapes, and

current world affairs. True health comes from a holistic integration of the human with their macrocosm

and current environment. In Chinese Medicine, a human being is a mixture of the everlasting nature of

Heaven (i.e. laws of physics, astral movements, space, energy) and Earth (location, climate, society,

time of birth). All people are a mix of the eternal, and the temporal. Things are observed by the mutual

interaction of the Yin Yang, also known as the Tai Ji (Supreme Polarity). Contrast is the causal basis for

apparent existences. “Although Yin and Yang can be distinguished, they cannot be separated. They

depend on each other for definition... For instance, one cannot speak of temperature apart from its Yin

and Yang aspects, cold and heat. Similarly, one could not speak of height unless there were both

tallness and shortness.” (Kaptchuk, 2000, pg. 10). Yang corresponds to the Male, Heat, Heaven, and the

active principle, Yin corresponds to the Female, Cold, Earth, and the receptive principle. If something

is cooked, heat is added to it which is Yang, the ability of that substance to be heated, hold in the heat,

and the rate at which it disperses it again is Yin. The surrounding temperature will effect this rate,

adding in another Yin Yang interaction. From this interaction of the two comes a third property which is

the phenomenon emerging in-between. In Chinese Medicine the patient and doctor are one such

occurrence. From the three, another dynamic offset occurs causing a four and five to emerge. The Four

is greater yang, lesser yang, greater yin, and lesser yin, these are the two dots combined with the two

halves in the Yin Yang diagram (Tai ji tu). Together with a central balance, the Five Elements (Wu

Xing, or Five Phases) exists. It is the Five Elements which rule over the officials, the organs in Chinese

Medicine, as well as the four seasons and the balance between them. Within each official the pathology

of the whole is being expressed, and changing the system upstream and downstream. These officials are
Introduction to Chinese Medicine 4

not anatomical structures, but aggregates of physiological functions tied to a common source or theme,

although they are given the names of the western structures, they are not the same. (Worsley, 1998, pg.

ii). The Five elements in their generating order are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, as the seasons

go in the order of Spring, Summer, Indian Summer, Fall, and Winter (2000, pg. 437).

There is a spirit which is acknowledged in Chinese Medicine known as Shen. The health of

Shen is seen in a brightness of complexion, strong autonomous agency, illuminated consciousness,

equanimity, and warmth and happiness of character. The great Shen is in contact with the little Shen

which lives in person's heart (2000, pg. 64). A clear seeing Shen alone has the power to change health.

It is called Shenming, or The Divine Penetrating Illumination. This corrective insight from an

experienced physician sets changes into motion towards harmony. It is likely this mechanism is behind

the relief some people feel simply from visiting a doctor, therapist, or wellness practitioner or even just

inquiring with one of them. Shenming sees the totality of the person like a work of art in progress,

unique and beautiful in its own right, rather than from the egoic standpoint and its critical burdens that

a person commonly experiences themselves from (2000, pg. 285). There is a fractal principle, each part

of the patient is a microcosm of the whole experience.

Chinese Medicine was first conceived in the Shang Dynasty, the oldest dynasty of China. The

first acupuncture needles were wider and made of stone. Herbalism is attributed to the legendary

Divine Farmer, Shen Nong, who is said to have poisoned and cured himself many times, using himself

as the guinea pig to test all of the herbs he could find. The basis of acupuncture, Yin-yang, and five

elements theory in medicine is attributed to Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor is

also said to have unified the barbarian tribes of China, and become the ancestor of all modern Han

people. His conversations with the physician Qi Bo were later compiled into the Huangdi Neijing used

today in the Warring States period (n.d, Jin Huai). One of the oldest forms of Chinese medicine

believed that the disrespected ancestors or other supernatural beings were the source of illness. Chinese
Introduction to Chinese Medicine 5

medicine is thus linked to Shamanism and spiritual practice. “The sages utilized a method called zhu

you, prayer, ceremony, and shamanism, which healed all conditions. Today however, when doctors

treat a patient, they use herbs to treat the internal aspect and acupuncture to treat the exterior.” (Ni,

1995, pg. 50).

