The Rise of Traditional Chinese Medicine Among China’s Middle Class

The renaissance of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) in China hit a new high on December 2 last year, when the renowned practitioner Deng Tietao took two apprentices, Ding Lei and Liang Dong. The minute this news item hit the country’s front pages and TV screens, it caused a national sensation. Thirty-four-year-old Ding Lei is founder and CEO of Netease.com and the richest man on the 2003 Fortune China list, while his fellow apprentice, Liang Dong, is a popular presenter on Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV, well known for his sharp wit. At a ceremony held in Guangdong’s People’s Hospital, Ding Lei presented his teacher with a plaque inscribed “Kind Heart, Kind Art.” The media frenzy had begun, and TCM moved onto the 21st century stage.

“A little knowledge about TCM can have a large impact on one’s life. For instance, many of my friends are plagued with digestive ailments because of their high-stress lifestyle. My advice to them is to drink mulberry juice,” says Ding Lei. “It’s also helpful to know that drinking beer with seafood increases the risk of strokes, while red wine reduces the risk of heart disease.” Ding Lei wishes for a return to the days when people treated illnesses in natural ways, such as eating dates to supplement vital energy, dried longans to enrich the blood, and black sesame seeds to nourish the liver and kidneys.

In a bid to introduce TCM to today’s youth, Ding is working on an Internet game played on bases of the origins and shapes of herbs and herbal remedies. He believes it has the potential to catch on and become a fashionable practice, just as Kungfu did.

Liang Dong was one of Phoenix TV’s most recognizable presenters, until he left the job to promote a book called Ponderings on Traditional Chinese Medicine. Liang first came across the book when preparing for one of his programs, and was immediately fascinated with TCM. In a later interview with the author, Professor Liu Lihong of Guangxi TCM Institute, Liang joked, “When I read the book, I felt a thrill similar to being in love for the first time.”

The book has had a similar effect on others. First published in June 2003, Ponderings on Traditional Chinese Medicine had been re-printed ten times by the end of 2004, selling more than 80,000 copies. Taiwan Province has bought the rights to print the book, as have international countries including South Korea. TCM has become hot publishing property.

More recently, another successful entrepreneur, Kong Lingqian, left his company to sponsor a book series called Learning Traditional Chinese Medicine from Celebrated Doctors, comprising works by luminaries in the TCM field.

TCM, the Natural Science of Balance

In May 2002, a beautiful young Phoenix TV newsreader called Liu Hairuo was badly injured in a train accident in the UK, and was already in a deep coma when she arrived at a local hospital. In a final bid to save their daughter, her parents brought her to Beijing’s Xuanwu Hospital, where she was put on large doses of antibiotics. After two weeks her condition had worsened, so doctors decided to take her off antibiotics and try TCM. Miraculously, Liu’s fever disappeared in three days. Within three months, she came out of her coma, and regained the ability to eat, drink and speak. Although her road to recovery has been long, Liu is an avowed TCM convert. She says, “Having personally experienced the magic of TCM, I want to read more about this miraculous medicine.”

TCM is a natural, balanced and holistic approach to maintaining good health and treating disease. This theory is deeply rooted in Chinese people’s minds, and has been passed down through millennia. Although Western medicine is now dominant across the country, people still believe their illnesses are caused by “excessive heat or cold,” or interruption of the smooth flow of vital energy and blood in the body. They use ancient therapies like guasha (scraping) and cupping to dispel inner heat, dampness and toxic elements.

The ancient Egyptian, the Indian and the Greek civilizations also made impressive advances in medical science, but failed to pass them on as compared to TCM, which evolved into a complete set of theories and treatments that have been practiced for centuries.

The World Health Organization estimates that more than four billion people -- 80 percent of the world population -- use herbal medicines, and predicts a worldwide surge in research and use of herbs in the next decade.

Dr. Yang Yuhui, president of Southwest Normal University’s Religious Study Institute says that Western medicine treats the human body as an organism, and fails to take into account the impact a person’s mental state has on their physical well-being. TCM, on the other hand, recognizes the discreteness of the human condition. He concludes, therefore, that principles of Western medicine apply to both human beings and animals, while the TCM is a truly human medicine.

More and more overseas students come to China to study TCM. Statistics from the Ministry of Education released in March 2004 show that the Beijing Traditional Chinese Medicine University alone had 1,056 foreign students, accounting for 14 percent of its total student body.

