Traditional Chinese Medicine
The foundational corpus of Chinese medicine was established by the Eastern Han dynasty around 100-200C, though there are numerous key texts dated centuries earlier. The theories and treatments presented in these texts are so effective clinically, that they still form the undisputed ‘bibles’ of modern Chinese medicine. However, in the second millennia that followed, numerous physicians enhanced, expanded, and broadened the understanding of human physiology, pathology, and causes of disease. Chinese medicine contains a broad array of tools that can be used for nearly any clinical condition, from chronic to acute. Acupuncture, the most visible Chinese medical tool in use outside of China and Taiwan today, is only a small part of the field of Chinese medicine. Herbal medicine often has played a much larger role with its sophistication, versatility, and power to treat complicated diseases. Physical manipulation techniques, such as Tui-Na, massage therapies, bone setting, external trauma, and wound healing are also well-established and highly effective.