Chinese medicine is estimated to go back in history for over 5,000 years. The first records of Chinese medicine are from some 2,000 years ago. There is a lot to be said for the difference between recorded history and the myths and legends of times long gone.

Historical fact or legendary tale, this powerful healing method has been attributed to three rulers: Shen Nong, Fu Xi and Huang Di. Fu Xi was idolised for his development of the trigrams of Yi Jing (I Ching), better known as the Book of Changes. There are historical texts that read “Fu Xi drew the eight trigrams, and created nine needles.”

Shen Nong and Huang Di are known to have been tribal leaders. Shen Nong is a somewhat legendary emperor from as far back as 5000 years ago. Shen Nong’s claim to fame is that he was considered the “Divine Cultivator” or “Divine Farmer” due to his instigation of herbal medicine and for assisting people in learning how to farm.

In an act of sheer selflessness, Shen Nong took it upon himself to ingest all manner of herbal medicine to determine their impact on the human body. Without written records it’s only assumed that the discoveries made by Shen Nong were kept alive and developed by verbally passing them on to the Chinese people.

The Hung-Di Nei-Jing, known as the ‘Yellow Emperor’s Cannon of Internal Medicine’, is recorded as the first ever written form of Chinese medicine. This legendary book is said to be the oldest medical textbook in the world, dated somewhere in the realms of 800 BCE to 200 BCE.

It is from the Hung-Di Nei-Jing that the basis of Chinese medicine is formed, comprehensively covering theories and treatments from acupuncture, meridians, pathology through to prevention and treatment.

Funnelling 5000 years of experience and knowledge into modern day health treatments provides the clues as to why Chinese medicine works and is growing in popularity.