The holism refers to the unity and the integration of the body, and the relationship of the natural world to the human being. The body and the external environment togeth-er create an organic whole, the body itself epitomizing the larger universe. The universe is the macrocosm, while the human being is a smaller microcosm within the larger macrocosm.

The holism therefore includes two aspects: Firstly, the body itself is an or-ganic whole. This viewpoint is applied within both the study of the physiology and the pathology of the body ,and in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Secondly ,both the body and the natural world (external environment)are enriched by the naturally existing holistic relationship of the unity of opposites.

1) The Body, an Organic Whole
TCM holds that the body possesses various viscera, tissues and organs with separate functions. These interact together to make up an entire system whose activities de-termine the body's ability to maintain itself through the coordination and balance of its physiology.

Each component is intimately connected and inter-influenced thereby pro-ducing, complicated pathological reactions. This integrated interrelationship is formed by the five zang-viscera as the center, and is brought into existence through the connecting action of the meridian system. These systems are concretely bound in physiological, pathological, diagnostic, therapeutic and other aspects.