WHAT IS TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE?

Traditional Chinese Medicine, also known as TCM is a style of traditional medicine built on a foundation of more than 2,500 years of Chinese medical practice that includes various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage (tai na), exercise (qigong) and tai chi, dietary therapy, moxibustion (burning an herb above the skin to apply heat to acupuncture points), but recently also influenced by modern Western medicine. TCM is rooted in the ancient philosophy of Taoism and is widely used in the Greater China (where it has long been the standard system of medicine). It is becoming increasingly popular and recognized worldwide (where it is primarily approached as alternative medicine). Traditional systems of medicine also exist in other East and South Asian countries, including Japan (where the traditional herbal medicine is called Kampo) and Korea. Some of these systems have been influenced by TCM and are similar to it in some ways, but each has developed distinctive features of its own.