Research on the Thought of Harmony and Unity between Human and Nature in Traditional Chinese Medical Nursing ()
1. Introduction
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a traditional medical system that originates from China, it focuses on preventing and treating diseases by regulating the balance of qi and blood, as well as the harmony of yin and yang within the human body, with an emphasis on overall health and preventive care [1]. In ancient times in China, due to harsh production, living and survival conditions, various internal and surgical diseases occurred frequently. Under such environmental conditions, the earliest medical treatment system and the earliest medical care thought emerged. With the continuous progress and development of history, the traditional medical disease treatment theory and ideological system have been gradually established and perfected. In this process, the traditional nursing concepts and techniques in our country are integrated into traditional medical thoughts. For disease treatment, the traditional medical theory system particularly emphasizes that 70% of the focus is on care and nursing, while 30% is on disease treatment. From Bian Que, “The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon” [2], Zhang Zhongjing’s “Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases”, Sun Simiao’s “Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold” and “Supplement to Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold” to Li Shizhen’s “Compendium of Materia Medica” and other series of traditional Chinese medical works, they have always attached particular importance to the 70% care and nursing role in disease treatment. From this a perspective of care and nursing, many important thoughts and concepts of traditional Chinese nursing have emerged. Among them, the harmony and unity between human beings and nature is one of the important concepts of traditional Chinese medical nursing.
2. The Connotation of the Harmony and Unity between
Human Beings and Nature
In traditional Chinese philosophy and culture, there are many interpretations of “heaven”, with a focus on the heavens of nature, righteousness, mystery, and personality. Regarding the various meanings and explanations of “heaven”, there are different contents included in different contexts. The natural environment’s heaven mainly focuses on the climatic and meteorological changes caused by air currents in space. The specific manifestations are the occurrence of natural phenomena such as rainfall, heavy fog, hail, snowfall, cold, and dryness. These natural phenomena have an impact on trees, grasslands, soils, mountains, rivers, lakes, etc. on the earth’s surface, and also have an impact on animals and plants, especially human beings. As a high-level spiritual creature, the impact of natural phenomena is specifically manifested in what characteristics life operation has in these change processes and what reactions it has made. In this regard, Traditional Chinese medicine and traditional Chinese culture tend to recognize natural phenomena, natural forces, and natural effects. The “moral heaven” is the truth summed up after repeated observation, practice and verification on the basis of understanding the development models, laws and rules of nature and human society. It is precisely because human beings have always followed these truths that human society can continue to progress and develop. The “mysterious heaven” mainly refers to the existence of a mysterious power in nature. This power is like an invisible hand. Many things in the future have been designed in advance. Each of us is moving forward according to the design route arranged by the mysterious power. The “personalized heaven” refers to that everyone has a visible and morphological life structure. These structures constitute the nine major systems of the human body. The orderly operation of the systems enables life activities to be realized. At the same time, everyone also has conscious activities. In the process of dominating life operation to realize value under the control of lasting conscious activities, a person will gradually have a spiritual pillar and strong will that can make oneself stronger. Then this powerful spiritual pillar constitutes the highest internal dominating god, that is, the “personalized heaven”. The essence of traditional Chinese philosophy and culture is the comprehension of the relationship between humans and nature, highlighting a harmonious unity between heaven and humanity. This comprehension encompasses not only an understanding of natural phenomena but also a profound insight into natural laws and an exploration of the inner spiritual world of humanity.
Traditional Chinese medicine and traditional culture have different dimensional understandings of heaven. Therefore, the thought of harmony and unity between human beings and nature advocated also has multiple connotations and interpretations. First of all, compared with the entire natural world and the universe, human beings are very small. At the same time, human power is also limited. Then human beings need to revere nature, respect nature, and love nature, so as to unify human power into natural power. On the basis of the limited role of human beings, we need to understand the power of nature. These powers may have different manifestations. Some natural powers are visible, and some natural powers have effects and realization conditions that exceed the level that can be observed by human vision and hearing. For those visible natural forces, human beings can reach the realm of adapting to this force by changing their own behaviors and cognitions, so as to organically unify human behaviors with the operation of nature. However, for those invisible forces, human beings have been trying and exploring, hoping to find answers to adapt to them through different methods. However, these answers may be blind and vague. In the process of the integration of human society and nature, the truth will be confirmed one by one through practice. Human beings must obey these truths and engage in social activities within the framework of these truths, so as to be unified under the truth. At the same time, in the process of practical activities, human beings can find effective ways to realize and complete their blooming patterns according to the truths of the operation of nature and human society. “Unity” is a medium that can be organically integrated and merged into another system, so that the two can reach a state of seamless integration, and truly achieve that each contains the other and vice versa [3]. The harmony and unity between human beings and nature is to internalize the operation rules of nature into self-rules and let the life spirit between heaven and earth become the self-life spirit [4].
