Traditional Vietnamese medicine (Y học Cổ truyền Việt Nam), also known as Southern Herbology (Thuốc Nam) is a traditional medicine practiced by Vietnamese people. It is influenced by traditional Chinese medicine. The other traditional medicine that is also practiced in Vietnam is traditional Chinese medicine (Trung Y), also known as Northern Herbology (Thuốc Bắc). Thuốc Nam is one of two kinds of folk remedies known to villagers, the other being the traditional exercise

dưỡng sinh The exercise dưỡng sinh or Dưỡng Sinh (compare Chinese ''Yangsheng'' 養生) is a form of partly indigenous breathing and yoga exercise similar to Tai Chi popularized in Vietnam by the historian and political activist Nguyễn Khắc Viện ...

Defining principles

Traditional Vietnamese medicine differs from traditional Chinese medicine in which it relies wholly on native ingredients which are then used in their fresh state or simply dried. Vietnamese medicine typically does not require complicated decoction seen in Chinese medicine. Even common herbs and vegetables like rau răm, kinh giới, cải cúc, rau muốngRau muống: một vị thuốc Nam thuần túy
are used. The flowers of ''

Magnolia champaca ''Magnolia champaca'', known in English as champak (), is a large evergreen tree in the family Magnoliaceae.

'', '' Jasminum sambac'' are also employed for their pharmacologic properties. Animal products like silkworms are infrequently used. In addition to ingested preparations,

ointment A topical medication is a medication that is applied to a particular place on or in the body. Most often topical medication means application to body surfaces such as the skin or mucous membranes to treat ailments via a large range of classes ...

s and poultice are also part of the repertoire, along with steaming therapy (xông hơi).

Textual records

Various compendiums and treatises on traditional Vietnamese medicine include the 11-volume ''Nam dược thần hiệu'' by the 14th century physician

Tuệ Tĩnh Tuệ Tĩnh (Chữ Hán: 慧靜, 1330– 1389), born Nguyễn Bá Tĩnh (阮伯靜), also known as Lê Đức Toản, was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, physician, and writer. One of the earliest figures in the history of traditional Vietnamese medic ...

and ''Hải Thượng y tông tâm lĩnh'' by the 18th century physician

Hải Thượng Lãn Ông Lê Hữu Trác (Chữ Hán: 黎有晫, 1724 in Hưng Yên – 1791 in Hà Tĩnh) or alias Hải Thượng Lãn Ông (海上懶翁), was an 18th-century Vietnamese physician who was the best known and most celebrated doctor in Vietnamese hist ...

. Other pre-20th century texts include ''Nam dược chỉ danh truyền'', ''Tiểu nhi khoa diễn Quốc âm''.

Application

Thuốc Nam is usually sought for more common ailments like coughs and fevers. Smallpox, a common occurrence in traditional Vietnam, also has a number of prescriptions in historic texts.Chữ Nôm trong kho thư tịch y dược
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Usage in immigrant Vietnamese populations

According to one study published in 2016, among the urban Vietnamese community near Boston, around 68% of 200 respondents reported using Traditional Vietnamese medicine in addition to Western medical practices.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thuoc Nam Vietnamese culture Southeast Asian traditional medicine Science and technology in Vietnam

Defining principles

Textual records

Application

Usage in immigrant Vietnamese populations

See also

References