Throughout history, and since its earliest beginnings, Chinese medicine has formed a significant part of Chinese culture. It would be important to note that the basic concepts of Chinese philosophy were used to explain not only all of the happenings in nature but human activities as well. In the past, the Chinese have made vast contributions to medicine in areas such as physiology, pharmacology, clinical medicine, public health and acupuncture; just to name a few. The majority of these practices came to Europe via Asia along the Silk Road and across the sea from the Arabs. This discussion will examine the history of Chinese medicine and its place within our world, from its initial beginnings right up until modern times.
In order to conduct a distinctive evaluation of Chinese medicine, we must realise that for around two thousand years, Chinese society was built in an entirely different fashion to Western civilization. Their society was based around bureaucratic feudalism, while Europe was formed more around aristocratic military feudalism. China was governed (and to a certain extent still is) by an extensively complex civil service; of which members are taken from the learned gentry. Instead of Earls and Barons, there were Governors and Magistrates. As it could be assumed, the influence of this specific type of government upon society would in turn have a profound influence upon Chinese medicine as well as the culture it pertains to.
The historical origins of Chinese medicine are said to have gone back as far as the 29th Century BC. Yet, recent work and studies have shown that it has gone back even further. The father of Chinese medicine has been said to be Shennong, who is also know as ‘The Heavenly Husbandman’ – a legendry emperor who gave birth to Chinese agriculture and had himself tasted the many types of plants, in order to discover their medicinal uses and values. Shennong, known as the sage of Chinese physicians, is traditionally known to have been the inventor of acupuncture, and he is believed to have lived around 2700BC.
Nevertheless, in recent times, it is recognized that the name Shennong merely represents a particular phase in prehistory when medicine, in its earliest form, was first used amongst the Chinese populace. Needles which were made from animal bones found at the site of Peking Man in Zhoukoudian suggest that their use to sew animal skins together as a means of protection against mother nature, showing that the beginnings of preventative medicine had in fact already started about half a million years before our time. From studying the inscriptions on oracle bones, which were tortoise shells and shoulder blades, used between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries BC by the Shang people for divination, we know that the Chinese of that period made use of wine and hot water as medicine and bronze knives and needles as surgical instruments. They also retained knowledge of intestinal parasites and believe that tooth decay was caused by worms.
It has been suggested, that during the early years, medicine and magic were identical and were practiced by shamans, of which are still active among Northern Chinese tribes-people today. Throughout the Zhou dynasty (11th Century BC to 3rd Century BC) the position of court physician had already been established. During this period, there were a number of physicians who achieved great notoriety, most of which came from the state of Qin, in modern Shaanxi province. Perhaps the most celebrated physician of this time was Qin Yueren, better known by the name Bian Que, who ranked among the Chinese as Hippocrates did in Europe (though he lived at least one generation earlier than the latter). There is a well-known account given by him in the Historical Memoirs by Sima Qian.
In this account, it is noted that Bian Que, by this time, had already become acquainted with the four vital diagnostic procedures used in Chinese medicine; these being, the observation of external signs in the face, the listening to of sounds emitted by coughing, inquiring about the site of discomfort as well as palpitation and pulse feeling. It is said that Que visited the palace in the State of Guo (modern Henan province) and discovered the Crown Prince to be unconscious, but pronounced dead by the court physicians. Que felt the Crown Prince’s pulse and then asked one of the others to assist him in applying acupuncture. The Prince revived and attained the appearance of a regular healthy person, and the on-lookers were shocked to witness what had happened – they spread the word that Que had in fact cured a corpse, while Que himself maintained that he had merely cured a patient who was clearly unconscious.
Though it was perhaps the most significant stage in Chinese medicinal history, the Tang dynasty was the one in which the most contact was made with the outside world (namely other parts of Asia). For example, many medicinal plants were introduced from West Asia two centuries before our period, and doctors were sent from China to Korea and Japan during the 6th century AD 10. However, the Tang dynasty produced much more frequent export of Chinese medicine to Japan, Vietnam and the mutual interchange of medical knowledge with India and various parts of the Arab regions.
Within Chinese medicine, there are ten vital organs of which are separated into five pairs. Each of them consists of a ‘sold’ Yin organ, as well as a ‘hollow’ Yang organ. The Yin organs are known to be considerably more vital than the Yang organs, and the defunctionalisation of Yin organs causes the highest amount of health risk. These organs are: the heart (known as the chief of the vital organs), which regulars the control of the other organs via the regulation of blood flow, (and is partnered with the small intestine); the liver, which stores and enhances blood flow within the circulatory system (partnered with the gallbladder); the pancreas, involving the production of crucial enzymes (partnered with the stomach); lungs, which preside over both breathing and energy circulation (partnered with the large intestine); and lastly, the kidneys, which control water and waste fluids and assist the body in the revitalization of its system (partnered with the bladder).
Chinese herbal medicines have been used for many a century. The Shen Nong’s Herbal Classic, which is a two thousand-year-old medicinal Chinese book (of which is considered these days as perhaps the oldest book on oriental herbal medicine, notes around three hundred species of woods. roots, stones, grass, animals, and furs into three groupings of herbal medicine. The initial category, which is named “superior”, includes herbs effective for numerous diseases and is responsible for maintaining and restoring the body’s balance. They have almost no inauspicious side effects. The subsequent category consists of tonics and boosters, for which their utilization must not be drawn out. The third and final category must be taken, usually in minute doses, and for the management of particular ailments only.
Works Cited
Beijing College of Chinese Medicine, Zhonggou yixyueshi jiangyi, Hong Kong, 1968, p.3.
Leng, A, Medicine: East and West, A direct comparison, Singapore, 1968, pp.26-29.
Lisowski, P A brief history of Chinese medicine, World Scientific Publishing Co, Singapore, 1997, p.7.
Porket, M, The Theoretical Foundation of Chinese Medicine, Cambridge, Mass. 1974, p.22.
Reid, D, Tao of Health Sex and Longevity, Fireside Books, 1989, pp 23-24.
Wong, M. La Médecine chinoise par les plantes. Le Corps a Vivre series, 1976. Éditions Tchou.
Xinbian zhongyixue gaiyao, Beijing, 1972, 3rd ed., 1974, pp. 78, 149-150.