The concept of harmonious unity between humans and nature in traditional Chinese medicine and culture emphasizes the importance of humans following the laws of nature, recognizing the diversity and complexity of the natural world, including both visible and invisible forces. The “Tao Te Ching” proposes that human beings and all things in heaven, earth and nature are in an integrated whole, and the two are organically unified. “The Doctrine of the Mean” in “The Book of Rites” proposes that both nature and human society follow the concept of honesty. “Exerting the Heart to the Utmost” in “Mencius” proposes that a person needs to do his best in work, study and life. Only in this way can he reach the realm of understanding the laws of development of things and the essence behind phenomena, and achieve the organic unity of personal strength and the essence of problems, so as to achieve the expected goal. Dong Zhongshu of the Western Han Dynasty proposed in “Luxuriant Gems of The Spring and Autumn Annals” that there are changes in climate such as cold, heat, dryness and humidity, and there are changes in weather such as sunny days, cloudy days, rainfall and snowfall. The changes in climate and weather are diverse; a person’s emotional changes are just like the changes in climate and weather. and also diverse; among these two changes, people should find ways to adjust emotional changes. “The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon” applies the thought of harmony and unity between human beings and nature to medical theory and forms a unique natural philosophy theory system. People live on the earth, and the operation of life is affected by the forces of nature. Only when the earth and the forces of nature are in a state of mutual harmony, can human beings live happily and contentedly. Heaven, earth and people are interrelated and inseparable [5]. Human beings and nature are consistent in some aspects and have some common laws. For instance, in a case study of a patient suffering from seasonal allergies, traditional Chinese nursing practitioners adjusted the patient’s diet, sleep schedule, and exercise routine according to the seasonal changes. By following the natural laws, the patient’s allergy symptoms were significantly alleviated. This example illustrates how the concept of harmony with nature can be applied in practical nursing to improve health outcomes.
3. Nursing Thought of Conforming to Nature
Traditional Chinese medicine and traditional culture believe that there are countless opposites behind all natural phenomena in nature. These opposites are transformed into each other and then intertwined to promote the operation of life, such as movement and stillness, day and night, severe cold and intense heat, gas state and liquid state, and so on. People’s birth, aging, illness and death are closely related to the changes of natural laws. The ancients focused on perceiving and applying the thought of harmony and unity between human beings and nature, and followed the changing laws of natural climate change, season conversion, day and night alternation, and the operation mode of the sun and the moon to take care of the body, so as to make life activities and natural movements reach harmony [6]. On the basis of conforming to the dynamic changes of the four seasons, the ancients put forward ancient and simple traditional Chinese medical nursing theories and thoughts. “The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon” proposes that meteorological changes based on the four seasons’ climate are the basis for the germination, growth, reproduction and death of all things in nature. As long as one can adapt to this change, life can survive; if one goes against or conflicts with these changes, one will suffer harm and destruction from the forces of nature and even move towards death. Similarly, human beings exist in the world as a spiritual advanced life form. If they cannot conform to the changes of the forces of nature, they will be harmed by these forces, thus affecting the foundation of life operation. Life care must first consider conforming to the dynamic changes of the climatic forces of the four seasons in a year, and then take necessary care and protection measures according to this dynamic change.
