Anthropologist Elisabeth Hsu's Perspectives on Chinese Medicine

This paper overviews anthropologist Elisabeth Hsu's principal academic perspectives of Chinese medicine, encapsulating her insights and investigative methods in this field. Elisabeth Hsu identifies three distinct modes of transmission of Chinese medical knowledge: secret, personalised, and standardised. Through an examination of the way of learning and the style of knowing associated with key terminologies of Chinese medicine in different social context, she elucidates the transmission of Chinese medical knowledge. Initiating her analysis with the translation and interpretation of Chunyu Yi's medical cases, Hsu reconstructs the conceptualization of the body in Chinese medicine from the Warring States period to the early Han dynasty. She advocates for an understanding of the interplay between qi, organs, meridians, and emotions through the lenses of body ecologic sentimental body. Furthermore, Hsu delves into the cross-cultural practice of Chinese medicine's integration into the daily lives of East African communities. She uncovers how the tripartite between the practitioner, patient, and clinical environment fosters the identity of traditional medicine in an interconnected global landscape. Elisabeth Hsu amalgamates anthropological, linguistic, and Sinological research in her quest to unravel the intricacies of Chinese medicine, and her studies propel overseas humanities research in this domain.