Year：2006
Sort：Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
Area：Central Government
Serial No.：Ⅸ-2
Declarer：China Academy of TCM

In Chinese medicine, doctors use various diagnostic methods to get full and detailed information about the patients and to guide their treatment. The methods include observation, auscultation and olfaction, interrogation, and checking the pulse and heart rate. They are also known as the four major methods, each having a distinctive function. Doctors can make a correct analysis of diseases by applying all of them.

Ⅰ. Observation

It is believed that people's outer appearance is closely linked with their internal organs. If there is something wrong with the internal organs, such changes will be reflected in people's expressions and appearance. Therefore, doctors can analyze the changes of internal organs by observing the outer appearance.

Ⅱ. Auscultation and Olfaction

Using auscultation and olfaction, doctors try to diagnose diseases by listening to the sound of the patients and smelling the odor of excreta released by the human body.