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The roots of Chinese medicine...

.......date back several thousand years in mainland China. It is an empirically
developed form of medical therapy and was influenced by neighboring cultures
such as ancient India, Tibet and Persia, mostly in the field of herbal medicine.

Chinese medicine is rooted within a philosophical concept of balance, the
balance of Yin and Yang.

Yin represents the shady side of a hill with all it's attributes and Yang represents
the sunny side of a hill and it's attributes.
Just as the sun continually moves ahead on it's course, so do the sunny sides
and shady sides of a hill continually move.
What was Yin will eventually become Yang and the opposite.

YIN YANG shadowy bright night day moon sun cold hot water fire wet dry softness hardness rest activity slowness rapidity earth heaven

Life force called "Qi" (pronounce: 'CHEE', 'CHI') flows through our bodies
connecting the outside with the inside, ever seeking to achieve balance.
The degree of balance generally represents the degree of our well-being,
health and happiness.

The Chinese Character for QI looks like this:

stands for vapor or steam

stands for (uncooked) rice

This character may indicate that QI is as non-material as vapor and as material as rice. It also may indicate that QI is a non-material, subtle and moving substance (vapor) created by a material substance (rice) through a process of transformation (cooking). This process of transformation or cooking to produce QI can be easily observed inside and outside of our bodies: e.g. the cooking of food before we eat it and after we take it inside our body, digesting the food within, which also represents a cooking process and therefore production of QI). QI thus is produced everywhere within and without our bodies through a process of transformation and can take on many different forms in an almost fluid like way of continuous but controlled transformations.

Together with the theory of Yin and Yang,
the Theory of the 5 Elements
constitutes the basis of Chinese medical theory.

Water moistens, cools and descends, Fire is hot and blazes upwards, Wood is flexible and can be bent and straightened, Metal is hard and can be molded, Earth is nourishing/sustaining and permits sowing, growing and reaping. The 5 Elements also are represented within the stages of a seasonal cycle: Wood corresponds to spring and is associated with birth, Fire corresponds to summer and is associated with growth, Metal corresponds to autumn and is associated with harvest, Water corresponds to winter and is associated with storage, Earth corresponds to the change from one season to the next and is associated with transformation. As such, the 5 Elements generate sequences and movement, as well as qualities which are very important in Chinese medical theory.

The 5 Elements are Water, Fire, Wood, Metal and Earth.

The theory of Yin & Yang together with the 5 Element Theory demonstrate an evolution from superstitional forms of medicine toward a scientific approach to medicine. Nature as a macrocosm was observed to have various conditions such as heat, cold, damp, wind and dryness. The macrocosm is reflected in the microcosm of human health conditions.

These conditions in our environment affect peoples' systems directly such as:

-- dryness--affecting throat and lungs, possibly constipation

--dampness--affecting conditions that involve swelling and blockage

The Chinese understood medicine as it related to their environment.

Acupuncture theory is based on the HUANG DI NEI JING ("The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Chinese Medicine"), written anywhere between 2000 to 5000 years ago by the mystical author Huang Di--the Yellow Emperor (2697 BC). It is comprised of 81 treatises with some dating back to the 2nd century BC and is comprised of two books: the SU WEN ("Basic Questions") and the LING SHU ("Miraculous Pivot"). It is a compilation of different interpretations of the Yin/Yang paradigm by early authors leading to various theories and schools of thought brought together by Huang Di. The Huang Di Nei Jing includes theories of the 5 elements, yin and yang, zang-fu organ patterns, QI , Blood, and Body Fluids. It includes the 5 emotions and 6 external pathogenic influences as causes of illness. The Nei Jing offers acupuncture and moxibustion as the main therapeutic modalities in the treatment of disease. The Huang Di Nei Jing explains physiology and pathology , principles of diagnosis and the prevention and treatment of disease using the various schools of thought. It discusses the right way of living based on the rich philosophical history of China and introduces the Chinese meridian system including 300 points and a few herbs.

The Yellow Emperor 2697 BC

see (Chinese Herbal Medicine)