Preface

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is the treasure of Chinese culture, and it is the general name of all ethnic medicines in China, including Han nationality and ethnic minority medicines. The ancients had unique theoretical cognitive system and disease treatment system in different stages,such as life origin, human health, health preservation and living a long life, preventing and treating diseases, and recovery from diseases. Because of its long history and wide use, it has made significant contributions to the health of the Chinese people.

The theories of TCM on human life activities and disease changes include yin and yang, five elements, eight principles, visceral manifestations,meridians, etiology, pathogenesis, diagnostic method, syndrome differentiation, method of treatment, prevention, health preservation, and so on.

In clinical diagnosis and treatment, although the classification of diseases in TCM is not particularly detailed, it can be roughly divided into internal medicine of TCM, surgery of TCM, gynecology of TCM, pediatrics of TCM, ophthalmology of TCM, and so on. Synopsis of Golden Chamber, The Treasured Classics, Orthodox Manual of External Diseases,Outline for Women’s Diseases, Key to Therapeutics of Children’s Diseases, and Nagarjuna’s Ophthalmology Secretly Handed Down are all representative works of disease classification of ancient doctors. Historical Records–Bianque Canggong Liezhuan also recorded the simple concept of disease classification at that time:“Bianque is famous all over the world. When he arrived in Handan, he heard that the people of the State of Zhao respected women, so he became a gynecologist. When he arrived in Luoyang,he heard that the people of the Zhou Dynasty respected the elderly, so he became a geriatrician.When he arrived in Xianyang, he heard that the people of Qin loved their children, so he became a pediatrician. He always changed the emphasis of his practice of medicine as customs changed.”

In terms of diagnosis and treatment methods,there are not only medicine therapies, including Chinese medicinals, classic prescriptions, and modern commonly used dosage forms of Chinese patent medicine, but also non-medicine therapies, including acupuncture, Tai Chi, Baduanjin, Wuqinxi, Qigong,moxibustion, cupping, and scraping.

In recent years, artemisinin for malaria, arsenic trioxide for leukemia, Tai Chi for hypertension,Maren Pill for constipation, and acupuncture for stress urinary incontinence have been gradually recognized by international mainstream medicine and authoritative journals. Therefore, in the book,we focus on how TCM understands and treats the most common diseases. Through the forms of illustrations and plain language, the evidence of the efficacy of TCM is shown. The publication of this book is expected to contribute to popularizing the clinical treatment concept of TCM and promoting the internationalization of TCM by summarizing the latest curative effect evidence.

Due to limitation of knowledge, there will inevitably be some unsatisfactory points. We hope readers can correct the shortcomings and mistakes of this book in time, so we can revise them when we make errata or reprint them. Please give us your advice.

Editorial Board of TCM Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment

June 2023