Along with the methods of acupuncture and herbalism for healing, personal responsibility for

health is an important observance as the best medicine is prevention. Such things as following the

seasons, correct diet, sleep, and moderation of indulgence. There is a balance to be maintained between

letting go and allowing, and restricting. As the seasons and the organs are patterned on the Five

Elements, the relationships must be complimentary and harmonious. As the next organ in the cycle

pulls from the one before it, over use of one part of the cycle creates deficiencies elsewhere, making a

weak point for pathogens to invade (1995, pgs. 5-7). The pathogenic influences come in six different

varieties, with an endless number of complex combinations. These influences are known as damp, dry,

hot, cold, wind, and summer heat. As these influences are each patterned after the Five Elements, the

corresponding organ in the cycle has a sensitivity to one of these external pernicious influence (1995,

pg. 19). As these factors arise out of Yin and Yang, readjusting the persons Yin and Yang accordingly

restores harmony. Readjustment can occur through the use of lifestyle changes, herbs, acupuncture or

some combination of both. In using lifestyle changes one corrects the way of living to be more in

accordance with their own constitution, the time of year and the age of the patient. Herbs work by

increasing or decreasing aspects of the individual which have gone out of balance. Acupuncture works

by adjusting the pulse of Qi at a specific point on an organ's meridian or channel. By observing the

nature of the patient in accordance with the factors of Heaven and Earth, a doctor effects a network of

changes restoring order to the kingdom. “All methods of acupuncture must be in accordance with the

movements of the four seasons, the moon, the sun, and the stars.” (1995, pg. 100-103). The doctor

themselves must be healthy and in balance in order to know the correct methods to use. They use their
Introduction to Chinese Medicine 6

own constitution as a mirror to reveal what the patient needs. A lot of the medicine relies on personal

experience and wisdom the doctor has cultivated regarding the changes of heaven and earth and the

changes effecting the patient. The end game is to restore balance and have the patient maintain it

themselves, symptoms are not the focus of treatment, only the complete holistic functioning of the

patient (2000, pg. 77). The interventions of herbs and acupuncture are not completely safe and to be

used haphazardly. Over use or misuse can cause further Yin and Yang imbalances, not too unlike

dependency arising from pharmaceuticals.

Although the model of Chinese Medicine is different from Western Medicine, Western

medicinal proofs have emerged following Chinese medicinal treatments. An explanation of the way

they worked has not yet occurred, in other words the veil between the systems is not bridged, despite

evidence proving the treatment successful (2000, pg. 21). One of the source texts (The Web That Has

No Weaver) for many of the ideas found in this paper contains a number of examples.

The ancient Chinese Medicine is a mystery still in need of exploration. In investigating it on

western terms it is important not to loose its essence, the Yin Yang, and its context in a world different

from our own. Whether or not the meridians, Qi, and the Five Elements actually exist in a Western

material context is less important than the function they perform in the goal of the medicine. An

experienced doctor uses these concepts as his eyes to look into the patients inner and outer world,

performing the necessary balancing acts, and making the treatment stick. The modernized TCM comes

out of a post-communist China, where many concepts that blended with the esoteric and mystical were

systematized in a way that it could be transmitted in a textbook fashion. In some cases losing the

holistic aspect and catering of the medicine to the individual with a style which resembled prescription

based on symptoms. However, packaging in this way still cannot deny the Yin Yang and Five Elements

theory, leaving open the door for the earnest student to seek deeper into the mystery and resurrect the

lost spirit. As our old conceptions of science are breaking down in favor of charged particles and
Introduction to Chinese Medicine 7

waves, fermions and bosons, and the quantum effects of temperature on matter, a marriage of the

opposites is being born. Reality is not what it seems to be, and the effect of the subject/observers life on

the natural system may be regarded as more important than it was in the past in Western science. It is

my intent that the reader of this paper investigate the medicine for themselves, ask questions, and dare

to venture into the uncertain.

References

1. Jin-Huai, W. (n.d.). Historical Timeline of Chinese Medicine. Retrieved from

http://www.traditionalstudies.org/historical-timeline-of-chinese-medicine/

2. Kaptchuk, T. J., & Kaptchuk, T. J. (2008). The web that has no weaver: Understanding Chinese

medicine. New York: McGraw-Hill. (pgs. 10, 21, 64, 77, 285, 437)

3. Ni, M. (1995). Yellow Emperors Classic of Medicine. Shambhala. (pgs. 5-7, 19, 50, 100-103)

4. Worsley, J. R. (1998). Classical five-element acupuncture: Vol III: The Five Elements and The

Officials. Place of publication not identified: J.R. and J.B. Worsley

For more on Chinese Medicine please check out the authors works:

http://www.daoholisticwellness.com

The Five Elements

The Six Pernicious Influences