Returning for my fouth year as an undergraduate student in the Department of Acupuncture and Tuina of the Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine this past week, I have once again come face to face with the abysmal state of institutional TCM education here in modern China. In an audacious letter to President Hu Jintao, Lü Binkui, one of the founders of the modern TCM curriculum, expressed his frustrations with the present condition of state oversight. He eloquently gives voice to the dismay that I have heard expressed in many circles (far removed from academia) here in China.
Read MoreThis essay, originally written by my mentor Dr. Li Xin for inclusion in a 2015 volume of Dr. Song’s clinical case studies, captures the essence of the “light, soft” methods of the Wenbing that he learned from Dr. Song. As a direct student of Dr. Kong Bohua, one of the “Four Great Beijing Masters”, Dr. Song devoted his life to the investigation of the full breadth and depth of Chinese medicine, maintaining his regular clinical practice at the Beijing Pediatric Hospital well into his 90’s. He was recognized as one of the “Hundred Great Chinese Medical Physicians” in 1990 and as a national living treasure by the Ministry of Health for his lifetime contribution to patient care and clinical education before his passing in 2018. He is remembered by his students and colleagues as a true embodiment of Sun Simiao’s Spirit of the Great Physician.
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