A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TEACHING OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE

In 443, Emperor Wendi’s physician, Qin Cheng-zu persuaded him to found a medical school, and this was the first state college for the teaching of acupuncture and other forms of medicine. Sadly, wars and imperial bankruptcy intervened, and the school was forced to close. In 581, however, the idea was revived and the Tai Yi Shu (Grand Physician’s Bureau) became the top state medical education authority. The institution employed over 350 staff and training lasted seven years.

Students at the school studied from the already extensive classical texts on the subjects, and there were set textbooks for all acupuncture students that included the Su Wen, Ling Shu, Mai Jue, and Jiayi Jing. In addition to the academic study, practical diagnostic skills were taught, such as pulse-taking and tongue diagnosis.

Tai Yi Shu was, in fact, the world’s first state-sponsored medical school. One graduate wrote a major text on pathology that was translated by the Arab physician Avicenna and went on to lay an important foundation for European medicine.

During the Song dynasty (960 – 1279), the school was renamed Tai Yi Ju and expanded to the point where thousands of medical students were enrolled in classes at any one time. Wishing to disseminate good medical practice to the whole population, satellite schools were founded across China. The admission process remained tough and highly selective, and all students had first to complete a year of foundation studies.

Awareness of Chinese physician’s skills and the depth of their formal training continued to filter westward along the Silk Road to influence both early Arab medicine and then that of medieval Europe. The respect for the formal teaching of this medical system in China played a large role in the development of western medicine. In fact, the European cap and gown worn in academic graduation ceremonies is extremely similar to that of the Song dynasty scholars.