Nobody likes to be sick! In America, many children go to the doctor to get medicine when they are sick. In ancient China, they also had doctors. But instead of treating a person after they were already sick, the Chinese believed that preventing an illness before it started was the key to one's health.
During the Han Dynasty around 100 BC, China was known to have some of the best doctors in the world. And in the 600s AD, during the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese had thousands of recipes(处方)for medicines. The Chinese also encouraged cleanliness.
Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM, is a system of healing(治愈). One important part of TCM is yin yang. The yin yang symbol represents balance. Hold your hand out with your palm up. The side of your hand is the yin side. The back of your hand is the yang (pronounced yong) side. They are opposites, but need each other to be complete. Yin is associated with night, while yang represents day. The symbol of yin yang shows how balance is important, in life and in the body.
Another important part of TCM is chi (pronounced chee), which is life force energy. In Karate Kid Part II, Mr. Han teaches how to use chi in Kung Fu. His student, Dre, compared chi to the force in Star Wars. In ancient Chinese medicine, it is believed that chi flows through the body. If chi is unbalanced or blocked, a person may become sick.
How does Traditional Chinese Medicine work? How is yin yang and chi balanced? One way is through acupuncture (针灸), which is a way to unblock chi with the use of thin needles. The needles are tapped into the skin along points on the body where chi is blocked.