The Holistic Outlook: Synthesis

The idea Consideration of Both Sides meant to take the approach of dichotomy. In fact, Chinese considered questions to be multifaceted while solving them, which we today call the idea Synthesis ("Can," "He," or "Can He") with a feature of all-sidedness.

As a thinking manner, the idea Synthesis was firstly used in military field. In The Art of War, Sun Tzu said, "In the war, one should compare the conditions of both parties to judge who will win based on the five aspects. One is Tao (citizen's support), two is Tian (climate), three is Di (geographic condition), four is Jiang (general), and five is Fa (discipline). All are well known to generals. One who masters them shall win and who does not shall lose. In addition, man should consider the detail in the five aspects to decide who will win. Whose ruler is wiser? Whose general is more talented? Whose geographic condition is more favorable? Whose rule is practiced more effectively? Whose soldiers are stronger? Whose soldiers are trained better? Who rewards and punishes in just way? Then, he can know who will win." (Plan before the War) Here, Sun Tzu analyzed the military condition via viewing it as a whole. That is, Sun Tzu considered war to be a rivalry between synthesized factors rather than a confrontation that simply involved the antagonists. Later, Han Fei developed the idea Synthesis and put it into practice. To Han Fei, the idea Synthesis (Can) was also called Synthesize (Can Wu):

One can testify whether an opinion is true or false by synthesizing all the factors (Can Wu). (Han Fei Zi, Be Alert on the Intimate Ministers)

To testify things by comparing it with others; to find the weakness by synthesizing all the factors. (Enhancement of the Ruler ys Power)

By Can Wu, Han Fei meant that one should take all the factors into account and compare them, with the core idea that one must view the question as a whole rather than a part: "The way to verify: Check with strict criterion and Evaluate with synthetic analysis." "To judge an opinion, one must put it into geographic and climatic conditions, and test it with practical use and reasonable thinking. It proved true when it accords with the four factors." (The Eight Ways to Rule) It was obvious that Han Fei and Sun Tzu took so similar views: Whether an idea was true or not depended on many factors, including geographic condition, climatic condition, practical use, and reasonable thinking. Only the four factors were considered would the idea sounded true.

The idea Synthesis was more widely used in ancient Chinese medicine. In The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, it was recorded:

A skillful doctor cures via synthesizing the symptoms. (Basic Questions - The Influence of Geography, Climate, and Living Habit on Human)

A doctor who synthesizes the symptoms and analyzes the disease can be called a master doctor. (Central Area, On the Bad Blood in Zang and Fu)

According to The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, there would be rather different results whether a doctor took synthetic analysis of the disease or not. In detail, the idea Synthesis was embodied in The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor in three points. Firstly, a doctor must obtain a comprehensive understanding of the disease by observing fully: "A good doctor should observe the patient's complexion and take his pulse to decide Yin and Yang quality." (Basic Questions, On Yin and Yang) It was a rule in Chinese medicine that when a doctor diagnosed the disease and used the Four-Method, he must first decide Yin-Yang quality. This later constituted the four diagnostic methods in traditional Chinese medicine: Wang (Observing), Wen (Smelling), Wen (Consulting), and Qie (Pulse-Taking). Secondly, a doctor must observe the patient carefully and fully: "A doctor should also observe the patient's muscle, hard or soft; pulse, strong or weak, quick or slow; skin, cold or warm, dry or wet." ("Central Area, Evil Qf) In accordance with The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, the more carefully a doctor observed, the more accurate the judgment he made was. Thirdly, a doctor must consider more complicated factors: "A doctor should learn the laws in the Heaven and the Earth, as well as the human society." (Basic Questions, On the Medical Truth) In other words, the diagnosis of disease covered such factors as astronomy, geography, gender, age, power, wealth, etc. Therefore, the idea Synthesis or Synthetic Thinking in The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor was diverse. It contained the syntheses of subjective methods, of all factors in one thing, and of all factors out of one thing. In a word, the idea Synthesis was completely embodied in The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor. In fact, the idea Synthesis represented the value of ancient Chinese medicine, which has been recognized and reflected in modern medicine.