Medical care in nineteenth-century China was spectacularly pluralistic: herbalists, shamans, bone-setters, midwives, priests, and a few medical missionaries from the West all competed for patients. In the century that followed, pressure to reform traditional medicine in China came not only from this small clutch of Westerners, but from within the country itself, as governments set on modernization aligned themselves against the traditions of the past, and individuals saw in the Western system the potential for new wealth and power. This book examines the dichotomy between "Western" and "Chinese" medicine, showing how it has been greatly exaggerated. As missionaries went to lengths to make their medicine more acceptable to Chinese patients, modernizers of Chinese medicine worked to become more "scientific" by eradicating superstition and creating modern institutions. Andrews challenges the supposed superiority of Western medicine in China while showing how "traditional" Chinese medicine was deliberately created in the image of a modern scientific practice.

A look at the surprising collision, and convergence, of Western traditions with Chinese medicine in modern China.

About the Author
Bridie Andrews is an associate professor of history at Bentley University and teaches history of medicine at the New England School of Acupuncture. She has co-edited two books, Western Medicine as Contested Knowledge (1997) and Medicine and Identity in the Colonies (2003).

Reviews

"The great merit of this book is that Andrews not only has extensively researched her topic, working with a broad range of primary and secondary sources, but also reads her materials critically."

-- Eric I. Karchmer * Asian Medicine *

[The Making of Modern Chinese Medicine, 1850-1960] present[s] a number of astute insights that promise to remain authoritative in the field for years to come ... Andrews's discussion of the advent of scientific acupuncture provides a sorely needed historical explanation for its contemporary survival and popularity.

-- Howard Chiang * Journal of the History of Medicine *


Awards
Short-listed for ICAS Book Prize, International Convention of Asia Scholars 2015.



Book Information
ISBN 9780774824330
Author Bridie Andrews
Format Paperback
Page Count 316
Imprint University of British Columbia Press
Publisher University of British Columbia Press
Weight(grams) 460g