Contents
Acupuncture, pills from herbs and dried lizards, the mysterious meridians of the body through which qi energy flows … Many complex diseases are subject to this amazing healing practice. Today, Western medicine is ready to learn its lessons and use its achievements.
One day, a wealthy, noble and virtuous Chinese was stricken with an incomprehensible disease. The illustrious doctor Hua Tuo was called to him and, having met him with all honors, they escorted him to the patient. The healer silently measured the pulse and examined the tongue of the patient, accepted a large amount of money without a word of gratitude, and only casually dropped on the threshold: “I will send the recipe with a servant.” In a word, he behaved extremely impolitely.
When the servant finally brought a note, it turned out that instead of a recipe, it contained a curse. The virtuous dignitary, known for his patience and justice, was so shocked by such treatment of himself that he went into a real rage. His throat bled, and … he recovered. It turned out that the cause of his illness was long-held anger. This parable is the main principle of Chinese medicine: treat the cause, not the effect.
Today, the name of this doctor bears a medicine for improving cerebral circulation (“Huato Boluses”), the formulation of which was compiled by Hua Tuo himself.
Philosophy of Chinese Medicine
The cause of any disease, according to the ideas of the ancient Chinese, is an imbalance. A person is inextricably linked with the surrounding world and is himself a universe in miniature, which is inherent in the balance of emptiness and fullness, heat and cold, darkness and light. Traditional Chinese medicine is based on ancient philosophies, including the I-Ching (Book of Changes) and Feng Shui, which are familiar to Europeans.
The yin-yang theory regulates the ratio of male and female principles, the usin theory explains the interaction of the five primary elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth). In the human body, the five solid organs “tsang” (liver, kidneys, heart, spleen and lungs) and six hollow “fu” (large and small intestines, stomach, gall and bladder, etc.) are interconnected by a system of twelve energy jinglo meridians, along which qi energy moves.
Too strong or prolonged experiences upset the balance and harm the body
In the course of human life, due to the imbalance of movement and rest, heat and cold, disturbances in eating and drinking, the balance is disturbed, impeding the circulation of qi and leading to diseases. By acting on different points of the corresponding meridians with the methods of reflexology, as well as with the help of qigong movement and breathing exercises, one can restore the movement of qi and heal the disease.
In other words, all our “diseases of civilization” are due to a sedentary lifestyle, malnutrition, bad habits, etc. – nothing more than a violation of the proper functioning of the body, which can and should be returned to its natural course.
The Chinese also have their own concept of psychosomatic illness: too strong or prolonged experiences (seven emotions – joy, anger, anxiety, sadness, disappointment, fear and surprise) also become a factor that upsets the balance and harms the body.
Sources of secret knowledge
Ancient Chinese medicine shares similarities with other healing systems, such as Ayurveda, but it is still a very special phenomenon. Its uniqueness lies in the complexity and detail of ideas about how the body functions: a diagram of the movement of qi along the meridians with hundreds of active points or a map of the projections of organs on the surface of the auricle is amazing.
This is how sinologist Boris Valentinov, translator of books on Chinese medicine, one of the compilers of the reference book “Natural Raw Materials of Chinese Medicine” comments on this: “This system is so harmonious and complex, it has such complete, detailed ideas about how the body functions, which is hardly it could have been formed in a purely empirical way – even over many centuries. In my opinion, it was introduced from outside, inherited by the Chinese from some even more highly developed peoples.
According to the most ancient legends, these philosophical teachings were received by people from the gods. More modern ones attribute them to the descendants of the Atlanteans, whose imperishable bodies supposedly still rest in the high mountain caves of Tibet. According to another theory, such high-quality knowledge about the human body is closely related to the system of Taoist spiritual practices and martial arts developed on their basis.
“In the course of special trainings, which include not only the preparation of the body, but also work with consciousness, meditation, a person could gain special abilities to feel and sometimes see the movement of qi,” says Sergey Lobanov, a specialist in oriental practices of working with the body. – Of course, only a few could master such supersensory perception, they were both spiritual leaders and healers. The tradition of itinerant monasticism and martial arts contributed to the spread of this knowledge. They gradually developed into a harmonious system to maintain the most efficient functioning and rapid rehabilitation of the body.
East and West: join forces
Science has not yet been able to explain the amazing possibilities of Chinese medicine, its pulse diagnosis and the principle of acupuncture. But it has been scientifically proven that the treatment of certain diseases with the help of synthetic drugs leads to a dead end, not only not restoring health, but destroying it.
