Understanding Chinese Medicine (CM) is like looking into the history and philosophy of the Chinese people and their culture. The practice has been longstanding for over 2,000 years. There has been much written and interpreted about TCM obtained from archaeological findings from ancient times. In those ancient times, those who succeeded in conquering the territories, ruled that period or dynasty. The earliest period called Zhou dates from 1027 BC, was a period with shaman leaders who used their “magical powers” to heal. During this time, 3 of the 5 rulers were considered founders of TCM.
The next dynasty called Qin had an emperor who ruled and helped to establish and consolidate social and cultural institutions. For the next six dynasties, Buddhism influenced the development more related to psychological medicine in China. This included areas of meditation, psychotherapy and faith healing. More technical literature also developed as CM spread to Vietnam, Korea and Japan. The Tan dynasty in the 620 BC saw huge social and cultural changes. It was described as the Chinese Golden Age.
As the empire united, the 3 main philosophies (Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism), played a major role. Buddhism reached greater numbers and travelled to India. Here followers interchanged arts and sciences, and returned with new ideas or inspirations. Despite the wealth and creativity of this era, acupuncture was not the focal point instead it was centred around finding the “elixir of life”, the alchemical source of immortality
