Traditional Chinese medicine

WRITTEN BY:
 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
LAST UPDATED: 3-16-2018 See Article History

Alternative Title: TCM

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), system of medicine at least 23

centuries old that aims to prevent or heal disease by maintaining or
restoring yinyang balance. China has one of the world’s oldest medical
systems. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal remedies date back at least
2,200 years, although the earliest known written record of Chinese
medicine is the Huangdi neijing (The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic) from
the 3rd century BCE. That opus provided the theoretical concepts for TCM
that remain the basis of its practice today. In essence, traditional Chinese
healers seek to restore a dynamicbalance between two complementary
forces, yin (passive) and yang (active), which pervade the human body as
they do the universe as a whole. According to TCM, a person is healthy
when harmony exists between these two forces; illness, on the other hand,
results from a breakdown in the equilibrium of yin and yang.

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In moxibustion, or moxa treatment, small cones of an herb (typically Artemisia moxa) are burned on
top of needles placed in designated points of the body, generally the same points as those used in
acupuncture.Nir Elias—Reuters/Landov
traditional Chinese medicine: acupunctureDiscussion of traditional Chinese medicine, with a focus
on the use of acupuncture as an anesthetic during surgery. Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz

A visit to a traditional Chinese pharmacy is like a visit to a small natural

history museum. The hundreds of cabinet drawers, glass cases, and jars in
a typical pharmacy hold an enormous variety of
desiccated plant and animal material. In 1578 Li Shizhen published his
famous Bencao gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica), which lists
1,892 drugs and some 11,000 formal prescriptions for specific ailments.
The Practice Of Traditional Medicine
To restore harmony, the Chinese healer may use any of a staggeringly large
array of traditional remedies. The patient may be treated
with acupuncture or acupressure, moxibustion (moxa treatment), or cupping
(in which hot glass cups are placed on the patient to draw blood to
the skin). The Chinese healer may prescribe a brew prepared with one (or
some combination) of thousands of medicinal plants or dried animal parts
(e.g., snakes, scorpions, insects, deer antlers) in the Chinese
pharmaceutical armamentarium.
Acupuncture consists of the insertion of one or several small metal needles into the skin and
underlying tissues at precise points on the body.© llhedgehogll/Fotolia

The role of qi and meridians

An essential aspect of TCM is an understanding of the body’s qi (life force;
literally, “vital breath”), which flows through invisible meridians (channels) of
the body. This energy network
connects organs, tissues, veins, nerves, cells, atoms,
and consciousness itself. Generally speaking, there are 12 major meridians,
each of which connects to one of the 12 major organs in TCM theory.
Meridians are also related to a variety of phenomena, including circadian
rhythms, seasons, and planetary movements, to create additional invisible
networks.
In acupuncture thin needles are inserted into specific points along the
meridians. The needles stimulate the meridians and readjust the flow of qi
to balance the body’s yin and yang. In place of
needles, massage (acupressure) can also be used to stimulate the
acupuncture points. Acupuncture is sometimes accompanied by
moxibustion, the burning of small cones of an herb (typically Artemisia
moxa) at acupuncture points. Not only can the meridian network be used
to alleviate symptoms; it can also endow TCM with the ability to
change consciousness in those who receive treatment.
acupunctureAcupuncture points, drawing from a Chinese manuscript; in the Bibliothèque Nationale
de France.Courtesy of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

A TCM practitioner uses smell, hearing, voice vibration, touch, and

pulse diagnosis to discover the source of an unbalanced health condition,
which organ it is related to, and which meridians are affected. In addition,
the practitioner typically makes use of what is known as the five agents, or
five phases (wuxing). By observing natural law in action, ancient healers
recognized five basic elements in the world—wood (mu), fire (huo), earth
(tu), metal (jin), and water (shui)—and found that these elements
have myriadcorrespondences, both visible and invisible. This framework
helps skilled TCM practitioners to identify unbalanced relationships. For
instance, one key correspondence relates to time of day. If an individual
always gets a headache at 4 PM, this signals that Bladder qi is unbalanced,
since the Bladder (of the TCM Kidney/Bladder organ pair) is in charge of
maintaining the body’s functions at that time. Using the five-element theory,
the practitioner can create a healing plan that might contain such
components as acupuncture, herbs, lifestyle changes, and foods for
healing. It might also include Chinese psychology, which shows how the
energy of unbalanced emotions can affect proper organ function.
Herbal therapy
TCM makes use of herbs and herbal formulas to strengthen organ function
and support good health. An understanding of the essence of various herbal
components gives the TCM practitioner a way to create a healing effect that
reaches beyond the chemical composition and physical properties of the
herbs. The practitioner chooses the herbal formula whose essence, or
signature energy vibration, correctly stimulates or adjusts the body’s own
energy vibration.

