Editing Traditional Chinese medicine (section)

==Philosophical background==
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a broad range of medicine practices sharing common concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of [[Chinese herbology|herbal medicine]], acupuncture, massage ({{lang|zh-Latn|tui na}}), exercise ({{lang|zh-Latn|qigong}}), and dietary therapy.<ref name="TCMNCCIH">Traditional Chinese Medicine, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, [http://nccih.nih.gov/health/whatiscam/chinesemed.htm Traditional Chinese Medicine: An Introduction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626223845/https://nccih.nih.gov/health/whatiscam/chinesemed.htm |date=26 June 2015}}</ref><ref name="uOuvz">{{cite journal | vauthors = Bannon D |author-link=David "Race" Bannon |title=Balancing the Yang and Yin: Development and Contributions of Chinese Medicine |journal=Asian Pacific Quarterly |volume=26 |issue=2 |year=1994 |pages=22–37}}</ref> It is primarily used as a complementary alternative medicine approach.<ref name="TCMNCCIH" /> TCM is widely used in China and it is also used in the West.<ref name="TCMNCCIH" /> Its philosophy is based on [[School of Yin Yang|Yinyangism]] (i.e., the combination of Five Phases theory with Yin–Yang theory),<ref name="Zou Yan">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/607826/Zou-Yan|title=Zou Yan|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=1 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426150251/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/607826/Zou-Yan|archive-date=26 April 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> which was later absorbed by [[Daoism]].<ref name="IiZhf">Liu, Zheng-Cai (1999): [https://books.google.com/books?id=UNUiHP7MPJMC&pg=PA39 "A Study of Daoist Acupuncture & Moxibustion"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715132347/https://books.google.com/books?id=UNUiHP7MPJMC&pg=PA39 |date=15 July 2022 }} Blue Poppy Press, first edition. {{ISBN|978-1-891845-08-6}}</ref> Philosophical texts influenced TCM, mostly by being grounded in the same theories of ''qi'', ''yin-yang'' and ''wuxing'' and microcosm-macrocosm analogies.<ref name="629O1">{{Citation| vauthors = Raphals L |title=Chinese Philosophy and Chinese Medicine|year=2017|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2017/entries/chinese-phil-medicine/|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy| veditors = Zalta EN |edition=Fall 2017|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|access-date=17 January 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190318040920/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2017/entries/chinese-phil-medicine/|archive-date=18 March 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Yin yang.svg|thumb|right|200px|Yin and yang symbol for balance. In traditional Chinese Medicine, good health is believed to be achieved by various balances, including a balance between yin and yang.]]

===Yin and yang===
{{Main|Yin and yang}}

Yin and yang are ancient Chinese deductive reasoning concepts used within Chinese medical diagnosis which can be traced back to the [[Shang dynasty]]<ref name="Men 2010">Men, J. & Guo, L. (2010) [https://books.google.com/books?id=KxoVAXt09F8C&q=tcm+yin+yang&pg=PA60 "A General Introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320171929/https://books.google.com/books?id=KxoVAXt09F8C&pg=PA60&dq=tcm+yin+yang&hl=zh-CN#v=onepage&q=tcm%20yin%20yang&f=false |date=20 March 2017}} Science Press. {{ISBN|978-1-4200-9173-1}}</ref> (1600–1100&nbsp;BCE). They represent two abstract and complementary aspects that every phenomenon in the universe can be divided into.<ref name="Men 2010" /> Primordial analogies for these aspects are the sun-facing (yang) and the shady (yin) side of a hill.<ref name="Ergil 2009" /> Two other commonly used representational allegories of yin and yang are water and fire.<ref name="Men 2010" /> In the [[Yin and yang|yin–yang theory]], detailed attributions are made regarding the yin or yang character of things:

{| class="wikitable"
! Phenomenon || Yin || Yang
|-
! Celestial bodies<ref name="Ergil 2009" />
| moon || sun
|-
! Gender<ref name="Ergil 2009" />
| female || male
|-
! Location<ref name="Ergil 2009" />
| inside || outside
|-
! Temperature<ref name="Ergil 2009" />
| cold || hot
|-
! Direction<ref name="Wiseman 1996" />
| downward || upward
|-
! Degree of humidity
| damp/moist || dry
|}

The concept of yin and yang is also applicable to the human body; for example, the upper part of the body and the back are assigned to yang, while the lower part of the body is believed to have the yin character.<ref name="Wiseman 1996" /> Yin and yang characterization also extends to the various body functions, and – more importantly – to disease symptoms (e.g., cold and heat sensations are assumed to be yin and yang symptoms, respectively).<ref name="Wiseman 1996">{{harvp|Wiseman|Ellis|1996}}{{page needed|date=October 2019}}</ref> Thus, yin and yang of the body are seen as phenomena whose lack (or over-abundance) comes with characteristic symptom combinations:
* Yin vacuity (also termed "vacuity-heat"): heat sensations, possible sweating at night, insomnia, dry pharynx, dry mouth, dark urine, and a "fine" and rapid pulse.<ref name="Kaptchuck 2000">Kaptchuck, Ted J. (2000): [https://books.google.com/books?id=6BiGl562OgEC "The Web That Has No Weaver"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320170500/https://books.google.com/books?id=6BiGl562OgEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+web+that+has+no+weaver&hl=zh-CN |date=20 March 2017}} 2nd edition. Contemporary Books. {{ISBN|978-0-8092-2840-9}}</ref>
* Yang vacuity ("vacuity-cold"): aversion to cold, cold limbs, bright white complexion, long voidings of clear urine, diarrhea, pale and enlarged tongue, and a slightly weak, slow and fine pulse.<ref name="Wiseman 1996" />

