On the Internal Logic of "Syndrome-Treatment-Effect" in Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome Differentiation and Treatment from the Perspective of Hermeneutics
10.13288/j.11-2166/r.2026.10.001
- VernacularTitle:解释学视域下中医辨证论治“证-治-效”内在逻辑探讨
- Author:
Ziyi HAN
1
;
Qicheng ZHANG
1
Author Information
1. College of CM Culture and Classics，Beijing University of Chinese Medicine，Beijing，100029
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
hermeneutics;
syndrome differentiation and treatment;
syndrome structure;
correlation of all four examinations;
therapeutic feedback
- From:
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine
2026;67(10):1033-1037
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
The concept of syndrome differentiation and treatment is often misunderstood as "arbitrary empiricism" or dismissed as unjustifiable when judged by a single external indicator. To address it， this paper draws on hermeneutics， especially the idea that "tradition， understanding， and practice" are mutually generative， to elucidate the object levels， inferential pathways， and efficacy-based validation and correction mechanisms underlying this approach in the clinical process. It is argued that "syndrome" is not a substitute for a disease label or an isolated indicator， but rather a structured configuration of manifestations and an evolving trajectory of illness situated in a specific clinical context. The correlation of all four examinations and physician-patient dialogue form a reasoned chain for the selection of diagnoses， through which discrete signs and symptoms are organized into a syndrome judgment that can be articulated and debated. Therapeutic principles and prescriptions externalize clinical understanding and， through feedback from therapeutic effects， reflexively prompt re-differentiation， thereby forming a cyclical， self-corrective dynamic loop of "syndrome， treatment and effect". Accordingly， syndrome differentiation and treatment should not be regarded as a contingent accumulation of experience， but as a form of clinical rationality under multiple constraints， including classical methods， communal training， and clinical verification.
