The medicine of the Yellow Emperor, descendants of the sun and the subjects of the earth
Chinese Medicine was exposed to the Western world in the 1970s, with the arrival of the American delegation to China headed by President Richard Nixon. One of his men suffered from Appendicitis and was treated at a hospital in Beijing. As part of the anesthesia process, the Chinese doctors used acupuncture on him in order to perform the operation and at the end of the operation they used acupuncture for pain relief. The Americans, stunned by the special treatment and the quick recovery, decided to write and tell about the magical Chinese needles and so Chinese medicine began to seep into the consciousness of the West with an emphasis on the wonders of acupuncture.
Chinese Medicine has a long history almost as long as the Chinese civilization.
Chinese culture has the longest recorded historical continuity and Chinese medicine started to be documented and rewritten more than 4,000 years ago. We find tombstones on which ancient Chinese characters were engraved about Chinese history, discoveries and studies. The famous Yellow Emperor’s book “The Inner Medicine of the Yellow Emperor” which dealt with the philosophy of Chinese medicine has been written and documented in this manner too. The Chinese had an important credibility, quality and loyalty to the sources and therefore invested great efforts to preserve history, first on animal bones, later on bark, tombstones until the first century AD, and during the Khan dynasty with the invention of paper, the documentation shifted into books and encyclopedias.
Chinese medicine was born as an imperial necessity and was mainly imperial medicine. For thousands of years the Emperors invested a great deal of money in studies, discoveries, search for potions and herbs for immortality which will be given to them and their family the eternal life.
Later on, the common people also began to benefit from the services of the herbalists and needle doctors, whos job was to make sure people were healthy and strong. As soon as a disease was discovered, it was a sign of imbalance or getting out of the inner harmony of the body, something that was attributed to going in an unnatural way. The doctor was responsible for maintaining the person’s health maintenance but in conjunction with the patient’s responsibility for carrying out the instructions.
The body is perceived as a temple where the spirit and the soul are stored and this is why it was so important to preserve the body and nurture it.
Chinese medicine suffered from the whims of rulers, while the main one was Mao Zedong who in the 1960s went out against everything that symbolized Chinese tradition, splendor, wisdom, and prestige. Everything that symbolized the gap between ruler and subject, like discrimination and inequality were outlawed and particularly denounced during the years of the Cultural Revolution between 1966 and 1976 (during which time Mao himself enjoyed the personal service of Chinese medicine and its doctors).
Chinese medicine was condemned and all its doctors suffered, were humiliated and denied the right to work as doctors, but some doctors continued to work and treat patients in secret while risking their lives.
The resurrection and the return of Chinese medicine to its prestige began with the visit of Richard Nixon in China, following the interest and curiosity among Westerners.
With the opening of China to the Western world in 1979 following the reforms led by Deng Xiaoping, who became president of China and Mao’s successor in this year, the fascinating encounter of the civilizations of the East and the West begins – like a meeting between sperm and an egg, a man and a woman, yang and yang. The intercultural encounter was fertile and led to the integration of these two medicine giants: the conventional Western medicine and the natural Eastern medicine. The encounter between the two medicines aroused tremendous enthusiasm in China, the merger was perceived as providing the full picture. China began to adopt the use of quick response drugs such as antibiotics and aspirin, and in the West more and more practitioners Acupuncture started to emerge.
With time, both Chinese and Westerners understand that one does not contradict the other so there’s no need to choose one or the other. The best is the combination of both. Since then until today both Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine are used in hospitals, clinics and pharmacies – marching together towards a common goal of better and comprehensive treatment, thorough healing, and a healthy and natural future.
