Dysphagia refers to the syndrome of choking when swallowing food and encompasses severe pathologies，including esophageal cancer and other tumors.Early traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) physicians treated dysphagia from the “dysregulation of qi and blood” level，such as disrupted qi movement，stomach yin depletion，and yang-qi deficiency.From ZHU Zhenheng to ZHANG Xichun，successive physicians expanded this understanding by elucidating how “blood stasis” and “phlegm” contribute to pathological accumulations that progressively change the morphological structure of the esophageal tract.In the understanding of cancer represented by dysphagia，TCM also demonstrates a partial shift from the natural philosophy-based medical model toward a mechanistic medical model.By analyzing the evolution of TCM clinical approaches—from a singular focus on “dysregulation of qi and blood” to a dual emphasis on “dysregulation of qi and blood and morphological-structural pathology” —this study explored TCM's conceptual progression in understanding tumor morphological entities and mass-forming disorders.This study provides new research directions for future optimization of the understanding of the etiology and pattern differentiation in dysphagia.