TCM also identifies drugs believed to treat these specific symptom combinations, i.e., to reinforce yin and yang.<ref name="Ergil 2009" />
[[File:Wuxing en.svg|thumb|right|200px|Interactions of Wu Xing]]

{| class="wikitable"
! Phenomenon || Wood || Fire || Earth || Metal || Water
|-
! Direction<ref name="Aung 2007" />
| East || South || Centre || West || North
|-
! Colour<ref name="Deng 1999" />
| green/violet || red/purple || yellow/pink || white || black
|-
! Climate<ref name="Aung 2007" />
| wind || heat || damp || dryness || cold
|-
! Taste<ref name="Ergil 2009" />
| sour || bitter || sweet || acrid || salty
|-
! Zang Organ<ref name="Maciocia 1989">Maciocia, Giovanni, (1989): The Foundations of Chinese Medicine: A Comprehensive Text for Acupuncturists and Herbalists; Churchill Livingstone; {{ISBN|978-0-443-03980-5}}, p. 26</ref>
| Liver || Heart || Spleen || Lung || Kidney
|-
! Fu Organ<ref name="Maciocia 1989" />
| [[Gallbladder]] || [[Small intestine]] || [[Stomach]] || [[Large intestine]] || [[Bladder]]
|-
! Sense organ<ref name="Deng 1999" />
| [[eye]] || [[tongue]] || [[mouth]] || [[nose]] || [[ears]]
|-
! Facial part<ref name="Deng 1999" />
| above bridge of nose || between eyes, lower part || bridge of nose || between eyes, middle part || cheeks (below cheekbone)
|-
! Eye part<ref name="Deng 1999">Deng, T. (1999): [https://books.google.com/books?id=wONlwtKkUmcC&pg=PA185 "Practical diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine"]{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Elsevier. 5th reprint, 2005. {{ISBN|978-0-443-04582-0}}</ref>
| [[Iris (anatomy)|iris]] || inner/outer corner of the eye || upper and lower lid || [[sclera]] || [[pupil]]
|}

Strict rules are identified to apply to the relationships between the [[Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)|Five Phases]] in terms of sequence, of acting on each other, of counteraction, etc.<ref name="Aung 2007">{{harvp|Aung|Chen|2007}}{{page needed|date=October 2019}}</ref> All these aspects of Five Phases theory constitute the basis of the [[Zang-fu|zàng-fǔ]] concept, and thus have great influence regarding the TCM model of the body.<ref name="Ergil 2009" /> Five Phase theory is also applied in diagnosis and therapy.<ref name="Ergil 2009" />

Correspondences between the body and the universe have historically not only been seen in terms of the Five Elements, but also of the "Great Numbers" ({{lang-zh|labels=no|c=大數 |p=dà shū}})<ref name="Matuk 2006" /> For example, the number of acu-points has at times been seen to be 365, corresponding with the number of days in a year; and the number of main meridians–12–has been seen as corresponding with the number of rivers flowing through the [[History of China|ancient Chinese empire]].<ref name="Matuk 2006">{{cite journal |last1=Matuk |first1=Camillia |title=Seeing the Body: The Divergence of Ancient Chinese and Western Medical Illustration |journal=The Journal of Biocommunication |date=2006 |volume=32 |issue=1 |citeseerx=10.1.1.592.1410 |s2cid=6336033 |url=https://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/docs/publications/6074956944509ac426aaa6.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621204428/http://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/docs/publications/6074956944509ac426aaa6.pdf |archive-date=2010-06-21 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="SDAM">''"There are 365 days in the year, while humans have 365 joints [or acu-points]... There are 12 channel rivers across the land, while humans have 12 channel"'', A Study of Daoist Acupuncture & Moxibustion, Cheng-Tsai Liu, Liu Zheng-Cai, Ka Hua, p. 40, [https://books.google.com/books?id=UNUiHP7MPJMC&q=12+rivers&pg=PA40] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140930234748/http://books.google.com/books?id=UNUiHP7MPJMC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&dq=%22%22traditional+chinese+medicine%22+%2212+rivers%22+acupuncture+%22365+days%22&source=bl&ots=rsClvQps3o&sig=-DGpUyl70Yd4YtHE87RauAe_Q1U&hl=en&ei=OrJcTcaZOoqcsQO9u5nhCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAw#v=snippet&q=12%20rivers&f=false|date=30 September 2014}}</ref>