On the 6th of October, Confucius Institute held an online lecture, "Is Traditional Chinese Medicine a Science?“. In this lecture, a doctor, acupuncturist, and doctor of medical sciences, Dainius Butvilas, reviewed the most important aspects of Traditional Chinese medicine and compared Traditional Chinese medicine with Western medicine. In this lecture, the main question was whether Chinese medicine is a science and what place this treatment system holds in the medical world.
In the lecture, the presenter emphasized that Traditional Chinese medicine is a treatment system that nurtures old traditions that originated more than 2,500 years ago. The most important ancient Chinese medical text is "Huangdi Neijing" (黃帝內經, 5th century BC), it is a knowledge of natural phenomena and a comprehensive ethic, which defines the relationship between a person and nature. The main existing principle of the five elements (五行; wǔxíng - fire, earth, metal, water, and wood) is central to Traditional Chinese medicine because it dictates both the rules of seasonal diet and daily habits.
Acupuncture is a system of matching theory and a method of treatment based on empirical observations, and it holds a huge part in Traditional Chinese medicine. In 2007, the Beijing Declaration was published, which reaffirmed the recognition of the contribution of Chinese medicine to human health and well-being and promoted the basis of Chinese medicine methods in modern science. In 2010, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized acupuncture and moxibustion not only as a gem of the Chinese nation but to all people and included this method on its Representative List of the “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”. These facts confirm the importance of Chinese medicine in medical practice.
Compared to Western medicine, the paradigms of Chinese medicine reflect inductive thinking, whereas deductive thinking is prevalent in modern science. However, at the end of the lecture, it was concluded that the two different medical traditions that currently exist equally seek knowledge of nature and society, and have the same goals. One of the common goals is to help protect and strengthen human health, work capacity, prolong life, and not harm it. Science these days can contribute to the further development of Chinese medicine and increase the safety and effectiveness of the treatment methods.
We believe that this lecture provided new knowledge and encouraged you to rethink your daily life habits. We are also happy that we are able to gain more knowledge about Chinese medicine. You can listen to the recording of the lecture on our YouTube channel. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX79F02xWIY