The History of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Just as in Ayurveda, thinking in terms of doshas that should be in balance is unusual for us in the West, this also applies to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), in which a disruption of energy flows is seen as the cause of illness. And when considering the balance or imbalance of energy flows, not only the organism itself but also its social environment and the entire cosmos are explicitly included. A central role in TCM is played by the life energy "Qi", which has several functions: it protects, nourishes, warms, transports, controls and transforms. The Qi is kept flowing by the two poles of life, Yin and Yang: the white Yang stands for hard, hot, light, male and active, while the black Yin is associated with the characteristics of dark, soft, cold, female, passive and calm. If the Yin and Yang of life are in balance, then we feel healthy. If, on the other hand, there is disharmony between these two poles of life, this results in a reduction of Qi.

An old Chinese proverb says “Pain is the cry of Qi for free flow.”

A person is healthy when Qi can flow freely. If the flow of energy is disrupted, for example by environmental influences such as cold, heat, drafts, poor nutrition, mental stress or overexertion, health problems can arise.

What in TCM is Qi, which flows through the meridians as life energy, is in Ayurveda the biological digestive fire "Agni". If the Agni goes out, the person dies. If the Agni is strong, in Ayurveda this is synonymous with energy, joy of life, strong charisma, clear thinking, healthy body warmth and digestion.

In TCM, there are no organs, but the various physical and psychological symptoms are associated with organs such as the liver, lungs, kidneys, bladder or large intestine and described as functional circles (there are a total of 12 of these functional circles), for example the large intestine or liver circulation. These functional circles are in turn assigned points, channels (“meridians”) and body regions. These imaginary channels, which are called meridians in TCM, have their counterpart in Ayurveda in the so-called “nadis”, which are assumed to have connections to organs and the psyche.

Contrary to popular belief, meridians do not correspond to nerve strands as we understand the body in the West, but rather they describe channels through which Qi flows.
Connections to organs and the psyche are postulated via imaginary pathways, which are called meridians in TCM and nadis in Ayurveda. The term "marma", which translated from Sanskrit means "energy point" or "energy field", is used particularly in Ayurveda; in Kundalini Yoga they are called "chakras".

TCM diagnostics

The two central diagnostic tools in TCM are pulse diagnosis and tongue diagnosis.
Here, too, there is a great deal of agreement with Ayurveda, even though there are some significant differences in the implementation of these two diagnostic tools.

Pulse diagnostics are primarily used to determine whether Yin or Yan dominates. Measurements are taken alternately on both sides using the index, middle and ring fingers together on the artery on the thumb side just above the wrist. The frequency, rhythm, shape of the pulse wave and the flow between the fingers are felt. In total, TCM distinguishes between 28 different pulse qualities.

Tongue diagnosis (“She-Zhen”) is particularly important in TCM because it is seen as the connection between the inside of the body and the outside world. According to this logic, the tongue can be used to determine whether and, if so, what is wrong inside the body. The various organs are connected to certain areas of the tongue: for example, the heart and lungs are at the tip of the tongue, the spleen and stomach in the middle, and the kidneys, intestines and bladder in the back. The gallbladder and liver are on the left and right sides.

The shape, color, moisture, cracks, and type and color of the tongue coating provide information about potential diseases. The tongue coating, which consists of bacteria, mucus, and food residue, should normally be a thin, white layer. If the tongue coating is thick and yellow, then the disease in question is already more advanced.

TCM - Therapeutics

Since TCM understands illness as the result of an energetic imbalance - a dysfunction of the meridians - the therapy begins with restoring the balance.

Since in TCM there are no organs or comparable self-contained tissue formations, but only connected functional circuits in which the Qi flows, a treatment on the knee can, for example, affect the stomach, a therapy on the little finger can affect the heart, etc.
Incidentally, our Western medicine is also aware of such effects: for example, it is known from internal medicine that a disease of the gallbladder can also cause pain in the right shoulder blade.

