中医药英语

Basic Characteristics of TCM

TCM has many characteristics both in the understanding of the human body’s physiology and pathology and in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. These characteristics, however, can be summarized in the following two aspects
• In the course of using stone implements as tools of production, they noted, by change, that the pain in one part of the body would be alleviated when some other part was pricked. Then treatment with bian shi （stone needles） and bone needles came into being. This gradually resulted in acupuncture therapy. Afterwards the therapy of channels was born.
Origin of Traditional Chinese Medicine
• Traditional Chinese Medicine （TCM） has a long history. In remote antiquity, our ancestors created primitive medicine during their struggles against nature. While searching for food they found that some foods had the specific property of relieving or eliminating certain diseases. That was the beginning of finding and using herbal medicines.
• The theories of TCM come mainly from practice and have been continually enriched and expanded through practice
Huangdi Neijing 黄帝内经
Shennong Bencaojing 神农本草经 黃帝像
• While warming themselves around a fire they discovered that the way of local warming with hot stone or earth wrapped in bark or animal skin would relieve or eliminate certain symptoms of diseases. They practiced and improved this method repeatedly and then gradually brought into being the thess and moxibustion.

1. The Concept of the Organism as a Whole By “organic whole” we mean entirety and unity. TCM attaches great importance to the unity of the human body itself and its relationship with nature, and holds that the human body itself is an organic whole and has very close and inseparable relations with the external natural surroundings. The concept of emphasizing the unity within the body and the unified relations between the body and the outside world is known as that of an organic whole.
Conclusion
• TCM is a system of diagnosis and healthcare approaches that has evolved over the last 3，000 years. • TCM, as an integrated system of science, is composed of the following parts : basic theories, diagnostics, Chinese material medicine and prescriptions, clinical subjects, and life cultivation.

a） The Unity within the Body b） The Unity between the Human Body and Nature c） The Guiding Function of the Concept of the Organism as a Whole


2. Diagnosis and Treatment Based on an Overall Analysis of Signs and Symptoms