The history of Traditional Medicine in Taiwan has been well documented since the Qing Dynasty, but significant gaps remain in historical records and research during the Dutch (1624-1662) and Spanish (1626-1642) occupation periods.
Dutch and Spanish colonists implemented a policy of evangelising the local people, using healthcare as a precursor to their missionary work. However, these missionary activities, which were primarily aimed at medical treatment and driven by commercial exploitation, ended with the withdrawal of colonial forces. However, documentation from this period is fragmented and scarce. Professor Chang hopes to leverage the resources of Leiden University to fill this gap.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, a large number of immigrants from Fujian and Guangdong flocked to Taiwan, bringing the Chinese medical system to Taiwan. TCM gradually played a vital role in the field of public health and merged into people's lives, culture, and even politics.
TCM is an integral part of Taiwanese life. It serves as medicine, a food ingredient, and as an integral part of health, wellness, lifestyle, and even culture and society. It's so ubiquitous in Taiwanese life that without explicit reminders, people might be completely unaware of its existence.
The TCM community in Taiwan is committed to improving its skills through the integration of Chinese and Western medicine education, hoping to achieve parity with Western medicine. However, the field faces challenges due to various pressures, lifestyle changes, and even the inequality of Taiwan's National Health Insurance system. Fortunately, the invention of Qingguan No. 1 (NRICM101) during the COVID-19 pandemic has rediscovered the benefits of TCM among Taiwanese people, driving an increase in its overall usage by over 30%. Therefore, some people hope to remove the term "Chinese" from the name "Traditional Chinese Medicine" and change the name to "Taiwanese Medicine".
These questions can only be answered by understanding the essence of TCM and exploring the Taiwanese people's identification with TCM, traditional Chinese medicine culture, and themselves from the perspectives of life, culture, society, and even politics.
Prof. Chang’s lecture: “Chinese Medicine? Taiwanese Medicine? Han Medicine? Exploring the Development and Cultural Identity of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Taiwan” will give you different answers.