traditional Chinese medicineA man measuring ingredients in a traditional Asian apothecary. © Dragon
Images/Shutterstock.com

Chinese herbal formulas, some in use for more than 2,200 years, are
composed of ingredients chosen to function in combination with each other.
In Western medicine, medications are usually prescribed individually for a
specific effect. In classical TCM herbal formulas, each herb has a different
purpose or role to help the body achieve harmony. For a plant to have been
included in the Chinese apothecary, each of its parts had to be identified for
a different healing purpose. TCM also looks at the healing properties of
foods in the same way. Different foods carry different energies that can go
directly to specific organs to help them heal.
Modern Developments
Various Western scientific disciplines have conducted studies to learn how
Chinese medicine works, but it is difficult to use a Western yardstick to
measure Eastern medicine. For example, many studies on acupuncture
involve research that attempts to prove that this modality can eliminate or
reduce pain or alleviate certain conditions. However, this elementary
approach ignores the deeper insight and experience of Chinese medicine
that the human body has unlimited healing power and that the
complementary energies of health and disease reflect the yinyang principle
within the human body.
Genetics research and drug development
The yinyang principle can be applied to a genetic disease such as
inherited breast cancer and its associated genes BRCA1 and BRCA2.
According to this principle of natural law, if either of these genes is
activated, somewhere in another part of the genetic code there also exists a
gene to fix the action of the cancer gene, because there is an opposite
energy to the one that produced the disease. There must be
complementary programs running—one for developing the disease and one
for healing it.
Nearly 200 modern medicines have been developed either directly or
indirectly from the 7,300 species of plants used as medicines in China. For
example, ephedrine, an alkaloid used in treating asthma, was first isolated
from the Chinese herb mahuang. Today, scientists continue to
identify compounds in Chinese herbal remedies that may be useful in the
development of new therapeutic agents applicable in Western medicine.
For example, an alkaloid called huperzine A was isolated from
the moss Huperzia serrata, which is widely used in China to make the
herbal medicine qian ceng ta. Studies suggest that this agent may compare
favourably with manufactured anticholinesterase drugs such as donepezil,
which are used to treat Alzheimer disease.
Meditation and health
The meditation exercises tai chi (taijiquan) and qigong (“discipline of the
vital breath”) are examples of other integral features of traditional Chinese
healing that have been incorporated into health and fitness programs to
complement modern medicine. Tai chi is characterized by deliberately slow,
continuous, circular, well-balanced, and rhythmic movements that were
originally practiced as a martial art. Qigong, which was known in ancient
China as “the method to repel illness and prolong life,” contains elements of
meditation, relaxation training, martial-arts techniques, and breathing
exercises that are intended to cultivate qi and transmit it to all the bodily
organs. Today, many people worldwide regularly perform these exercises to
promote health and may indeed derive health benefits from the exercise
and relaxation.
History Of Chinese Medicine
The four major periods
Between the 29th century BCE and the 16th century CE Chinese medicine
passed through four major periods. The first, from the 29th to 27th
centuries BCE, was the time of the three emperors, primarily an era
of myth and legend with only approximate dating of events. The events of
the next 2,000 years are obscure, but a slow growth of medical knowledge
and gradual changes in medical practice can be assumed.
The second period was a mixture of legend and fact centred on the career
of Bian Qiao (Bian Que)—about whom anecdotal material dates to the first
half of the 5th century BCE. The third period was that of the great
practitioners, the physicians Zhang Zhongjing and Wang Shuhe and the
surgeon Hua Tuo, running from about CE 150 to 300. The individuals and
events were real, although legends have grown up around them. The final
1,300 years, featuring the compilation of encyclopaedic works and the
writing of commentaries on earlier authors, produced little that was original.
In the second half of the 16th century, tenuous communication began with
medical representatives from the West, and the character of Chinese
medicine began to change.
Ancient Chinese emperors and medical texts
The three emperors—Fu Xi, Shennong, and Huangdi—were medically
oriented. Fu Xi discovered the bagua (“eight trigrams”), the symbolic basis
for medical, philosophical, and astrological thinking. Shennong, called the
founder of Chinese medicine, was also known as the Divine Husbandman.
Huangdi, the famed Yellow Emperor who ruled in the 27th century BCE, was
at one time believed to have written the Huangdi neijing (The Yellow
Emperor’s Inner Classic). However, the work was actually composed much
later—the 3rd century BCE. Despite this discrepancy, the Huangdi
neijing has been revered for centuries and provides the theoretical concepts
for TCM.
Fu Xi and the bagua
Fu Xi, the legendary founder of the Chinese people, reputedly showed his
subjects how to fish, raise domestic animals, and cook. He taught them the
rules of marriage and the use of picture symbols. He also made known
the bagua, which he first saw written on the back of a “dragon-horse” as it
rose from the waters of the Yellow River (Huang He). To accomplish all of
these things Fu Xi had to have an unusual beginning and a long reign. The
former was provided by his mother, who conceived the future emperor
miraculously and carried him in her womb for 12 years.
Fu Xi, painting on silk; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. Courtesy of the National Palace Museum,
Taipei

