Chinese medicine encompasses the healing theory and practice of pre-medical medicine in the 1st millennium BC. BC to the present day medicine in China and in the tradition of Chinese medicine practiced healing methods worldwide. Traditional Chinese medicine, TCM or Chinese medicine (Chinese 中醫 / 中医, Pinyin zhōngyī, Chinese medicine ') is the term used to describe medicine that has developed in China for more than 2000 years. Its original distribution area includes the East Asian region, in particular Vietnam, Korea and Japan.
On this basis, special variants developed in these countries. Japanese Kampo medicine is particularly well known.
The term zhōngyī (中醫 / 中医) [2] [3] can be translated with both Chinese medicine and a TCM doctor. The term traditional Chinese medicine, i.e. TCM, which is used in the West, is unusual in linguistic use in China. Therefore, the word traditional is usually missing in the Chinese expression.
The therapeutic processes of Chinese medicine include Chinese drug therapy and acupuncture, as well as moxibustion (warming of acupuncture points). Together with massage techniques such as Tuina Anmo and Shiatsu, with movement exercises such as Qigong and Taijiquan and with a dietetics based on the active profile of the medicines, the procedures are often referred to as the five pillars of Chinese therapy. TCM is the traditional medicine with the largest circulation, especially acupuncture is practiced worldwide today. The TCM is an alternative or complementary medical procedure. The largest relevant research center is the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine.