Treatment of Both the Internal and the External
Author: Dr. Lee
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Time: 2010/11/26 16:59:40
According to historical records, classification of medicine into different branches started from the Zhou Dynasty during which medicine was divided into four branches, namely dietetic medicine, internal medicine,surgery and veterinary medicine. In the Song Dynasty, medicine was further divided into nine branches. In the Jin Dynasty, this division was extended to ten branches. In the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, medicine was eventually classified into thirteen branches. These branches of medicine developed independently according to their own specialty. Take the branch of bone injury for example. The earliest monograph on this subject was Xian Shou Li Shang Xu Duan Mi Fang (God's Secret Prescriptions for Treating Fracture) compiled in the Tang Dynasty by Taoist Lin who was worshiped as the father of this branch. In the book entitled Tai Ping Sheng Hui Fang (Prescriptions for the Peace and Happiness of all People) compiled in the Song Dynasty by Wang Huiyi, branch was a separate chapter. In the Imperial Administration of Medicine, surgery was changed into sores-swelling-fracture specialty. In the Yuan Dynasty, those who were not familiar with one of the thirteen specialties were forbidden to practice medicine.
However, the concept to take the body as an organic whole in TCM made such a strict division of medicine relative. In fact under many conditions doctors in TCM had to use both the internal and external methods at the same time in order to effectively treat diseases.
The so-called surgery in TCM just concentrates on the treatment of sores, carbuncles and other skin diseases, quite different from surgery in modern medicine. Since the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, the idea of using both the external and internal therapeutic methods at the same time to treat diseases was widely accepted. Osteology is a typical example. Simultaneous use of both the internal and external therapeutic methods has greatly promoted the healing of wounds.
In TCM, gynecology, pediatrics, stomatology and laryngopharyngology, though possessing their own characteristics, are in fact interrelated to each other. Objectively speaking, modern medicine is superior in diagnosing and removing tumors in the reproductive system, while TCM is superior in adjusting vegetarian nerve and endocrine disturbance with traditional therapeutic methods like acupuncture and combined use of herbs.
