A balance
of humanity and nature - these are the requirements for traditional Chinese
medicine to grow in the SAR, with a strong potential for the city to become a
hub, says Zhang Junqing, Director of the Macau Traditional Chinese Medicine
Society. The current ‘low’ level of practice in the SAR can only be developed
into an industry over time, with no ‘short-term’ benefits, if the government
adopts ‘a very different mind-set’.
The
essence of traditional Chinese medicine lies in the knowledge of the balance
between humanity and nature, and while Macau has the potential to become a
traditional Chinese medicine hub, the guiding principal and methodology has to
be set up in accordance with traditional Chinese culture. The most important
first step is to inherit and study the legacy rather than to focus on
innovation or integration, says Zhang Junqing, Director of the Macau
Traditional Chinese Medicine Society and the Macau Acupuncture Society. The
Chinese medicine doctor told Business Daily that he believes education is the
key, progressing from there to research, clinical areas, pharmaceutical
applications, the industry based around it and the culture it embodies.
The
local government has been pledging to develop traditional Chinese medicine
within the SAR. What’s your point of view on this matter?
Ever
since Xi Jinping stepped into the position of Chinese president and advocated
the use of traditional Chinese medicine, this field has attracted more
attention - since some of the belief in it was stripped away during the
Cultural Revolution, as well as by an ‘invasion’ of western culture. The
benefit of promoting traditional Chinese medicine is practical – it helps
people to better take care of themselves and, as a result, save the country a
huge amount of resources in health care.
For Macau to advocate traditional Chinese medicine, the idea now is to help
diversify the economy and structurally adjust the city’s industries. However,
from my observation, traditional Chinese medicine in Macau is rather different
from Mainland China. I came from Fujian province decades ago. Before I started
practicing on my own, I was working at Tung Sin Tong (Historical Archive and
Charity). I found out that the doctors there were rather conservative. Every
year I would schedule at least one trip to go to a seminar or a workshop to
study, and they found it surprising and thought it unnecessary. Not all of
them, but most of them still think traditional Chinese medicine is simply a
clinical tool or measure. They are not in command of the essence of traditional
Chinese medicine. The so-called: ‘traditional Chinese medicine industry’ that
the Macau government is trying to develop still remains as the lowest form of
traditional Chinese medicine. Look at the Hengqin Traditional Chinese Medicine
Industrial Park or the company that they are running. There are all amateurs.
They are outsiders of this world and what they are trying to do is not real
traditional Chinese medicine.
What
is real traditional Chinese medicine then?
It would
take us days to talk about it. But briefly, traditional Chinese medicine is
about the balance of humanity and nature. It’s not a theory. It’s not a
philosophy. It’s rather metaphysical. Simply put, it can be reflected by a
combination of appearance, Qi (vital energy), and spirit. Traces of traditional
Chinese medicine date back to the origins of human life, when they learned how
to use wood to make fire. We have the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon, the oldest
remaining work of Chinese medical theory. It was compiled around the first
century BC, written in the form of dialogues between the legendary Yellow
Emperor and his ministers. It offers explanations on the relationship between
humans, their environment, and the cosmos, on the contents of the body, on
human vitality and pathology, on the symptoms of illness, and on how to make
diagnostic and therapeutic decisions in light of all these factors. And we have
historical physicians like Sun Simiao who wrote a handbook on how to become a
traditional Chinese medicine doctor. For traditional Chinese medicine, first we
need to study, fully comprehend the knowledge and inherit the culture, and then
we can talk about its development.
Do you think Macau has the potential to make a
contribution to traditional Chinese medicine?
Not only
do I think Macau has the potential to become a traditional Chinese medicine
hub, I think now is the perfect time to do so. Traditional Chinese medicine is
gradually being revived in China, and even becoming increasingly prevalent in
the western world. The central government has set the goal for the Macau SAR to
become a world tourism and leisure hub and has given huge support for Macau to
develop its traditional Chinese medicine industry. It is even part of the
national development strategy – the twelfth five-year plan. The local
government has also listed traditional Chinese medicine as a main direction for
diversifying its economy. With the collaboration of the Guangdong government,
some efforts are already being made. With the economic development of the SAR,
the government is sitting on a huge fiscal surplus. In addition, Macau is a
small place. An administrative decision can be delivered relatively easier than
elsewhere in China. These advantages have given Macau the perfect edge to
become a base for a world-class traditional Chinese medicine hub, from
education, clinical medicine, pharmaceutical trading, regimen and health care,
to medical tourism. Macau can become the most important window for traditional
Chinese medicine to the world.
How can this be achieved?
We need to understand the purpose of developing traditional Chinese medicine.
In a cost-effective economic sense, the benefits won’t show in the short-term.
However, it’s a long and important journey that we must go through to have this
treasure preserved in traditional Chinese culture.
