Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) also known simply as Chinese medicine ( 中医学 ) is the name commonly given to a range of traditional medical practices used in China that have developed over the course of several thousand years of history. It is also regarded as an instance of oriental medicine, a term which may include other traditional Asian medical systems such as Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, and Mongolian medicine. Chinese medicine principally employs a method of analysis and synthesis, inquiring on a macro-level into the internal systems of the human body and their mutual relationships with the internal and external environment in an attempt to gain an understanding of the fundamental laws which govern the functioning of the human organism, and to apply this understanding to the treatment and prevention of disease, and health maintenance. TCM is rooted in a unique, comprehensive and systematic theoretical structure which includes the Theory of the Five Elements ( 五行 ), the human body Meridian system, Yin-yang ( 阴阳 ) and other systems. Treatment is conducted with reference to this philosophical framework.

For over 3000 years (1200 BC - present), Chinese academics of various schools have focused on the observable natural laws of the universe and their implications for the practical characterisation of humanity's place in the universe. In the I Ching and other Chinese literary and philosophical classics, they have described some general principles and their applications to health and healing:

There are observable principles of constant phenomenal change by which the Universe is maintained.

Man is part of the universe and cannot be separated from the universal process of change.

As a result of these apparently inescapable primordial principles, the Universe (and every process therein) tends to eventually balance itself.

Optimum health should result from living as harmoniously as possible with the spontaneous process of change tending towards balance. If there is no change (stagnation), or too much change (catastrophism), balance is increasingly lost and illnesses can occur.

Everything is ultimately interconnected.

Always use a systemic approach when addressing imbalances.

TCM is therefore largely based on the philosophical concept that the human body is a small universe with a set of complete and sophisticated interconnected systems. Those systems usually work in balance to maintain the healthy function of the human body. The balance is described as necessarily including qi, blood, jing, bodily fluids, the wu xing, emotions, and spirit (shen). TCM has a unique model of the body, notably concerned with the meridian system. TCM isn't monolithic, however, and there are from minor to significant regional and philosophical differences between practitioners and schools which in turn can lead to differences in practice and theory.