Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) also known simply as Chinese medicine (Chinese: zhngy xu, or zhngya xu) is the name commonly given to a range of traditional medical practices used in China that have developed over the course of several thousand years of history. It is also regarded as an instance of oriental medicine, a term which may include other traditional Asian medical systems such as Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, and Mongolian medicine. Chinese medicine principally employs a method of analysis and synthesis, inquiring on a macro-level into the internal systems of the human body and their mutual relationships with the internal and external environment in an attempt to gain an understanding of the fundamental laws which govern the functioning of the human organism, and to apply this understanding to the treatment and prevention of disease, and health maintenance. TCM is rooted in a unique, comprehensive and systematic theoretical structure which includes the Theory of the Five Elements, the human body Meridian system, Yin-yang and other systems. Treatment is conducted with reference to this philosophical framework.