The bagua consists of eight trigrams, or three-line symbols, composed of

continuous and broken lines. The continuous lines are called yang and
basically represent all things male; the broken lines are called yin and
represent female aspects of life. Yang and yin are complementary rather
than antagonistic. Such is the profundity of meaning contained in these
symbols that the Chinese philosopher Confucius once stated that if he
could study the bagua for 50 years he might be able to obtain wisdom.
Confucius did study the bagua long enough to write a commentary that
forms part of the Yijing (Classic of Changes), one of the books revered
throughout the history of China.
The ideograms for yin and yang first appeared in an appendix to the Yijing.
In diagrammatic form yin and yang appear as two fish in a circle, yin in
black and yang in white. The fact that each yin contains a little yang and
each yang a little yin is symbolized by the eye of each fish which is of the
opposite colour. Yin also stands for earth, moon, night, cold, moist, death,
and passive, among other things, while yang represents heaven, sun, day,
heat, dry, life, active, and so forth.
Medically speaking, everything could be classed either as yin or yang, and
to heal diseases, the ancient Chinese physician strove to bring these two
qualities back into balance. The inside of the body is yin, the surface
or skin is yang; the spleen, lungs, and kidneys are yin,
the heart and liver are yang; a disease is yin when it results from internal
causes, yang when it comes from external causes; purgatives, bitter
substances, and cold infusions are yin drugs, while resolvents, pungent
substances, and hot decoctions are yang drugs. Yin and yang are present
throughout the macrocosm of the world just as they are present in the
microcosm of the human body.
Shennong and the Shennong bencaojing
The second legendary emperor, Shennong, is said to have been born in the
28th century BCE and was known as the Red Emperor because his patron
element was fire. His mother was a princess and his father a heavenly
dragon. Shennong reportedly invented the plow, taught his people to be
farmers, and found and tested plants that had curative or poisonous
qualities. He supposedly wrote down much of this information in
the Shennong bencaojing (Divine Husbandsman’s Classic of Medicine),
where he categorized the medicines as superior (nonpoisonous and
rejuvenating), medium (having some toxicity based on the dosage and
exerting tonic effects), or inferior (poisonous but able quickly to
reduce fever and cure indigestion). Although most authorities now agree
that the Shennong bencaojing was written about the time of Christ,
Shennong is generally looked upon as the father of Chinese medicine.

