CHINESE MEDICINE

CHINESE MEDICINE developed over thousand of years, almost without any outside influences from other medical systems. The Nei Ching (Book of Medicine) is an ancient medical work. According to legend, it was written over 4,000 years ago by the Yellow Emperor, Huang Ti. The book was more likely to have been written some time about 200BC, but it has formed the basis for most Chinese medical literature since.

CHINESE MEDICINE is largely based on the concept of yin and yan, which stand for opposing states and condition. Yin reprensennts states such as feminine, dark and wet. Yang represent the opposing states of masculine, light and dry. In the Nei ching, yin and yang are said to control the body ,which is thought of as a tiny country with rulers and administrators. The `country` also has a communication system of 12 rivers, based on the great rivers of China. These rivers divide into much smaller channels which carry blood and a liquid called ch`i (vital energy).

These channels connect organs to one another. For example, the kidney connects to the ear, the lungs to the nose and the heart to the tongue. When these channels are in good working order, the body is healthy. Points along the channels can be used to influence the flow of ch`i.

As with Hinduism, Chinese religions discouraged dissection. For this reason, medicine was based largely on these channels and their influences on the body. Treatments often involved the use of acupuncture, where needles were inserted into one of the hundreds of points where ch`I channels were thought to run. This stimulated (perked up) the flow of ch`i and restored good health. Sometimes cones of dried herbs were burned on the skin at these points, for the same purpose. Acupuncture has been practiced for more than 4,500 years. It remains central of Chinese Medicine and is also used in the West, especially as a treatment for pain and a cure for addiction (dependency on a drug).

Chinese Medicine depends mostly on herbal remedies. Many of these herbs have been incorporated into Western medicine, such as castor oil, camphor, chaulmoogra oil to treat leprosy and iron to treat anaemia. Ginseng is a widely-known Chinese remedy, used to keep a person alert, called a stimulant. The ancient Chinese invented vaccination as a way to treat smallpox. They injected a small amount of pus from a smallpox sore into healthy people. This gave them a mild form of the disease and made them immune (resistant) to full-blown infection. Europeans did not discover vaccination until the AD1700s.