starter

Chinese Medicine Liberation: Starter
Why is there a need to restructure Chinese medicine? We can simply say that “Chinese medicine
is illogical in its theories and non-scientific in terms of diagnoses 中 醫 在 學 理 方 面 不 合 邏 輯 , 在 診 斷
方 面 不 合 科 學 .” Medicine is never a study that can be mastered easily. I don’t think that reading a
few books on Chinese materia medica would qualify one to become a doctor. “Secret
prescriptions handed down from ancestors 祖 傳 秘 方 ” are nothing more than eye-catching slogans
and the “five elements and six climates 五 行 六 運 ” is simply superstition. For those who call
themselves doctors but, in reality, only know little about medicine, it is extremely dangerous to
try and treat patients. Hence, the government should put more effort into reforming the industry
as this is seriously a life-threatening matter.
Medicine as a whole should not be differentiated into Western and Chinese. The reason for what
is unfolding now is that one of the medicines has developed from pure scientific methods, hence
it is progressing at an incomparable pace while the other is still lingering over its metaphysical
theories which is leading its ongoing regression. Now that the Central Health Department has
established the Chinese Medicine Committee with a task to reform the Chinese medicine
industry, I really have no idea whether this is for better or worse.
How can we integrate Chinese medicine into our education system? This question is worth
discussing. In the Third Plenary Session, this question has already passed on to the Executive
Council to come up with a solution. At the Chinese Medicine Committee meeting held on 10 th
March, one of the committee members proposed that “Chinese medicine should be integrated
into the education system after reaching a certain standard.” My opinions on this matter are
summarised as follows:
A. The curriculum.
If we have to integrate Chinese medicine into our education system, which kind of curriculum
should it have? Should it be vocational training? Or should it be a specialised course at the
university? The value of Chinese medicine may be underrated if it is considered as mere
vocational training. How about secondary education? Well, it does not seem to be appropriate as
secondary education as it requires an in-depth and specialised foundation of knowledge. Should
it be part of the tertiary education system then? I think students may become confused when they
begin to learn “five elements and six climates” since they have taken courses on physics,
chemistry and biology in secondary school before. There is one thing the committee members
should know: science and philosophy are like oil and water. They simply don’t mix. In case
anyone is not sure what science is all about, you can find it out easily if you repeat secondary
school education. I have a friend who enrolled in a Chinese medicine school after he graduated
but he quit one year later. This is a good example which proves my point above.
http://www.chineseclassics.org/liberation.html 14