Chinese Medicine in the West 2009 Journal of Chinese Medicine. Number 90. June 2009 Chinese Medicine in the West 2009 n January 1985 The Journal of Chinese Medicine c Chinese go to o the British Acupuncture published an edited transcript of a discussion Council conference, and conferences of some called ' Acupuncture in the West between Peter other associations, such as the association for Hugh Deadman, Ted Kaptchuk, Giovanni Maciocia and Traditional Chinese Medicine, are pred MacPherson, Felicity Moir. It was a particularly popular article Chinese Daniel Maxwell,! and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the jCM we Felicity Moir decided to convene another discussion, in London in PD: And that's also rooted in history isn'tit Chinese and Volker March 2009. Present this time were Peter Deadman medicine is strong in Australia because there gh MacPherson(HM), Daniel Maxwell has been a Chinese medical presence since the (DM), Felicity Moir(FM) and Volker Scheid(VS) 19th century at least. I remember hearing that in All are past or present practitioners of acupuncture the 19th century a lot of the bush doctors who and/or herbal medicine. For brief biographies of the went around treating remote communities were participants, please see the end of the article Chinese doctors, carrying their boxes of herbs And also, as you mention, Britain and China ck by the fact that we have no have a history! person here in the discussion. You know, we in 2009; herbal medicine has almost been taken VS: I know that the Chinese medicine organisations over by China in the UK, in terms of the physical Australia made a political decision They presence of all the shops in UK high streets. And wanted not to have this separation, so they in terms of discussing Chinese medicine in the worked really hard at it, from both sides West, there's the enduring problem of what it means for us, as Westerners, to claim ownership PD: This is one form of separatism, and there of something that comes from somewhere else are others. some of which weve overcome history of this process- associated with there was a time when so-called "traditional erialism and with translation- all these acupuncturists" from different schools issues have interested me for the last 20 years rouldn't talk to each other, and we' ve mostly overcome that. but as well as the eparatsn PD: To answer your first question, that's my fault. between Westerners and Chinese in britain there is an equal separation between traditional HM: I think it's partly that what's happening in the UK is different from what's happening in other practise acupuncture, or doctors who practise countries; because of our history. In the 1970s acupuncture. There seems to be ething specially, we had styles of acupuncture that about this profession, like many professions, were the import of TCM, and that relied where people love the differences more tha on the charisma of the individuals who started the similarities those schools, and who actually didn't want too much Chinese medicine to come in, because FM: It's on the political level with upcoming that would become quite confrontational, regulation that people are coming together-the and so a dynamic was set up here of separate British Acupuncture Council with the Chinese development. If you go to Australia, for example, professional bodies, the physiotherapists and to their big conferences, it is 50-50 Chinese and the doctors. It seems to be that it's only when Westerners, whereas over here in Britain there have a threat from the outside that we all come re separate conferences. For example relatively6 Chinese Medicine in the West 2009 Journal of Chinese Medicine • Number 90 • June 2009 I n January 1985 The Journal of Chinese Medicine published an edited transcript of a discussion called ‘Acupuncture in the West’ between Peter Deadman, Ted Kaptchuk, Giovanni Maciocia and Felicity Moir. It was a particularly popular article and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the JCM we decided to convene another discussion, in London in March 2009. Present this time were Peter Deadman (PD), Hugh MacPherson (HM), Daniel Maxwell (DM), Felicity Moir (FM) and Volker Scheid (VS). All are past or present practitioners of acupuncture and/or herbal medicine. For brief biographies of the participants, please see the end of the article. VS: I’m struck by the fact that we have no Chinese person here in the discussion. You know, we are in 2009; herbal medicine has almost been taken over by China in the UK, in terms of the physical presence of all the shops in UK high streets. And in terms of discussing Chinese medicine in the West, there’s the enduring problem of what it means for us, as Westerners, to claim ownership of something that comes from somewhere else; the history of this process ‑ associated with imperialism and with translation ‑ all these issues have interested me for the last 20 years. PD: To answer your first question, that’s my fault. HM: I think it’s partly that what’s happening in the UK is different from what’s happening in other countries; because of our history. In the 1970’s especially, we had styles of acupuncture that were pre‑ the import of TCM, and that relied on the charisma of the individuals who started those schools, and who actually didn’t want too much Chinese medicine to come in, because that would become quite confrontational, and so a dynamic was set up here of separate development. If you go to Australia, for example, to their big conferences, it is 50‑50 Chinese and Westerners, whereas over here in Britain, there are separate conferences. For example relatively few ethnic Chinese go to the British Acupuncture Council conference, and conferences of some other associations, such as the Association for Traditional Chinese Medicine, are predominantly Chinese. PD: And that’s also rooted in history isn’t it. Chinese medicine is strong in Australia because there has been a Chinese medical presence since the 19th century at least. I remember hearing that in the 19th century a lot of the bush doctors who went around treating remote communities were Chinese doctors, carrying their boxes of herbs. And also, as you mention, Britain and China have a history! VS: I know that the Chinese medicine organisations in Australia made a political decision They wanted not to have this separation, so they worked really hard at it, from both sides. PD: This is one form of separatism, and there are others, some of which we’ve overcome: there was a time when so‑called “traditional acupuncturists” from different schools wouldn’t talk to each other, and we’ve mostly overcome that. But as well as the separatism between Westerners and Chinese in Britain, there is an equal separation between traditional acupuncturists and physiotherapists who practise acupuncture, or doctors who practise acupuncture. There seems to be something about this profession, like many professions, where people love the differences more than the similarities. FM: It’s on the political level with upcoming regulation that people are coming together ‑ the British Acupuncture Council with the Chinese professional bodies, the physiotherapists and the doctors. It seems to be that it’s only when we have a threat from the outside that we all come together. Chinese Medicine in the West 2009 By: Peter Deadman, Hugh MacPherson, Daniel Maxwell, Felicity Moir and Volker Scheid