Global Medicine In China

Wayne Soon tells the global health story of Overseas Chinese who transformed medicine in China and Taiwan through the practices of military medicine, blood banking, mobile medicine, and mass medical training.

As a traditional healing art that has established a contemporary global presence, Chinese medicine defies categories and raises many interesting questions. If Chinese medicine is "traditional," why has it not disappeared with the rest of traditional Chinese society? If, as some claim, it is a science, what does that imply about what we call science? What is the secret of Chinese medicine's remarkable adaptability that has allowed it to prosper for more than 2,000 years? In Chinese Medicine in Contemporary China Volker Scheid presents an ethnography of Chinese medicine that seeks to answer these questions, but his ethnography is informed by some atypical approaches. Scheid, a medical anthropologist and practitioner of Chinese medicine in practice since 1983, has produced an ethnography that accepts plurality as an intrinsic and nonreducible aspect of medical practice. It has been widely noted that a patient visiting ten different practitioners of Chinese medicine may receive ten different prescriptions for the same complaint, yet many of these various treatments may be effective. In attempting to illuminate the plurality in Chinese medical practice, Scheid redefines-and in some cases abandons-traditional anthropological concepts such as tradition, culture, and practice in favor of approaches from disciplines such as science and technology studies, social psychology, and Chinese philosophy. As a result, his book sheds light not only on Chinese medicine but also on the Western academic traditions used to examine it and presents us with new perspectives from which to deliberate the future of Chinese medicine in a global context. Chinese Medicine in Contemporary China is the product of two decades of research including numerous interviews and case studies. It will appeal to a western academic audience as well as practitioners of Chinese medicine and other interested medical professionals, including those from western biomedicine.

Argues that developments in biomedicine in China should be at the center of our understanding of biomedicine, not at the periphery

Mary Brazelton argues that the territories and peoples associated with China have played vital roles in the emergence of modern international health. In the early twentieth century, repeated epidemic outbreaks in China justified interventions by transnational organizations; these projects shaped strategies for international health. China has also served as a space of creativity and reinvention, in which administrators developed new models of health care during decades of war and revolution, even as traditional practitioners presented alternatives to Western biomedicine. The 1949 establishment of the People's Republic of China introduced a new era of socialist internationalism, as well as new initiatives to establish connections across the non-aligned world using medical diplomacy. After 1978, the post-socialist transition gave rise to new configurations of health governance. The rich and varied history of Chinese involvement in global health offers a means to make sense of present-day crises.

Medical ideas and practices originating in China became entangled in the activities of other places through processes of alteration once known as translatio. Recognition of differences provoked creative responses in Japan, the imperial court, and Enlightenment Europe.

The English edition of Liu Lihong’s milestone work is a sublime beacon for the profession of Chinese medicine in the 21st century. Classical Chinese Medicine delivers a straightforward critique of the politically motivated “integration” of traditional Chinese wisdom with Western science during the last sixty years, and represents an ardent appeal for the recognition of Chinese medicine as a science in its own right. Professor Liu’s candid presentation has made this book a bestseller in China, treasured not only by medical students and doctors, but by vast numbers of non-professionals who long for a state of health and well-being that is founded in a deeper sense of cultural identity. Oriental medicine education has made great strides in the West since the 1970s, but clear guidelines regarding the “traditional” nature of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) remain undefined. Classical Chinese Medicine not only delineates the educational and clinical problems faced by the profession in both East and West, but transmits concrete and inspiring guidance on how to effectively engage with ancient texts and designs in the postmodern age. Using the example of the Shanghanlun (Treatise on Cold Damage), one of the most important Chinese medicine classics, Liu Lihong develops a compelling roadmap for holistic medical thinking that links the human body to nature and the universe at large.

Global Health Security in China, Japan, and India assesses evolving global health security in three major Asian countries that adhere to the standards and targets in accordance with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The COVID-19 pandemic has put a newfound emphasis on the importance of global health security: the idea that countries must cooperate to address international public health threats while meeting varied domestic health care needs. Balancing cost, affordability, stakeholder demands, political ideology, and global economic pressures, all three countries have made significant advances in health law and policy over the past decade.

This book explores the ongoing transition of China’s economy by examining how its healthcare industry is growing and changing. The coronavirus pandemic has reinforced one of the authors' key points: in our complex, fragile, and interconnected societies, the production of health is a vital strategic ‘industry’. The case of China is particularly salient, because of its economic and geopolitical significance, and the scale of the healthcare challenge it has faced. Adopting a multi-level perspective, the authors examine the entrepreneurial role of the Chinese government as it seeks to strengthen the competitiveness of domestic firms. They analyze the strategies employed to improve China’s technology and capacity for innovation, and discuss China’s strategies and policies to ensure knowledge acquisition and creation in the long-term, with particular reference to international scientific collaborations. This book is a must-read for students, researchers, and policymakers interested in the prospects and challenges posed by the growth of the Chinese healthcare industry and its global impact.