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| Concepts or words used in TCM | Interpretation |
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| Theory of TCM | A general term for the medical theories of the Chinese people, which have been used in practice and to guide treatment decisions since before the introduction of Western medicine into China. The main difference between TCM and Western medicine can be summarized as follows: Western medicine stems from Greek philosophy and advocates intervening in the focal disease using the method of logic. TCM originates from Chinese classical philosophy and advocates interventions aimed at the whole human and the living environment using the method of delogic. |
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| TCM | TCM mainly refers to nonsynthetic preparations, such as natural extractives and herbal extracts. Researchers in the field of TCM adopt different attitudes. Some clinicians maintain that TCM should be replaced with a pharmacological approach; in other words TCM theory should be abandoned, and the pharmacological approach of modern medicine should be used to determine the effectiveness of drugs and to differentiate between a large number of therapeutic options quickly and effectively, with the aim of retaining effective TCMs and discarding useless drugs. Other doctors who practice TCM believe that TCM should not be submitted to the logic of modern medicine to evaluate its effectiveness. The reason that TCM is defined as medicine according to TCM theory lies in Chinese classical philosophy, in which a nonlogic or delogic view is applied. According to this philosophy, the human body or the environment is taken as a whole when considering the intervention. This research does not involve TCM intervention; therefore, this paper does not express an opinion on TCM. |
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| Qi | TCM philosophy holds that qi is a type of constantly moving and extremely impalpable material within the human body as well as a basic material that constitutes and maintains life. |
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| Syndrome | A generalization of the pathological attributes that are present at a certain stage in the development of a disease. |
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| Liver-qi | Liver dysfunction, qi movement stagnation, and the pathological changes of liver-qi disruption, invading the spleen and stomach. |
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| Liver-qi stagnation | The liver has the function of conveyance and dispersion. For example, dysfunction of liver conveyance and dispersion or emotional depression can cause liver-qi stagnation. Clinical manifestations include hypochondriac pain, chest distress, epigastric distension, belching, and irregular menstruation. |
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| Liver fire flaming | This term refers to a flaming fire that disturbs the liver and causes liver-qi invasion. It is associated with heat-related syndromes, including headache, irritability, ear ringing, hypochondriac pain, and other heat syndromes. |
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| Heart and spleen deficiency | This term refers to a syndrome that is common in heart blood insufficiency and spleen-qi deficiency. The main manifestations include palpitation, dreaminess, forgetfulness, reduced appetite, abdominal distension, sloppy stool, lack of strength, uterine bleeding, hematochezia, subcutaneous hemorrhage, pale tongue, and weak pulse. |
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| Liver depression forming fire | This term refers to a type of TCM syndrome involving chest hypochondrium, abdominal distension and pain, impatience and irritability, dizziness and swelling pain, flushed face and congested eyes, bitter taste, dry throat, sleeplessness, painful distension of the breasts, irregular menstruation, and even amenorrhea due to liver dysfunction of conveyance and dispersion as well as stagnation of qi movement caused by mental dissatisfaction, emotional provocation, and disease invasion. |
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| Liver stagnation and spleen deficiency | The syndromes of liver and spleen dysfunction, dominated by chest-coerced distending pain, abdominal distension, and loose stool. |
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| liver depression and blood stasis | The common syndromes include coerced distending pain or sharp pain, a lump under the costal region or at the abdomen, emotional depression, dark purple tongue or spots on the tongue, and an irregular pulse caused by liver-qi stagnation and blood stasis in liver. |
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| Liver depression and kidney deficiency | The liver and kidney influence each other physiologically and are pathologically related due to their shared sources. Generally, liver depression and kidney deficiency are dominated by a deficiency of kidney-yang and caused by the lack of warming and nourishing of the liver-yang. Deficiency of kidney-yin is caused by a lack of nourishing of the liver-yin, by kidney-yin and liver-yin not controlling liver-yang, and by failure of the kidneys to nourish the liver. The spread of liver disease to the kidney is caused by mental dissatisfaction, depression transformed to fire, and prolonged disease affecting kidney. Therefore, the liver and kidneys influence each other pathologically. |
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| Spleen and kidney deficiency | This syndrome tends to occur in diseases such as consumptive disease, dysentery, edema, tympanites, chronic gastroenteritis, chronic nephritis, and chronic renal failure. |
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