Shennong, engraving from Sancai Tuhui (1607–09); in the collection of the University of Hong
Kong.Courtesy of the University of Hong Kong

Huangdi and the Huangdi neijing

The third of the three ancient Chinese emperors began his rule in 2697 BCE.
Called the Yellow Emperor, because his patron element was earth, Huangdi
is the best known of the three early rulers. He was long supposed to have
written the Huangdi neijing, although the work is now believed to have been
composed in the 3rd century BCE. Nevertheless, the Huangdi neijing has
been the highest Chinese authority on medical matters for over 2,000 years
and has appeared in many editions.
Huangdi, illustration from Li-tai ku-jen hsiang-tsan (1498 edition); in the collection of the University of
Hong Kong.Courtesy of the University of Hong Kong

The major contribution Huangdi made to medicine must certainly be the

invention of the nine needles for acupuncture. Like his predecessors,
Huangdi had a remarkable birth and a long life. He supposedly taught his
people how to print and how to make utensils of wood, pottery, and metal. A
good administrator, he delegated to his aides such assignments as building
boats, making the wheel, inventing a system of currency, composing a
calendar, and many other useful tasks. Huangdi himself allegedly obtained
information on diagnosis, the pulse, and other medical matters from
immortals and goddesses. Huangdi was given the formula for the “nine
gourd powder” and the “nineteen gold and silver prescriptions.” He also
acquired the prescription for making the “nine tripod pills.” All of these he
prepared on a special stove, one of his own inventions. To keep the fire
going in this busy stove, thousands of tigers and leopards came to his
home to take turns helping. When the last pills had been made, a yellow
dragon came down from heaven and escorted Huangdi to paradise.
Seventy of his concubines and most faithful ministers accompanied him on
this final flight.
The emphasis in the Huangdi neijing, and indeed throughout most of
Chinese medical history, is on the preventive rather than the curative.
Physicians were rated on the basis of whether they could keep well people
well. The physician who could take action only after
the disease had manifested itself for all to see was looked on as an inferior
practitioner. The Huangdi neijing states this concept clearly with some well-
drawn analogies:
To administer medicines to diseases which have already developed and to suppress
revolts which have already developed is comparable to the behavior of those
persons who begin to dig a well after they have become thirsty, and of those who
begin to cast weapons after they have already engaged in battle. Would these
actions not be too late?
The elements of anatomy in the Huangdi neijing underlie the discussion of
diseases. Yin and yang are distributed throughout the body in an even
balance in a healthy individual. However, a specific organ or area may have
more of one than of the other. These two principles are each subdivided
into three degrees: yin has a great female principle, a female principle
proper, and a young female principle, while yang has the male counterparts.
These subdivisions differ from each other primarily in the relative amounts
of air and blood contained in them. When these principles are balanced, the
individual will be healthy.
Disease can also be caused by winds, the seasons, and noxious airs. The
winds, some commentators believe, played such an important part in
Chinese medicine because the original Chinese people came from the
Yellow River area where the winds were usually active and where changes
in direction and intensity often foretold difficulties or disasters. The noxious
airs were usually thought of as indicating improper living habits, especially
deviations from the rules of the Dao, or Way. If an individual strayed from
the right way, he could expect to suffer for it, and medical problems were
one type of penalty.
The organs (liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys) were thought to store
materials. The viscera (gallbladder, stomach, large intestine, small
intestine, bladder, and the three burning spaces—unique areas that cannot
be specifically identified) were looked on as eliminators.
The comprehensive correspondences between these organs, viscera,
substances, seasons, winds, and many other qualities, concepts, and
things played a major role in Chinese medicine. The doctrine of the five
elements—metal, water, wood, fire, and earth—was also important. The
physician strove for a balance among the elements and the items related to
them.
Using volumes that 500 years before had belonged to Zhang Zhongjing,
Wang Bing compiled the most complete edition of the Huangdi neijing in the
middle of the 8th century CE during the Tang dynasty (618–907). The
governmental authorities determined that the work should be classed as a
medical book. The decision meant that the Huangdi neijing was delivered
into the hands of craftsmen (physicians) rather than into the hands of men
of higher education who could appreciate the philosophy behind the
medical teachings as well as the governmental and religious aspects. This
unfortunate situation was later corrected by the Emperor Renzong (reigned
1021–63) of the following Song Dynasty (960–1279).
Bian Qiao
The first outstanding physician after the three emperors was Bian Qiao,
who lived more than 2,000 years after Huangdi. Bian Qiao’s birth date is
uncertain but is thought to be in the early years of the 5th century BCE.
Although some facts are known about his life, Bian Qiao is also a somewhat
mythical figure. The Herodotus of China, Sima Qian (c. 145–87 BCE), wrote
a long biography of him, contemporary authors wrote about his cures, and
several books are assumed to have been written by him.
According to one story, Bian Qiao ran an inn when he was a young man.
One of the older residents of the inn, Chang Sangjun, recognized Bian
Qiao’s sterling qualities and decided to make the younger man his medical
heir. Chang Sangjun told Bian Qiao that he could have his medical secrets
if he would vow not to divulge them to others. When Bian Qiao agreed,
Chang Sangjun handed over a book and some herbs. Bian Qiao was to
take the herbs in a special liquid for 30 days, and he would then be able to
understand all the secrets of nature. Immediately after giving his
instructions, Chang Sangjun vanished. Bian Qiao followed the instructions
carefully, and at the end of the 30 days he discovered that he not only
understood the secrets of nature but also could see through the human
body. Wisely he kept this ability to himself and publicly derived his
information about the patient’s inner workings by carefully attending to the
pulse.
Many miraculous cures and predictions were credited to Bian Qiao. When
the great Zhao Jianzi had been unconscious for five days, the officials sent
for Bian Qiao, who accurately predicted that Zhao would recover within
three days. When this occurred, Bian Qiao was given 6,500 acres of land
as a reward. Once when he was traveling through Guo, Bian Qiao heard
that the prince had died. Going immediately to the palace gate, Bian Qiao
sought detailed information. What he heard led Bian Qiao to say that he
could bring the prince back to life. He diagnosed him with catalepsy, had his
assistant apply moxa and acupuncture to several points, and received the
plaudits of the assembled throng when, indeed, the prince’s life was
restored.

