April Kim - East and Western Medical Traditions

A Comparison of Influences of Chinese and Western Philosophies in the Development of TCM and Western Medicine

By Eun Kyung (April) Kim

INTRODUCTION

What is disease? Understanding the history of medicine presents many challenges. The Western medical tradition explains sickness principally in terms of the body itself-its own cosmos. Within modern Western medicine, disease is normally an objective thing, often triggered by a pathogen, such as a bacillus or a virus, and marked by symptoms, whereas earlier ideas of ‘dis-ease’ offers a insight into different philosophical perceptions and changes over time.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) thinks that in a healthy state, harmonious relationships among the various parts inside the body as well as wilder cosmos are maintained, and once these relations are broken down, the disease would occur.

TCM begins and ends with the concept of Yin and Yang and never goes outside Yin and Yang principles. It is radically different to any Western theory. Western medicine is analytical, dissecting things until the causal links through, in TCM exactly the opposite occurs, it has been guided by ancient philosophies over a period of 4,000 years and written Chinese language has been a very important factor in the extraordinarily long survival of Chinese culture.

The influence of Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism and that of Yin and Yang was significant for the development of Chinese medicine, whilst in the Western world it was the advent of the Greeks, Renaissance and the Church that would later form Western thinking.

To explain why and how Chinese and Western attitudes have come about we need to take many elements into account. Their roots may be found in the philosophical and religious traditions they have grown out of.

The aim of this essay is to discuss the history and philosophy of Western and TCM medicine as the necessary ingredients in the understanding of how they have shaped each other throughout the world today and their direction in the future.

DISCUSSION

Western Medicine

The first awakening of medicine came at the time of the Greeks, when medicine was based essentially on the teachings of Hippocrates and his followers. Greek medicine emphasized the microcosm/macrocosm relationship, the correlations between the healthy human body and the harmonies of nature. From the father of medicine, Hippocrates, in the fifth century BC through to Galen in the second century AD, ‘humoral medicine’ stressed the analogies between the four elements of external nature (fire, water, air and earth) and the four humours, whose balance determined health. The Four elements is a view held in Greece although it is very similar to as the theory of the Five Elements in Chinese medicine.

During the middle Ages, Christianity and the formation of the Catholic Church were to have far reaching effects upon western thinking. The Christian Church held back medical progress, medicine was the servant of religion and received little development. It was man’s duty to preserve life and health, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. However, the body was the vehicle for the soul and therefore should never be opened and especially after death (Porter 1999, p110). Therefore the Church banned human dissections.

The Western world now entered its period of enlightenment. From the fourteen century, Renaissance drew attention to the human being. Wear et al. (1987, p22) state that the emphasis of medical humanists was placed upon the study of Greek and especially Galenic medical texts. Western medicine played an important role in the development of learning about the structure and function of the human body part by part and studying the symptoms and causes of a disease. Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) made a study of human anatomy when he divided the human body into several parts and observed them one by one. Thereafter, following the development of natural science and technology, medical science had advanced by the observation and the study of the human organism according to its various anatomical patterns. It is very important to note that this became the foundation stone for the later creation of scientific medicine.

Francis Bacon, an English scientist, believed science could give one power over nature. Rene Descartes, the mechanical philosopher said, ‘I think therefore I am’ was a concise statement separating mind from body. He recognised a physical world, which is amenable to the exercise of observation, and experiment, and that because of his mind man can separate himself from the physical natural world (Rhodes 1988, 60).

Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) was a pathologist who founded cytopathology. He said the varied human body is a union of cells. As for illness, “the essence of an illness is a change in one cell or in a group of cells”. Therefore he ignored the reaction of the whole organism to an illness out of account.

Since the latter half of the 19th century, people began to recognize their relationship with the whole organism. Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was to take Western medicine a step further. He saw the human body as a complex machine like a plumbing system, a theory which Western medicine is based on today. Gerber (1996, p88) states that Einsteinian however saw the body as a network of complex energy fields that work with physical and cellular system. He proved that we are energy and substance and that healing should occur on both levels not just the physical. As previously mentioned TCM had Qi, which to some extent is similar to, the Einsteinian theory of organs held together by vital energy.

Chinese Medicine

TCM is rooted in the very foundations of Chinese civilization. During the Zhou Dynasty, Chinese language and civilization underwent rapid development, and medicine had already become an independent profession, no longer a branch of shamanism (Reid 1996, p12).

The terms Yin and Yang made their first appearance in written form in the text of Yi Jing (“The Book of Changes”). The basic concepts of TCM are rooted in Yi Jing and the Yi Jing contained a natural science that is still rooted in TCM today. Yi Jing is about the change and permanence of the universe. The universe is in movement or transformation at every moment. The Yi Jing pays great attention to Heaven (Qian) and Earth (Kun). Qian is pure Yang and Kun is pure Yin. The alternation between Yin and Yang gives birth to everything and Yin and Yang constitute Dao (Way). Therefore the principle of Yin and Yang is the universal law of the nature, the general order and law of all matter (Yang 1998, p66).

The Han and the preceding Warring States periods were times of great intellectual movement in China. Confucianism had entered the mainstream of Chinese culture, Daoism as both philosophy and religion had been established, and Buddhism had been introduced into China. The most important ancient medical classic (Huang Di Nei Jing) appeared during these centuries. According to Huang Di Nei Jing, the concept of Yin and Yang and that of the Five Elements is reflected in everything, which is associated with the times of day and seasons of the year. It contains numerous references to Daoism and shows that pulse diagnosis was already known and Acupuncture was used at that time. It is on this basis that TCM has built its own system (Huang 1995, p24).

