Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine (Jan 2023)
The principles of health, illness and treatment - The key concepts from “The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine”
Abstract
The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine is an important book in the study of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with the text presenting an integration of the essential TCM practices and philosophy in the use and application of Chinese medicine for healthcare. Within the Chinese Health System, TCM provides a balancing and integrating approach to health and the prevention of disease. The book provides the story of human existence, of our relationship to the environment and how ‘balance’ provides us with health and wellbeing in our daily lives. The role of the TCM practitioner is to look for wellness as a way of preventing disease. This paper discusses the key terms of the ‘Dao’, ‘Qi’, ‘Yin’ and ‘Yang’, ‘Ben’ and ‘Biao’ and the essence and role of the elements of fire, water, wood, metal and earth in health and disease prevention. TCM is an integrative approach to health and has many lessons for global health systems.
