What is Northern Medicine (Thuốc bắc)?

Northern Medicine or thuốc bắc - "bắc" means "north" - is synonymous with Chinese medicine. Elements of this rather scholarly medicine were no doubt introduced into Việt Nam during the period of Chinese domination (second century B.C. to the tenth century A.D.). There is no strict dividing line between Southern and Northern medicines. Practitioners often blend them together and commonly make parallel use of the two traditions. Traditional Vietnamese medicine may in fact be seen as a system in which both the indigenous southern folk medicine and the more scholarly northern practice combine in a symbiotic relationship.

The practice of Chinese medicine traces back to the Shang Dynasty (1800 B.C.); its basic work is the Nei Jing (Internal Classic), written 200 years earlier and attributed to Huangdi. In Vietnamese, it is known as Nội Kinh. The basic Chinese works on pharmacology include Shen Nong's Herbal Classic; New Medicinal Materials written by Su Jing and Li Xi (seventh century); and the Medicinal Materials Repertory written by Li Shizen (sixteenth century).