History and Myth in Chinese Medicine

If you are interested in Chinese Medical History, there is a lecture on "History and Myth in Chinese Medicine," on June 5th from 3 - 5 pm at the Won Institute. Here is how Salguero describes his presentation:

"Practitioners of Chinese medicine often characterize their healing arts as “ancient,” imagining an unbroken tradition stretching back over thousands of years. Historians of Chinese medicine, on the other hand, have emphasized the ever-changing nature of Chinese medicine and have shown that modern practices have little to do with ancient precedents. This presentation will introduce the audience to the latest historical research on the origins of acupuncture, and the transformation over the past 2000 years in theory and practice. At the heart of the presentation are the questions of why history matters to practitioners, and whether facts and myths can be reconciled."

Pierce Salguero is Assistant Professor of Asian History at Penn State's Abington College. Dr. Salguero has a Ph.D. in the History of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and has published numerous books and articles on Asian medical history. He is a historian of medicine in China, specializing in religious healing in the medieval period.