Handbook of Oriental Medicine.

PART I
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT ORIENTAL MEDICINE
CHAPTER 1
CHINESE FOLK MEDICINE
No country is famous for such a number of wellness systems as China. Many of them are so ancient that they have come down to us only thanks to legends. Numerous teachings about the Universe and the place of Man in it were created and developed in ancient Chinese monasteries. they knew how to be cured of a disease, they knew how to offer a person to live without even knowing what a disease is. It is important to note that the language of the Tibetan monks did not contain such a thing as "disease". The origins of Chinese medicine are lost in the mists of time. Written works, which for the first time summarized the experience of previous generations in the application of methods for diagnosing diseases and their treatment, date back to the 10th-3rd centuries. BC e. The theory of Chinese medicine is most fully and clearly stated in the books "Hu-an Di Nei Zeng", "Nan Zen", "Shang Han Lun", "Zen Gui Yao Lue", "Wen Yi Lun". The most ancient ideas and concepts remained, but at the same time, over the next centuries, Chinese medicine developed further, perceived new ideas. Already in the 2nd century. BC e., along with a collection of medicinal plants, ancient Chinese treatises on medicine highlight other treatment options: gymnastic exercises, baths, compresses, massages. In the treatment book of the 5th century. 360 substances of both plant and mineral and even animal origin are already described, which can be used to treat various diseases. Ancient Chinese medicine is primarily a philosophy, and not familiar to a European person, but much more ancient than European civilization, Eastern philosophy with concepts and metaphors inherent only in the Eastern way of thinking. The exercises or health recipes of Ancient China are quite diverse. But they have a solid foundation - solid knowledge and ideas about the structure of the human body and the basic principles of its functioning. The philosophy of Taoism laid down the basic principles of medicine in Ancient China. A feature of Chinese medicine was its approach to the human body as part of the universe and even models of the universe, and the complex physiological processes occurring in it, were interpreted as natural phenomena in the surrounding world. The human body is an integral part of the Cosmos. All processes, all human life are constantly under the influence of the forces of the surrounding nature. The ancient Chinese sages believed that the world was originally a chaos consisting of the smallest particles, which they called qi. Initially, these particles existed in the form of a continuous shapeless mass, which then underwent a process separation, demarcation. Chi (or qi), according to the principles of Eastern, and in particular Chinese medicine, is a vital energy that is inherent in every living organism, and for each organism, for each person this energy potential is different. It is partly determined by genetic memory, heredity. But at the same time, it largely depends on the way of life and thoughts of a person, on which path a person chooses, on the ability to harmoniously coexist, interact with the world around him, find his place, navigate in space and time.Nature is an indivisible single system, including at the same time polar, but complementary aspects of yin and yang. They are subject to constant transformations, being in constant motion. If all the components of nature are balanced, then life flows in harmony. If the balance of polar forces is disturbed, then a catastrophe will inevitably ensue. It is important to maintain this balance of forces in nature, therefore, for many centuries, philosophers have observed and studied nature, trying to comprehend its secret and the secrets of interaction with it. Thus, according to the canons of traditional oriental medicine, a person can remain healthy. Man is a small cosmos, and he obeys the same laws, and the forces to which he is subject are the same. Therefore, if a person does not master the art of maintaining balance and integrity, if he is not able to adapt to any changed condition, then this general violation results in a disease. In oriental medicine, it is important to know the laws of the functioning of the world, personal harmony can only be found in the context of the whole.Of course, modern traditional oriental medicine does not correlate with the modern canons of scientific and evidence-based medicine, which makes modern people distrust it. She is surrounded myths and legends, full of secrets and mysteries, and it is not surprising that many consider it an eccentric charlatanism. But at the same time, it should be noted that Chinese medicine is an independent holistic system that includes both the theory of the occurrence and development of diseases, and methods for diagnosing them, and of course the methods of treatment. The worldview inherent in ancient Chinese medicine is significantly different from the Western in general and from the modern Western in particular. Ancient Chinese medicine has been helping people for more than one thousand years, it has undoubtedly stood the test of time. Probably, it should be treated primarily as a philosophy, as a special worldview that covers all aspects of human existence. What is important is the special approach of Chinese medicine to the human body as a single indivisible whole, where each individual organ is part of the system, and the vital activity of an individual cell is a reflection of the vital activity of the whole organism. Prevention of diseases has always been of paramount importance for Chinese medicine. The idea of ​​disease prevention was at the very beginning of the medical art of Ancient China. Prevention of diseases in Chinese medicine plays a decisive role. The Chinese wise men spoke more than two thousand years ago about what scientific medicine began to talk about only in the middle of the 20th century. It should be noted that hygiene measures and the fight against parasites have been an important aspect throughout Chinese history. And in addition to the world-famous rules for leading a healthy lifestyle, ancient Chinese medicine offers a number of principles that must be observed to prevent all diseases. Treatment in Chinese medicine is aimed at strengthening the body and preventing possible diseases. For a Chinese doctor, it was important to suspect the predisposition of one or another a person to any disease, to identify the disease at the earliest stages of its development, when the use of the simplest methods of treatment (diet, the development of certain rules of human behavior, massage, etc.) allowed a person to remain healthy. The treatment approach of ancient Chinese doctors was similar to modern. At first, the treatment was symptomatic - when starting to treat the patient, the doctors of Ancient China stopped, first of all, the main symptoms of the disease, those who most of all disturbed the patient, and tried to treat them. After alleviating the patient's condition, the doctor tried to treat the "root" of the disease. That was the purpose of the treatment. Therefore, sometimes the treatment continued for a long time, despite the fact that the patient already felt healthy. The infinity of the Universe and its integrity are based on a continuous chain of transformations, mutual transitions of one substance into another. In the context of this position, any living matter goes through certain stages of existence: birth, development, flowering, aging, dying, transformation. The ancients endow every thing, any process, any phenomenon, all the properties of a particular object or organism with the qualities of yin or yang. At the heart of everything that exists is the ratio of these two principles. Yin cannot exist separately from yang: they form one dynamic unity. The unity and opposition of yin and yang determines a strong relationship between them. Every change and development of things occurs due to the eternal desire to oust each other. This is the fundamental driving force of nature. Light and darkness, pain and pleasure, physicality and intangibility, excitement and inhibition are just a few examples of such an interaction of opposites of yin and yang. Yin and yang have a wide, all-encompassing meaning. It is well known that yin is the dark feminine principle, while yang is the light, masculine principle. Yin is always weakness, instability. Yang is firmness and strength. Yin correlates with the northeast and northwest, winter cold, moon, right side, night, bottom, viscera, heaviness, peace and blood. Yang - with the southeast and southwest, summer, fire, sun, left side, day, riding, lightness, outer tissues, movement and energy. In yin and yang, these are hills or rivers, only yin is a “shadow slope”, and yang is a “bright, sunny slope”. Yin and yang are completely opposite to each other, but thanks to their close interaction, the whole world exists. They mutually displace each other, intertwine with each other, give rise to five primary elements, or elements: water, fire, metal, wood and earth. Absolutely all things and phenomena have two opposite, complementary sides - yin and yang. In each phenomenon two characters are reflected. In traditional Chinese philosophy, sunlight, heat, and movement are yang, and night, rain, cold and peace - yin-character. Yin and yang are an integral part of all phenomena in the world, they develop and are interconnected with each other in development, their balance - the basis of life - changes depending on certain conditions according to general laws. Yin and yang is the essence of heaven and earth, the pattern of ten thousand things, it is the father and mother of every