On April 1, 2026, China implemented a landmark national standard: Classification and Determination of TCM Constitution. Although designated as a recommended rather than mandatory standard, it represents a major step in modernizing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) by converting traditional constitution theory into a clear, measurable and clinically practical framework. By clarifying the relationship between constitution, disease, and pattern differentiation, the standard strengthens professional credibility, supports research, and enhances patient-centered treatment.
Chinese Medicine Is Here to Stay
I predict that Chinese medicine, more appropriately called Asian or Oriental medicine, given the contributions of the Japanese, Vietnamese, Koreans, etc., will become the prevailing paradigm for clinical medicine in this century. It includes and acknowledges the allopathic perspective on health and disease, but it has a broader scope and is more inclusive of the bioenergetic realities that can greatly contribute to the health of people on the planet. Moreover, its approach to understanding the raw materials of the earth, including plants and animals and its ability to assimilate these as therapeutic substances within the idiom of Chinese medical thinking, give the planet a vast and relatively inexpensive source of medicinals. It's a way of thinking whose time has come. Chinese medicine is here to stay.
Kokayi K. Chinese medicine is here to stay. Your Health Guide (www.yourhealthguide.tv), September 11, 2002.