Knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine originated from ancient China with a history of thousands of years. And it has been a part of the common heritage of humanity.
Why is the website named TCM and Culture? During thousands of years, the development of traditional Chinese medicine was deeply influenced by Chinese culture. Therefore, traditional Chinese medicine has the characteristics of technology and culture.
The website attaches importance to the theory of TCM and the use of herbal recipes. The website is suitable for all people who are interested in the knowledge of traditional Chinese mdicine. The articles on the website tell about traditional Chinese medicine with a rigorous attitude.
The use of TCM in China and outside China
Nowadays in China it seems that people who want to learn traditional Chinese medicine are much more than before. I came to Poland in December 2022, so I didn’t experience the very hard time in the beginning of 2023. At that time, Chinese people used any possible ways to relieve the symptoms of COVID.
My stay in Poland is a great chance for me to know about the conditions of traditional Chinese medicine in Europe. In the past decades, I only knew about outside world from the perspectives of others. The life experiece in Europe makes me rethink about China, Chinese culture, and Chinese medicine.
The use of traditional Chinese medicine in China is much different from the use outside China. In China, the main therapy of TCM is the recipes of herbs. But in Europe, when people seek help from traditional Chinese medicine, they would like to receive external therapies like acupuncture, moxibustion, or cupping. Even Gua Sha is well-known here.
The big difference may be caused by the lack of understanding between different cultures. Chinese people believe the experience from their ancestors, while the Western people doubt the things that they feel strange and complicated. The website cannot do much that could change the situation, but I hope that the website can be a window for people who are willing to understand traditional Chinese medicine.
In Europe, the biggest problem for herbal therapy is the inconvenience of buying Chinese herbs or ready-made herbal products based on traditional Chinese medicine. In China, you may visit a local herbal store and get herbs instantly, and some stores offer the service of making decoctions. And in the pharmacies of China you can easily buy herbal products based on the well-known recipes of traditional Chinese medicine.
In Europe, people cannot buy herbal products made by the top brands of traditional Chinese medicine in China. Moreover, in Europe some pain relief plasters are called traditional products from China, but their composition is very simple and cannot compare with traditional plasters that are well-known in China. Therefore, in Europe available choices for the therapy of Chinese herbs cannot impress people as the external therapies of traditional Chinese medicine.
However, my life experience in Europe still strengthens my confidence in traditional Chinese medicine. We all greatly benefit from the development of modern medicine, as the sanitary system, vaccines, antibiotics, and surgery of modern medicine have incomparable advantages over traditional Chinese medicine. But traditional Chinese medicine also has advantages for relieving symptoms and improving life quality. Especially when the use of modern medicine may cause severe side effects in some cases, traditional Chinese medicine is worth a try.