Volume 23, Issue 6, December 2015, Pages 821–826
Highlights
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- It is a comprehensive comparison between two traditional medicines.
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- The spread of modern medicine do impacted the rise and fall of traditional medicines.
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- Deepening exchanges and cooperation between China and Thailand are beneficial.
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- Traditional medicines can serve for upgrading healthcare tourism.
Abstract
The
work presented in this paper compares traditional Chinese medicine and
traditional Thai medicine, expounding on origins, academic thinking,
theoretical system, diagnostic method and modern development. Based on a
secondary analysis of available literature, the paper concentrates on
two crucial historical developments: (1) the response to, and
consequences of, the impact of the Western medicine; and (2) the revival
of traditional medicine in these two countries and its prospects. From a
comparative perspective, the analysis has led to the conclusion that
the rise and fall of traditional medicine is an issue closely related
with social and political issues; and the development of traditional
medicines requires national policy and financial support from
governments, human resource development, the improvement of service
quality, and the dissemination of traditional medicine knowledge to the
public. In addition, this paper also suggests deepening exchanges and
cooperation between China and Thailand, strengthening cooperation
between traditional medicine and medical tourism.
Abbreviations
- TM, traditional medicine;
- TCM, traditional Chinese Medicine;
- TTM, traditional Thai medicine;
- FDA, Thai food and drug administration;
- KMT, the nationalists;
- MOPH, Thailand’s ministry of public health;
- WHO, world health organization;
- PHC, primary health care;
- ITTM, institute of Thai traditional medicine;
- DATM, department for the development of Thai traditional and alternative medicine;
- DSHEA, dietary supplement health and education act;
- SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome;
- UNESCO, "united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization";
- ICD-11, the 11th version of international classification of disease
Keywords
- Traditional medicine;
- Modern development;
- Comparative studies
1. Introduction
Traditional medicine (TM) has been used for thousands of years in some countries.1
The history of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) dates back to
antiquity, traditional Chinese medical science and medicine has been
spread to many places all over the world.2
Similarly, evidence shows that Thai people began to use herbal medicine
for the treatment of various symptoms and diseases and health promotion
before the Sukhothai period or before 1238 A.D. The Kingdom of Thailand
also has its own system of traditional medicine which is called “Thai
traditional medicine” (TTM) and it had been a means of national health
care for the Thai people until the early 20th century.3
Among
the TMs in the world, there are Chinese, Korean, Japanese traditional
medicines which originated from ancient China. Besides, the Ayurvedic
medicine has Indian origin and Unani medicine is used in Arabic
countries.4
Although TTM is not considered to be a major traditional medicine in
the world, it is worth a study because there is much comparability
between TCM and TTM. Both China and Thailand are developing countries
with similar climatic and geographical environment. Both countries are
rich in medical resources and have distant historical and cultural
backgrounds. Besides, there have been many overseas Chinese people in
Thailand for a long time and TCM has been accepted and developed in Thai
society.
The TM of China
and Thailand differ in their origins, academic thinking, theoretical
system and diagnostic method. And yet, the modern development of these
two medicines strikingly manifests a historical similarity: The spread
of modern medicine from the Western world to the East led to a decline
in the practice of traditional medicine both in Thailand and China.
Based on a secondary analysis of available literature, this paper aims
to do comparative studies between TCM and TTM, and concentrates on two
crucial historical developments: (1) the response to, and consequences
of, the impact of the Western medicine; and (2) the revival of
traditional medicine in these two countries and its prospects. In this
ever-changing globalization age, the practical significance of the
comparison is to discover the objective laws of the development of TM,
to fully identify the similarities and differences between the two
medicines, to create a necessary platform for securing cultural
sensitivity and enhancing mutual understanding and cooperation between
the two countries.
2. TCM and TTM
2.1. Legal definition and brief history
Committee
for Terms in TCM defined TCM as “a comprehensive science to study
transformation between health and disease in human life and the
prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and health care based
on Chinese medicine theory and practical experience”.5
However, TCM is born of Chinese culture and there are a lot of
enlightening views in Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, the major
schools of philosophy in Chinese civilization. They are thought to be
essential to healthy living and development of TCM. TCM originated from
the legendary clan leader Fu Xi (2593 BC) period, established its
theoretical system during the late years of the Warring States period to
Chin and Han dynasties (475 BC–AD 220).6
So t he Comprehensive academic system of TCM had been formed more than
2500 years. During the Jin and Tang dynasties (265 AD–907 AD), TCM
experienced great development and absorbed much medical information from
Arabian countries, Japan and India. During the Song and Yuan dynasties
(960 AD–1368 AD), the invention of printing technology and further
advances in papermaking caused TCM to spread widely and to be deeply
researched. During the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368 AD–1911 AD), every
part of TCM was enriched and TCM spread to the countries of Europe and
the Americas. From the beginning of the Opium War in 1840, China was
continually defeated by outside forces. There were some Chinese people
who, as a result of the national crisis, developed a cultural
inferiority complex and produced a tide of complete opposition to their
own culture. Western medicine took root, and Chinese medicine went into a
hundred year decline.