traditional chinese medicine report

Traditional Chinese

Medicine

English 2 (ESP 0205)

Research Paper

H’ng Xuan Ning(0310110)

Lim Fang Shiuan(0310399)

Wong Zi Xiu(0309732)

FNBE SEPT 2012 - ENGL 0205 English 2

Names of group members: H’ng Xuan Ning, Wong Zi Xiu, Lim Fang Shiuan, Xavier Ooi 1

Xavier Ooi(0307620)



Table of Contents

No. Title Page no.1 The Research Proposal2 Report3 Biblography4 Appendix



The Research Proposal

Name: H’ng Xuan Ning, Lim Fang Shiuan, Wong Zi Xiu, Xavier Ooi

Class: English 2

Period: TUES &THURS

INTRODUCTION:

Our research is about the Traditional Chinese Medicine businesses in Klang.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

1. How old is the shop?2. Which generation is currently handling the business since the business started?3. How many kinds of herbs do the shop has?4. Which kind of people that come and buy the TCM?5. What makes the shop famous?6. What is the good of TCM?7. How is the business lately?8. What do the customers mainly buy?9. Where do you get the herbs from?10. Why are you doing this business?11. Where are you from?12. What is the most expensive herbs in the shop?13. Are you a TCM practitioner?

METHODOLOGY:

We planned to carry out the research by interviewing the owners of the shops. We prepared a list of questions and noted down the answers and other important information.

CONCLUSION:

We hope to get a lot of information regarding the shops, the owners, and TCM. We also hope that the interviews can be carried out well.



Report

English two was one of the most enjoyable subjects in semester two. As the final

assignment, we were given a task to research on a type of business that is at least fifteen to twenty years

of experience. The site that we were required to research on was Klang. We decided to research on

traditional Chinese medicine. We took this opportunity to research on traditional Chinese medicine because

we think that traditional Chinese medicine is slowly fading out in the modern era. As we all can see,

western medicine is developing at great efficiency in terms of speed and effectiveness making them to take

over the market as the monopoly. People are more likely to use western medicine as it provides faster

recovery compared to traditional Chinese medicine that is slower. Besides that, western and modern

Chinese medicine comes with pills and liquid form that has different flavor making it is easy to be

consumed especially for kids , while traditional Chinese medicine need to be boiled for long hours, it is a

waste of time as when it comes to recovering from illness, every second counts. Besides that, the taste and

the smell of traditional Chinese medicine is quite strong, making younger generations refuse to take it even

before looking at it. Teenagers nowadays are not only interested in Chinese medicine, but also reluctant to

consume any bit of if as they find it dull, disgusting and useless. These are the reasons why many of the

traditional Chinese medicine shops close down as they have no newer generation to succeed their

businesses.

Traditional Chinese Medicine is a broad range of medicine practices sharing common

theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000

years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage, exercise, and dietary therapy.

“During the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, with the development of economy and culture and the

improvement of material civilization, people had already begun paying attention to the health care and the



prevention of disease.” (Chen & Wang, 1999, p. 25) The doctrines of Chinese medicine are rooted in books

such as the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon (Huang Di Nei Jing) and the Treatise on Cold Damage Disorder

(Shang Han Lun), as well as in cosmological notions like yin-yang and the five phases. Huang Di Nei Jing

(Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon) is the earliest and most important written work of Traditional Chinese

Medicine. It was compiled over 2,200 years ago during the Warring States period (475-221 BC) and is

regarded as the fundamental and most representative medical text. (UNESCO, 2011) “TCM therapeutics

principles: “to prevent diseases before its onset”, “to focus on the principal cause of disease”, “to restore

the yin-yang balance by proper regulation”, “to stress the overall regulating of qi and blood in treatment”

and proper therapies are decided according to individually.” (Men and Guo, 2010, p. 14) TCM's view of the

body places little emphasis on anatomical structures, but is mainly concerned with the identification of

functional entities such as regulating digestion, breathing and aging. Health is perceived as harmonious

interaction of these entities and the outside world, disease is interpreted as a disharmony in interaction.

