Since the beginning of this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has raged across the globe. It is the most widespread global epidemic in nearly a century, posing a grave crisis and a severe test for the entire world.

In the face of this major challenge, traditional Chinese medicine has delivered an outstanding performance in combating the epidemic, showcasing the unique wisdom of China. The white paper “China’s Response to COVID-19” notes: “Traditional Chinese medicine was involved in the treatment of 92% of confirmed cases, with a utilization rate and overall effectiveness exceeding 90% in Hubei Province.”

On June 2, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a symposium with experts and scholars, where he emphasized: “The integration of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, as well as the combined use of traditional Chinese and Western medicines, was a defining feature of this epidemic prevention and control effort, and also a vivid demonstration of the inheritance of the essence of TCM while upholding its core principles and pursuing innovation.”

During the fight against the epidemic, the traditional Chinese medicine community nationwide stood together in solidarity and mobilized its full strength. Five national TCM medical teams, totaling 773 personnel, were dispatched to Wuhan, while nearly 5,000 TCM practitioners were deployed across designated hospitals throughout Hubei Province. Zhang Boli, 72; Tong Xiaolin, 64; Huang Luqi, 52—these distinguished academicians are also frontline warriors, steadfastly fighting on the front lines of the pandemic response.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan welcomed the nation’s first Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) medical team, composed of healthcare professionals from Guang’anmen Hospital and Xiyuan Hospital of the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Upon arriving at Jinyintan Hospital, the TCM team encountered significant challenges: there was no TCM pharmacy, no supply of raw TCM herbs or granular TCM formulations, and no electronic system for managing TCM prescriptions. Despite these obstacles, the team persevered and ultimately took full responsibility for Ward 1 in the South Building of Jinyintan Hospital. Academician Huang Luqi, head of the Medical Treatment Expert Group of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and President of the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, stated: “For the first time, TCM has taken over an entire, independent ward as a whole unit, thereby successfully establishing a frontline for TCM-based prevention and control of COVID-19 and fostering close collaboration between TCM and Western medicine in our joint efforts to contain the epidemic.”

General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized “upholding the equal importance of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine” and “adhering to the integration of TCM and Western medicine and the combined use of TCM and Western medicines.” The Central Leading Group for COVID-19 Response has called for strengthening the integration of TCM and Western medicine, promoting the deep involvement of TCM throughout the entire diagnostic and treatment process, and promptly disseminating effective prescriptions and proprietary TCM preparations.

With the repeated updates to the COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment protocols, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) approaches have been continuously refined. In practice, TCM has opened up new frontiers: for the first time, large-scale, organized early intervention was implemented; for the first time, a hospital was managed in a comprehensive manner; for the first time, an entire ward was taken over as a whole; and for the first time, TCM and Western medicine jointly conducted rounds and ward inspections throughout the entire course of patient care…

In response to the Wuhan epidemic, the Central Guidance Group made the decisive decision to build makeshift hospitals. Experts Zhang Boli and Liu Qingquan from the Central Guidance Group volunteered to advocate for the integration of traditional Chinese medicine into these facilities. Subsequently, the Jiangxia makeshift hospital was placed under the management of TCM, with Zhang Boli serving as chief consultant and Liu Qingquan as its president, thereby giving rise to the “Jiangxia makeshift model” characterized by TCM.

From its opening on February 14 to its closure on March 10, the Jiangxia Fangcang Hospital operated for 26 days, admitting a total of 564 patients. From traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture to Tai Chi and Baduanjin exercises, the entire facility was imbued with a strong “TCM flavor,” successfully achieving the goals of “zero deaths, zero cases progressing to severe illness, and zero infections.” Among Wuhan’s 16 Fangcang hospitals, most patients received TCM treatment. These outcomes demonstrate that as long as there is a platform, Traditional Chinese Medicine can make a meaningful contribution.

A medical team led by Hu Xiaoyu, Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has treated a total of 176 COVID-19 patients, including 51 severe and critically ill cases. Notably, none of these patients required endotracheal intubation, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). “The greater the involvement of traditional Chinese medicine and the better the integration of TCM and Western medicine,” said Hu Xiaoyu, “the more favorable the outcomes for severe and critically ill patients.”

Yu Wenming, Director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, stated that the unique strengths and contributions of TCM in epidemic prevention and control stem from the CPC Central Committee’s prioritization of pandemic response as its top priority, from the policy of giving equal emphasis to TCM and Western medicine in health and wellness work, from the sincere collaboration between TCM and Western medical experts, and from the complementary advantages and coordinated efforts of the two systems.

In the face of the raging COVID-19 pandemic, can Traditional Chinese Medicine offer an effective, universally applicable treatment formula? This is an exceedingly difficult question.

Ge Youwen, a specially appointed researcher at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, analyzed patient condition data sent back from Wuhan. Drawing on classic formulas from the “Shanghan Zabing Lun,” he meticulously optimized and recombined multiple prescriptions, including Maxing Shigan Tang and Wuling San, innovatively applying them in clinical practice. Through personal experimentation and repeated refinement, he finalized within a week a 21-herb formula known as “Qingfei Paidu Tang.” He explained that this formulation does not focus on individual herbs but rather on the synergistic interaction of entire formulas, enabling greater therapeutic efficacy at the same herbal dosage and accelerating the elimination of cold-dampness, heat, and toxic pathogens.

On January 27, the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, guided by the clinical principles of “urgent need, practicality, and efficacy,” urgently launched a clinical screening study to identify effective TCM formulas for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Among 214 confirmed cases spanning multiple provinces and regions and diverse age groups, the “Qingfei Paidu Tang” demonstrated a clinical effectiveness rate of over 90%.

