by Natalie Louise Fox

Created on: October 22, 2008   Last Updated: October 30, 2008

The history of Chinese herbal medicine stretches back for thousands of years, pre-dating Western medicine and most of the pharmaceuticals that we use today.

Chinese medicine has its foundations in shamanistic rituals. Sickness and ill health was believed to be caused by evil spirits and demonic forces. Traditional Chinese medicine sought to draw out these supposed dark energies by using ritual and herbal medicine. This knowledge has been handed down through the centuries, constantly being improved and documented.

Many key figures and events build up a broad picture of Chinese herbal medicine history. We know that it existed in our late bronze age, 2500-3000 years ago, during the Zhou dynasty in China.

It is estimated that the first guide to Chinese medicine was written by Shennong Bencao Jing in the Han dynasty, first century C.E. It contained information on over 365 medicines.

Hua Tuo (110-207 AD) was an ancient Chinese physician and is popularly recognised as the inventor of anaesthesia.

A prevalent text used within modern Chinese herbal medicine practice is "The compendium of Materia Medica", compiled by Li Shizhen (1518-1593 AD) during the Ming dynasty. Shizhen made this his life's work, spending decades researching and drawing on information from over 800 medical books.

Ninety two wooden bamboo slips with information on over 100 different kinds of drug and 30 prescriptions was discovered in the tomb of a Chinese doctor from the Kansu province in 1972.

Nowadays, Chinese herbal medicine contains many, many ingredients and can include plants, herbs, animals and minerals. The physician will devise a formula unique to the patient, carefully balancing all of the ingredients to ensure maximum benefit. The presenting condition will be taken care of and the patient's yin/ yang balance will also be addressed.

Standard herbal formulas are also available today. These are known as Chinese patent medicines and consist of standard recipes made from herbs, ground together and bound into a pill. These lack the benefits of tailored prescriptions but can prove useful in treating mild ailments.

Many of our Western medical advances and discoveries occurred in the mid to late 1800's. Antibiotics, vaccines and aspirins make use of our modern scientific knowledge. Chinese herbal medicine currently suffers from lack of scientific verification (based on a Western paradigm) and so therefore has trouble integrating into Western culture; however, it still remains a popular choice in the complementary and alternative medicine sector.

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