The Daoist philosopher, Lao Tzu said, “Dao leads to one, one leads to two, two leas to three and three creates all things”. No active intervention (Wu Wei) is one of the central Daoist precepts whereas Confucians trusted implicitly in the moral power resulting from adherence to a detailed system of rites, to rectify the political situation (Unschuld p101-102). With Lao Tzu everything was nature. Many of the techniques of self-cultivation such as Tai Chi Chuan, Qi Gong, and meditation were derived from the teaching of Lao Tzu. The concept of Qi occupies an important place in Chinese philosophy.

Zang Xiang theory or the theory of Zang-Fu organs is built on the basis of a holistic relationship. It represents the TCM view of the body as an integrated whole. Chinese Medicine sees each organ as a complex system encompassing its corresponding emotion, tissue, sense organ, mental faculty, colour, and climate whereas Western medicine sees each organ only in its material anatomical aspect (Maciocia 1998, p67).

There is a great difference between TCM and Western medicine. As mentioned, Western medicine is based principally on dissection, analysis and reduction. Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch (1843-1910), who studied bacteriology developed medical science rapidly. This development of modern sciences had pushed Western medicine to rely more on the examination by means of physics, biochemistry, physiology and pathological anatomy to search for the causes of disease. That is why Western medicine depends more on laboratory examination and analysis than symptoms and signs for the final diagnosis. Therefore they only pay attention to the disease or it causes and neglects the patient. Because of this, the patient’s emotional, spiritual and mental aspects are often neglected in favour of the disease diagnosis whereas in TCM knowledge comes from practice, viewing the disease as a whole by understanding the relationship of the patient to the wider cosmos and therefore make readjustments between the patients imbalance and the world around them.

However, Huang Di Nei Jing says that the body may be dissected to discover the Zang –Fu organs. A famous surgeon in the Han Dynasty, Hou Han Shu said that Hua Tuo (?-203) did abdominal operation 1,700 years ago. However, the dynasties of Wei and Jin (220-419), the feudal ethical code became strict. The body was given by parents should not be destroyed and impaired, seriously arrested the development of anatomy and surgery. Achievements in this field were not transmitted to later generations and almost fell into oblivion (Huang 1995, p72). Therefore instead of the development of human anatomy and surgery, Chinese medicine paid great attention to Qi, which is believed to be the key to life. There is a great difference why TCM did not focus on developing scientific medicine.

Jing-Luo theory (meridian) is a rare treasure in TCM. Meridians are the network that carry Qi and Blood through the body, regulate Yin and Yang, maintenance of harmonious balance (Kaptchuk 1983, p77). It will promote research and succeed in founding the existence of Jing Luo in the scientific work.

CONCLUSION

Western medicine is derived from the Greek philosophers. After the Renaissance, the natural sciences were gradually freed from medieval religious thought. Anatomy, physiology and some other sciences had some development. During the seventeen century Western medicine was based on scientific discovery. It was greatly influenced by positivism and rationalism, which helped create scientific medicine.

In TCM, its theoretical system has never changed greatly since it was formed in Huang Di Nei Jing during the Qin and Han period. Even though there was unrest in those years the theories of Yin and Yang, the Five Elements and Zang Xiang has been the basis of various schools of TCM in China.
Throughout the world today, traditional physicians are quietly conducting a revolution by combining modern medical technology with TCM holistic therapies to create an innovative new approach to human health care known as the ‘New Medicine’. Western medicine continues to rely on increasingly complex and costly technology that treats the human body as though it were a mindless machine and often causes more problems than it solves.

It is becoming obvious that TCM and Western medicine are complementary branches of the same philosophical tree, and that together they provide a far more complete picture of human health and offer far more effective therapies for human disease than either one can possibly do alone.

TCM and Western physicians should lose their philosophical prejudices and value the differences between their systems. They should treasure the mutual common sense of both systems, discard what is useless or harmful, and move forward for the growth and development of the best aspects of both systems, so as to incorporate the two in bringing forth a new whole medical science.

REFERENCES

Gerber, R. (1996). Vibrational Medicine – New Choices for Healing Ourselves. Santa Fe: Bear & Company.

Huang, J. (1995). Methodology of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Beijing: New
World Press.

Kaptchuk, T.J. (1983). Chinese Medicine – The Web that has no Weaver.
London: Rider.

Maciocia, G. (1998). The Foundations of Chinese Medicine. Edinburgh: Churchill
Livingstone.

Porter, R. (1997). The Greatest Benefit to Mankind. London: Fontana Press.

Reid, D. (1996). The Shambhala Guide to Traditional Chinese Medicine. Boston: Shambhala.

Rhodes, P. (1988). An Outline History of Medicine. London: Butterworths.

Unschuld, P.U. (1985). Medicine in China – A History of Idea. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Wear, A., French, R.K. & Lonie, I.M. (1985). The Medical Renaissance of the Sixteenth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wei, T. (1992). Roots of Chinese Culture & Medicine. Selangor Darul Ehsan:
Pelanduk Publications.

Yang, L. (1998). Book of Changes and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Beijing: Beijing Science and Technology Press.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Crookshank, F. G. (1968). An Introduction to the History of Medicine. London:
Dawsons of Pall Mall.

Gerber, R. (1996). Vibrational Medicine – New Choices for Healing Ourselves. Santa Fe: Bear & Company.

Ho, P.Y. & Lisowski, F.P. (1993). Concepts of Chinese Science and Traditional Healing Arts – Historical Review. London: World Scientific Publishing.

Huang Ti Nei Jing Su Wen. (1995). The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Chinese
Medicine. (1st ed. c. 100BC). Boston: Shambhala.

Huang, J. (1995). Methodology of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Beijing: New
world Press.