中国结合医学杂志（英文版）Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine

ETIOLOGICAL TERMS In traditional Chinese medicine, etiology is commonly called "cause of disease". The various factors that may cause disease are called "pathogenic factors". In the past they were classified into three categories: "exogenous factors", "endogenous factors", and "non-exo-endogenous factors". In the modern textbooks this tri-causal hypothesis is not so widely used, while a new classification has been developed.