In 1929, a high-ranking official proposed to abolish traditional Chinese medicine, and later, he really became a famous traitor
In 1929, shortly after the establishment of the Nanjing Nationalist Government, a storm about the preservation and abolition of traditional Chinese medicine quietly arose. At a meeting of the Central Health Commission, a senior official made a startling proposal: abolish traditional Chinese medicine. This high-ranking official is not only a doctor of medicine in forensics, but also the brother-in-law of an important political figure. His proposal immediately sparked a heated debate in the medical community and all walks of life.
Proponents argue that the abolition of traditional Chinese medicine is the only way to modernize and catch up with the West. Opponents insist that TCM is a treasure of Chinese culture that should not be discarded. The controversy quickly turned into a nationwide movement, with TCM groups organizing around the country to protest the proposal.
However, the development of history is often full of drama. The high-ranking official who proposed the abolition of traditional Chinese medicine became a notorious traitor during the war years more than a decade later. What kind of story is this? Why did this high-ranking official change so much? Is there some intrinsic connection between his proposal and the subsequent acts of treason?
1. Chu Minyi's proposal to abolish traditional Chinese medicine
On February 11, 1929, the atmosphere in Nanjing was tense. In a solemn government building, 120 representatives of the health community from all over the country gathered for a meeting of the Central Health Commission. The protagonist of the meeting was Chu Minyi, a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang and chairman of the Health Committee.
Chu Minyi is burly, has elegant manners, and is dressed in a suit and leather shoes, which makes him look particularly energetic. As a doctor of medicine in France, he is quite prestigious in the medical community. However, his other identity is more striking - he is Wang Jingwei's brother-in-law. This relationship made him like a fish in water in the political arena, and also laid the groundwork for his future fate.
At the beginning of the meeting, Chu Minyi stood up, looked around, and opened his mouth with a shocking remark: "Colleagues, the biggest obstacle to China's health administration is traditional Chinese medicine. If Chinese medicine is not abolished, it cannot be regarded as a revolution. Japan can be strong because of the Meiji Restoration, and the Meiji Restoration can change the appearance of the people, that is, abolish Chinese medicine and Chinese medicine. Therefore, the great cause of the revolution can only be accomplished if the Health Council takes full responsibility for formulating the bills and submitting them to the government for implementation. ＂
As soon as these words came out, the venue was in an uproar. Some people high-fived, some people looked worried, and many more looked at each other, at a loss. Chu Minyi's proposal is undoubtedly a bombshell, which has turned the entire medical community and even the entire society upside down.
In fact, the conspiracy to abolish traditional Chinese medicine had been quietly brewing in the health administration department as early as when the Nationalist government made Nanjing the capital. Chu Minyi's remarks are just to make this plan public.
Among the delegates present, there was a famous Western doctor named Yu Yan who was particularly eye-catching. He is a returnee from Japan and is well-known in the medical community. Halfway through the meeting, Yu Yan stood up and put forward a proposal called "Abolition of Old Medicines to Remove Obstacles to Medicine and Health."
The proposal consists of six articles, the most important of which include: requiring all TCM practitioners to register; TCM must undergo supplementary education, and only those who pass can obtain a certificate in practicing medicine; Supplementary education was carried out for only five years, and after 1933 there was no longer training; It is forbidden to establish a school of traditional Chinese medicine.
Yu Yan's proposal is undoubtedly an echo and concretization of Chu Minyi's views. According to this proposal, Chinese medicine will have no successor in five years, and it will die out naturally. This plan can be described as hidden and vicious, which made the representatives of traditional Chinese medicine present shudder.
What is even more shocking, however, is that the proposal was unanimously approved at the meeting. Among the 15 members who voted, all of them were Western doctors, except for the Minister of Health, Atsubi, who was an administrator. Although they are divided into Anglo-American factions and German-Japanese factions, they usually contain each other and tear each other down, but their attitude towards Chinese medicine is surprisingly the same - they look down on it and want to get rid of it quickly.
After the meeting, Chu Minyi and Yu Yan's proposal quickly spread throughout the country. For a time, the entire Chinese medicine community was in turmoil, and people were panicked. Many TCM practitioners feel that their professional prospects are in jeopardy and their livelihoods are unsustainable.
What's more, some radical Western medicine practitioners have begun to promote the need to abolish Chinese medicine in various places. They call TCM "old medicine", emphasizing its backward and unscientific side, and trying to create a sense of distrust among the population.
However, Chu Minyi and Yu Yan may not have imagined that their proposal not only did not achieve the desired effect, but instead provoked a strong backlash from the TCM community. TCM groups across the country have taken action to organize a massive protest.
