Research at China Traditional Medicine Institute spans the entire natural medical field, from basic experimental research to patient- oriented and nursing research. China Traditional Medicine Institute today stands the widest academic natural medical research in China.
Five Phases, also known as the Five Elements, the Five Agents, the Five Movements, Five Processes, the Five Steps/Stages and the Five Planets is a fivefold conceptual scheme that many traditional Chinese fields used to explain a wide array of phenomena, from cosmic cycles to the interaction between internal organs, and from the succession of political regimes to the properties of medicinal drugs. The "Five Phases" are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. This order of presentation is known as the "mutual generation" sequence. In the order of "mutual overcoming", they are Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, and Metal.
In traditional Chinese culture, qì or chi is an active principle forming part of any living thing. Qi literally translates as "breath", "air", or "gas", and figuratively as "material energy", "life force", or "energy flow". Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts.
Jing-luo also called meridians, are believed to be channels running from the body to the limbs and joints, transporting qi and xue. TCM identifies 12 "regular" and 8 "extraordinary" meridians.