“Chinese medicine should not be idealized, believing that it absolutely does not need certain conquests of Western medicine,” explains Elvina Naumova, director of the Institute of Phytopharmacology and Preventive Medicine. – Just the opposite. The fact is that the Chinese ideas about anatomy have always been quite primitive: their tradition did not allow opening corpses. Acute inflammatory processes, diseases requiring surgical intervention or some other emergency measures to save a life – in relation to all these issues, Western medicine has gone far ahead.
On the other hand, we cope worse with chronic and systemic diseases, many of which we consider simply incurable – in this case, traditional Chinese medicine can give us what we lack. The synergy of Western and Eastern medicine could become very effective, including in the fight against such diseases of our time as cancer or AIDS.”
An example of such a unique alliance is the healthcare system in China itself, where traditional and modern medicine coexist on an equal footing. Medicines created according to ancient recipes based on natural raw materials are clinically tested, certified and produced in pharmaceutical factories, and doctors are trained in traditional healing practices in medical schools.
Official Western medicine is gradually adopting positive experience: acupuncture has long been recognized by the WHO and has replenished the arsenal of tools for the treatment of diseases of the nervous system and pain, and some drugs have been clinically tested and, due to their effectiveness, won the trust of doctors.
The holistic (holistic) approach in medicine is becoming the most popular and most promising. And the fusion of East and West, the interpenetration of cultures brings the prospect of a holistic perception of the world, which remains the main value of both Chinese and universal philosophy.
Integration program
According to the WHO, traditional Chinese medicine accounts for 40% of the country’s health care services. Approximately the same picture in other countries of Southeast Asia. On the other hand, the use of chemicals, common drugs in European allopathic medicine, is often fraught with negative health effects, which causes concern among physicians. WHO specialists have developed a program to integrate traditional medicine into national health systems. Its goal is to preserve the authenticity of healing practices, prove their effectiveness and ensure the safety of such therapy.
How to activate the protective functions of the body
The craze for synthetic drugs has reached its peak – and along with the success of this tactic, its shortcomings have become apparent: dependence on therapy, a high incidence of side effects, “addiction” to the action of drugs and a decrease in the effect of their use.
An alternative to this is methods of influencing the body, which include general protective forces in the work.
Traditional Chinese medicine has special properties in this respect. The fact is that the human body has two types of reactions to irritation: catatoxic – to quickly overcome the threat (high temperature during infection, active regeneration in case of injury) – and syntoxic, “reconciling” the body with changes in the external or internal environment.
The balance of these two response systems is very important, and it is this balance that is disturbed by the external environment and our lifestyle. So, long-term stress with the inability of the body to switch to a syntoxic reaction leads to psychosomatic disorders, the cardiovascular and immune systems suffer.
Frequent infectious diseases with the body’s inability to mobilize forces and respond with a catatoxic reaction lead to chronic inflammatory processes. A vicious circle is formed, from which it is very difficult to get out. A distinctive feature of the studied preparations of traditional Chinese medicine is that they contain substances that have both syntoxic and catatoxic effects.
This combination of components affects the diseased organ, and also stimulates the defense mechanisms, supporting the one that is currently weakened – this is the basic principle of creating medicines in Chinese medicine. This opens up prospects for the use of such drugs, especially in the treatment of vascular and chronic pathologies.
Take on faith?
In Europe, and especially in the US, Chinese medicine is one of the alternative treatments. It is practiced in medical centers, which, as a rule, are located in places where the Chinese are densely populated – Chinatowns. In addition to diagnostics by pulse, tongue, type of skin, hair, nails, laboratory tests, ultrasound, X-ray data are also required for prescribing treatment – so as not to miss any complex pathology, which is fraught with the deprivation of a license or a court case. You can have an acupuncture session or buy medicines here: they are imported without any customs problems.
In Russia, the situation is different: we do not have Chinatowns, and all medicines imported into the Russian Federation are subject to appropriate certification. On the one hand, this serves as a certain guarantee that the drugs will not cause harm, on the other hand, it makes their introduction into our healthcare too complicated and time-consuming. A license is also required to open a medical center.
Unfortunately, in our legislation there are no clear criteria by which a license for healing activities can be issued. Therefore, choosing even a licensed specialist, we act at our own peril and risk. It is encouraging that companies that legally import Chinese medicine into Russia are forced to sponsor clinical trials and work in close cooperation with doctors. As a result, some drugs have already been adopted by Russian doctors and are sold in pharmacies.