[Approaches to inheritance and innovation of practical and theoretical Xiang in traditional Chinese medicine].

Xiang serves as the fundamental unit through which traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) understands and describes the objective world. While many scholars have studied Xiang in TCM through the lens of Xiang thinking, few have approached it from a classificatory angle. Drawing on the basic categories of practice and theory, this article classifies Xiang in TCM into practical Xiang(derived directly from practical activities) and theoretical Xiang(abstracted from the former), and clarifies that the concepts of Yin and Yang and five elements can encompass Xiang in TCM and that theoretical Xiang can be used to organize practical Xiang. Drawing on the methodological concept of genetics, this study analyzes the formation mechanisms of practical and theoretical Xiang in TCM and, based on the essential characteristics revealed, explores the distinct approaches to their inheritance and innovation. The research finds that the formation of practical Xiang in TCM manifests as the accumulation of experience driven by survival needs, sharing commonalities with the practical Xiang in other medical systems. Therefore, its connotation can be innovatively expanded by drawing on the quantitative thinking of modern medicine, and its denotations can be broadened by extensively incorporating practical Xiang in various medical systems. Theoretical Xiang in TCM is formed through abductive reasoning guided by Xiang thinking, thus possessing metaphorical nature. Therefore, it should undergo an assessment of its explanatory power and be repositioned. Furthermore, theoretical Xiang in TCM can be inherited and innovated by assigning new meanings to existing terms or propositions and by creating new terms or propositions.