Tong Xiaolin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and chief researcher at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has proposed that every patient should be promptly administered traditional Chinese medicine to stem the spread of the epidemic. Following thorough discussions with local experts, he formulated a universal therapeutic formula—the “Wuhan Anti-Epidemic Formula”—which is indicated for mild and moderate cases of COVID-19, suspected cases, and febrile patients under home isolation.

Medication is like warfare; combating the epidemic is like putting out a fire. The Medical Assistance Group of the Wuhan COVID-19 Prevention and Control Command has issued a notice requiring all designated medical institutions in Wuhan to ensure that every patient receives traditional Chinese medicine. In Wuhan, the “Wuhan Anti-Epidemic Formula,” the “Clear Lung Detoxification Decoction,” and the “Dampness-Transforming and Toxin-Expelling Formula” have achieved full coverage across all communities.

Tong Xiaolin explained that, by taking a standardized TCM therapeutic formula, high-risk individuals can be prevented from developing severe illness, and mild cases can be spared from progressing to critical condition or death, thereby creating a “buffer zone” for patient care and treatment.

Effective prescriptions deliver tangible results. Traditional Chinese medicine, exemplified by the “Three Medicines and Three Formulas,” has demonstrated unequivocal clinical efficacy, effectively reducing incidence, the rate of progression to severe illness, and case fatality, facilitating negative conversion of nucleic acid tests, increasing cure rates, and accelerating recovery during the convalescent phase.

Traditional Chinese medicine has played a comprehensive and all-round role throughout the entire course of COVID-19 treatment. The earlier TCM is integrated into patient care and the greater its involvement, the lower the mortality rate tends to be. Practice has demonstrated that TCM has become a “powerful tool” in the battle to contain and control the epidemic.

In the isolation ward of Hankou Hospital, Yan Fang, director of the Classical TCM Department at Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, encountered an awkward situation on her very first patient visit: “We entered the wards in full protective gear to conduct examinations and treatments. At first, the patients assumed we were Western medical staff making rounds. But when we explained that we were prescribing traditional Chinese medicine, one male patient flatly refused, saying he would not take any herbal remedies.”

Therapeutic efficacy is the very essence of vitality; it speaks for itself. To help patients place their trust in traditional Chinese medicine, Yan Fang filmed a short video showing an elderly patient who, after taking herbal medicine, felt “extremely comfortable” all over and concluded that the treatment was highly effective. Following the video’s viral success online, many patients’ attitudes toward TCM underwent a significant shift.

“Traditional Chinese medicine treats COVID-19 not by targeting a single pathway,” explained Qi Wensheng, Director of the Emergency Department at Guang’anmen Hospital of the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Taking the treatment of COVID-19 as an example, TCM can both disperse pathogenic factors and clear heat from the upper burner, transform dampness and harmonize the stomach while regulating the middle burner, and invigorate blood circulation to eliminate toxins and unblock the lower burner. During treatment, the early stage focuses on expelling pathogenic factors, the mid-stage on clearing heat and transforming dampness, and the late stage on reinforcing vital energy. Treatment is tailored to the evolving clinical condition through syndrome differentiation—this is precisely why TCM is effective.

With gloves on, they take the pulse; through protective goggles, they examine the tongue; and through the barrier of gloves, they administer acupuncture. The legendary “slow doctor” has now become a “vanguard.” At Ward 6 of the Infectious Diseases Department at Wuhan Leishenshan Hospital, a critically ill patient was struggling to cooperate with mechanical ventilation, with a blood oxygen saturation level of only 59%—a life-threatening condition. Zou Xu, director of the Intensive Care Unit at Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, treated the patient with silver needles, and the patient’s vital signs gradually stabilized, with blood oxygen rising to over 90%. A Western medicine physician who participated in the resuscitation remarked: “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would have found it hard to believe.”

In the intensive care unit of Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, a 79-year-old critically ill patient has stabilized and is now in steady condition. Clutching the hand of Ye Yong’an, the chief team leader from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, he exclaimed, “Traditional Chinese medicine saved my life!”

“In our critical-care ward, treatment is primarily based on traditional Chinese medicine, with a 100% utilization rate for TCM therapies!” said Fang Bangjiang, director of the Emergency Department at Shanghai Longhua Hospital, who has been working tirelessly at Leishenshan Hospital, with pride. To address respiratory failure, they have employed techniques such as acupuncture to reduce or even eliminate the need for mechanical ventilation, resulting in improved respiratory function in multiple patients.

Targeted, multi-pronged strategies are being employed to treat severe and critically ill patients. Clinical research conducted by the team led by Academician Huang Luqi has demonstrated that integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment for severe cases reduces the average length of hospital stay and the time to negative nucleic acid test results by more than two days, significantly improves blood oxygen saturation, shortens the duration of oxygen therapy, and markedly enhances laboratory and physiological indicators such as the percentage of lymphocytes.

On March 18, the kickoff meeting for the clinical study of Huashi Baidu Granules—the first traditional Chinese medicine new drug in China to be approved for clinical trials in the treatment of COVID-19—was held. Yan Shujiang, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, stated that Huashi Baidu Granules is China’s first innovative TCM drug with fully independent intellectual property rights and approved for clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19, highlighting the unique advantages and pivotal role of TCM in responding to emerging and sudden major public health emergencies.

A major epidemic is like a major examination, one that has tested and highlighted the sense of responsibility and commitment of the TCM community nationwide, while demonstrating to the entire nation the therapeutic efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine. By inheriting its essence, upholding fundamental principles, and fostering innovation, the TCM community across the country will live up to its mission and continue to contribute to the revitalization and development of TCM and to the building of a Healthy China.