In the respiratory diseases department of the No. 1 Hospital, affiliated to Henan TCM Institute, an American named Lisa was examining a patient suffering from rhinitis, an allergy that afflicts the nose and eyes. “What do you prescribe?” asked her supervising mentor, Professor Li Suyun. Lisa promptly replied: “Cang’erzi powder,” and Professor Li agreed. Lisa and her husband are both studying TCM in Henan Province. Lisa says that TCM is gaining popularity back in the United States. The couple has set up a website to disseminate what they see and learn here in China to friends back home.

TCM is set to expand all over the nation and indeed the world, among people of all description. In 2003, 74-year old Li Yao from Taiwan entered Henan Traditional Chinese Medicine Institute to pursue a doctorate in the subject, having taught himself TCM for 25 years. After graduation from Shanghai’s prestigious Fudan University with a Ph.D in Arts, Fu Haina turned down an offer from Harvard University in favor of a course on TCM taught by the renowned doctor Zeng Rongxiu. Oscar winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow is also a TCM devotee, and uses cupping therapy to rid her body of toxins and preserve her youthful looks.

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Contributed by: Stuart Dimson on 10/22/2008

By Stuart Dimson LAc,DOM.

Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine is a safe effective and drug free way to treat uncomfortable menopausal symptoms such as night sweating and Hot flashes. Over the last 5,000 years the Chinese have developed acupuncture and herbal medicine to activate the natural, self healing ability of the body. With such intense study and development, acupuncture has helped billions of people regain and maintain their health.

The most common cause of imbalance in women as they enter into menopause is one of deficiency of Kidney Qi (pronounced "chee"). In Chinese medicine the Kidneys are more than a filter to remove toxic liquids from the blood, they are the store house of our essence. They rule over the reproductive organs, the lower back region and even have a controlling influence over the brain. The Kidneys act as an anchor, rooting our energy in the lower part of the body. My clients who are suffering with night sweating and or hot flashes will tell you it's effects are felt in the upper body and face. This is a direct result of Kidney's not holding there energy down, where it should be used to heat the entire body evenly, like the boiler in the basement of a house, feeding steam into the heating system.

How does the Kidneys become deficient is a common question. I mentioned earlier that one of its functions is to store the vital essence of the body. In Chinese medicine we call this essence Source Qi, this is the Qi we get from our mother and father upon conception. In the west we loosely correlate this with our genetic code. Source Qi is like a trust fund set up for us by our parents in the bank(our Kidneys). Our goal is to attempt to live off the interest that this account generates and use as little of the principal as possible, because when it is all spent so are we. The problem in our modern world is that most of us must work extra hard just to survive. We live very active and stressful live sand rarely have enough time to regenerate ourselves. Because of this we dipinto that principal faster than was intended, so that by the time we are in the middle of our lives the bills come due and our body suffers. This is all the harder on women as they have the added task of having children, with all the energy needed to produce and raise them. So by the late 40's early 50's there's not enough essence left to gradually transition into the next phase of your lives. Kidney energy cannot do its job of holding down the heat and the symptoms begin.

There is hope. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine has the ability to make a deposit in your energy bank. A big component of acupuncture is the ability to calm the body's energy systems, which in the west we may refer to as the Central Nervous System. We can only regenerate our bodies when we are out of the fight or flight mode of the Sympathetic Nervous System and in the rest mode of the Para Sympathetic Nervous System. Acupuncture has just such an effect and thus will stimulate regeneration and re-growth of our bodies vital systems.

Chinese Herbal medicine is the other crucial component in building back the bodies energy reserves. After a thorough evaluation and determination of where the body is out of balance a custom herbal formula is created to meet each individuals needs. As changes occur the formula is adjusted in subsequent visits until the body has returned to balance. We use a combination of herbs to nourish Kidney Qi, regulate the Qi of the whole body and clear excess heat from the body. It is very effective and patients usually see results very quickly. I witness the power of this ancient medicine everyday and am blessed to be able to help so many women regain their comfort and wellness in life.

Stuart Dimson LAc, DOM, is a Chinese Medical Practitioner with Awakening Acupunctureand Herbal Medicine LLC at the Fit Wellness Center in Broomfield Colorado. 303-469-0353, www.awakeningacupuncture.com

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