The Eastern Cultural Signature of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Empirical Evidence and Theoretical Perspectives

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a complete and independent medical system, which has been used to diagnose, treat, and prevent illnesses for thousands of years. Holistic thinking, which is rooted in Eastern culture, is assumed to be the core of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In recent decades, such holistic thinking has been proposed to be applicable to Western medicine practices for alleviating serious side effects; however, the obscure and often ill-defined terms of TCM, such as qi, yin yang, and wuxing, pose considerable obstacles for further understanding TCM. In the present study, the authors explored whether and how TCM was actually related to the scientific construct of holistic thinking, to elucidate the particular cultural signature of TCM. 

In this study, a random sample of 101 college students majoring in TCM and 93 non-medical college students was recruited for the study. Two psychological scales—the Chinese Holistic Thinking Scale (CHTS) and the TCM Competence Scale (TCMCS) were used respectively to measure the holistic thinking and participants’ ability to apply the TCM in practice. 

The results showed that the CHTS had high internal consistency reliability and the TCMCS had high construct validity. Also, the authors found that individuals who thought more holistically were better at applying TCM to modern medical problems. Interestingly, TCM was associated with holistic thinking in both TCM and non-medical students, suggesting that this association was intrinsic. Further exploration revealed that the association and variability facets of Eastern holistic thinking—which emphasize that the world is interconnected and ever-changing, respectively—significantly accounted for the individual differences in competence in utilizing TCM in practice. 

In short, this study provided an empirical evidence linking TCM to the Eastern holistic thinking style by using the individual differences, which not only deepened the understanding of TCM from a scientific perspective but also promoted dialogue between TCM and Western medicine for building safer and more effective health care systems.

Article by Huanhua Lu, et al, from Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.

Full access: http://mrw.so/HtUai

Image by Prof Muluka, from Flickr-cc.