Traditional Chinese Medicine: An Ancient Practice for Modern Times

Jun 27
3 min read

Updated: Jun 30

July 1971. An American journalist for the New York Times, James Reston, wakes up in a Beijing hospital: his appendix has just been removed. The surgery was done under conventional anesthesia — whatever the legend says. But over the following nights, gripped by post-operative pain, he lets a doctor place a few needles in his elbow and below his knees, and burn an herb near his abdomen. The discomfort eases within the hour. Back at his typewriter, Reston writes it up. The piece runs on the front page of July 26, 1971 — and, all at once, the West begins to talk about acupuncture.

It is the story of a journey: how a medicine two thousand years old, born on the other side of the world, ended up in a clinic in the Plateau-Mont-Royal. And it is also the story of a question: what does it take for a therapy to earn its legitimacy?

IN 30 SECONDS. TCM is a complete traditional medical system (acupuncture, herbal medicine, tuina, dietetics, qigong) built on a symbolic, holistic view of health. It is best understood as a complement to conventional care, not a replacement — and clinical evidence varies by condition.

What is Traditional Chinese Medicine?

TCM is a complete system that brings together several practices — acupuncture, herbal medicine, tuina massage, dietetics, and qigong. At its heart is the concept of Qi (“chee”), the “vital energy” the tradition says circulates and balances — a conceptual marker, as we’ll see, rather than a measurable quantity. It reads health through a symbolic vocabulary (Qi, Yin and Yang, the Five Phases) rather than through biomedical physiology.

Two thousand years of transmission

TCM’s roots reach deep into ancient China, making it one of the oldest and most developed systems of traditional medicine. They are traced to texts such as the Huangdi Neijing, more than two thousand years old, which lays down the groundwork of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases. Across the dynasties the edifice grew: the Sui and Tang (581–907 CE) founded state medical schools and standardized the texts; the Ming (1368–1644) saw specialties such as pediatrics and gynecology emerge. In time the practice spread beyond China, marking Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia.

How the needle traveled West

The Reston episode was only a spark; it still needed fuel. When Nixon visited China in February 1972, American physicians in the delegation watched widely reported demonstrations of acupuncture analgesia. Curiosity became a wave: clinics, schools, and the first research efforts multiplied through the 1970s.

Then came the slow work of institutions. As early as 1979 the World Health Organization took an interest in acupuncture; in 2003 it published a review of the available clinical trials; and in 2019, in a debated move, its International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) included, for the first time, a chapter of “traditional medicine” featuring East Asian diagnostic categories. Recognition is not demonstration, and each of these steps was contested. That is the whole point of the story: in medicine, legitimacy is not declared, it is negotiated — case by case, institution by institution. (On the Québec chapter of that story, see our history of acupuncture in Québec.)

Medical pluralism: two medicines under one roof

Contemporary health care is increasingly plural: alongside biomedicine, complementary approaches find a place — provided they know their own. Acupuncture fits in as an adjunct: it is used, for example, alongside cancer treatment to ease certain side effects such as nausea or fatigue, in coordination with medical follow-up. Not “instead of,” but “alongside.”

The holistic approach

What the tradition claims is a view of the whole: rather than the symptom alone, the practitioner considers the person — lifestyle, emotions, environment — and looks, within that framework, for the “root” of an imbalance. A way of thinking about care, not to be mistaken for a physiological explanation.

What the research says

Let us be precise. Acupuncture is among the most-studied complementary therapies: for some indications (pain, nausea) the data are encouraging; for others they remain inconclusive. Chinese herbal medicine is less well documented and raises its own questions of quality and safety. None of this amounts to a promise: clinical value is judged indication by indication — see our overview of the evidence.

In summary

Two thousand years old, having traveled from China to earn, step by step, a measure of international recognition, Traditional Chinese Medicine today holds the place of a complementary therapy. A traditional, symbolic framework — distinct from biomedical science — best used alongside, not instead of, conventional care. Its relevance rests not on a promise, but on the rigor with which it is practised and assessed.

Want to go further? See our overview of the evidence.

Ready to consult? Book online — in the Plateau-Mont-Royal, 7 days a week.