The concept of following nature in nursing is a crucial aspect of traditional Chinese medicine and culture. The activities of human life are closely linked to the laws of nature; therefore, adhering to these natural laws is essential for maintaining health and prolonging life [7]. During the cold winter, people have more indoor activities and less outdoor activities to avoid the cold. Therefore, in spring and summer, as the weather gradually warms up, people should go out and bask in the sun more to increase internal heat and improve physical vitality and resistance. However, after entering autumn and winter, when the weather turns cool, people can add some high-energy foods in these two seasons, which helps to ensure metabolism and generate enough energy, thereby preserving physical vitality and enhancing tolerance and resistance to cold weather. In addition, in terms of sleep, traditional Chinese medicine proposes the concept of taking care in accordance with the changing laws of the four seasons [8]. In spring, when the weather turns warm, people should fall asleep peacefully at the appointed time at night and get up early in the morning to take a walk in the wild, feel the beautiful scenery of spring blossoms, and immerse the whole body and mind in the spring full of birds and flowers, cultivating love and longing for future life. In summer, when the temperature rises significantly, people should fall asleep calmly as night falls and get up early in the morning. Before the temperature rises sharply, they can feel the beautiful scenery in the dawn and maintain a happy and pleasant mood throughout the day, reducing the generation of impatience caused by hot weather. After entering autumn, the weather gradually turns cool. After experiencing the heat of summer and feeling the slight coolness of autumn, people need to fall asleep quietly at night. When they hear the crowing of chickens in the morning, they can get up early and enjoy the harvest scene in autumn and feel the joy of struggle. In winter, the weather is extremely cold and night falls relatively early. After dark, people should go to sleep as soon as possible. When the sun comes out in the morning, people should get up until the temperature starts rise. This is helpful to reduce the loss of internal heat, avoid the decline of immunity and resistance, and effectively maintain good vitality [9].
In traditional Chinese medicine, a summary of the climate changes throughout the year is made. Spring is warm, which is conducive to the growth of trees and flowers. Summer is extremely hot, and life is like being roasted in a furnace. There is a period of time between summer and autumn. In this time period, due to the influence of oceanic air currents, there will be a large amount of rainfall and even continuous rainy weather. The humidity in the entire air is particularly high. In traditional Chinese medicine, this entire time period is called late summer. In autumn, the weather gradually turns cool, and precipitation also significantly decreases. The air appears particularly dry. In winter, weather changes are often presented in the form of ice and snow, so it is extremely cold. In the process of such climate changes, organisms in nature, especially plants, show that they germinate in spring, grow rapidly in summer, start the transformation from vegetative growth to reproductive growth in late summer, bear fruits in autumn, and store seeds in winter, waiting for germination in spring next year. In this way, a periodic change is completed. In the process of taking care of the body, people should also adjust their patterns in diet, daily life, exercise, and work based on the adaptations made by organisms according to natural temperature changes, so that they can well adapt to seasonal climate changes.
Traditional Chinese medicine nursing not only considers the changes in seasons but also pays attention to the variations in weather throughout the day to adjust nursing methods. This care method aims to help the body stay in sync with natural rhythms and maintain health. Afternoon, the sun will gradually move to the west, and the temperature will gradually drop from the peak. As the sun sets and night falls, the outdoor temperature will continue to drop rapidly. Around midnight at night, the temperature will reach the lowest point. After 24 o’clock, in the process of the confrontation and seesaw between the cold and hot air currents, the temperature will gradually start to rise. The appearance of the sun in the morning will accelerate this temperature rise intensity. It can be seen that during the alternation of day and night, there are four time nodes of morning, noon, evening, and early morning as the turning points of temperature changes during a day. “The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon” proposes that people can obtain heat from nature. During a day, daytime is suitable for people’s work, study and social activities. After a night’s sleep and adjustment, physical strength has recovered in the morning. People can obtain sunlight and heat from nature. As the body is continuously stimulated by morning exercise, the body’s vitality reaches its peak at noon. After engaging in all work, study and social activities in the afternoon, the human body gradually drops to a low point in the evening. Therefore, at night, people need to sleep to relax their bodies, so that life movements and conscious activities are gradually liberated from the busy life during the day and prepare for having sufficient vitality the next day. “The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon” proposes that daytime is the time for vitality to be stimulated and manifested, and night is the time for the body to recuperate and rest. The regular alternation of these two times ensures that the body can maintain sufficient vitality. For the alternation of day and night, the change of energy is reflected in the temperature change of heat and cold. As two opposites, heat and cold, while the forces behind them are in opposition to each other, one force does not completely eliminate the other force. Instead, they maintain mutual integration with each other, and there has never been a situation where only one force exists independently. Then, life operation during a day can reflect the exuberance and attenuation of life vitality. What supports it behind is energy generation and energy consumption. Energy generation and energy consumption also form a pair of contradictory relationships, but they also cooperate with each other. When energy is insufficient, life vitality will be weakening, and the body’s functions will decline. The relationship between energy storage and energy consumption constitutes an opposition. The process in which the two relationships are interdependent, rely on each other and ebb and flow with each other reflects and images the life of vitality. The ancients also divided a day into four periods: morning, afternoon, first half of the night, and second half of the night. People’s daily activities in a day must conform to the rhythmic changes of day and night in these four periods in order to maintain health. All people’s daily life actions are based on the changes of nature. Appropriate adjustment methods in terms of diet, exercise, daily life, and emotions are used to achieve moderate diet, have methods for physical exercise, have regular daily routines, work without violating conventions, and maintain inner joy. Only in this way can the body and spirit be enriched.
