No.3 TCM Has One Big Peculiarity — It Doesn't Actually Cure Illness

Risk disclaimer: This article contains many descriptions of treatments and cures. These are personal anecdotes and observations, not medical advice.

Every Medicine Has Its Poison

My father once expressed a radical view: Chinese medicine, in fact, doesn't cure illness at all.

But you can't take that literally. What he meant by "doesn't cure" is — don't be too eager to eliminate the illness.

The biggest taboo in prescribing TCM remedies is wanting too badly to cure the disease.

Because every medicine has its toxic side effects. It's all too easy to sacrifice the big picture for a small gain.

This is also an important criterion for distinguishing seasoned TCM practitioners from inexperienced ones.

Some herbalists often prescribe "sugar water" formulas to patients — essentially telling them to drink some sweet water or eat ordinary food. Pharmacologically, these formulas are completely useless. Yet in practice, this often solves the patient's problem directly.

It's similar to what Western medicine studies as the placebo effect.

What's interesting is that you'll often find, for certain patients with mild conditions, a placebo works better than actual medication — at the very least, it does no harm to their body.

Instant Cures

In TCM, there are young doctors with solid knowledge of Chinese medicine, sharp minds, and treatment approaches that are broadly correct.

But being young means you haven't treated enough patients. Your practical experience and understanding of human life are inevitably insufficient.

New practitioners are eager to prove themselves, driven by an earnest desire to relieve their patients' suffering.

The formulas they prescribe do work. For example, there's an herb in Chinese medicine called rhubarb (dahuang). It's potent — one dose works immediately, causing bowel movements and relieving constipation very quickly.

But because of its potency, it can easily upset the stomach, especially in patients with qi deficiency and stagnation, or in the elderly and young children. It can easily trigger unnecessary negative reactions.

Of course, these young doctors aren't oblivious to this — they'll add complementary herbs to balance and protect.

But when an experienced practitioner sees "rhubarb" on a prescription, then looks at the patient — if the patient is elderly and frail — they immediately recognize that the formula is a bit "too eager."

What Chinese people call "instant cures" is really a cultural concept — an irrational praise from patients to healers. It appears on banners and in unbelievable legends about famous doctors.

Are there actually doctors capable of such miraculous cures? Yes, surely there are. But you'll never meet one — only someone else has.

I don't know if I'm making sense here. 🤣🤣

Treating the Root, Not the Symptom

There's a famous saying among Chinese people: Chinese medicine treats the root, not the symptom. It means TCM has limited effectiveness in alleviating immediate symptoms, but can regulate the underlying condition from its source.

This is clearly another flattering description of TCM. It reflects only a general principle — looking at the body's problems from a higher perspective.

There's also a well-known medical saying in China: "Treat the foot for a headache." In popular culture, this is often used to mock incompetent doctors. But many great doctors actually do exactly this — because through observation, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking, they diagnose that the headache originates in the foot. It takes boldness and deep experience, and many legendary doctors have such "mystical" stories, which are essential to their fame. I'll dedicate a separate chapter to the remarkable stories of TCM masters.

This principle of treating the root rather than the symptom also reflects the "slow, gentle, unhurried" philosophy in Chinese culture.

There's an old saying: "Haste makes waste." TCM shares the same lineage as many aspects of Chinese culture — Chinese martial arts, classical texts — they all share interconnected philosophies.

A Final Note:

My father's view that TCM doesn't cure illness may be strongly connected to his final choice. When he was severely ill, he refused to take any herbal medicine — and this philosophy may have been why.

— Bong, by the banks of the Xiaoshui River in China. May you have peace and good fortune!