The Transmission of Chinese Medicine (Cambridge Studies in Medical Anthropology)

Rating:
Summary: How we learn Chinese medicine
Review: The Transmission of Chinese Medicine is an important work about Chinese medicine, not only for the interest it holds as a good field anthropological study but also as a personal account of the author's experiences studying different styles of Chinese medicine in China.

One of the most challenging aspects of field anthropology is keeping clear the difference between one's own cultural background and that of others in the milieu of the study. Hsu seems to have been able to maintain that clarity and still have genuine interactions with the mainland Chinese doctors she studied with, without introducing much bias on her part or on theirs.

At times, the tone of her writing is clinical and detached, which was undoubtedly a technique she used to keep bias at bay.

Her account of studying qi gong healing (the "secret" style), classical medical scholarship (the "personal" style), and university medicine (the "standardized" style) will be of interest to anyone studying or planning to study Chinese medicine. Hsu's experiences in studying these different styles will resonate with anyone who has gone through the process themselves, and she writes about them in a way that reveals some of the key insights that are germane to each style and to traditional Chinese studies in general.

The appendices include an outline of the curriculum of the university program Hsu trained in. If you have ever been curious to know what really goes on in Chinese medical colleges in China, you will find this section and her account of the scholastic style to be very enlightening.

One can't do justice to the richness and honesty of Hsu's work in the space of a review. Suffice it to say that this is a book well worth reading if having read the description and this review makes you think to yourself, "That sounds like a fascinating read." Indeed, it is.