What Is Traditional Chinese Medicine?(Part One)
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has evolved over thousands of years,it’s a medical science that was formed and developed in the daily life of the people and in the process of their fight against diseases over thousands of years. During its course of development spanning a couple of millennia, TCM has kept drawing and assimilating advanced elements of natural science and humanities. Through many innovations, its theoretical base covered more ground and its remedies against various diseases expanded, displaying unique characteristics.
TCM emphasize “man should observe the law of the nature and seek for the unity of the heaven and humanity,” “yin and yang should be balanced to obtain the golden mean,” and “practice of medicine should aim to help people.”
TCM believes that Yin-Yang is balanced when you achieve optimal health. Yin-Yang is out of balance when you are sick or ill.
Traditional Chinese medicine has been spread to 183 countries and regions around the world. According to the World Health Organization, 103 member states have given approval to the practice of acupuncture and moxibustion, 29 have enacted special statutes on traditional medicine, and 18 have included acupuncture and moxibustion treatment in their medical insurance provisions. TCM medicines have gradually entered the international system of medicines, and some of them have been registered in Russia, Cuba, Vietnam, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and other nations. Some 30 countries and regions have opened a couple of hundred TCM schools to train native TCM workers. The World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies, headquartered in China, has 194 member organizations from 53 countries and regions, and the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies has 251 member organizations from 67 countries and regions.
Traditional Chinese medicine has become an important area of health and trade cooperation between China and the ASEAN, EU, Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe, a key component in people-to-people exchanges between China and the rest of the world and between Eastern and Western cultures, and an important vehicle for China and other countries to work together in promoting world peace, improving the well-being of humanity, and developing a community of shared future.