fact, the set of all theoretical principles behind Chinese medicine comes from that knowledge of the elite heritage of the historical class of physicians, noble scholars of vast culture and great moral stature, students of humanities, mathematics, astronomy and biology, but also the rhythms and times of nature. In fact, for the Chinese thought, there is no a static reality, but the entire universe is in perpetual transformation, a single flow defined �i, which is characterised by a dual aspect, an alternation between condensation and rarefaction, between two opposite and complementary poles, Yin and Yang. As explained in Suwen, one of the two volumes that make up The Emperor’s Canon of Internal Medicine, ancient treatise, absolute reference in the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine, “Yin and Yang are the Dao (Law, ordering principle) of heaven and earth, the spatial and temporal pattern of all creatures, father and mother of all change and transformation; the root and origin of birth and death, the deposit of light and the Spirit. So accumulated Yang is heaven and accumulated Yin is earth, Yin is quiet, Yang is impetuous, Yang gives birth and Yin grows, Yang destroys and Yin preserves”. Therefore, Yin and Yang should be understood as the two opposing centres of attraction of a cyclic transformation movement, which is expressed as an alternating pattern and holding all the living phenomena. The flow of events follows similar rhythmic and cyclical laws for each dimension, from the infinitely large to the infinitely small, macro and micro are closely related to each other, so no body can be considered regardless of the environment where it fits and these laws act. Another absolutely essential principle in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the inseparability between body and mind; there is no distinction between physical and psychological elements; there is no interruption of continuity between these two aspects of the human being, so much so that the Chinese character that means “heart” is also commonly used to denote the mind. IN the O’ SPA 139 two ideograms forming the word Tui Na ( “Tui” push, “Na” grasp) already in use prior to the Ming Dynasty, define a Chinese massage technique that has ancient origins and that, in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), is officially recognised as a medical therapy. Therefore, you cannot understand the true nature of the Tui Na practice without a deepening on the principles of the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It is not easy for the Western culture to approach to the thinking behind Chinese medicine, a very large universe, developed in 6000 years of history and in a territory much wider than Europe. Although the TCM has concretely demonstrated its efficacy as well in this part of the world, according to the Western approach it is based on poorly understood principles, so we tend to focus more on the technical and practical aspects than on the theoretical one, often extrapolating the methodology by the culture from which it originates. This attitude is rooted and is explained by the Enlightenment, a time when the superiority of reason and of Western science represented an absolute principle; precisely on the Chinese medicine, Voltaire declared: “The theory of medicine is still, among them, only ignorance and error; however, Chinese physicians show some practical talent”. Today, however, totally stripping from these prejudices of the West/ Enlightenment, we try to investigate a bit into the fascinating world of TCM. THE the O’ SPA 138
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