Main description:

Using original sources, this significant text looks at the transformation of Chinese medicine from a marginal, side-lined medical practice of the early twentieth century, to an essential and high-profile part of the national health-care system under the Chinese Communist Party. The political, economic and social motives which drove this promotion are analyzed and the extraordinary role that Chinese medicine was meant to play in Mao Zedong's revolution is fully explored for the first time, making a major contribution to the history of Chinese medicine.

Contents:

Acknowledgements Introduction 1. A New, Scientific and Unified Medicine: Civil War in China and the New Acupuncture, 1945-1949 2. Pathway for the New Medicine: The Unification of Chinese and Western Medicine, 1949-1953 3. Modernising the Old: The Creation of a 'Traditional' Chinese Medicine, 1953-1956 4. Establishing a National Treasure Trove of TCM: The Standardisation of Chinese Medicine, 1957-1963 Conclusion