American Patients’ Understanding of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Late 19th Century: An Interpretation of Letters from The Science of Oriental Medicine

Abstract

This study explores American patients’ understanding of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the late 19th century by referring to letters from American patients recorded in The Science of Oriental Medicine, written by Tan Fuyuan (谭富园), a Chinese medicine doctor working in the United States in the late Qing dynasty. Identifying a focus on significant effects, pulse diagnosis, herbal teas, dietary control, and long-term treatment, the results also discussed the differences between TCM and Western medicine in simple terms to show that the “ideological” spread of TCM was based on its curative effect. However, the “theoretical” spread of TCM requires more of intercultural exchanges.