39. The Principles of TCM. 5. Governing exterior to infer interior

It is known that about 2,400 years ago, a doctor named Pyeonjak (扁鵲) was able to clearly examine the five organs and six parts of a person just by looking at them as if taking a CT or MRA. In this way, knowing the disease just by looking at its appearance was called Shin, knowing by asking was called Gong, and knowing by looking at the pulse was called Gyo (巧), dividing the levels of doctors. Observing external phenomena and understanding internal changes is one of the important principles of Oriental medicine.

A representative example is the photo diagnosis method, which refers to finding out the disease by looking at the five lights that appear in the patient and finding out the cause of the disease by asking which of the five tastes they like is called mangjin. Examining the pulse is called checking the pulse to find out the weakness and flow of energy and blood in each organ.

There is a saying, “shaking the needle without even knowing the context,” which is used to mean carelessly applying acupuncture without knowing the meridians. Since acupuncture is a type of energy therapy that regulates meridians and meridians, it can be dangerous to use acupuncture without understanding the flow of energy and blood through pulsation. Therefore, acupuncturists trained in a short period of time usually have no choice but to limit themselves to skin acupuncture along ashi points (sick areas) or meridians. The Emperor’s Internal Classics describes the method of pulse examination in great detail, and in my case, it was only after taking the pulse of over a hundred people a day for over a year that I finally learned some of it.

In modern society, where numerous medical diagnostic tools are used, it is certainly not easy to have the wisdom to know the inside by looking at the outside. It is no longer difficult to find a cardiologist who can accurately detect heart problems with just a stethoscope. Hippocrates, who is considered the father of Western medicine at the same time as Pyeonjak, also said, “Diagnose the soul first before practicing medicine.” If you look at the face and tongue, ask questions, and feel the pulse, you can feel the person’s energy. Oriental medicine starts from there.
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Dr. Jin-man Kim, director of Peace Oriental Clinic