Who first spread Chinese medicine to the West

Traditional Chinese medicine, especially acupuncture, has been mentioned in Marco Polo's narratives since the 14th century. But it wasn't until the 17th century that Europe really began to understand it. The Dutchman Jakob, then a physician for the Dutch East India Company, mentioned acupuncture in his medical book. Subsequently, acupuncture was mentioned many more times. At that time, King Louis XIV of France purposely sent Jesuits to China to study acupuncture and translate articles about it. The Europeans did not mention Chinese medicine because the local pharmacopoeia of Europe was already well developed, so Chinese medicine did not appeal to the Europeans at that time, but acupuncture had a great attraction instead. Acupuncture, as a "foreign technology", was initially spread only in the 18th century in the houses of European princes and nobles. It was only in the 19th century that it attracted the interest of a few famous French doctors, such as Berlioz (father of the famous musician Berlioz) and Larnay, the inventor of the stethoscope.

But it was only from 1930 that acupuncture began to play an important role in Europe again, especially in France. De Molon, who was the French consul in Shanghai, studied Chinese medicine during his more than 20 years of residence in China. He was a distinguished sinologist and brought back a large number of books with him when he returned to France. He translated these books and was inspired to write the book "Chinese Acupuncture."

Doctors from all over the globe, especially Europe, gathered in Paris in 1950 for the Fourth International Congress of Acupuncture, symbolizing the popularity of the technique in Europe.

Other elements of traditional Chinese medicine, such as herbal medicine, dietary therapy, bone setting, tuina and qigong guidance, only began to reach the West in the late 20th century. It is worth noting that acupuncture is the mainstay of TCM in the West, and it treats a wider range of diseases in the West than in China. In China, people see TCM practitioners for medicine; in the West, they see TCM practitioners for needles. It is interesting to note that veterinary acupuncture is also very popular in the West.

The history of Chinese medicine in North America is not very much related to that of Europe; in the 1930s, some native European doctors went to the U.S. to spread the word about Chinese medicine, but not many people were interested. In addition, even though the Chinese have been in North America for more than 100 years and have their own TCM doctors in Chinatown, they mainly treat the Chinese. Therefore, only those "big noses" who are related to Chinese people would have heard of TCM. However, the situation began to change dramatically after U.S. President Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972. At that time, Nixon's entourage included a reporter named Reston, who suffered from appendicitis and had to be operated on. During his operation, he was not anesthetized with anesthesia, but with acupuncture and moxibustion. Later, Reston reported in the New York Times on his personal experience with acupuncture pain relief in China, which became a worldwide sensation. Since then, acupuncture has grown significantly in North America. Currently, 38 states and the District of Columbia across the United States to authorize acupuncture medical activities, more than 1 million patients per year have received acupuncture treatment, acupuncture practitioners amounted to more than 10,000 people, while the practice of acupuncture in the Western physician of about 3,000 people.