Abstract
The defining basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is identification and mastery of chi and hence the enabling of the balance of the vital yin and yang ‘forces’ inside the body. TCM considers sickness or pain to be a result of chi blockage and/or unbalanced chi in the body. All TCM therapies – herbal concoctions, acupuncture, moxibustion, massage, diet, and qigong - are based on this fundamental philosophy and perspective. The evidence for efficacy of acupuncture, much less for any inference to the yin-yang balance, or chi movement, as the cause of any such efficacy, is problematic. Where there are beneficial outcomes – pain relief, relaxation, stress reduction, and so on – many are shown to be placebo effects, psychosomatic effects, the result of standard biochemical processes, and so on. For each class of outcomes, the naturalist response is to look for scientifically established causal explanations.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
See https://www.wellnessinstitute.net/ The Centre also, for a fee, offers instruction in Craniosacral Biodynamics, Polarity Therapy, NeuroEnergetic Therapy, and more.
- 6.
Brian Dunning, Skeptoid #411
- 7.
Available at www.silverlineddays.com
- 8.
On the legal-medical-economic issues, see: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/
- 9.
See Centre for Scientific Medicine reports at: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/reiki/
- 10.
Sydney Morning Herald 16 October 2018, p. 1
- 11.
- 12.
Moxibustion is similar to medical acupuncture except that instead of needles, burning moxa wool is used to treat or prevent diseases. Moxa is often applied on the meridians and their acupuncture points. The SCIO claims that moxibustion is wonderful for simulating chi and blood flow and so ensuring that organs function well.
- 13.
See The Economist 16–22 March 2019, pp. 28–29.
- 14.
- 15.
- 16.
Because it cannot be controlled, Facebook is banned in China. State-controlled WeChat takes its place. It is no surprise that the International Journalist Association in 2017 ranked China 194 out of 197 countries for freedom of press.
- 17.
- 18.
- 19.
References
Agazzi, E. (Ed.). (2017). Varieties of scientific realism: Objectivity and truth in science. Dordrecht: Springer.
Beinfield, H., & Korngold, E. (1991). Between heaven and earth: A guide to Chinese medicine. New York: Random House.
Bergson, H. (1911). Creative evolution (A. Mitchell, Trans.). New York: Random House.
Brown, J. R. (1994). Smoke and mirrors: How science reflects reality. New York: Routledge.
Bunge, M. (2006). Chasing reality: Strife over realism. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Capra, F. (1982). The turning point. New York: Bantam Books.
Capra, F. (1984). The Tao of physics (2nd revised edition of 1975 original). New York: Bantam Books.
Chang, S. T. (1976). The complete book of acupuncture. Berkeley: Celestial Arts Press.
Clark, A. (1985). Psychological causation and the concept of psychosomatic disease. In D. Stalker & C. Glymour (Eds.), Examining holistic medicine (pp. 67–106). Buffalo: Prometheus Books.
Colquhoun, D. (2011). Acupuncturists show that acupuncture doesn’t work, but conclude the opposite: Journal fails. Available at: http://www.dcscience.net/?p=4439
Colquhoun, D., & Novella, S. (2013). Acupuncture is theatrical placebo. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 116(6), 1360–1363.
Cyranoski, D. (2017, November 29). China to roll back regulations for traditional medicine despite safety concerns. Nature.
Eitel, E. J. (1873/1987). Feng shui: The rudiments of natural science in China. Hong Kong: Lane Crawford (Graham Brash, Singapore).
Ernst, E., Lee, M. S., & Choi, T.-Y. (2011). Acupuncture: Does it alleviate pain and are there serious risks? A review of reviews. Pain, 152(4), 755–764.
Gillies, M. A. (1996). Henri Bergson and British modernism. Montreal: McGill Queen’s University Press.
Harper, D. (2017). Science in ancient China. In I. R. Morus (Ed.), The Oxford illustrated history of science (pp. 45–71). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hersey, F. (2017, September 14). Traditional medicine courses rolled out in Chinese schools as 12-year-olds learn acupuncture. The Telegraph.
Huston, P. (1995). China, chi and chicanary: Examining traditional Chinese medicine and chi theory. Skeptical Inquirer, 19(5), 38–42.
