Many people today say that Traditional Chinese Medicine is difficult to understand, esoteric, and incomprehensible.
On one hand, this is because most people are educated from a young age in a Western scientific system. The framework of knowledge they learn has little to do with the theories of TCM, which are based on natural philosophy.
Listening to a TCM doctor talk about "Yin-Yang and the Five Elements" or "meridians and zang-fu organs" is like listening to classical Chinese or a text from the heavens; they simply can't grasp the meaning.
For example, take the common use of the term "shenming," or "spirit," in TCM.
When most people with a modern education hear this term, their immediate reaction is likely: "Holy crap, 'spirit'? Isn't that just superstitious, shamanistic nonsense?"