(Wu & Fischer, 1997) TCM diagnosis consists in tracing symptoms to patterns of an underlying

disharmony, mainly by palpating the pulse and inspecting the tongue. It can also be done by looking at

Shen(Spirit), and body(appearance). (Chen, 2004) By doing so, the practitioner can determine the overall

state and prognosis of an imbalance. Observation is very important in TCM therapies, as by observing, the

TCM practitioner can find out what is wrong about the patient and provide treatment according to the

constitution of an individual. “When Yin is stabilized and Yang well-conserved, the spirit will be in harmony;

separation of Yin and Yang results in exhaustion of essential Qi.” (Zhu & Wang, 2010, p. 25) Yin and Yang

represent two abstract and complementary aspects that every phenomenon in the universe can be divided

into. Primordial analogies for these aspects are the sun-facing (yang) and the shady (yin) side of a hill. Two

other commonly used representational allegories of yin and yang are water and fire. Yin and Yang are

infinitely divisible. Why is it so? As there is Yin-Yang within Yin and Yang. Between Yin and Yang also has



a dynamic mutual transforming relation. As the situation changes, Yin can transform into Yang and the

other way around. Yin and Yang are not only in opposition but also in unity. The balance of Yin and Yang

eventually leads to harmony. The concept of Yin and Yang can also be applied to human body. For

example, the upper part of the body and the back are assigned to yang, while the lower part of the body is

believed to have the yin character. Yin and yang characterization also extends to the various body

functions, and – more importantly – to disease symptoms (e.g., cold and heat sensations are assumed to

be yin and yang symptoms, respectively). The deficiency of Yin will lead to Yang diseases and the

deficiency of Yang will lead to Yin diseases. (Zhu & Wang, 2010, p. 25) Five Phases Theory is equally

important in TCM. Five Phases Theory can also be translated as the "Five Elements" theory, presumes that

all phenomena of the universe and nature can be broken down into five elemental qualities – represented

by wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Strict rules are identified to apply to the relationships between the

Five Phases in terms of sequence, of acting on each other, of counteraction etc. The five phases mutually

engender one another. Wood engenders fire, fire engenders earth, earth engenders metal, metal

engenders water and, water engenders wood. The five Phases also mutually restrain one another. Wood

restrains earth, earth restrain water, water restrain fire, fire restrains metal, and metal restrain wood. (Bob,

Micheal & Timothy, 1994, p. 16, 17) All these aspects of Five Phases theory constitute the basis of the

zang fu concept, and thus have great influence regarding the TCM model of the body. Five Phase theory is

also applied in diagnosis and therapy. The primary functional entities used by traditional Chinese medicine

are Qi, Xue(Blood), the five Zang(five viscera) organs, the six Fu(six bowels) organs, and the meridians

which extend through the organ systems. These are all theoretically interconnected: each Zang organ is

paired with a Fu organ, which are nourished by the blood and concentrate Qi for a particular function, with

meridians being extensions of those functional systems throughout the body. Herbal Medicines are usually

used in TCM. Typically, one batch of medicines is prepared as a decoction of about 9 to 18 substances.



Some of these are considered as main herbs, some as ancillary herbs. Within the ancillary herbs, up to

three categories can be distinguished, raw materials, animal substances and human body parts. The main

medications used are examining the pulse and tongue and also the use of acupuncture. Other minor

therapies used in TCM are Tui na, Qi gong, Cupping, Gua sha, Tie da. All these treatments are used to

harmonize the Yin and Yang, to regulate the Qi and also vitalize the Xue. In the Traditional Chinese

Medicine viewpoint, a healthy person has a balanced and harmonious Yin and Yang.

