TCM vs. CCM

[Guest guest]

, " Kelly Welch " <kdwelch25@h...> wrote:

 

>

> >TCM is the victim of religion.??????Kelly:

> Really? How can something founded upon principles of dialectical materialism

> be a " victim " of religion?

 

Kelly

 

While state sponsored TCM was indeed founded upon the principles of

dialectical mateialism, the actual practiceof TCM has not been limited

to this, as I understand it. As I am sure Ken (and others) will

confirm, even my teachers who studied during the cultural revolution

had access to the full range of premodern texts and ideas. Your

statement that the communist version of TCM was " offered to the WHO "

pretty much says it all. This style was offered for export to be both

palatable to the west and to promote marxism. But practitioners who

pursued advanced studies worked with old doctors and learned their

" classical " styles. So while basic textbooks like Fundamentals of CM

definitely reflect this marxist dialectic, advanced texts do not (and

never have). In addition, the state control of even basic TCM

education began to subside in the mid late 80's and now plays virtually

no role at all. China is a capitalist country with what essentially

amounts to academic freedom within the TCM colleges at this point in

time, according to all reports I have received. So while religion may

still be frowned upon in government circles, I think there is little in

the way of medically applicable ideas that is currently taboo.

 

Personally, I frown upon religion, too, so a little distance from

metaphysics I can only perceive as a good thing and a desirable

evolutionary step. Finally, while organized religion may be anathema,

philosophical taoism also seems fairly alive and well in China. But,

as Bob Flaws has pointed out, the entire history of CM has been

dominated by confucianism, not taoism, anyway. And the confucians were

just as suspicious of metaphysics and religion as the communists, so

this trend in China is hardly 50 years old, but more like 2000. I

think a lot of the anti-TCM rhetoric popular in many circles is

propaganda espoused by those who wish to promulgate a variety of new

age and metaphysical concepts as if they were inherent to CM. One such

method is to bash TCM and then introduce any metaphysical idea one

likes and call it CM. A lot of this rhetoric lacks something very

important, though. It lacks a well documented historical basis. On

the other hand, the roots of TCM are clearly visble in the works of

ming and qing dynasty physicians, as well as those from early this

century before the communist era.