Bian Qiao’s handling of the Marquis Qi Huan of the ancient state

of Qi serves as a cautionary tale. While dining with the Marquis, Bian Qiao
told him that he had a latent disease that should be treated immediately.
The Marquis replied that he certainly was not ill. Five days later Bian Qiao
saw the Marquis again and informed him that the disease had entered the
blood. The Marquis responded by saying that he was not only well but was
also becoming rather annoyed. After another five days, Bian Qiao told the
Marquis that the disease was in the stomach and intestines, but he received
the same response. After five more days, Bian Qiao again came into the
Marquis’s presence, but this time the physician said nothing and backed out
of the room. His action upset the Marquis, who immediately sent a
messenger to get an explanation for this strange behaviour. Bian Qiao
replied with devastating logic:
When a disease was only skin deep it may be reached by concoctions and
applications; when in the blood system by puncturing; when in the stomach and
intestines by alcoholic extracts. But when it had penetrated the bone-marrow, what
could a doctor do? Now that the disease has lodged in His Excellency’s bone-
marrow, it is useless for me to make further comments.

The Marquis became ill five days later, as Bian Qiao had predicted, and
died shortly thereafter. This story is a beautiful example of the Chinese
emphasis on preventive or early treatment rather than on attempts to cure a
disease in its advanced stages.

Bian Qiao wrote the popular Nanjing (Difficult Classic), from which
information on diagnostic methods was later incorporated into the Huangdi
neijing. He also included the measurements and weights of various organs
taken from cadavers. One of Bian Qiao’s major struggles was against
superstition. He endeavoured to instruct medical men and laity alike
wherever he went. One of his most frequently quoted aphorisms was, “A
case is incurable if one believes in sorcerers instead of in doctors.”
Bian Qiao was looked upon by many as the most knowledgeable user of
pulse lore, although Wang Shuhe, who lived 750 years later, is generally
accepted as the chief authority on this peculiarly Chinese medical subject.
Whatever may be the confusion over myth and fact in this great physician’s
life, the highest compliment one could pay to a Chinese physician was to
call him a “living Bian Qiao.”
The great practitioners
Zhang Zhongjing
The Chinese Hippocrates, Zhang Zhongjing, flourished toward the end of
the 2nd century CE. He wrote an important book on dietetics, but he
achieved his greatest fame for a treatise on typhoid and other fevers, a
work highly regarded in the East for as long a time as Galen of Pergamum’s
works were popular in the West. Zhang described typhoid clearly and
recommended the use of only a few potent drugs in treating it. The drugs
were to be used one at a time, a considerable advance from the shotgun
prescriptions then common. Zhang stated that cool baths were also an
important part of the treatment, an idea that remained unused for 1,700
years until Scottish physician James Currie promoted it in his famous
treatise on fever therapy.
Zhang ZhongjingZhang Zhongjing, known as the Chinese Hippocrates.

