Chinese Medicine essays

Chinese Medicine essays Take a walk into a county hospital. Set against a backdrop of busy doctors and anxious patients are echoes of EKG machines, medical talk of conditions, prescriptions, and diagnoses, and the sounds of friction emerging from shock paddles as doctors try to save a life. In Chinese medicine, however, this isnt a familiar scene. Although both western and Chinese medicine propose the general idea of helping the sick, Chinese medicine takes a different approach. As western medicine bases itself on biology and laboratory experiments, Chinese medicine is rooted in tradition. It is based on the idea of harmony, and through medicine, bodily harmony is restored. They are many facets of Chinese medicine that essentially promote this idea, such as the five elements, yin and yang, the channels, acupuncture, herbs, and Tai Qi. It is through these principles of Chinese medicine that have sustained its existence for many centuries. According to the Chinese, nature was created by five elements: 1) fire, 2) earth, 3) metal, 4) water, and 5) wood. These five elements interact with each other, thus, creating a generating circle: In this circle, wood helps fire to burn. As fire burns, it creates dust-creating earth. Earth, then, helps metal to live. Metal generates waters flow. And finally, water brings life to wood. Another relationship between the five elements can be expressed through the controlling circle. Within this circle is a star; representing the dependence the elements have with each other: Fire destroys metal, as it burns it and metal dissolves. Metal can destroy wood, as an axe can cut through a piece of wood. Wood can destroy eart...