TCM increasing in popularity as new law protects an ancient art
Print Edition
THOUGH her schedule is always busy, You Hongwen, a cellist from Taiwan, makes time for her studies. She is currently completing a three-year course at Hope Traditional Chinese Medicine School in Beijing.
“TCM is more than just therapy, it is a way to learn more about yourself,” You said.
She travels to Beijing every two weeks to join her classmates for a weekend of classes at the school. They also study online during the week.
Classes begin at 9am with kung fu, then the students study ancient medical literature and practice acupuncture techniques.
“The school employs over 20 teachers with medical licenses and 10 doctors work at its clinic,” said Xu Wenbin, who founded the school in 1999.
The school offered the three-year course for the first time in 2009. Enrollment is capped at 96 students to ensure a high standard of teaching. Xu said Hope uses various approaches to attract more people to study the traditional practice. Five of the school’s teachers will conduct a 10-day course in Japan this month, to increase knowledge of TCM outside China.
Xu previously hosted a radio show interpreting the Huangdi Neijing, or Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, the fundamental doctrinal text for Chinese medicine for more than two millennia.
The show attracted over 3 million listeners on Lizhi FM, a popular Chinese radio platform.
Hope TCM School also has a public account on China’s WeChat messaging app, offering a free subscription service that enables its 2,700 followers to discuss their cases online and seek professional advice.
TCM is seen by many as a Chinese national treasure due to its unique theories and practices, such as herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage and nutritional components.
China hopes to revive this ancient knowledge and a revised law on TCM came into force on Saturday.
The legislation will help to protect TCM and tackle the shortage of health resources in China, said Chen Luojia, head of China Association of Research and Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Fueled by continued innovation, TCM has gained growing momentum in China. By the end of 2016, 45 TCM research projects had won national scientific and technological awards.
The new law puts TCM and Western medicine on an equal footing in China, with each learning from and complementing the other.
In 2016, over US$3.42 billion in TCM products were exported to 183 countries or regions.
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