Chinese Image Medicine (or Image Medicine for short, or CIM) is an integral part of Zhong Yuan Qigong.
It is a modern, dynamically evolving method of regulating the body through effective therapeutic and preventive practices. It represents a comprehensive system of theory, diagnosis, and treatment, based on the knowledge of ancient Chinese medicine, particularly the school of the physician Bian Que (扁鹊 in Chinese), which reached its peak and prominence during the Warring States period and the Qin and Han dynasties (5th century BCE – 3rd century CE). The Yellow Emperor’s Medicine (黄帝 in Chinese) (3rd century BCE), known outside China as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), began to develop several centuries later. Over many centuries, these two medical traditions influenced each other, were mutually accepted, and went through periods of rise and decline. However, due to certain historical events, Bian Que’s medicine did not have the opportunity to spread as intensively as the Yellow Emperor’s medicine (TCM) during that period.

Nevertheless, history recognizes Bian Que as the ancestor of all physicians, referring to him as a miraculous doctor who excelled in pulse diagnosis. He performed it by “looking inward.” Contemporary Chinese historians acknowledge the important place of Bian Que’s School, noting that significant doctors and scholars of the time, such as Hua Tuo (华佗 in Chinese) and Cang Gong (仓公 in Chinese), belonged to it, and that it already had canonical medical works. Recent archaeological discoveries in Sichuan Province, China, confirmed that extremely valuable texts found on bamboo slips are connected to the medical knowledge of this school.

Chinese Image Medicine is based on image-based thinking. This type of thinking is innate, not dependent on education level, and exists in the human brain long before a person gains any cultural or social experience. The main diagnostic tool in Image Medicine is the “Image” (hence Image Medicine / “medicine of the mind’s images”). An image can reveal the place in the body that is out of balance and is often the source of the problem. Treatment then involves transforming the incorrect image into the correct, healthy one. This method requires no special equipment; its diagnostic and therapeutic approaches are simple, painless, harmless, and free of side effects or adverse reactions. It is a non-invasive, natural medicine that is environmentally friendly.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, one of the main diagnostic methods is pulse diagnosis. Chinese Image Medicine, following Bian Que’s teachings, develops this method to a higher level, known as “internal image vision,” “image-based pulse diagnosis,” or “image of internal organs,” allowing highly accurate diagnosis of the root cause of disease and effective treatment.

Treatment is based on the concept of basic groups of diseases. There are seven different groups of diseases and correspondingly seven types of treatment:
 

1. Physical method

2. Energetic method

3. Informational method

4. Physical and energetic combined

5. Physical and spiritual combined

6. Energetic and informational combined

7. Physical, energetic and informational combined

The main contemporary representative of Chinese Image Medicine worldwide is Prof. Xu Mingtang. Through long-term research, he has developed effective methods for working with chi energy and mental images, inducing changes in the human organism on all three levels of being (physical body, energy, and information).

Today’s Chinese Image Medicine (IM) has systematically developed components:

1. theoretical foundations,

2. diagnostic system,

3. treatment system.

 

It represents a new scientific discipline of Bian Que’s original school. IM methods are the primary research tools at the Beijing Kundawell Medical Research Institute. Study of these unique skills is available at the institute or at Chinese Image Medicine seminars led by Prof. Xu Mingtang in many countries.

Years of clinical practice confirm the accuracy of IM diagnosis, treatment effectiveness, and a high recovery rate for patients from around the world.

Chinese Image Medicine methods are particularly effective for treating: chronic bronchitis, asthma, chronic prostatitis, goiter, chronic kidney inflammation, herniated discs in various regions of the spine, sleep apnea, impotence, various inflammations of male and female reproductive organs, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, male and female infertility, various chronic stomach and intestinal disorders, Crohn’s disease, eye diseases, high blood pressure, heart muscle changes due to cardiac arrest, arteriosclerosis, ischemic heart disease, insufficient cerebral blood flow, cardiac arrhythmia, bradycardia, cerebral palsy in children, and more.

Thanks to the ongoing research of Prof. Xu and his team, the scope of assistance continues to expand. Each case is evaluated individually, considering all three aspects of human existence.

Research results and treatment effectiveness of Chinese Image Medicine have been presented at major international forums attended by researchers, academics, IM therapists, and the general public. The international conferences have been organized since 2011, with the most recent events taking place in:
 

• September 2015 – Bratislava, Slovakia

• August 2016 – Shaolin / Dengfeng, China

• October 2017 – Almaty, Kazakhstan

• October 2018 – Budapest, Hungary

• September 2019 – Kyiv, Ukraine

• October 2025 – Prague, Czech Republic