During our entire journey in Klang, we

had a chance interview three of the oldest

traditional Chinese medicine shops. The

shops are 'Thye San', 'Thye Loy' and 'Thye

Fung'. Our very first shop that we came

across was ‘Thye San’. We then started

interviewing the owner of 'Thye San', 'Thye

San' has more than 12 years of business

experience in this line. The business has been passed down to the second generation that is the current

owner of the business. The owner of the shop is a traditional Chinese medical doctor himself where he



studied in Guangzhou, China back in his younger age. He studied about traditional Chinese medicine there.

Once back in Malaysia, he then decided to start this business as he has loadfull of knowledge and interest

towards this field. His shop has seven hundred to eight hundred types of traditional herbs. The most

expensive herb in his shop is ginseng. We also questioned him on where sis he get his herbs from or do he

create his own type of medicine. According to him, he buys raw herbs from an agent that import herbs from

China and premix them together to cure certain specific illness. Besides selling herbs, he also sell groceries

such as breads, drinks, sesame seeds, liqour and many more for the convenience of his customers.

Customers that buy herbs from him come from all types races. Most of them come for herbs and soup

ingredients that are used to make Chinese herbal soup and herbal drinks. The owner also stated that

traditional Chinese medicine can cure almost all types of sickness without having any side effects. Anyone

can drink herbal drinks even though they have no sickness as it is also good for health. The owner also

said that the business is not as good compare to the olden days. This makes the economy not bright these

few years. The main reason is because the western and modern Chinese medicine is taking over the

market. Many older generation patients still seek him for medication as they trust him to be more

experienced in this traditional Chinese medicine line. We also got to ask and interview a few of his

customer and most of the customers that seek for medication from him told us that the owner is a good

traditional medication doctor and they will always come back looking for him not only to seek for curing

illness but for chit-chatting. This is because, many of his customers like to listen to his olden days stories of

his lives and how many thanked him for saving their lives. Moreover, they also said that he is a good

listener and adviser. His shop is always filled with laughter as the old folks enjoy themselves there very



much.

Later that day, as we walked around

Klang town, we found and interviewed the

second shop named 'Thye Loy'. 'Thye Loy'

has over twenty years of history in business

and medication. Same as 'Thye San', it has

been passed to the second generation as

they remain as family business. This, the



second shop, provides more than a thousand types of herbs. The most valuable item would be antler (deer)

and 'chang bai san' ginseng, it costs approximately four thousand each. Customers that visits this shop

comes from all races, majority of them are Chinese following by Malays then Indians. Many of the

customers come for the cure of 'huang dan bing' also known as jaundice. Jaundice is a sickness is caused

by hyperbilirubinemia. Jaundice is often seen in liver disease such as hepatitis or liver cancer. Many

patients that have that sickness ware told by hospitals that their sickness are unable to be cured. They

came to seek for help and advice then go for second solution into trying traditional medicine. Some of the

patients’ illness cured after consuming the traditional Chinese medicine that was recommended for a period

of time. The best part of these traditional medicines is that there is no side effect even after recovering. As

expected, the business is quite bad these few years. It got worse when there were less foreigners coming

in to town, making their business limited to the old folks surrounding. For now, the business has reaches its



lowest peak and there is no sign of recovery in this business soon.

'Thye Fung' was the last shop we interviewed. This shop started its business in the year of 1971.

This shop has been operating for forty one years. Before moving to the current shop, there was another

shop that was at origin of this business right opposite of the Klang River. It moved to the new location ten

years back. This business also has been passed to the second generation. The owner stated that he is also

training his children so that they will be well prepared to take over the business. The first owner that started

this business studied herbs for the entire journey of his life making him to start off with this business having

intention to help those in needs of illness. This shop also has more than a thousand of herbs available,

herbal tea has the highest demand from customers as it is good for health no matter whether you are sick



or not. Customers can get the medicine

with recipes provided by the owner. The

owner also sells herds that are already

premixed in a set so that it is more

convenient and can attract more

customers. The most expensive herbs in

the shop is cordyceps, it costs roughly

five thousand each, depending on the weight. Cordyceps are good for lungs infection, coughing and helps