TCM includes five different therapy methods: nutrition, herbal medicine/medicines, massage (Tuina), meditative forms of movement such as Qigong and Tai Chi, and acupuncture.
However, TCM is not only a therapeutic method, but many of the above-mentioned components, such as nutrition or meditative forms of movement, are of a preventative nature.

acupuncture

Acupuncture is the best-known pillar of the above-mentioned TCM therapy forms, although it does not play a central role in China. But because it is the form of therapy whose complexity can be most easily reduced to our Western understanding, it has now become firmly established in our country and is now also used by many conventional medical practitioners, usually as an adjunct to therapy.

In acupuncture, disruption of the Qi flow is eliminated by activating so-called "trigger points" in the body with acupuncture needles. In acupressure, this is done using finger pressure. In TCM, over 700 such trigger points are described. Here, too, there is a great similarity to Ayurveda, where these trigger points are called "marma points" and play a major role, especially in massages.

It is believed that acupuncture already in 200 BC was fully developed. The first acupuncture needles were pieces of metal coated with verdigris. A round side was used to press and massage the surface of the skin at various points. The pointed side was used to prick under the skin. The points/body pathways described at that time largely correspond to the meridians known today.

According to our Western understanding, the undisputed positive influence of acupuncture on many illnesses is naturally not explained by the flow of Qi, but by the increased release of pain-relieving endorphins, neurotransmitters and tissue hormones that promote relaxation.

Medicinal plants, especiallymedicinal mushrooms

Medicinal plants play an important role in TCM. They are tailored to the individual constitution of the patient in complex recipes with numerous active ingredients and are often administered as a tea. Similar to Ayurveda, in TCM every medicine has certain properties that are made up of the tastes (sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter, etc.), the meridian on which it acts, and the temperature.

Medicinal mushrooms are particularly important among medicinal plants and have been used in TCM for thousands of years. The oldest official list of medicinal substances, dating from the 29th century BC, contains several types of mushrooms that were already used for therapeutic purposes at that time. Reishi in particular was revered for its diverse therapeutic uses.

In 2013, the two authors Wu Xingliang and Mao Xiolan published the medicinal mushrooms of China with 835 medicinal mushroom species, of which over 500 have anti-tumor effects. They refer to over 2,400 scientific articles. Unfortunately, this work is still only available in Chinese.
An excellent overview of the relevant medicinal mushrooms with many explanations and studies can be found at https://www.vitalpilze.de.

Qigong and Tai-Qi

These are meditative movement techniques that consciously combine movement, breathing and mind and are intended to resolve disturbances in the Qi. In Ayurveda, these techniques have their counterparts in yoga and meditation.

massages (Tuina)

As in Ayurveda, massages also play a major role in TCM – even if they are much less “oily” – and also serve to dissolve energy blockages.

Nutrition

Here, too, there are great parallels to Ayurveda - because both teachings see food as medicine. However, differences become clear in the details: while in Ayurveda, type-appropriate food is crucial in terms of balancing the doshas, ​​in TCM everything revolves around energy flows. TCM assumes that food can have energetic healing effects. Some foods have a cooling effect (yoghurt, for example), some have a heating effect (chilli, for example); some foods reduce Qi, some increase it.

Certain tastes affect certain organs: sour foods, for example, stimulate the liver, bitter foods the heart. Spicy foods stimulate the lungs, salty foods the kidneys, and sweet foods the pancreas and spleen.

Legal Consumer Information

German and European law aims to protect consumers from allegedly misleading claims about effectiveness. The statements made here refer to the original Ayurvedic and TCM texts. This knowledge, which has been passed down for thousands of years, is based on experience passed down from generation to generation. It is not intended to claim that the products described here have an effect in the sense of Western medicine. All products are food supplements; they are not medications and have no medical effect. If you are ill and require medical care, please contact your doctor or pharmacist.