As an agricultural society, the Chinese have long been aware of the importance of the proper balance of natural, elemental forces: too much heat causes drought, too much rain, floods, while the correct measure of both encourages farmers' crops to grow. The ancient Chinese saw heaven, earth and humankind existing as an integral whole, such that if people lived in harmony with heaven and earth, then their collective health would be good. This belief of universal balance is known as Dao (or Tao) - literally "the Way", but implying "the Way of Nature".

As an extension of Daoist principles, life is seen as consisting of opposites - man and woman, sun and moon, right and left, giving and receiving - whereby all things exist as a result of their interaction with their opposites. This is expressed in the black-and-white Daoist diagram which shows two interacting opposites, the yin ("female", passive energy) and the yang ("male", positive energy). At the core of traditional Chinese medicine is the belief that in order for a body to be healthy, its opposites must also be in a state of dynamic balance. For example, an excess of water in the system creates oedema, too little creates dehydration; too much heat will cause a temperature, and too little cause chills. Chinese medicine therefore views the body as an integrated whole, so that in sickness, the whole body - rather than just the "ill" part of it - requires treatment.

An underlying feature of Chinese medical philosophy, qi (or chi) is the energy of life: in the same way that electricity powers a lightbulb, qi enables us to move, see and speak. Qi flows along the body's network of meridians - energy pathways linking the surface tissues to specific internal organs - which act as qi reservoirs; the twelve major meridians are named after the organ to which they are connected. The meridians are further classed as yin or yang depending on whether they are exposed or protected. In the limbs, for instance, the outer sides' channels are yang, and important for resisting disease, while the inner sides' channels are yin, and more involved with nourishing the body.

If all the elements in one's life are balanced, then qi will flow smoothly and the person remain healthy. Mental and physical tensions, poor diet, excess emotional states and even adverse weather, however, inhibit qi flow, causing illness. Acupuncture is used as an anti-inflamatory, to regenerate damaged tissue, and to improve the functional power of internal organs. Needles inserted (and then rotated as necessary) in the body's surface acupuncture points , of which there are some 401 each connected to internal organs, reinforce or reduce the qi flow along a meridian, in turn influencing the organs' activities. When the qi is balanced and flowing smoothly once more, good health is regained.

In the 2200 years since the semi-mythical Xia king Shennong compiled his classic work on medicinal herbs , a vast amount of experience has been gained to help perfect their clinical use. Approximately 7000 herbs, derived from roots, leaves, twigs and fruit, are today commonly used in Chinese medicine, with another 1000 or so of animal or mineral origins (though also classified as "herbs"). Each is first processed by cleaning, soaking, slicing, drying or roasting, or even stir-frying with wine, ginger or vinegar, to influence their effects; the brew is then boiled down and drunk as a tea (typically very bitter and earthy tasting).

Herbs are effective in preventing a wide variety of diseases. Some when combined treat the underlying cause of the complaint, others treat symptoms and help to strengthen the body's own immune system, in turn helping it to combat the problem. An everyday example is in the treatment of flu, a virus causing fever with body ache: the herbal formula would include a "cold action" herb to reduce the heat, a herb to induce sweating and so clear the body-ache, a purgative to clear the virus from the system and a tonic herb to replenish the immune system. In all treatments, the patient is re-diagnosed each week, and as the condition improves the herbal formula is changed accordingly.

In the same way that Western aspirin is derived from willow bark, many other modern drugs have been developed from Chinese herbs. One example is the anti-malarial herb qinghao, or artemisinin , which has proved effective in treating chloroquine-resistant strains of malaria with minimal side-affects.

In 1974 the World Health Organization recognized the benefits of acupuncture for treating certain illnesses, while in December 1979, after many years of research, the United Nations formally announced that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can be used to treat viral and bacterial infections, respiratory, circulatory and neurological conditions and musculoskeletal traumatic injuries as well as arthritic and inflammatory problems. Though Western medical techniques are superior for treating major physical trauma with surgery, there is no doubt that elsewhere TCM is at least as effective as Western medicine, and the fact that traditional medical schools can be found today in Western cities worldwide, as well as every province of China, indicates a general global acceptance.