The Double Helix Model for Epistemic Reconstruction in Contemporary TCM Education: Structured Co-Existence, AI Mediation, and a Five-Year Roadmap

Abstract

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) education increasingly faces epistemic dependence under additive curricula that translate TCM concepts through biomedical standards, producing cognitive compartmentalization and weakening theoretical autonomy. This conceptual paper proposes a Double Helix Model for structured co-existence between two epistemic strands: an A-strand grounded in classical canons and xiang-based pattern thinking, and a B-strand providing scientific and technological instrumentation (systems biology, data science, and AI). Instead of premature fusion, the model stabilizes interaction through explicitly designed “base-pair” mechanisms, including digital hermeneutics for classical interpretation, knowledge graphs for structuring tacit knowledge, and dual-track clinical reasoning for comparative diagnosis. A staged five-year roadmap is outlined to operationalize immersion, translation, and autonomous synthesis in curriculum design.