Principles of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine

The principles of Oriental medicine owe their foundation to the fundamental Taoist practices of living in harmony with nature in order to extend life to its maximum. Oriental Medicine encompasses an array of medical practices based upon millennia of observational studies and trial-and-error approaches to treating human conditions. Oriental Medicine is also known as Chinese Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Oriental Medicine, and Acupuncture Medicine.

Much of Oriental Medical philosophy developed in conjunction with ancient Taoist emphasis on living in harmony with nature, and that by doing so, one could enhance and prolong life itself. Taosts believed that there were certain universal principles of nature that apply to all things, and by observing all things, both gross and subtle, they could identify the cause of illness and develop methods to prevent it.

Because China had such a long history as an agrarian culture under the control of emperors and their armies, human physiology was often described in terms of weather, agriculture, government, and military strategy. Using such commonly understood analogies also made it easier to pass knowledge from one generation to another, even when written texts were lost or destroyed, as occurred frequently throughout Chinese history. As a system of assessment, diagnosis, prescription, and treatment, Oriental medicine is analytical and logical, seeking to attribute subtle patterns of disharmony to their origins. These patterns are usually described in terms of Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, Qi, and Blood.

Yin and yang are a relational concept that seeks to divide all things in the universe (including internal organs and symptoms of disease) into opposing aspects; light and dark, cold and hot; inside and outside; passive and active, empty and full; slow and fast; etc. The taiji symbol (on the left) represents yin and yang. The dark yin and the lighter yang chase each other around in a clockwise circle, each containing a seed of the other. The idea is that they are in constant motion, replacing each other over time. Yin and Yang were further divided into cold and hot, interior and exterior, and interior and exterior. These eight divisions are known as the Eight Principles or Eight Parameters, and are used to determine the nature of illnesses.

Another representation of the transient nature of life and the universe is called the Five Elements, Five Transitions, or Five Phases - Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth. Some consider these to be related to the Greek elements of earth, wind, water, and fire. They would be correct only in the fact that the origins of these "elements" were based upon the desire of people to discover the fundamental components of nature and the universe. It is thought that the Chinese originally had four elements surrounding the fifth element, earth, which was placed in the center, and represented a transition between each of the others.

The Five Elements have come to represent phases through which all natural phenomena transition. Metal can be heated into liquid and poured like Water. Water nourishes the growth of Wood. Wood burns to become Fire. Fire burns all things, leaving only an Earthly deposit of ash. Earth can be purified to produce Metal. And the cycle continues. Organs, colors, smells, tastes, emotions, seasons, and many other things have been categorized into these elemental phases.

Each element causes changes in, or is changed by others. Fire produces Earth. Earth produces Metal. But, Earth can interfere with Water by damming it or absorbing it. Wood can interfere with Metal by plowing it up. Thus, they all have a specific kind of relationship with each of the others, and a preponderance of signs and symptoms assigned to a particular element would lead one to conclude that everything in that particular category was prone to imbalance, and could have resulted from, and lead to, imbalances in others.

Once again, it should be emphasized that these categorizations and the other generalities were meant to define nature as it was understood over two thousand years ago, without an understanding of molecular science, electromagnetic theory, or microscopic dissection. They created a method of putting order to chaos that could be memorized, passed on, and built upon in the future. The fact that physicians continued to categorize every type of natural phenomenon, illness, sign, and symptom into these simplified systems of explanation, and to experiment and develop treatments based upon these systems for over two thousand years, has resulted in a highly complex system of medicine that still applies today.

Some people believe that what primarily differentiates Oriental Medicine from other forms of medicine is that it accepts the possibility that an energetic substance (Qi, Chi, Ki ) permeating living beings. This Qi is said to manifest in varieties of both substance and function, circulate through specific pathways in the body, connect the organs and tissue, and keep everything functioning smoothly. Since Qi can only be recognized through its outward manifestations, and it comes in many different types, it is often described as if it were just a form of "energy". This may be partially true. For example, Food Qi might simply be the sugars and carbohydrates contained in food that our body uses as fuel. Air Qi might be oxygen, which our bodies use to burn the sugars in our cells for energy. Nerves and muscles function through biochemical reactions, which could be thought of as a manifestation of Qi. Qi is one of five fundamental substances in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The others are Blood (nutrients), Fluid (liquids), Jing (genetics), and Shen (spirit). Qi and Blood were considered the most important, and often described as energy and substance.

By accepting the existence of Qi as an underlying force that accompanies and/or causes all motion and change, action, and reaction, Oriental Medicine practitioners can regard even vague symptoms and complaints as potentially meaningful.

The Zang-Fu refers to physiologic functions of the organs. Oriental Medicine has assigned certain physiological functions and outward manifestations to specific organs and tissues, which are similar or nearly identical to the functions assigned to them in biochemistry and physiology.

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