Traditional Chinese Medicine: Its Philosophy, History, and Practice

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a term coined in the People's Republic of China of the 1950s in an effort to approximate the Chinese term zhongyi . It refers to a form of medical learning where reasoning in terms of systemic correspondences prevails, including the so‐called five agents or five phases ( wuxing ), and where philosophical concepts such as yinyang and qi play a central role. This entry discusses first the history of TCM and then aspects of its practice. Neither can be fully understood without some knowledge of its philosophical foundations.