the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

https://brill.com/view/journals/asme/7/ ... anguage=en

Abstract
Tang Zonghai (1851–1908), the widely acclaimed proponent of medical eclecticism in the late Qing period, invented the famous formula: ‘Western medicine is good at anatomy; Chinese medicine is good at qi-transformation.’ While it is well-known that Tang coined the concept of qihua 氣化 (qi-transformation) and thereby created a long-lasting dichotomy between Chinese and Western medicine, it is little known that Tang’s conception of qi-transformation was built upon, and therefore heavily influenced by, a newly-imported technology from the West, namely the steam engine.

Based on this surprising discovery, this article intends to make three interrelated arguments. First, Tang Zonghai drew on the newly invented model of the steam engine and the related concept of steam to create a new understanding of qi-transformation in the human body. Second, this new understanding of qi enabled him to reform Chinese medicine by incorporating the new knowledge and visual illustrations of Western anatomy, most notably the illustration of the peritoneum from Gray’s Anatomy and the existence of the ureters. And third, in the dual process of developing the new understanding of qi-transformation and incorporating Western anatomy into Chinese medical doctrines, Tang radically re-conceptualised and re-visualised the body of Chinese medicine, especially the three interrelated organs of the bladder, the Triple Burner, and the kidney. Instead of creating an invisible and immaterial world of qi-transformation in opposition to the materialism of Western anatomy, Tang made his conception of qi-transformation instrumental for the incorporation of Western anatomy into Chinese medical doctrines.

Thanks for the precious link! The attempt to bridge the divide is an arduous one and "never the twain shall meet".

Acupuncture was banned at least twice on the Mainland because the teachers/masters of yore mysticized it too much while its staus was refused to the "common people" because no one of any merit was able to be in the presence of the class structure of the time (during the Qing era) so when all of this fell apart, the reformers went outside (usually Japan or Germany and a lesser extent USA) to find comparable system of health education to supplement that of the Qing downfall and early republican era (post Qing). What helped the health care system was the use of these "barefeet doctors" (I guess they could be called paraprofessionals ) whose education bridged TCM and basic of Western anatomical body systems.

Qi transformation is difficult to teach because the objective presence (seeing, touching, etc) is the norm and anything outside of that is difficult to understand when peoples' physiology, though the same, we all have levels of understanding, intuition etc that doesn't translate into a workable belief system to express in a coherent manner.