Human Nature

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屠呦呦在2015年10月5日获得的诺贝尔生理学或医学奖证书和_113286.jpg

A museum guide introduces the painting Shennong Picking Herbs at the Light of Wisdom Traditional Chinese Medicine Culture Exhibition inside the National Museum of China in Beijing on February 7. Legend has it the mythical ruler Shennong, the chief of a tribe living in the upper and middle reaches in the Yellow River in the Neolithic Age, taught the ancient Chinese about the use of herbal medicines
The Nobel Prize certificate and medal in Physiology or Medicine awarded to Chinese pharmaceutical chemist Tu Youyou on October 5, 2015. Tu was the first Chinese Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine and the first female citizen of the People’s Republic of China to receive a Nobel Prize in any category
Even the ancient Chinese had a workout routine as demonstrated by these “fitness animations” unearthed from the Mawangdui tombs in Changsha, Hunan Province, which date back to the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-A.D. 220)
A young girl looks at Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) medicine bottles
Visitors look at a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) reproduction of a bronze acupuncture figure, originally crafted in the Song Dynasty (960-1279)

Legend has it that the mythical ruler Shennong, the chief of a tribe living in the upper and middle reaches in the Yellow River in the Neolithic Age, created a catalog of 365 species of medicinal plants which became the foundation for Chinese herbology—which accounts for the majority of treatments in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

Over time, TCM evolved into a systematic discipline which to this day plays a significant role in the Chinese healthcare system.

On January 18, the National Museum of China in Beijing launched the Light of Wisdom Traditional Chinese Medicine Culture Exhibition, which is currently still underway. More than 500 cultural relics, including jade, ceramics, bone, gold and silver wares, rare books, paintings and calligraphy, as well as some 200 medicinal herb specimens, illustrate the extensive history, culture and contributions of TCM.

Honed by Chinese practitioners over thousands of years, TCM's distinctive, holistic outlook on life, health, disease treatment and prevention reflects the philosophy of the Chinese nation: Body and mind, humanity and nature must all be in sync.

(Text and photos by Wei Yao)

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon

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