Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) began over 2000 years ago (the term is not widely used in China). From 1911 until 1949, Republican China tried to establish a modern state medical system based on Western biomedicine. The practice of TCM was discouraged. However, after the People’s Republic of China was formed in 1949, Chinese medicine was re-established as a national system of medicine. It helped reassert the value and authority of Chinese culture. By 1955 there were four Chinese medical colleges, and practice of Chinese medicine became institutionalised nationwide. It now forms part of the state-controlled health-care system in China.
Merging traditions?
Herbal preparation room at a TCM hospital.
Credits:Mark de Fraeye, Wellcome Images
Can Chinese medicine be integrated with biomedicine? Should it? There are no easy answers. Unlike biomedicine, Chinese medicine refers to ancient key texts for its theoretical framework. It has traditionally been an elite medical
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