On 19 July 2024, The Thammasat University Library welcomed a group from Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CDUTCM) for a tour of the Pridi Banomyong Library.

CDUTCM is located in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province, China.

Founded in the 1950s, CDUTCM has between 10,000 and 15,000 students enrolled.

The TU Library owns a book with material drawn from CDUTCM expertise: Standard of Chinese Materia Medica in Thailand. Volume 1.

Dealing with medicinal plant preparations, the book is shelved in the General Books section of the Nongyao Chaiseri Library General Stacks, TU Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Rangsit campus.

TU students enrolled in the Bachelor of Traditional Chinese Medicine (International Program) participate in a six-year international program in traditional Chinese medicine.

English and Chinese are languages of study.

Students will take classes at Thammasat University for three years and at Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine for the remaining three years.

Two degree certificates from both universities are offered.

In this program, first year students will take classes at Chulabhorn International College of Medicine, the Language Institute, and the Faculty of Science and Technology of Thammasat University.

Second, fifth, and sixth year students are instructed at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, China.

Third and fourth year students are taught at Chulabhorn International College of Medicine.

Clinical practice occur at the Chinese Medicine Clinic of Chulabhorn International College of Medicine (Thammasat University, Rangsit campus), Huachiew Chinese Medicine Clinic, and Chonburi Hospital.

Among books in the TU Library collection on traditional Chinese medicine is A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought by Wolfram Eberhard. It is shelved in the Reference Stacks of the Pridi Banomyong Library. Dr. Eberhard, a sociologist at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, wrote:

Doctors in ancient China who prescribed medicines made from herbal matter or from parts of animals, were divided into three categories: at the top were the state doctors, upper-class men who, in addition to their training in traditional medicine, had studied the medical texts available and had passed a state examination. They were called ‘Great Doctors’, held state posts and were summoned to court if the Emperor or one of his high officials were ill. The second group also belonged to the upper class: they were state officials who had studied medicine as a sideline in their free time. Should a friend or relation fall ill they would do what they could to help. They never asked for payment but expected gifts on suitable occasions such as major feast days or holidays. The third category was drawn from the lower classes of society. Its members were often the sons or grandsons of doctors. Practitioners belonging to this category often had their own private books of remedies and treatments, which were carefully guarded from rival eyes. 

Another noted text on the subject is The Theoretical Foundations of Chinese Medicine: Systems of Correspondence by Manfred Porkert, available from the International Loan Service (ILL) of the TU Library. The book states:

There is hardly a field in all of historical scholarship of which we know so little as the development Chinese medical thought. A mountain of books which treat this subject has accumulated in the West since the sixteenth century. Some are written by European practitioners, since acupuncture is now a flourishing enterprise in the Occident, and some by scholars. But most of these writings, regardless of origin, obscure rather than illuminate the beautiful Chinese theoretical system… Now Western man, as a consequence of two thousand years of intellectual tradition, persists in the habit of making causal connections first and inductive links, if at all, only as an afterthought. This habit must still be considered the biggest obstacle to an adequate appreciation of Chinese science in general and Chinese medicine in particular. Given such different cognitive bases, many of the apparent similarities between traditional Chinese and European science which attract the attention of positivists turn out to be spurious…In therapeutic disciplines such as acupuncture, moxibustion, or massage, three kinds of sensitive points are of interest.

International academic exchange between Thailand and CDUTCM

In 2019, the CDUTCM website indicated that a working conference on an ongoing Thai-Chinese cooperation project for a Traditional Chinese Medicine Terminology Dictionary, was held at CDUTCM. Thai experts consulted with Chinese specialists about the third volume, in Chinese, Thai and English languages, of the dictionary as well as other potential academic exchange. The first batch of 280 entries, as well as the book cover, catalogue, entry format, and back cover of the third volume of the dictionary were discussed and revised. The Thai experts also visited affiliated hospitals, the Chengdu Pharmaceutical Market, and a Chinese medicine factory, among other sites of interest. In-depth exchanges occurred on the development of Chinese medical education and services, as well as Chinese medicines.

That year, CDUTCM hosted a graduation ceremony for a Thai acupuncture training class. The class was cosponsored by the Department for Development of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Public Health. 40 students worked for three months. Dr. Anchalee Chuthaputti of the Department for Development of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi, Thailand, was one of the program leaders. The TU Library owns a volume to which Dr. Anchalee contributed research, Thai Traditional and Alternative Health Profile: Thai Traditional Medicine, Indigenous Medicine, and Alternative Medicine 2011-2013. Copies of this study are shelved in the General Stacks of the Pridi Banomyong Library; the Puey Ungphakorn Library, Rangsit Campus; and the Nongyao Chaiseri Library. The TU Library also owns several other books on Thai traditional medicine.

Also that year, Dr. Marut Jirasrattasiri, Director General of The Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine (DTAM) led a group visiting CDUTCM. Quality standards for Thai medicine were examined and the history of cooperation between the Thai Ministry of Health and CDUTCM examined. Future projects discussed included ongoing international cooperation on Chinese medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, as well as Thai medical research on traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Dr. Marut Jirasrattasiri expressed the intention to promote Chinese medicine in Thailand and speed internationalization of Thai and Chinese medical traditions. He visited a local medicinal materials market to examine distribution structure, business model, and market supervision. Dr. Marut observed that monitoring of adverse reactions to Chinese medicine in China is advanced, offering a model that may apply for pharmaceuticals in Thailand. He expressed admiration for automated Chinese medicine cultivation and production.

Further international academic and innovation exchange

In 2015, the Chengdu Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair, the biggest innovation fair held annually in west China, drew over 200 delegates from 30 countries and regions, including government officials, innovation teams, investors, companies, universities and research institutes.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)