Which of the following is NOT a traditional Chinese therapy? ____ A: spa B: Guasha C: acupuncture D: cupping

Traditional Chinese medicine 1 Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is built on a foundation of more than 2,500 years of Chinese medical practice. It includes various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage, exercises, and dietary therapy, and is recently also informed by modern Western medicine. TCM is widely used in China, and is becoming increasingly available in other countries around the world. Doctrines 2 The doctrines of traditional Chinese medicine are rooted in books such as Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon [1]and Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases[2], as well as in cosmological notions such as yin and yang[3] and the five phases[4]. In recent decades, attempts have been made to integrate these doctrines with modern notions of anatomy and pathology and a systematized form of TCM has been developed and promoted by the Chinese government. 3 TCM holds that the body’s vital energy (qi) circulates through channels and collaterals (jingluo) which have branches connected to bodily organs and functions. TCM’s view of the human body is only marginally concerned with anatomical structures, but focuses primarily on the body's functions, such as digestion, breathing, temperature maintenance, aging etc. While health is perceived as the harmonious interaction of different functional entities and the outside world, disease is interpreted as disharmony in the interaction. Diagnosis in TCM aims to trace symptoms to underlying disharmony, by measuring the pulse, inspecting the tongue, skin, and eyes, and looking at the eating and sleeping habits of a person, and the like. Chinese medication 4 The major prescription in Chinese medicine is one batch of “herbal medicine” prepared as a decoction. In fact, “herbal medicine” is somewhat misleading in that, while plant elements are by far the most commonly used substances in TCM, many non-botanic substances are also utilized, including mineral substances and animal and human body parts. Thus, the term “medicinal” is usually preferred. Roughly 13,000 medicinals are being used in China and over 100,000 recipes are recorded in the ancient books of TCM. As is mentioned before, botanic elements play a major role of medicinals. Traditional Chinese therapies 5 Besides drug therapies, many other kinds of medical therapies are used in TCM. Acupuncture is used in traditional Chinese treatment to influence the flow of qi, which is believed to be a vital force that flows through our body. It is often accompanied by moxibustion which involves burning dried mugwort leaves on or near the skin at an acupuncture point. Another type of therapy used in Chinese medicine is cupping, in which several glass "cups" are placed on the body. A match is lit and placed inside the cup and then removed before placing the cup against the skin. As the air in the cup is heated, it expands and then cools, creating lower pressure inside the cup that allows the cup to stick to the skin via suction. Still another Chinese therapy is guasha, in which the skin is abraded with pieces of smooth jade, animal tusks or homs or smooth stones until red spots occur. 6 Food therapy, also called nutrition therapy or dietary therapy, is a mode of dieting rooted in traditional Chinese medicine and beliefs concerning the effects of food on the human organism. Its basic concepts are a mix of Chinese folk views of eating in moderation and some viewpoints drawn from traditional Chinese medicine. Different foods are classified into two categories-yin and yang, and they are recommended to be consumed in a balanced fashion. Food therapy has long been a common approach to maintaining health among Chinese people, and has been popularized overseas in recent years. Spread of TCM 7 Traditional physicians, who also receive some Western medical training, are still primary caregivers in some parts of rural China. Various traditional preventative and self-healing techniques such as qigong, which combines gentle exercise and meditation, are widely practised as an adjunct to professional health care in China. 8 There are some efforts around the world to incorporate TCM into public health systems. The US National Institute of Health (NIH) noted that, “Acupuncture has the largest body of evidence and is considered safe if practiced correctly.” In the academic field, however, most scientific publications require that studies of traditional Chinese medicine follow the same methodological framework as studies of Western medicine. This rule gives primacy to Western approaches to medicine. Consequently, TCM is no longer independent, but is viewed within the context of Western medicine. TCM has come to be viewed by the mainstream medic community as complementary rather than the primary paradigm. This role negates the concept of TCM, which is holistic in nature and takes account of more signs and symptoms, both somatic and psychic than Western medicine. 9 Recently, however, Yale researchers brought some good news to TCM. They found that huangqin tang, a Chinese herb mixture, is effective at reducing chemotherapy's side effects, including diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting. Phase II clinical trials for the herb mixture are being funded by the NIH's National Cancer Institute. It exemplifies that TOM has the potential to go mainstream. [1] Yellow Emperor's inner Canon(《黄帝内经》 s the earliest written work about traditional chi medicine It was compiled during the Warring States Period and is regarded as the fundame doctnnal source of traditional Chinese medicine [2] Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases《伤寒杂病论》) s a Chinese medical treaties by Zhang Zhongjing at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. [3] Yin and yang (阴阳), in Chinese philosophy, describe how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and they interrelate to one another. [4] Five phases（五行），sometimes also translated as the five elements theory, presumes that the five elements-- wood (木), fire (火), earth (土), metal (金),and water (水)---are the foundation of everything in the universe.