Traditional Chinese Medicine

In ancient China which was far away from modern medical technology, Chinese people cured themselves by a wide range of traditional Chinese medical practices, including herbal medicine, acupuncture, cupping, Qigong (a system of deep breathing exercises), massage therapy and dietary therapy, and so on. According to research, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM for short) had been very popular during the Qin and Han dynasties and many monographs on TCM were written, which are regrettably lost today. In the following dynasties, more medical writings came out successively, among which the “Sheng Nong's Herbal Classic” and the “Compendium of Materia Medica” are the most foremost and famous ones. Nowadays, TCM is still very popular among Chinese people even if the western medical technology produces effect faster. The most important reason for that is Chinese people believe that TCM makes less side-effect and pays more attention to health cultivation. For a long time, TCM impact exerts a deep influence on Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese medical science. Today, TCM is classified as alternative medicine as well as hypnotherapy, Homeopathic Medicine and others. In China today, courses of both western medicine and TCM are commonly provided in medical colleges, and students can even choose a college of traditional Chinese medicine where they have a chance to study more about TCM.