Health has always been a primary objective to the Chinese people. Consequently the pursuit of longevity in order to enjoy and fully experience life on earth has always been of major concern to the Chinese. To achieve longevity one must maintain a state of health and well being, and this has been the driving force behind the development of Chinese medicine.
To prevent and avoid illness, ancient Chinese belief made it very clear that the holistic principles of caring for the body, mind and soul were of paramount importance. Chinese medicine was based on the prevention of illness, and it was the doctor’s objective to keep people healthy so that they did not become ill. In the western world it is common practice to only consult one’s doctor when one becomes ill. To the Chinese medical practitioner this was regarded as inferior medicine, as the implication was that the person became ill due to the inadequacy of the doctor. Therefore the incentive to develop a system of medicine based upon preventative principles and practices has been prevalent for centuries in the Chinese culture.
The mind has always been regarded as an important factor to sustain a healthy state. It was believed that an imbalance between the five emotions (anger, joy, sympathy, worry, fear) could cause illness. Mental calm was considered to be a prerequisite for maintaining health. To obtain mental calm one needed to understand the principles and expectations of the community and culture, and conform to the socially accepted standards. From the very beginning of Chinese medicine development, the Chinese have believed strongly in the holistic principles, which in the Western world have only recently been considered to be important in modern medicine.
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