Zhang paid close attention to the physical signs, symptoms, kind, and
course of a disease, and he carefully recorded the results obtained from
any drugs that he prescribed. Zhang forthrightly stood for the dignity and
responsibility of the medical profession, and this attitude, coupled with his
close powers of observation, make it easy to understand why he has
become known by the name of his Greek medical ancestor. In the 16th and
17th centuries there was a strong revival of his teachings and practices.
Hua Tuo
Huangdi’s Huangdi neijing devotes only a minute amount of space
to surgery. Chinese doctors in the early periods felt that surgery was a
matter of last resort, and little time was spent teaching or describing
surgical techniques. What surgery was done was usually carried out by a
lower grade of medical worker. However, around the beginning of the 3rd
century CE a surgeon named Hua Tuo began to change Chinese surgery.
As a young man, Hua Tuo traveled and read widely. He probably first
became interested in medicine while trying to help the countless soldiers
who had been wounded in the many wars of that violent period.
As a young surgeon Hua Tuo believed in simplicity, using only a few
prescriptions and a few points for acupuncture. Using a preparation
of hemp and wine, he was able to make his patients insensitive to pain. Hua
Tuo was thus the discoverer of anesthetics, although some say that Bian
Qiao had used them. He engaged in a wide variety of surgical procedures
including laparotomy (incision into the abdominal cavity), removal of
diseased tissues, and even a partial splenectomy (removal of the spleen).
To treat gastrointestinal diseases Hua Tuo’s favourite procedure was to
resect the viscera and wash the inside. He probably even performed end-
to-end anastomoses (connections) of the intestines, although it is not
known what substance he used for the sutures.
Of the stories told of Hua Tuo, one—possibly apocryphal—is that
General Guandi, one of the great military heroes of the time who eventually
became the God of War, came to Hua Tuo because of an arrow wound in
his arm that had become badly infected. The surgeon prepared to give his
patient the usual anesthetic drink, but General Guandi laughed scornfully
and called for a board and stones for a game of go. While Hua Tuo scraped
the flesh and bone free of infection and repaired the wound, Guandi and
one of his military companions proceeded calmly with their game.

Guandi with (left) his son Guan Ping and (right) his squire Zhou Cang, painting on paper; in the
Religionskundliche Sammlung der Philipps-Universität, Marburg, Ger. Foto Marburg/Art Resource, New York

Surgery, although his main interest, was only one of Hua Tuo’s pursuits. He
pioneered in hydrotherapy, and he did innovative work in physiotherapy. His
series of exercises known as the frolics of the five animals, in which the
patient imitated movements of the tiger, deer, bear, ape, and bird, was well
known and widely adopted.
Médicos chineses usavam
poderes sobrenaturais
para examinar pacientes
13/01/2014

Zhang Zhongjing e Hua Tuo, dois grandes médicos chineses da Dinastia Han, eram conhecidos
por possuírem habilidades sobrenaturais (KanZongGuo.com)

Os mais renomados antigos médicos chineses são conhecidos por possuírem

capacidades sobrenaturais, incluindo ser capaz de olhar o interior do corpo de
uma pessoa para ver a causa de uma doença.

Veja abaixo alguns extraordinários médicos e suas habilidades.

1. Hua Tuo (140-208 d.C)

 Retrato de Hua Tuo feito por uma edição do Romance
dos Três Reinos na Dinastia Qing (Wikimedia Commons)

Hua Tuo é conhecido como o primeiro cirurgião da medicina chinesa. Ele

também é conhecido por ter utilizado habilidades sobrenaturais para ver
tumores e outros problemas internos, e assim identificar a causa de uma
doença.