Traditional Chinese medicine has put forward the nursing concept of conforming to the climate changes of the four seasons in a year [10]. According to “The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon”, the occurrence of various diseases in the body are due to abnormal environments such as air flow movement, cold air, hot weather, high humidity environment, dry environment, and intense heat in the natural environment invading the body, causing damage to the respiratory system, digestive system, and pores, and making the operation of the nine major systems of the whole body unharmonious, thus resulting in the occurrence of diseases. “The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon” prompts and warns people that “first determine the chronology to clarify the annual qi of the year, the operation rules of the five movements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, and the changes in the dominance of the six qi of cold, heat, dryness, dampness, wind, and fire [11]. In this way, we can gain insight into the changes of the heavenly way, thereby being able to regulate the qi and blood of the people, making the growth and decline of yin and yang clearly visible, and making people not feel confused in the face of these changes. These are all rules that can be calculated [12]. According to the climate changes in the four seasons of the year, people infer that it may be in the form of cold, dryness, high humidity, intense heat, etc., invading the body in an abnormal pattern, thus leading to the occurrence of diseases. Therefore, people’s lives must change in accordance with the changes of the four seasons’ climate, so as to keep the cold and heat of the body and the surrounding environment in harmony, and keep the dryness and humidity of the external environment appropriate, so as to avoid the abnormal external environment and achieve a healthy state. For example, in spring, when the weather starts to warm up, with the help of warm air currents, plants in nature begin to germinate and grow, and animals begin to become active; people’s will and activities should also match and adapt to spring, and participate in more outdoor activities, so as to make their bodies stronger and increase life vitality and physical resistance. In autumn, the weather gradually turns cool, and people need to learn to restrain their activities and reduce the time that their bodies are exposed outside. In winter, when the weather is extremely cold, people should reduce outdoor activities and wear relatively thick and dense clothes, so as to play a role in keeping warm. At the same time, daily life needs to go to bed early and get up late, conforming to the law of day and night alternation and temperature changes during a day. In clinical nursing, patients can be guided to add or remove clothing and bedding in a timely and scientific manner. For patients with serious diseases, their physical resistance and vitality are relatively low, the body’s operation is sluggish, and their ability to resist environmental impacts is relatively weak. Therefore, strict precautions must be taken. When discharged from the hospital, patients should also be instructed to pay attention to conforming to environmental changes, ensure that the indoor temperature is appropriate and the humidity is suitable, and do a good job in relevant protection work.
Currently, the training of traditional Chinese health care professionals includes a comprehensive curriculum that integrates traditional Chinese medical theory, modern medical knowledge, and nursing skills. They are trained to adapt these traditional concepts into modern medical courses, ensuring that the ancient wisdom of TCM can be effectively applied within contemporary healthcare systems.
In modern urban environments, TCM nursing has adapted to the fast-paced lifestyle by incorporating modern technologies for health monitoring and remote care. For example, TCM practitioners use mobile apps to track patients’ health conditions and provide timely advice, ensuring that traditional care remains relevant in contemporary settings.
