Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Psychology Shandong University
Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Psychology Shandong University
Wholism, a basic characteristic of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Psychology, places spirit and psychological phenomenon in the natural, social, and physical environments. It emphasizes extensive connections and mutual influences. Wholism maintains close contact with the Mind-Body concept in TCM; it is viewed as a part of the whole, which is subordinate to the next levels of Nature and Society. Within the Mind-Body relation concept, we find emotion as well as the five organs of mental activities, perception, and other mental phenomena. Within the Psychology-Society relation concept, we find wisdom, cognition, thought, anxiety, ying exhaustion, seminal loss, and other phenomena. Within the Psychology-Nature relation concept, mood, mental state, and other general phenomena. This concept also aligns the laws of nature with the ideal moral aptitudes of Zhenren, Zhiren, Shengren, and Xianren. As such, Wholism in TCM Psychology can be used to guide treatment based on syndrome differentiation, psychotherapy, and psychological preservation of health.
Keywords: Wholism, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Psychology, theory of Zang-Fu emotions, Five Organs of Mentality