Quando Hua Tuo disse ao imperador Cao Cao que ele tinha um tumor em seu
cérebro, Cao Cao pensou que Hua Tuo queria matá-lo, usando o pretexto de
ter que realizar uma cirurgia cerebral. O imperador mandou prender Hua Tuo,
e no final o médico morreu na prisão. Depois de alguns anos, Cao Cao
morreu devido à sua doença.

Hua Tuo era um homem humilde, sem interesse em fama e ganho pessoal.
Embora ele tenha examinado o imperador, ele normalmente trabalhava com
pessoas comuns. Ele foi forçado a diagnosticar o imperador, depois de ter
recusado a oferta de se tornar o médico oficial do mesmo.

Hua Tuo era chamado de o “Médico Divino”, ou “Shenyi” em chinês. Ele

também é conhecido por ter desenvolvido um tipo de exercício de qigong.
Muitos médicos da antiga China davam muita importância ao cultivo espiritual
e se esforçavam para manter um elevado caráter moral. Suas habilidades
sobrenaturais só podiam chegar a eles dessa forma.

Sem qualquer método de escanear o interior do corpo, as cirurgias que Hua

Tuo realizava eram conhecidas por serem guiadas por uma visão divina.

2. Bian Que (500 a.C)

Um relato da vida de Bian Que foi feito no livro “Registros do Grande
Historiador” feito pelo famoso historiador Sima Qian. Bian Que conheceu um
homem com poderes sobrenaturais que lhe deu um misterioso remédio.

O homem instruiu Bian Que a ingerir o remédio com água que “não tenha
tocado o chão”, como o orvalho. Um mês depois, Bian Que adquiriu visão
raio-X.

Quando Bian Que estava na procissão funerária de um príncipe, viu que o

príncipe ainda podia ser revivido. Na verdade, ele descobriu que o príncipe
estava em coma, e depois que o mesmo foi tratado com acupuntura, ficou
bom novamente.

3. Zhang Zhongjin (150 a 219 d.C)

“O Tratado sobre a gripe”, um dos mais

antigos livros clínicos do mundo, compilado por Zhang Zhongjing (Wikimedia
Commons)

Quando Zhang Zhongjing tinha 20 anos, ele conheceu um funcionário

chamado Wang Zhongxuan. Zhang contou a Wang que suas sobrancelhas
iriam cair quando chegasse a 40 anos de idade, e quando isso acontecesse,
Wang iria morreu dentro de meio ano. Zhang deu a Wang uma receita para
evitar esta ocorrência.

Wang aceitou o remédio, mas não o tomou, porque ele se sentiu ofendido e
não acreditou em Zhang.

Dias depois, Zhang perguntou a Wang se ele tinha tomado o medicamento, e

Wang mentiu, dizendo que tinha. Zhang não se deixou enganar. Ele disse:
“Parece que você não tomou. Por que você não se preocupa com sua vida?”.

Anos mais tarde, quando Wang tinha 40 anos, suas sobrancelhas caíram.
Como previsto, ele realmente morreu dentro de meio ano.
The end of Hua Tuo’s life is hidden in a mist of conflicting and doubtful
stories. A likely set of these has him late in life becoming court physician
to Cao Cao, king of Wei. The surgeon temporarily relieved the ruler of his
giddiness by acupuncture. When the king asked him to do something to
remove this annoyance permanently, Hua Tuo said he would have to cut
into the royal skull. Cao Cao’s wife was in favour of surgery as a desperate
hope, but the king became suspicious that his enemies had bribed Hua Tuo
to kill him. In a fit of rage, perhaps triggered by these very headaches, the
king had the surgeon thrown into jail and executed. Hua Tuo’s major
book, Qingnang shu (Book of the Blue Bag) was burned, either by the jailer
who wanted to remove all traces of the prisoner or by the surgeon’s wife
acting in accordance with Hua Tuo’s wishes expressed before he was
jailed.

Cao CaoCao Cao, portrait by an unknown artist.