Laudan, L. (1981). A confutation of convergent realism. Philosophy of Science, 48, 19–49.
Lee, M. S., Pittler, M. H., & Ernst, E. (2008). Effects of Reiki in clinical practice: A systematic review of randomised clinical trials. International Journal of Clinical Practice, 62(6), 947–954.
Li, Z. (1996). The private life of chairman Mao: The memoirs of Mao’s personal physician. New York: Random House.
Liu, J. L. (2010). ‘Wang Fuzhi’s philosophy of principle (Li) inherent in Qi. In J. Makeham (Ed.), Dao companion to neo-Confucian philosophy (pp. 355–380). Dordrecht: Springer.
Matthews, M. R. (2015a). Science teaching: The contribution of history and philosophy of science: 20th anniversary revised and enlarged edition. New York: Routledge.
Matthews, M. R. (2015b). Reflections on 25-years of journal editorship. Science & Education, 24(5–6), 749–805.
Needham, J., & Ling, W. (1956). Science and civilisation in China, Vol. 2, History of scientific thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Norris, C. M. (2001). Acupuncture: Treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Offit, P. (2013). Do you believe in magic? The sense and nonsense of alternative medicine. New York: HarperCollins.
Orleans, L. A. (Ed.). (1980). Science in contemporary China. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Porkert, M. (1974). The theoretical foundations of Chinese medicine. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Porkert, M. (1982). The difficult task of blending Chinese and Western science: The case of the modern interpretations of traditional Chinese medicine. In G. Li, M. Zhang, & T. Cao (Eds.), Explorations in the history of science and technology in China (pp. 553–572). Shanghai: Shanghai Chinese Classics Publishing House.
Psillos, S. (1999). Scientific realism: How science tracks truth. London: Routledge.
Radner, D., & Radner, M. (1989). Holistic methodology and pseudoscience. In D. Stalker & C. Glymour (Eds.), Examining holistic medicine (pp. 149–159). Buffalo: Prometheus Books.
Sacks, B. (2014, May 16). Reiki goes mainstream: Spiritual touch practice now commonplace in hospitals. The Washington Post.
Sampson, W. (1996). Antiscience trends in the rise of the “alternative medicine” movement. In P. R. Gross, N. Levitt, & M. W. Lewis (Eds.), The flight from science and reason (pp. 188–197). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Semple, D., & Smyth, R. (2013). Oxford handbook of psychiatry (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Skrabanek, P. (1985). Acupuncture: Past, present and future. In D. Stalker & C. Glymour (Eds.), Examining holistic medicine (pp. 181–196). Buffalo: Prometheus Books.
State Council Information Office (SCIO). (2016). Traditional Chinese medicine in China. Beijing: SCIO.
Tobin, K. (Ed.). (1993). The practice of constructivism in science and mathematics education. Washington, DC: AAAS Press.
Tobin, K. (2000). Constructivism in science education: Moving on. In D. C. Phillips (Ed.), Constructivism in education (pp. 227–253). Chicago: National Society for the Study of Education.
Tobin, K. (2015). Connecting science education to a world in crisis. Asia-Pacific Science Education, 1, 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41029-015-0003-z.
Vickers, A. J., Cronin, A. M., Maschino, A. C., Lewith, G., MacPherson, H., Victro, N., Foster, N. E., Sherman, K. J., Witt, C. M., & Linde, K. (2012). Acupuncture for chronic pain: Individual patient data meta-analysis. Archives of Internal Medicine, 172(19), 1444–1453.
Wegman, M. E. (1980). Biomedical research: Clinical and public health aspects. In L. A. Orleans (Ed.), Science in contemporary China (pp. 269–294). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Wensel, L. O. (1980). Acupuncture for Americans. Reston: Reston Publishing.
Wozniak, J. A., Wu, S., & Wang, H. (2001). Yan Xin Qigong and contemporary sciences. Champaign: International Yan Xin Qigong Association.
Yan, X. (2015). Secrets and benefits of internal Qigong cultivation. Malvern: Amber Leaf Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Matthews, M.R. (2019). Feng Shui and Traditional Chinese Medicine. In: Feng Shui: Teaching About Science and Pseudoscience. Science: Philosophy, History and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18822-1_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18822-1_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-18821-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-18822-1
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)