Background: Traditional Chinese medicine, which is the basis of the Chinese culture heritage, has a long history of 5000 years and it has significantly contributed to the survival of their nation and its prosperity. Over time, various theories have been systematized and developed in order to maintain and improve the health of the Chinese population. Objective: The objectives of the paper are: a) to present the historical development of traditional Chinese medicine, b) to explain the basic principles on which traditional Chinese medicine is based on and c) the basic methods of treatment and most common herbal remedies used in traditional Chinese medicine. Methods: The paper is of descriptive nature, and numerous and informative literature was used for its writing, mainly texts from books and articles published in indexed journals retrieved from the world online databases. Results and Discussion: The first records of traditional Chinese medicine date back to the Huang Di period, and the first record is from a book called NeiJing and it represents the theoretical foundation of traditional Chinese medicine. Over thousands of years, progress has been made in this area and numerous dynasties have invested resources and knowledge to maintain and develop it. The Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty produced some of the best physicians and connoisseurs of traditional medicine, and the Ming Dynasty contributed perhaps most of all. Immediately after the end of the Opium Wars, the Western world evaluated traditional Chinese medicine as a feudal and scientifically unproven method. Since then, the Chinese authorities have focused on preserving the integrity of their traditional medicine, and at the end of the 20th century, the World Health Organization accepted traditional Chinese medicine as a scientifically based method of treatment and gave it the name Complementary Medicine. The theory of Chinese traditional medicine is based on several principles: qi theory, the concept of yin-yang, the theory of the five elements, the concept of zang-fu organs, and the theory of meridians and parallels. Conclusion: Traditional Chinese medicine has made a significant contribution to the development of modern medicine during its long history, as well as one of its most difficult and complicated aspects the acupuncture, which requires extensive knowledge of all concepts of traditional Chinese medicine and perfect precision.
Key words: medicine, history, China, acupuncture, yin yang, chi.
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