Traditional Chinese medicine is based on the principles of yin and yang balance and the flow of qi energy through energy channels. Diagnosis involves examining the pulse, tongue, questioning the patient about their symptoms, sleep, diet, etc. Illnesses are believed to be caused by imbalances among the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, which relate to different organs. Acupuncture and herbal remedies are used to treat energy imbalances and restore balance. Qigong exercises also aim to promote the flow of qi energy. Famous early practitioners included Bian Qiao, Hua Tuo, and Sun Simiao who made important contributions to diagnosis, treatments, and recording knowledge of Chinese medicine.

2. CHINA
Chinese village doctor treating a man by burning herbs on his back
(Sung Dynasty, ca. 950 AD., now in National Palace Museum, Taiwan)

3. At the heart of traditional Chinese medicine is the belief that two opposing
principles, yin and yang, must remain in balance within a person's body, and
that an imbalance promotes disease. The concept of "qi" is also central to
Chinese medical philosophy. Practitioners believe the body has 12 qi, or
energy channels, each connected with a part of the anatomy. When a person's
qi flow becomes unbalanced, he may become physically or emotionally ill.
PRINCIPLES

4. Diagnosis of illness in traditional Chinese medicine involves a patient
interview and an examination of the patient's pulse and tongue. In
questioning the patient, the practitioner seeks to learn not only about his
medical symptoms, but also about such details as his sleep patterns, dreams
and preferred foods. Pulse taking is the most important diagnostic tool of
ancient Chinese medicine, according to the Alternative Medicine Foundation
website, and involves feeling for six pulses in each wrist. Practitioners also
carefully examine a patient's tongue, believing that each part of the tongue
corresponds to a part of the human body.
DIAGNOSIS

5. In traditional Chinese
medicine, five elements--
wood, fire, earth, metal and
water--relate to the organs
and tissues of the human
body. Each element carries a
particular energy and
distinctive characteristics,
and is interconnected with
the other elements. Any
imbalance among them
causes illness
FIVE ELEMENTS

6. Acupuncture is the stimulation of
certain parts of the exterior body,
called acupoints. A person's qi, or
vital energy, circulates through his
body in a series of channels and
can be redirected by stimulating
the exterior body with very fine
stainless steel needles. Each of the
over 300 identified acupoints
corresponds to a particular health
problem, according to the
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Information Page.
ACUPUNCTURE

7. A traditional Chinese medical practitioner makes use of more than 600 types
of herbs in creating medicine to treat energy imbalance and illness. Plants
such as ginseng and ginger are the basis of most herbal treatments, but some
remedies depend on minerals and animal parts, such as oyster shells or deer
antlers.
HERBS

8. Qigong is an ancient series of movement postures practiced to create the flow
of good qi, or vital energy. Medical qigong may be internal or external.
Internal qigong relies on movement, breathing and visualization, and is
practiced by the patient himself. In external qigong, similar to therapeutic
touch, a qigong master heals an ill person through qi transfer.
QIGONG

9. The name of this great physician proverbial. When in China
have to say about the amazing craftsmanship of a doctor say,
"It is a true Bian Qiao." He regarded the disease as a result
of violations of the relation of the body with the
environment and believed that the appointment of treatment
should take into account the climate and the nature of man,
the mode of his power.
Most of his life Bian Qiao spent traveling around the
country, helping patients get rid of their ailments. He
recommended using four methods of disease diagnosis:
inspection, questioning, listening, and study of the pulse.
Bian Qiao is sometimes called the "Chinese Hippocrates"
BIAN QIAO

10. Hua Tuo was a great diagnostician, and for the
treatment used as traditional Chinese medicine
techniques - acupuncture and moxibustion, and
new - bloodletting, pouring water and its own
system of gymnastics, which today is called the
classical Chinese gymnastics. He offered to sick
animals to imitate their poses - crane, raise your
hands, bend, bend legs.
In the historical records preserved record of
unusual talent Hua Tuo operate under general
anesthesia, as well as handle the seams balm,
accelerating recovery.
HUA TUO

11. Wonderful Chinese alchemist and physician Sun Simiao (VI-
VII centuries. BC), known as the "king of medicines", lived
a thousand years later, Bian Qiao and five hundred - later
Hua Tuo. He was the author of the 30-volume medical
work, which for centuries served as a kind of encyclopedia
of medical doctors in China, Korea and Japan. One of the
volumes is completely dedicated to the teachings of the
pulse.
In the writings and medical practice Sung Simiao reflected a
close relationship with the Chinese medicine the alchemical
art, through which doctors trained numerous medications
of minerals and metals. One of the greatest alchemists of
his time, Sun Simiao famous for the invention of
gunpowder, for which he earned the nickname "Prince of
gunpowder."
SUN SIMIAO