Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theories have been successfully used in medical diagnosis and treatment in China and other Asian countries for several thousands of years. TCM theories are rather conclusive and technical, in their simplest form. TCM has many critical mysteries not yet explained by conventional sciences. However, through the past three-thousand years, TCM has made substantial contributions to the prosperity of China. Yet, in the last one hundred years,skeptics and critics have risen up against TCM. They attempt to teach, learn, and practice TCM within the framework of conventional Western medicine (CWM).This trend cross-bred TCM and CWM theories but ignored the essence of TCM. Although often ostracized by the CWM and big pharmaceutical industries, TCM herbal prescriptions help correct unhealthy or abnormal human conditions (imbalance of yin-yang, or stagnated circulation) with herbal function (four natures and five tastes) and herbal energy information. TCM’s ancient achievements offer a history of useful remedies,sometimes to problems unresolved by modern science,and at a significantly less financial, physical and emotional cost in most of the time.

Three ancient books have influenced Chinese culture,philosophy, and thoughts, which have been spread to many other countries. Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine)[1], Yi Jing (The Book of Changes)[2], and Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching)[3]reflect fundamentals of the universe and life. TCM, as presented in the three books, includes concepts of the ever-changing universe: appearance/disappearance,seen/unseen, and matter/energy/information[2]. They hold that there is a unity of the mental and the physical[2,4]. The universe, a connected unity, has holographic characteristics. Because of the breadth of its approach, it is critical to clarify TCM’s principles,maintain TCM’s proper methodologies, and preserve TCM’s integrity. Actually, TCM represents the interface of Chinese culture and Chinese philosophical wisdom. It is the key to opening the treasure house of Chinese civilization and the key to promoting Chinese culture.

1 New Findings About the Heart and Its Functions with Consciousness

TCM’s concept of ‘heart’ connects with brain functions. In TCM, ‘heart’ is the most important organ because it represents the ‘whole will’ that dominates the life activities. Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine) describes the heart as ‘the emperor of the whole body’ and states that ‘the heart is in charge of all conscious and subconscious mental activities and mind power’. Here, the heart refers to the functions of the heart-mind[5], which controls consciousness and life in general. Most people do not conceive of the heart in TCM sense. Laymen often see the heart as an independent blood pump, based on their CWM education.

Recently, some heart transplant CWM physicians have reported that, following the heart transplant, the organ recipient seems to take on the personality of the donor. Numerous medical researchers have also observed and reported this phenomenon. This has stimulated medical scientists’ interest in the TCM point of view. Some researchers suggest that informationprocessing in human beings is a mystery and that the heart organ may play an intangible role, possibly storing information[5].

Existing scientific experiments and studies suggest that the creation of consciousness might be influenced by the pulsation of the heart[6-7]. This implies that the brain processes competing information by using some balance to reflect the ‘whole will’. To be more precise,the information contained in the free hydrogen protons can chemically combine with the oxygen in the blood and determine prioritized paths in the blood supply[8].With the energy support of the ‘whole will’, information bearing dominant and free hydrogen protons would become more vibrant and force other information to vibrate synchronously[9]. Therefore, the consciousness would reflect the substantial activity of the ‘whole will’,and would be guided predominantly by the more vibrant information[9]. TCM physicians and philosophers believe that the ‘heart’ is the organ bearing consciousness because the asymmetrical distribution of blood vibrancies embodies the ‘whole will’[8,10].

Science of the Heart, a HeartMath Institute (HMI)paper, explains that the heart performing like a brain has actually a small brain in a normal sense, with an intricate network of several types of neurons,neurotransmitters, proteins and supporting cells. It can act independently to learn, remember, feel and sense things. Dr. Andrew Armour introduced the concept that the heart’s complex nervous system qualifies it as a‘little brain’[7](Figure 1-Figure 2).

Figure 1. Intrinsic cardiac afferent neurons(from HeartMath Institute)[7]

Figure 2. Location and distribution of intrinsic cardiac ganglia(from HeartMath Institute)[7]

One of the key discoveries that HMI researchers have made about the heart-brain, or the intelligent heart, is that it can experience emotions and change the information that the heart sends to the Institute studies also show that the empathy and positive attitude benefit humans in some relevance.