Traditional Chinese medicine is a series of diverse medical practices that have been influenced and promoted throughout China's history based on cultural or religious beliefs about the inner workings of the human body and the world that surrounds us. Much of the field lacks a purely scientific basis for its effectiveness, but it is often cited as insightful or even useful in most modern scientific journals. Furthermore, while new medical technologies have continued to be introduced to the Chinese public over the years, the overall use of traditional Chinese medicine and the cultural beliefs related to it still remain an important part of Chinese society as a whole. For this reason, analyzing the history and foundations of the traditional Chinese medical system can provide in-depth insight into the inner workings of the minds of the Chinese public, making understanding from an anthropological perspective important. Furthermore, as interest in Chinese medicine increases in the West, due to the growing desire to obtain positive effects from non-Western medicine throughout the world and incorporate them into FDA-approved medical treatments, understanding its fundamentals becomes important from one point from a practical point of view. For this reason I think it is justified to summarize some of the basic history, ideological foundations and diagnostic techniques that have shaped this interesting part of Chinese culture and provide my answer to what I think it says about China as a whole (even if I don't I will go into great detail about the treatments themselves, such as herbal medicine). History of Traditional Chinese Medicine The first step in understanding the basics of traditional Chinese medicine is to examine the history of the development of medicine in China as a whole. While exact from......middle of paper......niques called pulse sensation and palpation of the body. Conclusion From what I can tell traditional Chinese medicine is much more ingrained with religious ideas like doasim and traditional cultural beliefs than more westernized medicines are. Its importance in Chinese culture also seems to go beyond that of mere practical purposes, as it also seems to be linked to several important historical figures and events in Chinese history, which probably makes people identify it by defining the traits and prides of their nation. I would probably add a little more and say that they have a right to be proud of it, because not only are the ideologies that construct it interesting and provocative in themselves, but I have seen more than a few articles that have analyzed the chemical compounds of traditional Chinese remedies to find that they contain chemicals that are legitimately good for people.