This brief discourse is an introduction to the historical development of medicine in China, whose influence on Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia was profound and even reached far west into the Islamic world. The authors wish to make the interested reader aware of China's rich contribution to the world growth of the medical sciences. Too often the view has been taken that the history of medicine began with the discoveries of the Greeks and those ancient nations from whom they learnt. The authors want to redress this view and acquaint readers with a glimpse of the concepts and history of Chinese medicine and hope that they will feel encouraged to delve deeper.

Confucianism, Chinese History and Society is a collection of essays authored by world renowned scholars on Chinese studies, including Professor Ho Peng Yoke (Needham Research Institute), Professor Leo Ou-fan Lee (Harvard University), Professor Philip Y S Leung (Chinese University of Hong Kong), Professor Liu Ts'un-Yan (Australian National University), Professor Tu Wei-Ming (Harvard University), Professor Wang Gungwu (National University of Singapore) and Professor Yue Daiyun (Peking University). The volume covers many important themes and topics in Chinese Studies, including the Confucian perspective on human rights, Nationalism and Confucianism, Confucianism and the development of Science in China, crisis and innovation in contemporary Chinese cultures, plurality of cultures in the context of globalization, and comparative study of the city cultures in modern China. These essays were originally delivered at the Professor Wu Teh Yao Memorial Lectures. Wu Teh Yao (1917-1994) was an educator, political scientist, specialist in Confucianism and original drafter of the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a great treasure of China's ancient history and culture. Written for health professionals, researchers, social scientists and educators, this book elaborates a view that TCM is embodied in diverse and complex human dimensions and meanings in Chinese culture. Encircling Cultural Meaning includes the TCM concept 'Qi', the holistic approach, which embodies culture in medicine. The book identifies intricate human dimensions of TCM in: the life stages of youth, adulthood and old age, as family connections, as identity, as balancing /harmonising life, as complementary and knowledge transmission roles. In particular, TCM is seen through the lens of leadership - as refining human relationships, as self, as moral practice, as good management practice, and as embracing the cultural environment. Underlying these categories, shared meanings are revealed, as well as core values and health beliefs in Chinese culture. The complex human dimensions of TCM are shown to be deeply rooted in social, cultural and historical contexts in the Chinese diaspora. The Spirit of Chinese Culture: its Human Centredness Conceptions of Leadership in Traditional Chinese Medicine TCM for Youth, Adults and the Elderly TCM in Family Connectedness Chinese Identity, Body Image and Gender Balance/Harmony/Knowledge Underlying Beliefs and Roles Social-Cultural Significance The author draws from and extends her PhD research on lived Chinese experiences and conceptions of TCM across diverse individuals, populations, two focus groups in Australia, and three focus groups in Macau and Hong Kong. Encircling Cultural Meaning reveals rich and profound values in Chinese culture manifested at all levels of life, including: the reciprocal care of filial piety, trust, respect, considerations for others, the quest for self understanding, and the strive for peace and harmony. These inner virtues in human relationships offers a soothing refuge and solution to the modern world which is often punctuated with imbalance, the overdependence on material acquisition, distrust, violence, and man's inhumanity towards man.

This book provides an overview of factors that have influenced and will continue to influence the development of “alternative” (traditional) medicine in the world. Traditionally, the lack of relevant good quality scientific research is often the reason why a large number of healthcare practices are labeled “alternative”. However, nonscientific factors may be at least as important as the scientific ones. Among such factors are cultural, political, administrative, and economic considerations. The articles in this volume provide an international perspective on how such pervasive factors impact on the development, research, and practice of alternative medicine in the world.

This brief discourse is an introduction to the historical development of medicine in China, whose influence on Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia was profound and even reached far west into the Islamic world. The authors wish to make the interested reader aware of China's rich contribution to the world growth of the medical sciences. Too often the view has been taken that the history of medicine began with the discoveries of the Greeks and those ancient nations from whom they learnt. The authors want to redress this view and acquaint readers with a glimpse of the concepts and history of Chinese medicine and hope that they will feel encouraged to delve deeper.

Why did the Greeks excel in geometry, but lag begin the Mesopotamians in arithmetic? How were the great pyramids of Egypt and the Han tombs in China constructed? What did the complex system of canals and dykes in the Tigris and Euphrates river valley have to do with the deforestation of Lebanon's famed cedar forests? This work presents a cross-cultural comparison of the ways in which the ancients learned about and preserved their knowledge of the natural world, and the ways in which they developed technologies that enabled them to adapt to and shape their surroundings. Covering the major ancient civilizations - those of Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, Greece, the Indus Valley, and Meso-America - Olson explores how language and numbering systems influenced the social structure, how seemingly beneficial construction projects affected a civilization's rise or decline, how religion and magic shaped both medicine and agriculture, and how trade and the resulting cultural interactions transformed the making of both everyday household items and items intended as art. Along the way, Olson delves into how scientific knowledge and its technological applications changed the daily lives of the ancients.