The Basic Characteristics of TCM

1. Concept of holism
1.1  The human body is an organic whole

TCM believes that the human body is composed of various tissues and organs, these different tissues and organs are united into an organic whole because they are closely related to each other in structure, physiology and pathology. When any pathology changes in any part of body, it will affect the other related part of the body. For example, a liver dysfunction may lead to dysfunction of the spleen, affecting the digestion and absorption of food.
Hence, in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of diseases, must consider to the whole and related part.

1.2  Human beings are interrelated with nature

Human beings live in nature; therefore various changes taking place in nature may directly or indirectly affect the human body and bring on corresponding physiological or pathological responses. If the variation of the season are too violent and beyond the automatic adjustment of the body, or if the body resistance declines, they tend to have ailments and such ailments may further lead to the onset or aggravation of diseases.

2. Treatment according to differentiation of syndrome

Means summarized and analyzed the clinical data of symptoms and signs collected. Then the therapeutic methods are decided according to the result of syndrome differentiation.
Clinically differentiation of syndrome and differentiation of diseases are intrinsically interrelated on the one hand, and different on the other. For example, one disease may demonstrate different syndrome which should be treated with difference therapies due to difference in constitution, onset of disease, geographic conditions, of stage of development. This is known as “treating the same disease with different methods” in TCM. However, same therapeutic method can be applied to treat different disease with the emergence of the same syndrome in their course of development which is known as “treating different disease with the same methods” in TCM.