Introduction

Elisabeth Hsu
2008 East Asian Science, Technology and Society: an International Journal  
Introduction This volume presents case studies on the globalization of Chinese medicine and meditation practices from fields as diverse as medical anthropology, science and technology studies, traditional Chinese medicine studies, and religious studies. The case studies discuss processes of how Chinese medicine and meditation practices are being reconfigured in the process of their transposition into geographical regions and local histories outside China. Each study has theoretical implications
more » ... of how to conceive of the currently observed processes of transforming Chinese medicine, which generally are discussed under the rubric of "globalization." Volker Scheid's article highlights that Chinese medical practices inside and outside of China have been constantly reconfigured over time as medical ideas of different provenance were taken up and interwoven with current practices, and/or triggered the revival and modification of forgotten aspects within the existent archive. The speed with which these transformative processes happened, their scale, and the specific forms of legitimation that ensued can often be shown to derive from societal processes other than merely medical knowledge and practice. Where the scholar-practitioner would speak of an adulteration and simplification of authentic Chinese medical knowledge and practice, the anthropologist-historian merely notes ironic twists of how the past is reinterpreted and applied to the present. Menopause is not a Chinese medical concept; it became integrated into the Chinese medical repertoire as gengnianqi 更年期, a term derived from the Japanese konenki, which in turn is a transliteration of the German Klimakterium. The traditional Chinese medical (TCM) teachings on how to treat this condition (with decoctions mostly) trace their legitimation to ancient texts. However, as Scheid demonstrates, what today is exported out of the People's Republic of China as an East
doi:10.1007/s12280-009-9084-7 fatcat:i4kx63bm7faedjab23sqkb7aca