The History Of Chinese Traditional Medicine

5000BC

What else happened then?

1.The human population was about 5 million at this time;

2. The first wonder of the world, the Pyramid was built

3. People in theYellow RiverValleyswitched from hunting and gathering to agriculture.

Legend says he tasted 100 herbs and 70 toxic substancesin a single dayAccording to the legend the origin of traditional Chinese medicine is traced back to the three legendary emperors/mythical rulers: Fu Xi, Shen Nong, and Huang Di. Historians believe that Shen Nong and Fu Xi were early tribal leaders. Fu Xi was a cultural hero who developed the trigrams ofYi Jing (I Ching)orBook of Changes. Ancient texts record that "Fu Xi drew the eight trigrams, and created nine needles." Shen Nong, the legendary emperor who lived 5000 years ago is hailed as the "Divine Cultivator"/"Divine Farmer" by the Chinese people because he is attributed as the founder of herbal medicine, and taught people how to farm. In order to determine the nature of different herbal medicines, Shen Nong sampled various kinds of plants, ingesting them himself for to test and analyze their individual effects.

1000BC

What else happened then?

1. The Phoenician alphabet containing only consonants was in use 1100BC.

2.Israelbecame a kingdom.

3. Irrigation canals were made in theTucsonbasin of the American Southwest.

Foundations of TCM laid in 3000 years ago Some of the most specific discoveries of Chinese medicine were made during the Zhou dynasty, including the theoretical foundations of yin and yang, the five elements, the pathogenic factors of external environment as a cause of disease and further understanding of the meridians of acupuncture. The basic theories of acupuncture were established and stone needles became obsolete, being replaced by metal needles.

800BC

What else happened then?

1. The period of Homer, reputed author of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey." c800BC-700BC 

2.Romewas founded. 753BC  

3. Greeks invent symbols for vowels. 750BC      

The first written documentation on traditional Chinese medicineis the Yellow Emperor's Cannon of Internal Medicine. It is the oldest medical textbook in the world; different opinions date the book back to between 800 BC. Yellow Emperor's Cannon of Internal Medicine lays a primary foundation for the theories of Chinese medicine which extensively summarizes and systematizes the previous experience of treatment and theories of medicine, such as the meridian theory, as well as many other issues, including, physiology, pathology, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, acupuncture and moxibustion, massage, etc.

500BC

What else happened then?

1.Babylon, under Chaldean rule since 612BC, fell to the Persians

2. Confucius composed the Analects.

3.The use of characters for writing spread toGreecewhere vowels were added and the basis for all Western alphabets was established

Legend says he brings back the “dead”Bian Que, a famous doctor/physician (2500 years ago) at the Time of Warring, was the first man in the world to use the pulse for diagnosis. One of the most well-known stories is that he succeeded in curing the prince of a country of his fatal illness. According to the legend, the prince was very ill and as he lay dying, the court physician could do nothing to help. Bian Que was summoned to treat the prince, however when he arrived at the palace he found the crown prince being prepared for the funeral. Despite the funeral arrangements, Bian Que requested examining the prince. His examination confirmed his suspicion that the prince had actually gone into a deep coma. He gave the prince acupuncture treatment to retrieve him and then applied compresses soaked in a decoction of herbs. Within hours, the prince was able to rise to his feet. The prince was then prescribed boiled herbal compounds to be taken for twenty days, which made him fully recover. Word spread soon that Bian Que was a miracle doctor who could bring the dead back to life. Bian Que said "No, I can't bring the dead back to life, the prince wasn't dead. I only treated his illness, and that is what brought him around." Also read Bian Que’s dialogue with the Emperor“Why you are the most famous if you are not the best one among your doctor brothers?”

200AD

What else was happening then ?

1. Barbarian invasions and civil wars begin in theRoman Empire.

2.TheTempleof Quetzalcoatl inTeotihuacan(City of the Gods) was built near what later becameMexico City.

Hua To(110-207 AD) was the first of the Taoist physicians, the most famous doctor in ancientChinawho developed/invented the use of anaesthesia, and furthered the limited Chinese knowledge of anatomy. He was the first person who used narcotic drugs in the world and his skill in this field was ahead of the west about 1600-1700 years. He also developed Five Animal Play, exercises that mimics the movements and postures of five animals: tiger, deer, bear, ape, and bird. The motion is fundamentally important to health, and by mimicking the movements of different animals; all parts of the body were exercised and stretched, thereby activating the flow of fluid and energy in the body.Also read: How Hua To died? 

