Outlook on cultural inheritance and development

WANG Zhong

WANG Zhong,Institute Of Basic Research In Clinical Medicine,China Academy Of Chinese Medical Sciences,Beijing 100700,China

Historically,Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has undergone critical opportunities for development.Chairman Xi Jinping has said that with its profound philosophical wisdom,thousands of years of healthpreserving ideas,and practical experience,TCM is a treasure of ancient Chinese science and key to an indepth understanding of Chinese civilization.TCM is a unique health resource,an economic resource with huge potential,a scientific and technological resource with original advantages,an excellent cultural resource,and an important ecological resource.Thus,TCM is playing an increasingly important role in the gradual transformation of Western learning into mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations as well as in the economic and social development of the new era.

At present,the original advantages of TCM are not being fully utilized,and the manner in which it is being passed on warrants improvement.Regarding the inheritance and development of TCM,the strategic goal should be to proceed from the current needs of China and its society toward TCM being at the forefront of world science and technology.It is necessary to promote deeply the inheritance and innovation of TCM with respect to theory and practical experience;it is vital to think purposefully,comprehensively,and farsightedly with respect to the development of China and its society.

TCM is the only medicine in the world to have been practiced uninterruptedly for 5000 years.It brings together philosophy and medical theory.TCM combines the benevolence of Confucianism,the Daoism of Taoism,and the confidence of Legalism.The accumulation of academic experience over the millennia has given TCM an extremely rich scientific content.Finding the appropriate connection point between TCM and modern science demands theoretical integration: such integration would have a huge impact on the world’s prosperity and development.

As a result of industrial civilization,the Chinese have explored different ways of achieving self-reliance,such as Chinese learning for fundamentals and Western learning for practical application,Chinese spirit but Western learning,and Chinese philosophy with Western science and technology.At present,the world is undergoing profound changes,unseen in a century;the historical characteristics of those changes are becoming increasingly apparent.It is necessary to follow the wisdom and unique value of TCM by means of a broad,profound perspective toward discovering and adopting its essence and maintaining its innovation.Integrating modern science and logic with TCM can help forge a new concept about the relationship among technology,equipment,and theory.That approach should embrace the merits of both systems,allowing TCM to develop in the new era,and make greater contributions to China’s great rejuvenation.