A human being, from the point of view of traditional Chinese medicine, is a small universe in itself. The reality of the human energy channel (meridian) system, with its collaterals and pathways, was ascertained by relentless observations of an entire human being and by compiling the outcomes of such observations. The human body’s meridian system is no other than an invisible entity composed of interconnected and definite pathways by which vital energy called chi is transported. It cannot be empirically proven even if you dissect a cadaver looking for it, because in that manner anatomy would take a mere lifeless body of flesh as its object of study. The concept of the meridian system of the human body has been shown to be a reality in the course of thousands of years of medical practice. The Chinese medical system of medical massage, moxibustion, acupuncture, and deep-breathing exercises were all established based on the theory of the meridian system of the human body.
Scholars and scientists of Traditional Chinese medicine thousands of years ago discovered that there were close associations between time and man and between the seasons and man.
Why is it that many healthy people early in the morning rush to the lavatory to make stool? According to Traditional Chinese medicine, the human body has 12 meridians in this energy channel system and that each of these meridians, has its main period of day for passage. As five to seven a.m. is the period at which the movement of chi in the body enters the meridian of the large intestine, a great number of people feel the need to pass stool at this time period. In a related manner, why do some individuals talk of the need to “adjust the time difference”? That’s because energy passes through each channel based on what time of the day it is. People intuitively feel an urge to do some adjustment of their daily habits when they arrive at a new place, in order for their body to become accustomed to the changes of the main time when energy passes through each of the meridians.
Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners are able to evaluate the internal health condition of a patient by interpreting the patient’s external characteristics. But how do they do it?
We can use as an example a simple observation of the internal condition of a watermelon when we want to purchase one from among dozens of watermelons at a market stall. A stallholder in China typically provides his customers gratuitous service which means you will have a wide variety of good products to choose from. People who plant and sell watermelons all their lives would have the knowledge and experience to pick the best watermelon in that stall. In a similar way, experienced practitioners of Chinese medicine can visually evaluate the internal condition of their patient by relying on their personal experience, apart from their knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine, which is very crucial in their profession. The natural science that is traditional Chinese medicine has a long history of evolution that involved never ending observation and practice.