The SAR government and the Chief Executive have to be resolved to adopt a very
different mind-set. They need a think-tank that is really in command of real
traditional Chinese medicine. Without the right decisions being made,
everything will be in vain. This consultancy group must have elites that have a
traditional Chinese medicine way of thinking. To be honest, there are not many
of these kinds of talents left in the academic field as a lot of them have been
‘polluted’ by the western medicine way of thinking. They remain at the lowest
level of appliance of traditional Chinese medicine and only focus on herbs and
acupuncture instead of the study of humanity and the environment. The real
masters are in civilian society. They know the traditional culture and
ideology, are in command of the laws of the development of traditional Chinese
medicine, and they can adapt to the modern reality and use scientific measures
and management to lead people.
How
can good Chinese medicine talent be evaluated? Is there a standardized
mechanism?
Traditional
Chinese medicine is not to do with standards. However, of course a good doctor
can be evaluated by cures. It [traditional Chinese medicine] has to be
effective in clinical medicine to have the strong base of support among society
it possesses now.
One thing on which I agree with the current administration is that it restricts
western medicine doctors to use traditional Chinese medicine ways and vice
versa. This helps doctors in each field to focus on studying their own
methodology and solve any problems using their own ways.
To give you an example: when a western doctor detects a tumour, the way they
know how to do deal with it is for a surgeon to remove it. They don’t know how
to take care of the human body once the surgery is done. The person may still
be in very poor health. From a Chinese medicine point of view, sometimes
surgery can cause more harm as it breaks the Qi. We [Chinese medicine doctors]
may search for ways for people to live with the tumour and relieve the
symptoms. Sickness is a symptom of ever-evolving human bodies. It’s a
reflection of a moment of change. Sometimes we need to assimilate the negative
parts and make them positive instead of eliminating them, as a war would
probably cause more harm to oneself.
One thing I have suggested over the years is for the SAR government to
establish a Macau Traditional Chinese Medicine Management Bureau. In an
administrative sense, it would be running in parallel with the Health Bureau.
This new bureau would, in general, organize and plan the development of
traditional Chinese medicine. With the talents in command of the essence of
culture that I mentioned, the blueprint for traditional Chinese medicine can be
drawn. Education will be the breakthrough point.
You’ve
mentioned that in the academic field, traditional Chinese medicine is
‘polluted’. How can this be addressed through education?
Education
will be the key point in preserving and developing traditional Chinese
medicine. They [the students] need to be taught the culture of traditional
Chinese medicine. I’ve also suggested the establishment of a Traditional
Chinese Medicine Institute. The students could be immersed in traditional
Chinese culture first, and then be provided with chances to practice and gain
more experience in clinical medicine.
What
are the next steps?
With the
establishment of the Macau Traditional Chinese Medicine Management Bureau, we
would solve the problem of top-level decision-making and provide the grounds
for the traditional Chinese medicine hub to be built.
With the institute, we would have a strong talent base. Then we need a hospital
exclusively dedicated to traditional Chinese medicine. With the help of the
masters, a group of traditional Chinese medicine doctors will be naturalized in
clinical medicine, hence giving a reputation to Macau [in this area].
As for the pharmaceutical side, it’s also very critical for us to trace the
past and to adopt traditional ways. This would play an important role in
adjusting the industrial structures of Macau, as it would provide many
employment opportunities.
The
traditional pharmaceutical methodology of traditional Chinese medicine gives
great important to the whole process. Some medicine needs to be made in
repeated procedures, such as being dried and steamed nine times. It can be
really time consuming, but that’s where the effectiveness of the medicine comes
from. It’s simple but not easy. This can be applied in family workshops hence
giving Macau families other jobs aside from working in casinos. The supply
chain needs to be strictly monitored, as we should only produce products of the
best quality. The Chinese medicine or health care products made here can be
supplied to the local market and exported elsewhere - in Mainland China or the
world. It would have a very high cost to produce. The amount of the products
would be low, but as long as the quality is good and truly cures, it would for
sure be recognized by consumers. Those would be the prospects we are eyeing.
In addition, a regimen/ health care village could be established in Coloane or
Hengqin. With thousands of years of history, traditional Chinese medicine has
developed many practices for people to create better health conditions without
the use of western medicine. There is acupuncture, tui na, qigong, cupping, Gua
Sha and many more practices in addition to herbal medicine, food therapy, etc.
We can put the best facilities for overall health care, body checks and
diagnoses to build the health care village into a world-class health centre.
The village could also add cultural elements to promote traditional Chinese
culture. Regular seminars and workshops could be held. Museums and temples with
educational contents could be on display.
From there, we could even develop medical tourism. People could come here for
body check-ups, for traditional Chinese medicine treatments, for health care
products or even just come here to relax. It would help to realize the ultimate
goal of a world tourism and leisure hub.
Joanne
Kuai
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