Many people refer to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) concepts as metaphors. There are those who do not believe in the validity of TCM, who use the concept of metaphors in TCM as a reason that it should not be considered as a treatment option. Dr Schraeder will introduce the consideration that TCM is a language in its own right that evolved as the Chinese developed explanations on health and disease and how to best treat. She will also discuss that metaphors are heavily used in science, past and modern, for hypotheses, theories and teaching, so they are not unique in medicine and science and as such cannot make TCM less valid with its use of metaphors.