Distinguishing Scholarly Achievements and Upholding Orthodoxy: A Review of the 70-Year Development of the Traditional Chinese Medicine History and Literature Discipline at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine

The discipline of traditional Chinese medicine history and literature at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine has gone through four historical stages since its establishment in 1954: the initial stage (1954-1958), the mature stage (1959-1977), the development stage (1978-1999), and the enhancement stage (since 2000). Under the leadership of successive academic leaders and academic backbones, the discipline has completed a number of epoch-making heritage works of traditional Chinese medicine literature, and has undertaken a number of national major and key projects. The discipline has distinctive features, with its achievements marked by excellence in compiling large traditional Chinese medicine reference books, and its literature research oriented towards practicality. Its research focus is on herbs and prescriptions, thereby providing effective information for modern clinical, scientific research, and teaching. In the future, the discipline will develop while maintaining its distinctive features, and will take advantage of new knowledge and methods to conduct research on the informatization and intelligentization of traditional Chinese medicine literature, and train more outstanding high-level professionals in traditional Chinese medicine history and literature.