almost the entire body. Same as the other shops, its customer comes from all races. We also got the

opportunity to ask the customers why they would want to continue consuming traditional Chinese medicine

compared to the modern or western medicine. The answer given were because there are no side effects

after consuming traditional Chinese medicine and they can take as much as they want to be healthy without

worrying anything wrong will happen to them. When we asked the owner how the business is going on

these days, his also gave the same expression of answer as well. He says that his business has drop

drastically for more than 30% over the years and the reasons given was the same as the two shops we

interviewed before this. He said that he hoped that more people will educate themselves about the benefits

of traditional Chinese medicine and support it. He also wished and hoped that traditional Chinese medicine

will not extinct in the future.

Traditional Chinese medicine is a huge role in the Chinese culture, but people in the moderns days

are starting to forget about it, making it to slowly fading away from the modern world. After researching on

traditional Chinese medicine, we found out that it is way better than western and modern Chinese

medicine. Even though it takes a long period of time to recover by consuming traditional Chinese medicine

but it has no side effects and all cells do not just die off compared to the western antibiotic medicine that



has side effects. We think that the government should have some campaign to promote or increase the

popularity of the importance of traditional Chinese medicine. The Chinese should also promote the use of

Traditional Chinese Medicine to the surrounding people. This is to let people know the benefits of it and that

traditional Chinese medicine still exists in the modern world. We ourselves should also support the

traditional Chinese medicine by buying it and advertise them to our family and friends. We really hope that

this culture will survive in the modern world and even in the future.



Biblography

Bob, F., Micheal, J., Timothy, R. (1994) Statements of Fact in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Boulder: Blue Poppy Press

Chen, P., & Wang, Z. G. (1999). History and Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Beijing: Science Press

Chen, P. (2004). Diagnosis in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Taos: Complementary Medicine Press.

Men, J. Z. & Guo, L. (Eds.). (2010). A General Introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine. Boca Raton: CRC Press

UNESCO, 2011. Huang Di Nei Jing 《黄帝内经》 (Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon). [online] Available at <http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/flagship-project-activities/memory-of-the-world/register/full-list-of-registered-heritage/registered-heritage-page-4/huang-di-nei-jing-yellow-emperors-inner-canon/> [Accessed 20 January 2013]

Wu, Y., Fischer, W. (1997). Practical Therapeutics of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Taos: Paradigm Publications.

Zhu, B. & Wang H. C. (Eds.). (2010) Basic Theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine. London & Philadelphia: Singing Dragon



Meeting Title

MINUTES 20 DECEMBER 2012 8PM-10PM XAVIER’S HOUSE

MEETING CALLED BY

Xavier Ooi Win Yang

TYPE OF MEETINGProject Meeting Minute

FACILITATORH’ng Xuan Ning

NOTE TAKERWong Zi Xiu

TIMEKEEPERLim Fang Shiuan

ATTENDEESXavier Ooi Win Yang, H’ng Xuan Ning, Wong Zi Xiu, Lim Fang Shiuan

Agenda topics8PM-8.30PM HOW TO DO THE REPORT WONG ZI XIU

DISCUSSIONBrainstorming on how to do the report

CONCLUSIONS

We decided to break the report into few parts and everyone do his own part of the

report and we will combine the works together

ACTION ITEMS PERSON RESPONSIBLE DEADLINE

Dividing report into few part H,ng Xuan Ning 25-12-12

8.30PM-10PM LIM FANG SHIUAN

DISCUSSIONDividing the info we got from Klang and extra information for the report

CONCLUSIONS

We successfully divided the info and assign someone to find extra info from the net

ACTION ITEMS PERSON RESPONSIBLE DEADLINE

Getting extra information form the web Lim Fang Shiuan 25-12-12



traditional chinese medicine report

Documents

wong zi xiu

lim fang shiuan

hng xuan ning

traditional

modern chinese

chinese medicine

western medicine

thye san