Characteristics of Traditional Chinese Medicine

[IChing]
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the main method used in getting to know the physiological functions of the human body and the changes of pathology is the approach of "Judging the interior from the exterior". What does this mean? This means that any matter being observed and studied has some external appearance which must correspond to its internal state of being. Based on this, we can say that there is a close relationship with one's external state and one's internal quality of health.
Let's apply this to our day-to-day life. Say you are at the grocery store buying apples. You know from experience that a good apple is one with firm, healthy exterior. You need to observe the color of the apple as well as to touch the exterior to tell if its fresh or not. Obviously, this is a very simple example of an original characteristics of TCM in its development of theory and methodology.