A big debate on the existence and abolition of traditional Chinese medicine has kicked off across the country. This debate is not only about the future of the medical profession, but also about the balance between the inheritance of traditional Chinese culture and the process of modernization. As the initiator of this turmoil, Chu Minyi's fate will also follow the wheel of history to a direction that no one expected.
2. The outbreak of the controversy between Chinese and Western medicine
Chu Minyi and Yu Yan's proposal was like a bombshell, causing a violent shock in the national medical community. The controversy between Chinese and Western medicine soon spread from Nanjing to all parts of the country, and became a major topic of discussion in Chinese society in 1929.
The response of the Western medical community to this proposal can be broadly divided into three categories. The first group is staunch supporters, who believe that TCM is backward and unscientific, and must be abolished completely. Most of these people are young doctors studying in Europe, America and Japan, and they are full of enthusiasm to promote the advanced nature of Western medicine, believing that only by completely abolishing traditional Chinese medicine can China's medical and health undertakings catch up with the world trend.
The second group is moderates, who also believe that Western medicine is more advanced, but do not favor the complete abolition of Chinese medicine. These people advocate that the essence of Chinese medicine should be absorbed and combined with Western medicine to form a unique Chinese medical system. Yan Fuqing, a famous Western medical scientist, belongs to this school. He has repeatedly said in public that although there are problems with traditional Chinese medicine, it also has its merits and should not be completely denied.
The third group is a small number of Western doctors who have reservations. They believe that Chinese and Western medicine have their own strengths and should coexist peacefully. These people are often doctors who have worked at the grassroots level for many years and have experienced first-hand the unique effects of Chinese medicine in the treatment of certain diseases. However, because these people had small voices, they did not attract much attention in the public opinion environment at the time.
Compared with the general support of the Western medical community, the reaction of the Chinese medicine community has been much more violent. On the second day of the Nanjing Central Health Commission meeting, an emergency meeting was held in Shanghai's TCM community. At the meeting, many traditional Chinese medicine practitioners spoke one after another, denouncing Chu Minyi and Yu Yan's proposal as a "traitorous act" and a "betrayal of Chinese culture".
Lu Yuanlei, a well-known Chinese medicine scientist, made a generous speech at the meeting: "Traditional Chinese medicine has been inherited for thousands of years, cured countless diseases, and benefited hundreds of people. Now some people are vainly trying to abolish it once and for all, which is not only an insult to our Chinese medicine community, but also a blasphemy against the entire Chinese civilization! We must not sit idly by! ＂
At the same time, traditional Chinese medicine groups in Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan and other places have also taken action. They organized signatures, issued manifestos, and staged marches to express strong protest against the proposal to abolish traditional Chinese medicine. In Beijing, a group of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners even organized a "TCM Diagnosis Conference", inviting citizens to receive free medical treatment, as a way to demonstrate the unique advantages of traditional Chinese medicine.
However, the response of the TCM community has not been monolithic. Some young TCM practitioners believe that TCM does need to be reformed in the face of the impact of Western medicine. They advocated absorbing the scientific methods of Western medicine and improving the theoretical system of Chinese medicine. Although this view was not mainstream at the time, it opened the way for the integration of Chinese and Western medicine in the future.
There has also been a great deal of interest in this controversy from all walks of life. Intellectuals published articles in newspapers defending Chinese and Western medicine. Some people believe that Chinese medicine is the essence of Chinese culture and must not be easily discarded; Others argue that for China to be strong, it must be fully Westernized, including medicine.
Ordinary people are even more confused. Most of them grew up watching Chinese medicine and have a deep affection for Chinese medicine. But on the other hand, the miraculous effects of Western medicine also made them yearn for it. In a teahouse in Beijing, an old man sighed: "Chinese medicine and Western medicine, which is good and which is bad, where can we ordinary people distinguish clearly!" As long as it can cure diseases and save people, it doesn't matter if it is Chinese or Western! ＂
The debate quickly moved beyond the medical profession and into a debate about tradition and modernity, China and the West. In Tianjin's Ta Kung Pao, the famous scholar Liang Qichao published an article entitled "On the Advantages and Disadvantages of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine". He pointed out: "The battle of medicine is really a battle of culture. We cannot blindly deny tradition or rest on our laurels. We should learn from each other's strengths and complement each other's weaknesses in order to create a medical path suitable for China's national conditions. ＂
As the debate continues to heat up, the top levels of government have had to respond. However, due to the wrestling of various forces, the government's attitude is rather delicate. The turmoil, which began in Nanjing, is gradually evolving into a nationwide movement, and Chu Minyi's proposal has also become the fuse of this movement.
