In the Chinese World

Like the ancient medical practise, the traditional chinese medicine is mainly make?use of natural substances. Visiting a?Chinese pharmacy, there are row and row of tidy drawers with animal, plant, and mineral products, each with a particular purpose. Among the assortment of curiosities are cinnabar and amber, to relax the nerves; peach pits and safflower, to improve blood circulation; bears gall to relieve pain and tranquilize; Chinese ephedra (mahuang) to induce perspiration; and ginseng to strengthen cardiac function.

The Chinese Practise
In the modern Chinese societies, the traditional doctors are mainly concentrated on the diagnosis of disease; then write up a chinese prescription which mainly containing herbal products.( There has been an existence of separation of prescribing and dispensing functions of chinese medicinal practise for hundred of years!).?Then the prescription is to be dispensed by dispenser or pharmacists (trained or untrained) The pharmacist selects a few particular ingredients from the hundreds on his shelf. These are taken home by the patient, boiled into a 'soup', and consumed. Confronted with such a steaming brew, you might ask yourself just what the basis of this ancient medical art is. The theoretical framework of Chinese medicine was established more than two millennia ago.
Shen Nung Tried All The Herbs
According to Chinese legend, Shen Nung , the Chinese father of agriculture and leader of an ancient clan, took it upon himself to test, one by one, hundreds of different plants to discover their nutritional and medicinal properties. Many of these turned out to be poisonous to humans. Over the millennia, Chinese have used themselves as guinea pigs in this same way to continue testing plants for their properties of inducing cold , heat, warmth , and coolness . They classified the medicinal effects of the plants on the various parts of the body, then tested them to determine their toxicity, what dosages would be lethal, and so forth. For example, the stem of Chinese ephedra is a sudorific; but its roots, to the contrary, can check perspiration. Cassia bark is warming in nature, and is useful in treating colds. Mint is cooling in nature, and is used to relieve the symptoms of illness resulting from heat factors. This accumulation of experience strengthened the Chinese understanding of natural phenomena, and increased the applications of natural principles in Chinese medicine. The same principles described in the preceding are also applied to assess the patient's living environment, his life rhythms, the foods he prefers or avoids, his personal relationships, and his language and gestures, as a tool in better understanding his illness, and suggesting improvements in various areas. Once the excesses or imbalances are pinpointed, they can be adjusted, and physical and mental health and balance restored. This attainment of equilibrium in the body's flow of energy is the ultimate guiding principle of Chinese medical treatment.
The Han Dynasty
A great deal of ancient medical knowledge is preserved in the pre-Chin (221-207 B.C.) Inner Cannon (Nei Ching), a comprehensive record of Chinese medical theories upto that time. The Han dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) produced an authoritative and valuable practical guide; even to the present day to the treatment of illness, the Treatise on Diseases Caused by Cold Factors (Shang Han Lun) by Chang Chung-ching.