Ancient Greek and Chinese Medicine

 Similarities between ancient Greek medicine and Chinese medicine  

Posted by Bai Xinghua 

Greece and China are ancient civilizations, and they also have a long history of medicine. Hippocrates, the father of Greek medicine, lived almost at the same time as Bian Que (Wayfaring Magpie), the founder of Chinese medicine. By comparing the Hippocrates Corpus and the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic of Inner Medicine, it is not surprising to find that there are many similarities between two medical systems.

First, the holistic thininkg. Hippocrates considers that natural laws govern all things, that all things were arranged in the body by fire, a copy of the whole, the small after the manner of the great and the great after the manner of the small. The ancient Chinese ancestors believe that humanity was created by the interaction of Qi between the Heaven and Earth, and the heaven, Earth and Humanity are similarly constituted and governed by the same laws.

Secondly, dynamic balance. According to Hippocratic, all animals, including man, are composed of two things, different in power but working together in use, namely, fire and water. Fire can move all things always, while water can nourish all things always; but in turn each masters or is mastered to the greatest maximum or the least minimum possible. While the Chinese theory of Yin Yang describes how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.

Thirdly, natural healing force. Hippocrates points out that Nature heals disease, and the Chinese medicine holds that no evil can attack the body if one’s right qi is strong enough, and one’s right qi must be insufficient whenever illness occurs.

Fourthly, therapeutic principles. Hippocrates summarizes that medicine is, in fact, subtraction and addition, subtraction of what is in excess and addition of what is wanting. And Reinforce the deficiency, reduce the excess, heat cold, and cool heat.

Fifthly, therapeutic approaches. The Greek cauterization is very similar to Chinese moxibustion, and both medicine also treated diseases with blood-letting therapy. These medical principles and therapeutic approaches can still make contribution to the development of world medicine today.  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Bai Xinghua

Bai Xinghua, professor of the School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine; member of International Communication Working Committee of World Federation of Acupuncture Societies (WFAS); and member of the Standing Committee of the Association of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease of the International Association for the Promotion of Chinese Healthcare International Exchange. He has been engaged in training, research and practice of acupuncture over 30 years, and has made innovative achievements on the early history of acupuncture, spread of acupuncture to the world and treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease with acupuncture. His representative of Acupuncture: Visible Holism was published in the United Kingdom in 2001.