The establishment, contributions, and final results of classical medical theories / 中国中西医结合杂志

ABSTRACT

In countries with ancient civilization of both Eastern world and Western world, after the accumulation of clinical experiences of "empirical medicine" to a sufficient amount; in accordance of their primitive philosophical thoughts, classical medical theories were established to play an important role in guiding the clinical practice of "empirical medicine". Because of the similarity of philosophical thoughts all over the ancient world, their medical theories were also very similar to each other. After the scientific evaluation and improvement, Greek classical medical theories were inherited, refined or abandoned, and then eventually finished their historical mission. Chinese classical medical theories also need the similar scientific identification and improvement for flowing into the authorized main stream of modern medical theory systems to continuously apply their guiding roles in clinical practice. Scholars would better consider the developmental principles of cultures and sciences with a historical viewpoint and an open mind to avoid making mistakes from haughty and prejudice.