Transplanted: Chinese Herbal Medicine in the United States, 1800-1911

Abstract

Chinese medicine has a long history in the United States, dating back to its colonial period and extending up to the present. This essay focuses on the earliest generation of practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine in the United States. Although acupuncture is the modality most commonly associated with Chinese medicine in today’s medical marketplace, up until the 1970s, Chinese healers in the United States typically specialized in herbalism. Well before mass emigration from China to the United States began, Chinese material medica crossed the oceans, in both directions: Chinese medicinal teas and herbs came west while Appalachian ginseng went east. Beginning in the 1850s, Chinese immigrants came to the United States and transplanted their health practices, sometimes quite literally by propagating medicinal plants in their adopted home. Over time, Chinese doctors learned how to sell their services to non-Chinese patients by presenting herbalism as “nature’s remedies.”

Globalization and Glocalization in the History of Chinese Medicine

“…The article also examines the strategies employed to overcome language barriers and attract domestic consumers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, ultimately establishing Chinese medicine as a presence in the American medical marketplace. 14 Lourdes Bárbara Alpizar Caballero and Lourdes de la Caridad Borges Oquendo provide biographical sketches of several 19th-century Chinese doctors in Cuba who laid the foundation for TCM in the largest Caribbean country. Additionally, they highlight notable medical descendants from the 20th century who specialized in various medical fields, showcasing the enduring legacy of Chinese medicine in Cuba.…”