What is Chinese Medicine________________________________________________________________________ |
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Chinese medicine is a body of knowledge based on healing and restoring the body. The raw material used to do this is Chinese herbs. Chinese people refer to herbs as Chinese medicine. In the Western world it is referred to as herbal tea. Chinese medicine refers to the philosophy that the body can be restored to health. The body has been injured by something and requires help in getting restored back to health. That is Chinese medicine. Everyone who grew up in the eastern culture remembers the smell of boiling herbs in the kitchen. The smell was most of the times bitter and sometimes sweet. They remember when someone starts to cough the smell of bitter herbs started wafting from the kitchen. The use of the herbs was locked in folklore. This herb can break a fever. That herb can help with constipation. Some herbs can bring a halt to a long term sickness. Someone may have used the herb in another situation and found new uses. These herbs were documented by word of mouth. Certain herbal doctors try to keep their findings as accurate as possible. However, without current technologies they were limited. Only someone who has the desire, knowledge, skill and chance to meet a master herbalist may try their hand at unlocking the secrets in the herbs. In a war torn country few people who had the attributes to meet a master herbalist and to allow the proper transfer of technology. A culture grew around using herbs and the healing properties were shared. There was also a lot of information lost between generations. A few key herbal doctors in each generation amassed all the information at the time and organized them. Certain diagnostic points were determined to be common denominators to help the practitioner decide which herbs to use and when. These were landmark findings which later herbal doctors will use to fine tune the herbs for later generations. One of the most well know story is talks about how Bian Que succeeded in curing the crown prince of the Kingdom of Guo of his fatal illness. According to the legend, the prince of Gua was very ill and as he lay dying, the court physician could do nothing to help. One version of this story has it that 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 of Bian Que's arrival, the prince was able to get to his feet. The prince was then prescribed boiled herbal compounds to be taken for twenty days, which helped him to fully recover. Soon the rumors spread that Bian Que was a miracle worker 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." This story brings about an interesting point. Why would one theory declare death and another theory views it as a coma? That is the key difference between Eastern and Western medicine. One sees a dead person and the other sees a coma. When a Western doctor takes x-rays, CT, MRI and says the patient is fine that just means there are no anatomical changes taken place. An Eastern doctor may have spotted a gall bladder or kidney beginning to undergo changes to produce stones. The physiological changes may take years to manifest into an anatomical change. By the time the scans show up the damage is done. Likewise when a person feels sickly they go through the entire Western gamut and are told there is nothing wrong. Some people can be told up to the point when they drop dead they are fine. It is very interesting to really see how many people did not have to buried and be given a chance to have both technologies to heal the body. This lifetime we have more knowledge about herbs than ever before. We also have the ability to verify the herbal properties through scientific methodologies. The function of each herb has been verified outside the patient so everyone can know what it does. Herbal properties are no longer locked in a folklore where only the patient can attest to its function. Medical Scientific experiments have verified the change in blood pressure, intestinal motility, blood tests, x-rays, CT and MRI scans have attested to changes by herbs alone. Scientific evidence supporting this claim is convincing but not yet conclusive Eastern hospitals have allowed concurrent treatments for patients. Anyone can ask for the Eastern and Western approaches to heal the body. Who wants to risk not having both technologies? There is enough information to see that the herbs have the power to allow the body to heal and continue to heal. However, only a few key herbal doctors have amassed the knowledge to treat the human body. Removing only the symptoms keep herbs locked in folklore. Certain herbs may stop mucus. Others stop digestive pains. But to have consistent results can only be understood by a few doctors. The reason herbs are still locked in folklore is because the diagnosis is inconsistent. The practitioner may go seek a master herbalist and learn and take the knowledge back home. However, how the practitioner perceives and how the master perceives is still not properly aligned. There is always a difference between the master and the student. It is a rare gift when a generation is given a few students to blossom into masters. These masters bring herbs to life. It is always interesting to hold a bag of herbs. They are grass, bark, root, branches, flower or bud form. They look beautiful. They have a rich, earthy smell. They emit an energy that is pro survival. They contain secrets that used in proper combination; dosage and time produce miraculous results. The body responds with a rhythm that allows the body to continue to crave it or not. When the body responds to the herbs there is a tremendous amount of energy released and restoration begins. |
