Research On The Hermeneutics Of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine has been criticized repeatedly for about a century because it cannot be proved, and there still such criticism today.Traditional Chinese medicine has come into existence for thousands of years, it's wrong and we shouldn't to deny such a special academic system simply by the criterion of proving, not only its practical ability cannot be denied but also it's a integrative academic system itself. It would be better and more meaningful to explore it from the direction of understanding than to debate upon it from the direction of proving.Any medical science must answer questions about the cause, nature and law of life and disease. Traditional Chinese medicine has answered all these questions and the answer is systemic, only it's follow the direction of understand rather than proving. It's worth to explore how to understand it and by what to understand it.First, the understanding of life and disease: Traditional Chinese medicine bring forward Qi as life's material basis, Yin Yang as the driving force of change of life and disease, Five Elements as the rules of life and disease's evolution and harmony between world and people as the mode of existence and chance of life and disease to understand life and disease. On the criterion of proving science, all this conceptions are not positive, so it is understandable to impugn traditional Chinese medicine by this. However, any phenomenon not only need to be proved but also need to be understood, need to be grasped by its significances. Traditional Chinese medicine has reached a certain internal harmony in theory and gained the great effect by grasping phenomenon's significances. It illustrates that we can recognize life and disease from different directions.Second, the understanding of cause: Any disease has its cause, traditional Chinese medicine has explored the causes for long time, and puts forward a lot of recognition and doctrine about causes. Many physical causes even been found in the early medical recognition, but they were classified anendoexogenous pathogen and be abandoned because these physical causes could not be explained. All the causes was summed up as six evils and seven modes of emotions just because it can obtain significances in the field of vision of traditional Chinese medicine. It is worth noting that the anendoexogenous pathogen has not been lost, its significances were converted to six evils only. However, the amount of causes of six evils is too small and they can not correspond with multifarious diseases. Thus traditional Chinese medicine raised pathogenesis category necessarily for solving the problem of contradictions of less causes and more results, and solved the problem of same causes and different results and obtained the successful interpretation by this method.Third, the understanding of judgement------diagnoses and identification : It isnecessarily to collect information firstly for making a judgement of diseases. The information is prerequisite and basic for judgement of disease. However, we can get meaningful diagnostic conclusion only when the systemic explanation of information was given. So the information must be explained, the explanation method about information is understanding rather than confirmation. So traditional Chinese medicine has variety method on differentiation of symptoms. Here it is worth noting that the four diagnostic method of collecting information was limited by traditional Chinese medicine's system of significance rather than free. In fact, the methods of collecting information are not only these four diagnostic methods, but also modern medicine's methods such as palpation and percuss, there has not technical difficulties for traditional Chinese medicine to use these methods to collecting information, but because the information collected by these methods is lack of significance for traditional Chinese medicine, they were discarded. Meanwhile, traditional Chinese medicine always has a choice in the collection of information rather than collect all the information by inspection, listening and smelling examination, inquire, pulse-feeling and palpation. What kind of information will be selected depend on whether it can be given significance, the information that can not be given significance was abandoned. Even the information that was selected can be included in the traditional Chinese medicine only when its objective significance be converted. We must meet the following requirements if we want to explain the disease according to the information selected: first, we must explain the nature of the disease, second, we must explain the location of disease, third, we must explain what material is sick, forth, we must explain the disease causes. So traditional Chinese medicine created the method of eight program differentiation of symptoms—to determine the nature of the disease, ZANG FU-organs and their meridians differentiation of symptoms—to determine the location of the disease, Qi Blood Jing Jin Ye differentiation of symptoms—to determine the material of the disease, causes differentiation of symptoms—to determine the reason of the disease. Other methods are the supplementary of these four methods. It is worth emphasizing here that there was not strict logic among the different methods. All this methods are explanations of diseases from different direction and respect, they accomplish their explanations of diseases respectively. So differentiation of symptoms is unrestrained and flexible.Forth, the understanding of treatments and Prescriptions: The aim of understanding of disease is to treat disease, all the therapeutic principle of traditional Chinese medicine are carried out by the explanations of life and disease. For western medicine, all the therapeutic principle of traditional Chinese medicine are hard to understand from the general principles such as strengthening healthy Qi to eliminate pathogens, regulation of Yin and Yang to the specific principles such as promoting blood circulation, dissipate phlegm, regulating Qi, nourishing Yin, invigorating Yang, removing wind, purging pathogenic fire, eliminating cold, dehumidifying, because all these therapeutic principle cannot be proved. However, they are logical in the explanation system of traditional Chinese medicine. In accordance with the direction of therapeutic principle, the main treatment of traditional Chinese medicine is prescription. There is also a noteworthy problem, the prescription or the drug of traditional Chinese medicine is natural product rather than natural medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners on the use of prescriptions or drugs in accordance with the directive that was given by traditional Chinese medicine's explanation system rather than the natural attributes of prescriptions or drugs. It is traditional Chinese medicine's explanation area purely rather than positive area that principal, subordinate, adjuvent, and guide in pharmacology of traditional Chinese medical formulae, nature, taste, meridian distribution and action of Chinese traditional medicine. In accordance with the purpose of these precisely, traditional Chinese medicine achieved its purpose.We can draw the following conclusions seemingly through the study of traditional Chinese medicine by Hermeneutics: Traditional Chinese medicine is the medicine in the significance world rather than physical word. It is the medicine that its aim is the pursuit of explanation rather than demonstration, its aim is the pursuit of practical results rather than the pursuit of truth. Traditional Chinese medicine has been in the pursuit of significances from birth to the present, and carried out all of its theory and practice by the guidance of the significances.