Another Big Figure In TCM At The Age: Zhang, Zhongjing

Zhang, Zhongjing (150-219 AD), the most famous ofChina's ancient herbal doctors lived during the Eastern Han dynasty was known for his remarkable medical skill. When Zhang was 50 years old there was a grave plague inChina. Two thirds of the population was infected. Zhang was very saddened by this and decided to research on it whole-heartedly and finally found solutions to the problem. After several decades Zhang finished his work “Shang Han Lun” or "Treatise on Febrile Diseases" which became a corner stone in Chinese medicine history.  Zhang's theory and prescriptions are still of great practical value. It is still used as a standard reference book for traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, including moxibustion, acupuncture and herbal medicine.

650AD

What else was happening then?

1. Pope Gregory the Great decreed "God bless You" as the religiously correct response to a sneeze.

King of Herbal Medicine: Sun, Simiao (581-682 AD).The most famous physician of the Tang Dynasty devoted his whole life to Chinese medicine starting from a very young age. It is said that by the age of 15 he not only had a thorough understanding of Taoism and the classics of many of its sects, but also had also deeply researched Buddhist classics. He had mastered all the Chinese classics by the age 20 and became a well-known medical practitioner and was crowned "King of Herbal Medicine".

800AD

What else was happening then?

1.InEgyptan earthquake sent theNileport cities into theMediterranean Sea.
2.  The height of the Mayan city ofCopan.

FirstChineseSchoolof MedicineThe Tang dynasty(618-907 AD)is often referred to as the second golden age ofChina. It was during the Tang dynasty whenChina's first school of medicine was established.

1500AD

What else was happening then?

１.Columbus stumbled across the Cayman Islands and dubbed them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles.

2. Leonardo Da Vinci began painting the "Mona Lisa."

3. John Calvin, founder of Calvinism, the basis for modern Protestantism, was born.

Li, Shizhen and his Bible for Materia Medica  Li Shizhen, (1518-1593 AD) was one of the greatest physician and pharmacologist of the Ming dynasty. His major contribution to medicine was his forty-year work, which is found in his epic book Ben Cao Gang-mu (The Compendium of Materia Medica). The text contains 1,900,000 Chinese characters and details more than 1,800 drugs, including 1,100 illustrations and 11,000 prescriptions, as well as record of 1,094 herbs, detailing their type, form, flavor, nature and application in treatment. This book was one of the greatest contributions to the development of pharmacology both inChinaand throughout the world. Materia Medica has been translated into many different languages and remains as the premier reference work for herbal medicine.

1900 AD-2000AD

Ebb and Flow of TCM in ModernChinaThe Revolution of 1911 saw the beginning of the People's Republic ofChina. During this timeChinadeveloped a desire to modernize and its people began to turn to Western medicine. The government of the time proposed the abolishment of traditional Chinese medicine and took measures to stop its development and use. In 1928 the Communist party ofChinawas formed, under the leadership of Chairman Mao and in 1949 the Communist party came to power. As there was very little or no medical services at the time, the new communist government encouraged the use of traditional Chinese remedies because they were cheap, acceptable to the Chinese, and used the skills already available in the countryside. Finally the traditional Chinese medicine regained popularity by the early to mid 1950s and the use of acupuncture and herbal medicine became standard medicine in many hospitals. Many hospital opened clinics to provide, teach and investigate the traditional methods, the main research institutes being inBeijing,ShanghaiandNanjing.
Unfortunately, Chinese medicine, as a reflection of traditional Chinese culture, underwent a period of extreme hardship during the Cultural Revolution. From 1966 to 1976, traditional doctors were purged from the schools, hospitals and clinics, and many of the old practitioners were jailed or killed. In 1979, the National Association for Chinese Medicine was established, and many of the traditional texts were edited and republished.

TCM RenaissanceIn 1980, the World Health Organization released a list of 43 types of pathologies, which can be effectively treated with acupuncture. Today the traditional Chinese medicine with its many branches has spread far and wide, gaining popularity in all parts of the world.