History

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Background: Chinese Medicine

"The superior physician controls disease before any illness has declared itself;

the average physician practices acupuncture before the disease has come to crisis;

the inferior practitioner treats the patient when illness is already dying away."

- Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing

(Comprehensive Manual of Acupuncture

and Moxibustion, 282 AD)

• Chinese medicine has evolved from a theoretically and clinically heterogeneous heritage that includes ancestor healing, demon exorcism, magic correspondences and herbal medicine.

  • • Its history is well documented in more than 10,000 medical treatises.

    • The first European reports on Chinese medicine came from 16th and 17th century Jesuits.

    • Missionaries to Asia brought back the theory and practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine to Europe (see Acupuncture – European history).

• Today, Chinese medicine embraces a complex, internally consistent and comprehensive medical tradition that includes acupuncture, herbology, nutrition, meditation, exercise, and manual therapy.

• Aside from treating disease, Chinese medicine has maintained a vigilant position on health prevention.

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