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Underlying these categories, shared meanings are revealed, as well as core values and health beliefs in Chinese culture. The complex human dimensions of TCM are shown to be deeply rooted in social, cultural and historical contexts in the Chinese diaspora. The author draws from and extends her PhD research on lived Chinese experiences and conceptions of TCM across diverse individuals, populations, two focus groups in Australia, and three focus groups in Macau and Hong Kong. Traditional Chinese Medicine: The Human Dimensions reveals rich and profound values in Chinese culture manifested at all levels of life, including: the reciprocal care of filial piety, trust, respect, considerations for others, the quest for self understanding, and the strive for peace and harmony. These inner virtues in human relationships offers a soothing refuge and solution to the modern world which is often punctuated with imbalance, the over-dependence on material acquisition, distrust, violence, and man’s inhumanity towards man. To me, traditional Chinese medicine means human expressions and connections, imbued with profound Chinese cultural values. My social interaction with traditional Chinese medicine began at home when I was a child. My mother used to say I was born a healthy baby because she had taken ginseng and bird’s nest during her pregnancy, and that I grew into a healthy child because she continued to give me traditional Chinese medicine. My childhood memories of traditional Chinese medicine are of herbal teas and soups, some for keeping the body cool or warm, some for good complexion, and others, shared among family members, for general good health. Where I grew up in Macau and Hong Kong, there were many shops selling a wide variety of traditional Chinese medicine remedies and ready-made herbal drinks. Traditional Chinese medicine was an integral part of life for the Chinese people who lived there. In undertaking the two research projects reported in this book, my passion was to do something about and for Chinese people. My investigations into traditional Chinese medicine were from the perspective of social science – studying the social and cultural meanings of traditional Chinese medicine, rather than its effectiveness and use. In the earlier research project, I interviewed Chinese people living in Armidale, Brisbane and Sydney (all in Australia) who had experienced early life in countries such as Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other south-east Asian countries, as well as in Papua New Guinea. The human stories associated with these people’s experiences of Chinese medicine intrigued me. Subsequently I interviewed Chinese people in Macau and Hong Kong to explore their conceptions of leadership in traditional Chinese medicine. During the course of writing this book, I have felt a heavy responsibility to bring out the best core values of Chinese culture, values that can be applied in the modern world. In my heart I deeply believe that the real strength and prosperity of a culture resides not just in material riches but also in its social and philosophical achievements, through which people benefit by being able to experience life in a more harmonious way. My conviction about this human dimension in traditional Chinese medicine has been shaped by my personal experiences as well as by the experiences of life that others have shared with me. My understanding of this humanistic orientation has developed through my involvement in social activities in schools and voluntary work in the community and, in particular, from my classical Chinese studies after I finished high school and my training, in London, as a nurse. I remember well the first lesson in nursing school: to be ‘patient-centred’. My subsequent experiences with people of various nationalities and places have further reinforced my belief in humanism. I visited Canada and the United States of America four months after the September 11 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York - visiting a friend who told me of how the daughter of one of her friends had been a victim of the September 11 tragedy. She had been at her first job, fresh from college and full of hope. I felt deeply for this young woman, her family and her friends. A few years later, in 2004, I attended a symposium in Melbourne, Australia, which touched on terrorism. Speaker after speaker recounted man’s inhumanity toward man – the September 11 attack, the Bali disaster… the untold waste of human lives. I could not control myself and burst into inconsolable tears. There have been more shocking terrorist attacks, such as the London bombing in 2005. The London underground was a familiar place to me and had been one of my favourite modes of transport when I lived there. I wondered why that peaceful landscape should be disturbed. More recently, I met a group of visiting scholars from Iraq, learning about their war-torn country, their hardship, their sense of physical danger and psychological insecurity. There seemed to be no tomorrow for them. I remember the despair and fear revealed in their eyes, the yearning for hope and peace echoing in their voices. I believe the meanings of medicine and life are intertwined. Most significantly, the practice and experience of traditional Chinese medicine stimulates our thinking about how to live in a more humane way. This is the passion I wish to share with you.'
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