4. The Nursing Concept of Adapting to Society
Traditional Chinese medicine proposes that as social-living creatures, human beings have formed various group relationships with each other in the process of adapting to nature. Therefore, human survival is also inseparable from the social environment. Human beings have natural attributes and also social attributes. Human health is inevitably affected by social-environmental factors. Therefore, while health preservation of the human body conforms to the climate changes of the four seasons, it must also adapt to the changes of the social environment. “The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon” proposes that in the relatively primitive stage of human society, due to the limitations of living environmental conditions, people’s activities often intersected with birds and beasts. Heat was often generated through movement to achieve the purpose of dispelling the cold. People lived in places such as caves, deep forests, and stone cliffs that were not exposed to the sun to achieve the purpose of avoiding the heat. The humans in this special historical period had a relatively calm heart, did not have too many desires, were happy and relaxed, lived freely, and the harsh external environmental conditions hardly caused harm to the body. However, many people nowadays, due to the pressure of life, bear huge pressures in their hearts and show a state of being swayed by considerations of gain and loss in the process of daily life, and are extremely physically and mentally exhausted. With the progress of modern science and technology, people’s daily life and rest do not engage in learning, work and social activities according to the climate changes of the four seasons. Necessary protective measures are not taken in extremely cold or high-humidity environments. Under the invasion of air currents, these abnormal environmental forces will interfere with muscle contraction and relaxation through the skin, further affect blood flow and body fluid circulation, and gradually interfere with bone function. Therefore, many modern people, after suffering from a minor illness, have a relatively long course of disease and the symptoms shown are particularly obvious. If a serious illness occurs, it is easy to have a significant reduction in human immunity and resistance, so that it cannot be cured for a long time. People live in social groups and must understand the laws of social development, constantly adjust their own states according to the surrounding environment, and actively adapt to social development and changes to maintain a healthy state. These theoretical viewpoints of “The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon” are in line with the bio-psychological—social medical model proposed by modern medicine.
Studies [13] have shown that patients who receive TCM-based care often experience significant improvements in mental health and faster recovery from illnesses compared to those who do not. For instance, a recent clinical study found that patients receiving TCM nursing had lower levels of stress hormones and better overall well-being.
In summary, the concept of “harmony between heaven and man” in traditional Chinese medicine nursing emphasizes that individuals should adapt to changes in nature and society to achieve physical and mental harmony and health. This concept is reflected not only in adapting to the climate throughout the four seasons but also in adjusting to weather changes throughout the day. Traditional Chinese medicine nursing focuses on optimizing people’s lifestyles by observing changes in the natural world, including diet, daily living, exercise, and emotional management, to enhance the body’s resistance and adaptability. Additionally, traditional Chinese medicine highlights the importance of adapting to social changes, noting that the social environment significantly impacts human health. Therefore, traditional Chinese medicine nursing addresses not only individual physiological health but also psychological health and social adaptability. Through these comprehensive nursing measures, traditional Chinese medicine aims to help people establish a lifestyle in harmony with the natural and social environment, thereby promoting health and preventing diseases.
In TCM nursing, strategies to adapt to rapid environmental changes include adjusting patient care plans according to weather fluctuations and utilizing traditional TCM theories to respond to public health emergencies. For example, during seasonal outbreaks of influenza, TCM practitioners may recommend specific herbal formulas and lifestyle adjustments to boost immunity and prevent disease. TCM practices offer unique approaches to preventive health care that are not commonly found in Western preventive medicine. The concept of “preventing illness before it occurs” is a cornerstone of TCM, which emphasizes maintaining health through dietary adjustments, emotional management, and traditional therapies such as acupuncture and tuina. These methods focus on enhancing the body’s natural defenses and promoting overall well-being.
Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate
This article is of a review type and does not involve human experimentation or ethical approval.
Availability of Data and Materials
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this manuscript.
Funding
This study was not funded by any grants.
Authors’ Contributions
Authors’ contributions Xia Xichao, Miao Yingying, Wei Kaixuan, and Liu Huili contributed to the concept and design, data collection, conducting consultation sessions and drafting of the manuscript. Xia Xichao, Miao Yingying contributed to the conception and design, data collection, data interpretation, and writing of this manuscript. All authors gave their final approval for publication of this manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.