On the similarities and differences in the development of Chinese and Western medicine (1)

• Post By: 汉青
• Date: 2021-01-28
• Category: Miscellaneous

This article will roughly divide the development history of traditional Chinese and Western medicine into five stages for comparison. This is used to compare the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western medicine in the same period.

1. Prehistoric times. Because at this stage, human civilization has just developed, both East and West are still in a relatively ignorant state, and the development of science and technology is very backward. Under this condition, the difference between the East and the West can be said to be very small, and both are still based on the accumulation of experience, observation and simple thinking about daily life. There is no systematic medical theory in either East or West. We currently know very little about this period of history, but “one side has water and soil to support its people,” so we boldly guess that due to various geographical differences between the East and the West, for example, marine civilization makes it easier for people to expand and enterprising, agricultural civilization makes it easier for people to settle down, and the differences in the growth of animals and plants due to climate and other natural factors have laid the foundation for the future divergence of China and the West to a certain extent. The difference in flowers today is not caused by the present day, but by different seeds planted in the past.

2，轴心时代。在这个阶段东西方的人类都进入了一个伟大的时代。科学技术，思想文化，社会制度，都进入到一个大变革时代。而中西医在此时虽然有很多共同之处但也有了明显的差异。首先，从“同”的角度讲，中西医都没有摆脱“神”的影响，从文字记载中可以看到很多疾病都被中西方归入到鬼神的影响。而且中西方很多时候受技术限制都处于一个对自然人体疾病的表象观察。然后从“异”的角度讲，西方更多的侧重“眼见为实”，更较为注重肉眼的观察，以还原论的哲学思维来指导医学发展，从部分去研究整体，在亚历山大利亚时期，解剖学和生理学的研究积累了大量对人体的观察资料，并奠定了日后西医以解剖结构研究为起点，探讨结构与功能关系的医学进路的基础。而中医的指导哲学思想来源于《易经》《黄帝内经》，由“气一元论”得出“万物皆一体”，万物皆有联系，强调天人相应。在这种思想的指导下，中医乃至中国文化都显出了不一样的色彩。比如未来社稷的祸福难以预测，就可以通过星象来预测。疾病在人体中难以观测，就可以通过脉象，面相等其他方法来推测。这是中医特有的象思维。但其中也蕴含着深刻复杂的逻辑推论。

3. Medieval times. At this stage, the West was affected by war, religious theology, and limitations of science and technology. The development of Western medicine was stagnant. Many diseases were still judged through naked eye observation. Overall, there was no greater development and even some decline. However, traditional Chinese medicine has achieved tremendous development during this period, and a large number of great traditional Chinese medicine practitioners have emerged. They make the theory of traditional Chinese medicine more systematic, theoretical and speculative. For example, the medical sage Zhang Zhongjing wrote the masterpiece “Treatise on Febrile Diseases and Miscellaneous Diseases” handed down from generation to generation, and proposed the syndrome differentiation method of the Six Meridians, which was respected by later generations of doctors. Generally speaking, during this period of time, Chinese medicine can be said to be at the leading level in the world. In addition, Chinese medicine is influenced by Confucianism and other thoughts. Chinese medicine has a strong cultural flavor and pays attention to the cultivation of medical ethics, which is of learning significance now.

4. Modern times. During this period, a vigorous industrial revolution broke out in the West, science and technology developed rapidly, chemical pharmaceuticals and other processes developed rapidly, and a series of inventions such as microscopes brought mankind into the microscopic era. During this period, Western medicine was combined with modern natural science and achieved great development. Due to the occlusion of the social environment at that time and the lack of access to advanced science and technology, TCM fell behind to a certain extent. However, TCM did not stop developing. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, febrile diseases were prevalent and four major groups of febrile diseases emerged. They greatly expanded the theoretical scope of TCM and improved the level of TCM treatment. Their theory still has great practical significance in treating coronavirus. In general, Western medicine has indeed made great progress during this period due to the rapid development of science and technology, surpassing traditional Chinese medicine to a certain extent. However, this has caused a major misunderstanding, so much so that a small number of people still believe it. They think that Chinese medicine is traditional medicine and Western medicine is modern medicine. It is true that Chinese medicine was still in the stage of traditional medicine during this period, but they ignored or even denied the future development of Chinese medicine. I would like to clarify here that the standard for judging traditional and modern medicine should be whether modern technology is used, and Western medicine does not equal modern technology, and Chinese medicine does not equal traditional technology.

5. Modern development. Since modern times, there have been voices who have been superstitious about Western medicine. However, with the continuous development of medical practice, Western medicine has encountered a series of problems, and many enlightened Western medicine doctors have found solutions in traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine has also continued to learn and master advanced technologies with the development of society, and borrowed some standardized concepts from Western medicine, thus promoting the modern development of traditional Chinese medicine. From this perspective, Chinese and Western medicine are currently in constant exchange and development, with mutual exchanges and collisions of ideas. It can be said that this has never happened before in history.

In summary, the same as:
1. Origin: They all come from human life practice and are the crystallization of the collective wisdom of human ancestors.
2. Traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine are both independent scientific theoretical systems, and both are sciences that study the occurrence, development, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis and outcome of diseases.
3. The research objects of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine are mainly the human body.
4. All were affected by the economic, political and social conditions at that time.
5. All serve human health.
6. Have the same stage of thought.
Different:
1. Differences in historical eras
2. Economic and political differences. Traditional Chinese medicine: the development of China’s feudal society for more than 2,000 years and the decline and reform of modern times to today’s revival and prosperity; while Western medicine: the decline of the Western Middle Ages to the establishment of the revolution and modernization system in the 16th century.
3. Differences in ideology and culture: Chinese medicine: Xiang thinking, simple materialism and natural dialectics; Western medicine: mechanism, reductionism

4. Science and technology: The developed ancient science and technology in medieval China assisted the development of traditional Chinese medicine. In the modern scientific and technological revolution, science and technology provided brand-new nutrition for Western medicine, but traditional Chinese medicine did not absorb scientific and technological achievements during this period.

5. Traditional Chinese medicine originated in ancient societies with low levels of productivity development and backward science and technology. It is guided by simple materialism and spontaneous dialectics and is an empirical medical model. Western medicine originated in Western countries and is what we call “modern medicine.” Its formation and development must rely on the development of medicinal chemistry, molecules, cells, biology, and scientific progress.

6. Traditional Chinese medicine belongs to the empirical medicine model; after the Renaissance, Western medicine began to transform from empirical medicine to experimental medicine.

Finally, from a historical perspective, both Chinese medicine and Western medicine were affected by the social environment and philosophical concepts at that time. Therefore, we should create a more relaxed social environment for the development of Chinese and Western medicine, which is good for the progress of medicine. Besides, both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine are essentially a kind of medical skill, both with the purpose of treating diseases and saving people. From this perspective, they are completely consistent, which is why Chinese and Western medicine can develop and make progress together. We should learn from ancient benevolence, abandon sectarian views, learn from the strengths of hundreds of schools of thought, and contribute our share to human health.

This series is a collective creation.

—