3. The resistance movement of the Chinese medicine community in the country
As Chu Minyi and Yu Yan's proposal to abolish TCM sparked huge controversy across the country, the resistance movement in the TCM community also spread rapidly like a spark. This movement is not only to defend the survival of traditional Chinese medicine, but also a major struggle related to the inheritance of national culture.
On March 17, 1929, the Shanghai Chinese medicine community took the lead in initiating the "Shanghai Chinese Medicine Community National Salvation Movement Conference". The conference was held at the Shanghai Public Stadium and brought together nearly 1,000 representatives of traditional Chinese medicine from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. At the meeting, many well-known Chinese medicine scholars generously made speeches, denouncing Chu Minyi and others' proposal to abolish Chinese medicine.
Yun Tieqiao, a famous Chinese medicine scientist, delivered an impassioned speech at the meeting: "Chinese medicine is the quintessence of my 5,000-year-old Chinese civilization, how can others easily deny it? We, fellow Chinese medicine practitioners, should unite and defend the cause of Chinese medicine to the death! Yun Tieqiao's words sparked warm applause and shouts from the audience.
The congress finally passed a resolution announcing the establishment of the "Republic of China National Medical Association", with Lu Yuanlei, Yun Tieqiao and others as the initiators. The establishment of this organization marked the beginning of an organized and planned struggle in the TCM community.
At the same time, Beijing's TCM community has not been idle. On April 1, the Chinese medicine community in Beijing held a huge "debate on the survival and abolition of traditional Chinese medicine" in the Temple of Heaven Park. Representatives from both Chinese and Western medicine, as well as a number of celebrities and intellectuals, were invited to the debate.
During the debate, the proponents of TCM cited a large number of successful cases of TCM in the treatment of incurable diseases, emphasizing the holistic concept of TCM and the advantages of syndrome differentiation and treatment. Opponents of TCM point out that TCM theories lack scientific basis and that the therapeutic effects are difficult to quantify. The two sides were at loggerheads, and the debate lasted a whole day, attracting thousands of citizens to observe.
Although this debate did not lead to a clear conclusion, it has triggered more people to think about the existence and dissolution of traditional Chinese medicine. A professor from Peking University who participated in the debate said afterwards: "Today's debate has made me deeply feel the breadth and profundity of Chinese medicine, as well as the rigorous science of Western medicine. Both have the same goal, both to save lives and help the wounded. Why not learn from each other's strengths and develop together? ＂
As the controversy continued to heat up, the protest movement in the TCM community gradually evolved from a simple protest to a more active self-innovation. In Guangzhou, a group of young TCM practitioners launched the "TCM Modernization Movement", advocating that while preserving the essence of TCM traditions, it is necessary to absorb the advanced concepts and techniques of Western medicine.
One of the movement's founders, 28-year-old Li Donghua, said in a speech: "We cannot rest on our laurels, nor can we deny it altogether. Traditional Chinese medicine needs to keep pace with the times, and only in this way can it be revitalized in the new era. Although the proposition of Li Donghua and others caused some controversy at the time, it opened the way for the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine in the future.
The protest movement in the TCM community soon gained widespread support from all walks of life. Many literati and scholars have written articles defending TCM. Liang Qichao, a well-known scholar, published a long article entitled "On the Value of Traditional Chinese Medicine" in Shishi Xinbao, arguing the necessity of preserving traditional Chinese medicine from the perspectives of cultural inheritance and national self-confidence.
At the same time, some progressives have begun to reflect on the cultural colonialist tendencies behind the proposal to abolish TCM. They believe that the total rejection of traditional Chinese medicine is not only a betrayal of traditional culture, but also a manifestation of cultural inferiority.
In the face of such a strong reaction from the Chinese medicine sector, the top government officials have also had to reconsider their position. In May 1929, the Department of Health of the Nationalist Government held a closed-door meeting to discuss how to deal with the problem of the storage and waste of traditional Chinese medicine. At the end of the meeting, an agreement was reached to suspend the implementation of the proposal to abolish traditional Chinese medicine, and at the same time strengthen the management and regulation of traditional Chinese medicine.
This decision has undoubtedly given a glimmer of life to the TCM community. However, the controversy did not end there. Pressure continues to be exerted by those who support the abolition of TCM, and the protest movement in the TCM community continues.
