08/31/2025
🌿WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FOLK AND TRADITIONAL EASTERN MEDICINE, AND IS IT EASY TO LEARN?
Very often people don’t distinguish between these two concepts. Not long ago, a blogger loudly declared on YouTube that Traditional Chinese Medicine was “invented in the 1960s,” allegedly because Communist China had problems with healthcare, and so they “came up with this quackery.”
Let’s get to the essence.
🔹 Folk medicine
Experience and practices developed over centuries within families and communities.
Usually passed on orally: “grandmother’s recipes,” herbal remedies, poultices, rituals.
Often includes elements of magic, incantations, and superstitions.
Methods are not standardized — the same recipe can vary greatly in different regions.
Effectiveness varies: some methods truly help, while others are based only on faith and tradition.
🔹 Traditional Eastern Medicine (TCM, Ayurveda, etc.)
Complete medical systems with a philosophical and scientific foundation (Yin-Yang, Five Elements, meridians, doshas).
Methods are standardized: protocols for diagnosis and treatment exist.
Includes:
Acupuncture and moxibustion
Chinese herbal medicine (with precise herbal formulas)
Cupping therapy
Tui Na massage
Qigong and Tai Chi as therapy
Officially recognized in many countries, scientifically researched, and used in clinics worldwide.
📌 Key difference:
Folk medicine is local household practices without a strict system.
Traditional Eastern Medicine is a complete medical science with theory, diagnostics, and methods that have been tested and systematized over centuries.
📜 History
Traditional Chinese Medicine originated in Ancient China.
The most authoritative text is the “Huangdi Neijing” (黄帝内经, The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon), compiled around the 3rd–2nd centuries BCE. It describes in detail:
The theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements
Diagnostic methods (pulse, tongue, observation)
Principles of dietetics and disease prevention
Treatment methods: acupuncture, moxibustion, herbal medicine
To this day, this book is considered the “Bible of Chinese Medicine.” Every TCM doctor studies it. Although authorship is attributed to the mythical Yellow Emperor, in reality it is a compilation of knowledge from many generations of physicians and philosophers.
In Ancient China there was even a special “Office of Physicians” at the imperial court, responsible for:
Medicine for the imperial family
Training of physicians
Preservation of prescriptions and herbs
There were separate specialists: physicians of internal medicine, surgeons, toxicologists, and herbalists.
👉 Thus, TCM is not just “grandma’s onion cure for dandruff,” but a sophisticated system with its own philosophy, schools, and strict methods.
🎯 What about learning it?
Sometimes I get unusual requests: “Can you teach me acupuncture in a couple of lessons?”
Occasionally patients tell me that local massage therapists insert needles. The bravest even try to treat themselves.
For some reason, people assume acupuncture doesn’t require much knowledge.
⚡️ In reality, the path is very demanding.
Training takes at least 4–5 years.
I most schools, admission requires a degree in health sciences (or a related field).
In the U.S., accredited programs include 3,500+ hours of lectures, labs, and clinical residency.
Students study:
Biochemistry, pathophysiology, anatomy, pharmacology, and therapeutics
History and philosophy of Eastern medicine
Multiple levels of acupuncture
Chinese herbal medicine (350 herbs by Latin, pinyin, and English names — identifying each plant visually, knowing its taste, temperature, indications, contraindications, and dosage)
Over 300 classic herbal formulas: their composition, indications, contraindications, modifications
Clinical specializations: pediatrics, general medicine, orthopedics, Tui Na, Tai Qi therapy, neurology, auricular therapy
Medical nutrition
And all of this is not just memorization — it must be synthesized into real clinical knowledge and then tested on one of the most difficult national licensing exams.
🌿 Conclusion
Eastern Medicine cannot be learned from a self-help book. There are no “author’s shortcuts.”
Becoming a Doctor of Eastern Medicine is not for everyone. It is a long and challenging path that requires discipline and dedication — but it is worth it.
Eastern Medicine not only heals the body, it transforms consciousness and worldview. I began studying it at age 20, and the longer I practice, the more I am convinced that to truly grasp its depth, one lifetime is not enough.
