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Editorial note: Bracketed number codes in this entry refer to the list of
ideograms that follows.
Most scholars agree that the origin of Chinese civilization occurred in the
Yellow River Valley of central China over 5,000 years ago. Stone an-
tecedents to modern metal acupuncture needles have been dated to as much
as 20,000 years old. In modern times, vestiges of Chinese culture persist
throughout and beyond China. As is natural for all living things, these have
mutated and adapted to foreign environments.
Through cross-cultural comparison it is apparent that current Chi-
nese culture retains a remarkable number of features from ancient times.
Chinese culture has always maintained both a strong conservative func-
tion and a powerful evolutionary drive. This conservative function is re-
sponsible for the durability of ancient cultural traditions, and the innate
cultural drive for progress has transformed these traditions into useful
contemporary tools.
Two Chinese disciplines that have received the attention of the non-
Chinese world as well as the renewed attention of modern China are tra-
ditional Chinese medicine and martial arts. In the popular view—as
demonstrated in film, literature, and even the advertisements of martial arts
schools—martial arts and medicine are linked together. In fact, there is a
profound convergence of medicine and martial arts in traditional Chinese
culture. Both share a common cultural and philosophical foundation. Both
are elite traditions. And both contribute to the common social goal of
maintaining and restoring the health of the culture.
Medicine
Medicine, or more generally healing, is a feature of all societies. The healing
arts are society’s intermediary between Nature and human beings. The way
that a society views Nature will determine how it attempts to achieve health
and balance. The most ancient records of Chinese medicine reveal that the
Medicine, Traditional Chinese 327