What exactly is Chinese Medicine and where does it come from?
Chinese Medicine is an ancient system of healing that our brothers in Asia have been using for thousands of years. The earliest record of Chinese medicine is about 3000 B.C, older than any medicine ever practiced on earth. They have the largest research on herbs ever written in the Materia Medica; An encyclopedia on the known medicinal uses for plants not only on Asia but all around the world. It’s everlasting, growing and changing. The medicine itself is interconnected to nature. It is said that Taoist practitioners taught that the human nature, when in harmony with nature itself, it is balanced. When we learn to observe nature, we are learning to observe ourselves not only physically but emotionally and spiritually as well. If you think about it, our physical health and mental health are the reflection of how the world is doing, it matches the state of the world in completeness. Even if we don’t realize this disconnectedness, it still affecting us daily. The main basis of this medicine is the balance and harmony of the forces of nature within the body. Acupuncturist are trained to understand the energetic system that every human being has and identify the root of the problem that is causing you pain or disturbance.
Evidence of shamanism has been found in early Asian history, these were called Wu meaning magician, sorcerer or spiritual medium. These shamans were held in soaring societal roles and most of them were woman. Wu was used to identify a female shaman and Xi was used for Male shamans, later on in the Zhou Dynasty ( 1028-221 BC) they added Yi which means the doctor of medicine to show the clinical application of medicine. After that they added Jiu to the ideograph to denote the application of herbs.Esoteric shamanistic Taoism medicine was founded by Huang Di or better known as the Yellow Emperor, he lived about 3000 BC ago and ruled over the confederation of tribal clans in Northern China. It is said that through Qigong ( Energy medicine), meditation, internal alchemy, herbology and sexual alchemy he lived to be 111 years old. He is known to be a Xianyuan The original immortal. He practiced QI emission which he combined with sacred prayer incantation while treating illnesses. This practice of praying while healing a person was quite popular and practitioners were using this method as professional “prayer healers” all over China. The Yellow Emperor wrote the Huang Di Nei Jing (The Yellow Emperor’s internal classic.) which became one of the most important books for acupuncturist out there. This book would show previous practices and cases involving TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine.) Later on Shen-Nong another master of Chinese Medicine wrote Shen-Nong’s Classical of Herbal Medicine which categorized medicinal herbs and plants by indications showing the dosages and combinations that could be used to achieve health. Later on Zhong Zhangjing published the Treatise on Cold- Induced and Miscellaneous Diseases after the influenza killed the majority of his family he focused his knowledge into finding a way to heal the influenza virus. Lastly Huang Fumi wrote Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion identifying roughly 350 acupuncture points and the meridians or channels they Qi (Energy) travels through the human body.He showed how to treat the physical ailments that he was seeing at the time.
The history can tell you how this complex and beautiful medicine can be the answer to a lot of our health issues. It has been passed down through family members and lineages. A lot of the knowledge was destroyed when the Confucians rise affected China, but some of the medicine was saved because of the secrecy of healing within families. “ Wu Yi would travel to the spirit-realm through prayer and movement in order to diagnose the root cause of the patient’s disease.” I think this quote says it all. An acupuncturist or Chinese medicine practitioner is trained to feel and understand the system of energies that travel through everyone’s body. We are taught to recognize what the body’s signs and symptoms are trying to tell you. We listen to your story, your traumas and your pain; We always look for those blockages of energy that you have in your body due to trauma or emotional things that happened and help you overcome it. In my next blog I’ll be explaining the substances that we diagnose and the way we diagnose and treat patients; Also I will be explaining the terminology we use.
Thank you for stopping by! See you next time !
Sources:
– The Secret Teachings of Chinese Energetic Medicine Vol.1- Professor Jerry Alan Johnson Ph.D
Pillar of Light Healing 