TCM in the PRC

[Guest guest]

All,

 

> The main forces that affect the shape of medicine in any society are

> social and public policies, not party politics. There is no doubt in my mind

> that Chinese government policies have affected the shape of modern TCM but

> mainly in indirect ways, the same ways that Western government policies have

> shaped bio-medicine in the West. The things that I like about modern TCM

> can probably be attributed to the fact that it has developed in a

non-capitalist

> environment.

 

Agreed.

 

The problem with asking whether communism has de-spiritualized TCM is that

it identifies nothing specific enough to answer meaningfully. The question is

better stated, `how have post-Liberation economic, political and social trends

influenced the development of T.C.M.'' For example, Mao's famous statement is

not that ``T.C.M. is a treasure.'' It is that ``T.C.M. is a treasure house.''

In the

next breath he notes his intent that any of the jewels to be found in the

treasure

house of Chinese medicine are to be selected then polished and cut by science.

To conclude that some Mao-ish malevolence has done ill to T.C.M. is of course

unjustified - particularly because T.C.M. was virtually extinguished in China

prior to the Liberation - but so is the conclusion that we can ignore the

effect of

Chinese health policy on T.C.M. For example, Chinese public health policy

explicitly establishes biomedical research as the gold standard for T.C.M.

Likewise, the fact that medical education budgets for traditional medicine have

been in steady decline relative to biomedical education must be balanced

against the effects of Western attention to T.C.M. and the subsequent interest

in

T.C.M. as a cultural export that generates much-needed foreign currency.

 

Modern China's influence on T.C.M. is a complex and multifaceted issue that

can not be effectively understood in a catch-phrase. It is, however, part of

what

we need to understand to stay in touch with the development of T.C.M. in the

P.R.C.

 

 

 

bob Paradigm Publications

www.paradigm-pubs.com 44 Linden Street

Robert L. Felt Brookline MA 02445

617-738-4664

[Guest guest]

biomedical research as the gold standard for T.C.M. Likewise, the fact that medical education budgets for traditional medicine have been in steady decline relative to biomedical education must be balanced against the effects of Western attention to T.C.M. and the subsequent interest in T.C.M. as a cultural export that generates much-needed foreign currency.>>>>>Is it possible they know something we do not? Can this be outcome driven? Or is this heresy to even mention

Alon