In this protracted struggle, Chu Minyi, as the main initiator of the proposal to abolish traditional Chinese medicine, became the target of the Chinese medicine community. However, no one thought that the fate of this high-ranking official would take a dramatic turn more than ten years later, and this dispute between Chinese and Western medicine would also take on a new look in a grander historical context.
Fourth, Chu Minyi's transformation and the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine
In the vigorous dispute between Chinese and Western medicine in 1929, Chu Minyi, as the main initiator of the proposal to abolish traditional Chinese medicine, once became the target of the Chinese medicine community. However, the wheels of history are always full of dramatic turns. More than ten years later, this once staunch supporter of Western medicine gradually changed his position under the influence of a series of events and became one of the important promoters of integrated Chinese and Western medicine.
In 1937, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out. In the face of Japanese aggression, the Nationalist government was forced to move its capital to Chongqing. As the director of health, Chu Minyi also came to this mountain city. In the harsh environment of wartime, medical resources were extremely scarce, and the supply of Western medicine was often interrupted. In this case, traditional Chinese medicine has played an important role in treating the wounded and preventing diseases by virtue of its local materials, simplicity and ease of use.
In the spring of 1938, a severe cholera epidemic occurred in Chongqing. In the face of the rapidly spreading epidemic, Western medicine has had little effect. At this critical moment, a Chinese medicine doctor named Zhang Zihe stepped forward. According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, he used Huoxiang Zhengqi dispersion as the basic formula, and added and subtracted to form a new prescription for the treatment of cholera. This recipe has achieved amazing results in clinical use, and the spread of the epidemic has been quickly controlled.
This incident left a deep impression on Chu Minyi. He personally went to Zhang Zihe's clinic and inquired in detail about the treatment process and theoretical basis. In the exchange with Zhang Zihe, Chu Minyi gradually realized that although traditional Chinese medicine is very different from Western medicine in terms of theoretical system, its effect in clinical practice cannot be ignored.
In 1939, Chu Minyi organized a "joint diagnosis and treatment meeting of traditional Chinese and Western medicine" in Chongqing. The conference invited a number of well-known experts in Chinese medicine and Western medicine to discuss how to give full play to their respective advantages in wartime medicine. At the meeting, experts from traditional Chinese and Western medicine had a heated discussion, exchanging experiences with each other and exploring the possibility of cooperation.
The success of this conference allowed Chu Minyi to see the potential of integrated Chinese and Western medicine. In his summary of the meeting, he said: "Chinese and Western medicine have their own strengths and complement each other. At this time of national crisis, we should unite and contribute to the war of resistance and salvation. ＂
Since then, Chu Minyi has actively promoted the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine. He set up the "Chinese and Western Medicine Research Group" within the Department of Health to study how to combine the advantages of Chinese medicine and Western medicine. At the same time, he also promoted a series of policies to encourage Chinese and Western medicine to learn from each other and make progress together.
In 1940, at the initiative of Chu Minyi, Chongqing established the first hospital of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine, Chongqing Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine. This hospital brings together a group of outstanding talents in traditional Chinese and Western medicine to explore the possibility of integrated Chinese and Western medicine in clinical practice. Soon after the establishment of the hospital, it achieved remarkable results in the treatment of common diseases such as typhoid fever and dysentery.
Chu Minyi's series of measures not only played an important role in the medical practice at that time, but also laid the foundation for the later development of integrated Chinese and Western medicine. His transformation also represents a change in the thinking of many intellectuals in the face of a national crisis.
However, Chu Minyi's path to promoting the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine has not been smooth sailing. Some die-hard proponents of Western medicine see him as betraying his position, while some conservative practitioners of Chinese medicine are also skeptical of his approach. In the face of these doubts, Chu Minyi said in a public speech: "My transformation is not a betrayal, but an enlightenment in practice." The fundamental purpose of medicine is to save lives, not to argue about which is better or worse. ＂
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, Chu Minyi continued to work in the field of medical and health care. He actively promotes the modern research of Chinese medicine, and also encourages Western medicine to learn the holistic concept and dialectical thinking of Chinese medicine. Under his influence, more and more medical workers began to pay attention to the possibility of integrating traditional Chinese and Western medicine.
To a certain extent, Chu Minyi's experience reflects the thinking and changes of the entire Chinese society in the face of the relationship between tradition and modernity, and between China and the West. From the initial total denial to the later learning from each other's strengths, this is not only a person's transformation, but also a microcosm of an era.
With the passage of time, the controversy between Chinese and Western medicine gradually faded into the spotlight and was replaced by a discussion on how to better realize the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine. This controversy, which began in 1929, has also left a deep mark on the long river of history and has become an important turning point in the history of the development of modern medicine in China.
