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The History Of Chinese Herbal Therapy

By Enid Hinton


Chinese medicine has always been used for many centuries now but many do not exactly know who was the first one who used it. Chinese herbal therapy has been so influential that even up until today, there are many alternative medicine doctors who would make use of these herbs and turn them into recognized and certified medicines. So just so one would know, here is a brief history on this topic.

Now the very first record of its use was by emperor Shen Nong who was actually regarded as one of the very first herbalists of China. This man was emperor of China around 2800 BC and was known to have taught the local farmers and physicians all about herbology and how to use different natural resources. Eventually he wrote a book known as Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing which was like a dictionary for around three hundred plus kinds of herbal medicines.

Now this book was actually a detailed instruction manual on how to use certain herbs. He even classified around three hundred or more herbs into categories based on their strength and their usage. The three classifications are the superior kinds, the tonics that are for regular consumption, and of course the ones that are used for certain ailments only and taken in small amounts.

Now in the year 196 BC, there succeeded another herbalist and doctor who was named Zhang Zhong Jing and was actually an author of one of the most known medicine books in Chinese history. His book was Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders and Miscellaneous Illnesses and was actually used as a reference for many doctors as it incorporated the concepts of YinYang along with the elements of Chi or internal energy.

Now this book explains in detail how Yin and Yang would affect health and how the Five Elements are related to Chi and medicine. Now when the Song Dynasty came, this book eventually was separated into two different books and was also eventually made a reference for the doctors during that time. The ones who rewrote the two versions were physicians that came in after Zhang Zhong Jing.

Eventually these works were then further edited and refined in order to suit the present state at that time. In the Tang Dynasty, all of the books were edited and compiled into one single book known as the Yaoxing Lun. This was a reference for many herbalists as well as many doctors that existed during this time.

Nowadays, this practice has become a separate one from conventional medicine and is known as traditional chinese medicine or simply TCM. This is a holistic system which also includes other ancient curing methods such as acupuncture and acupressure. It is widely practiced in many places all around the world and even in the United States.

Now in Erie, PA, there are so many clinics that would actually practice TCM. Along with these clinics, there are also so many schools that would have courses all about this kind of branch of medicine. TCM has indeed been a big influence on the medical world up until today. And still continues to grow and evolve as it spreads into different regions of the world.




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