Picture, if you can, the Yin Yang circle, with the soft intertwining dark and light shapes, with their small, concentric contrasting circles, all in harmony, all supporting each other, as day turns to night, night to day. That is the essential symbol of what Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is all about. Each part of the whole is essential for body and soul to function in health; this has been the driving theory for over 4000 years.

TCM looks deeply into all the symptoms and the patterns in which they present themselves, in order to make a diagnosis. It takes a holistic approach, on the premise that, if one part of the body is “out of kilter,” then this will affect other parts. So treating those symptoms will help the whole body and mind. They both need to be in total harmony, as the Yin Yang sympbol signifies. Moon and Sun, two opposing natural forces that complement each other and keep nature in balance, the whole person functioning well. The basic theories are indeed centered around Yin and Yan and the Five Elements. First, we can look at the Yin Yang theory for its meaning.

YIN AND YANG: These are related to the organs that channel energy or “qi” throughout the body. Yin is Earth and is concerned with the front of the body; the lungs, heart, spleen, kidney and liver. They “hold” energy, and too much Yin appears as fatigue, cold, pains and aches. Yang is Heaven, and deals with the back of the body; the whole surface of the skin, large and small intestines, bladder, gallbladder and stomach. Yang organs “channel” energy and too much gives acute pain, headaches and spasms.

You would think that the stomach should be to the front, but remember how the whole enfolds and supports, as the symbol portrays it? Picture a wheel, surrounding the symbol, with Heaven at the top, Earth at the bottom. Moving clockwise around the wheel, are Wind, Water, Mountain, Earth, Thunder, Fire, Lake, then back to Heaven at the top. The Yin and Yang are shown as broken and solid lines against each of these component parts, and the skilled practitioner, after taking a detailed history, will read and interpret these. The theory is that all will be well if Yin and Yang are both “holding” and “channeling” in balance. Fixing what is wrong with one will have a positive impact on the other.

THE FIVE ELEMENTS: This is the second important principle of TCM. All five have a Yin and Yang organ and are linked to emotions, tastes, and seasons of the year. Once a problem is identified, say in a Yin organ (e.g. lungs or liver) then this is matched to the relevant elemental force, and the relevant taste of herbal remedy, belonging to that elemental force, would be given to treat the problem. This might sound complicated, but again, the Elements can be explained if you picture that wheel. This time, it begins with Fire at the top, then clockwise, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood. If you think how Fire has the mix of Yin and Yang organs, (as do all Elements), plus Summer as its season, emotion of joy, and taste, bitter, then bitter herbs would lower a fever, as Fire is hot. So if there was a problem with the heart, which belongs to the Fire Element, then bitter, which is of the ‘cold’ herb family, will be used to support a cure. It takes an experienced practitioner to know fully all that is contained in the Five Elements and to interpret the meanings of symptoms in line with these. But that is the basic theory. The person and the natural world are all interlinked and so treatments combine these to bring back health.

These are merely written explanations of the theory of TCM’s holistic treatment, where the essences of body and emotions are looked at in conjunction, in order to bring back balance and harmony. Further study is definitely required to achieve a deeper understanding and knowledge of this ancient system. But there is little doubt that it works and is, in part at least, accepted as having some efficacy by Western medicine. In particular, studies have shown that Chinese herbal medicines have good effects in the treatmemt of eczema.

Before leaving the topic, it might be interesting to note that TCM encompasses a great deal more than these basic theories, which drive the other practices within this medicine system. It may surprise you to know just how widespread the use of Chinese medicine actually is. It is testament to its power and effectivesn that the West has embraced so much of the theory and practice. Other aspects include:

ACUPUNCTURE
SHIATSU
TAI CHI CH’ UAN
AURICULAR ACUPUNCTURE
FENG SHUI

And more! These should be enough to send you rushing to find out more about this wonderful and ancient system, for in harmony, we are well.