5. The historical influence and modern enlightenment of the controversy between Chinese and Western medicine
Although the controversy between Chinese and Western medicine in 1929 caused a huge social shock at the time, its impact was far more than just one time and one place. This controversy has not only profoundly influenced the direction of the development of Chinese medicine, but has also left a profound mark on the broader social and cultural level.
First of all, this controversy has given impetus to the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine. In the face of the impact of Western medicine, the Chinese medicine community has begun to realize its own problems. The Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the Chinese Medical Association, established in Shanghai in 1931, is the product of this self-renewing consciousness. The institute is committed to the study of TCM theories using modern scientific methods, trying to find a scientific basis for TCM theories.
Zhang Xichun, a well-known Chinese medicine scientist, proposed at the beginning of the establishment of the institute: "The way of Chinese medicine is broad and profound, but it also needs to keep pace with the times. We should examine the traditional method with a scientific eye, remove the dross, and extract the essence. This view had a wide impact on the TCM community at that time, prompting a group of TCM scholars to begin to re-examine and organize the theories of traditional medicine.
At the same time, this controversy has also promoted a new understanding of Chinese medicine in Western medicine. Some enlightened practitioners of Western medicine began to pay attention to the clinical effects of TCM and tried to draw beneficial ingredients from TCM theories. In 1935, Wang Mingde, a Western medicine doctor at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, tried to use acupuncture therapy of traditional Chinese medicine when treating a case of intractable diarrhea, and achieved unexpected results. This incident caused quite a stir in the medical community at that time, and also provided strong evidence for the later practice of integrated Chinese and Western medicine.
At the socio-cultural level, the controversy between Chinese and Western medicine actually reflects the confusion and choice of Chinese society in the face of the conflict between tradition and modernization. This debate has gone beyond the realm of medicine and has become a great discussion about cultural inheritance and modernization.
In 1933, the famous scholar Liang Shuming discussed how Chinese culture could maintain its own characteristics in the process of modernization, taking the dispute between Chinese and Western medicine as an example. He pointed out: "The dispute between medicine and Taoism is really a cultural dispute. Our generation should think about how to absorb the essence of Western learning without losing the inherent civilization of our country. ＂
This kind of thinking not only influenced the intellectuals at that time, but also provided important ideological resources for China's later modernization path. In the following decades, the idea of "Chinese style and Western use" has been practiced and developed to varying degrees in the field of various.
On the other hand, this controversy has also promoted the reform of medical education in China. In 1935, the School of Medicine of Central University in Nanjing took the lead in offering a course in traditional Chinese medicine, which was a breakthrough in the western hospital at that time. Xu Chengzhi, the dean of the school, said at the opening ceremony: "Doctors are also the way to help the world. Chinese and Western medicine have their own strengths, and those of our generation who study medicine should be eclectic in order to fully benefit the world. ＂
This practice was soon replicated in other medical schools. By the 1940s, there were already a number of medical schools offering courses in traditional Chinese medicine or integrative medicine. This not only laid the foundation for the later cultivation of talents in the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine, but also essentially recognized the status of traditional Chinese medicine in the modern medical system.
In terms of international influence, the controversy between Chinese and Western medicine has also attracted the attention of the international medical community. In 1936, the United States Rockefeller Foundation sent a delegation to China to investigate the medical and health conditions in China. In its report, the delegation specifically mentioned the controversy between Chinese and Western medicine, saying that it was "an important discussion about the inheritance of civilization". This report later became one of the important documents for understanding Chinese medicine in the West.
After the war, with the increase of international exchanges, traditional Chinese medicine gradually went global. In 1972, during the visit of United States President Richard Nixon to China, his accompanying correspondent James · Reston reported that his pain was relieved after receiving acupuncture treatment, which sparked widespread interest in Chinese medicine in the Western world. To some extent, this can be seen as a continuation and expansion of the controversy between Chinese and Western medicine.
In the 21st century, the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine has become the mainstream direction of the development of Chinese medicine. During the SARS epidemic in 2003, the successful application of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment programs once again proved the value of this model. This practice has also been recognized and promoted by the World Health Organization.
Looking back at the controversy between Chinese and Western medicine in 1929, we can see that although this controversy was full of confrontation and controversy at the beginning, it eventually promoted the mutual learning and integration of Chinese and Western medicine. It not only influences the direction of the development of Chinese medicine, but also provides an important example of how China deals with the relationship between tradition and modernization.