Hua Tuo earned his place as the greatest surgeon in Chinese history.
Unfortunately, the destruction of his writings and the
Confucian dogma against mutilation of the human body combined to
prevent the growth of surgery that might have been expected to follow the
life of such a remarkable pioneer.
Wang Shuhe and the pulse
Since medicine was far more important than surgery in Chinese
history, diagnosis was of considerable significance. Although the early
Chinese physician examined with care the colour of the patient’s skin at
various key points and noted any other external signs, he drew mainly on
the pulse for diagnosis. Indeed, the study of the pulse was one of the major
occupations of the physician, who listened for an almost endless variety of
sounds and rhythms. The classic work in the field was the Maijing (The
Pulse Classics), which was written by Wang Shuhe. Wang also wrote an
important commentary on the Huangdi neijing, but his labours over the
pulse are what raised him to the highest rank of Chinese physician. In
the Huangdi neijing itself may be found the assertion “Nothing surpasses
the examination of the pulse.”
Basically, the physician had three places on each wrist at which he
must ascertain the quality and quantity of the pulse. The place closest to
the hand was known as the cun (“inch”), the middle position was
the guan (“bar”), and the one farthest from the hand was called
the chi (“cubit”). Yin representing right and yang left, a woman’s right pulse
indicated disorder and her left pulse order; the opposite held for a man.
The physician not only read three different pulses on each wrist but also
read each pulse at two levels. For example, on the left wrist, when the inch
was lightly pressed the pulse indicated the state of the small intestines;
when heavily pressed, the heart. The bar lightly pressed indicated the state
of the gallbladder, and when heavily pressed, the liver; and the cubit lightly
pressed indicated the state of the urinary bladder, heavily pressed, the
kidneys. The right wrist had its own relationships to the body organs.
The actual pulses were further divided into seven biao (“superficial”) and
eight li (“sunken”) pulses. What could these pulses indicate? To take just
one example, the seven superficial pulses on the inch position could
indicate, among other things: (1) pains and heat in the middle region of the
body and in the head; (2) accumulation of blood in the chest; (3) belching
and vomiting; (4) insufferable heat within the thorax; (5) severe thoracic
pains; (6) headaches; and (7) heat in the chest. Although to Western minds
these varieties and relationships may appear complex or ridiculous, the
Chinese physician trained in pulse lore could achieve some
remarkable diagnoses.
Final period
In addition to the three emperors, as well as physicians such as Bian Qiao,
Zhang Zhongjing, Hua Tuo, and Wang Shuhe, other individuals made single
contributions of substantial importance to Chinese medicine. Ge Hong (3rd
century CE), in a handbook of prescriptions for emergencies, gave a clear
and detailed description of smallpox. Ge Hong’s achievement came almost
six centuries before al-Rāzī (Rhazes), the great Persian physician generally
given credit for the first description of this deadly disease. About 700 years
after Ge Hong, the practice of inoculation against smallpox grew out of a
rather hazy background. Supposedly, inoculation was brought to China by
either a spiritual old woman or a holy physician. This individual lived on a
mountain and began the practice by using scabs that had been dried,
ground into a powder, and inserted into the nostrils. The method spread and
cut the mortality rate substantially.
From the time of Wang Shuhe in the 3rd century to the middle of the 16th
century CE, Chinese medical men devoted much of their efforts to the
compilation of massive encyclopaedias and the writing of commentaries on
the classical works. In 1644 official rites for worshipping the ancient
physicians were instituted at the Qing Hui Palace near the College of
Imperial Physicians in Peking (Beijing). These rites were celebrated in the
spring and fall for many years.
When Portuguese Bishop Belchior Carneiro established Saint Raphael’s
Hospital in the 16th century near Guangzhou (Canton), tentative medical
communication began between East and West. As Western medicine
gradually made deeper inroads in the country, some Chinese people began
to believe that everything in Western medicine was scientific and good, and
therefore better than the traditional medicine practiced in China. Despite the
appearance once again of a physician, Sun Yat-sen, as the ruler of the
country, this faith in Western medicine continued to grow at the expense of
native medicine. However, in the early 20th century interest in TCM was
renewed, and by the late 20th and early 21st centuries, TCM was practiced
not only in China but also in countries worldwide.