People in Chinese culture have many different beliefs and practices in the medical and healthcare fields. It is extremely important that nurses are culturally competent and are able to understand the different practices and beliefs of different cultures to ensure that they are providing the best care and making their patients as comfortable as possible. According to Shih-Yu Lee, ritual is defined as “an essential social collective activity within a culture”, it is also well recognized that culture and ritual play a fundamental role in “defining, perceiving health and disease and seek help for problems.” ” (Shih-Yu, Shu-Ling, & Yu-O, 2013). There are many traditional Chinese medicine rituals and beliefs that are critical to understand, the most important being the concept of “yin and yang.” Yin and Yang are the foundation of most Chinese beliefs, including traditional Chinese medicine. The Chinese see Yin and Yang as “dynamic, interacting and interdependent energies” (Lewis et.al, 2011). other and each contains within itself a piece of the other (Lewis et.al, 2011) Yin and Yang are part of everything in nature and the Chinese believe that they must be kept in balance to maintain good health and well-being (Lewis et.al). , 2011).It is also believed that any imbalance between Yin and Yang will result in disease, so traditional Chinese medicine works to restore the balance between the two energies (Lewis et.al, 2011). that elders and men make any decisions for the family, including health care decisions for the woman, so it is not unusual for the husband to make decisions and answer questions for the wife. Traditional Chinese Medicine has many…half of paper…these different variations to prevent any miscommunication or misunderstanding. Works Cited Brown, L. (2008). Childbirth traditions around the world: China. Beyond Babyzone.Chen, Y. (2001). Chinese values, health and nursing. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 36(2), 270-273.Leung, S.K., Arthur, D., & Martinson, I.M. (2005). Perceived stress and support of the Chinese postpartum “Making the Month” ritual. Health Care For Women International, 26(3), 212-224. Raitisoja, G. (2008, November 12). Traditional Chinese beliefs about pregnancy and childbirth. GBTimes.Shih-Yu, L., Shu-Ling, Y., & Yu-O, Y. (2013). Ritual of doing in the month between Chinese and Chinese-Americans. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 20(2), 94-99.Sullivan, (2012). Culturally sensitive insight into the reproductive traditions of Chinese immigrants. International Journal of Childbirth Education, 27(1), 23-26.