☰
About Me
  • My name is Hongmeng Chen (Elly) and I am currently doing Public History master at UCL. I come from a family of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) family.My grandfather and father have been practising medicine for hundreds of years. My understanding of Chinese medicine culture is a result of being exposed to it from a very young age. However, when I grew up, I did not choose to become a TCM practitioner to carry on the family business. My father's other three children were similar to me in their career choices in life. None of us made TCM our career. This was not a coincidence. I heard that my sister, who comes from a family of TCM practitioners with a similar family background to mine, did not choose to become a TCM practitioner either. This was despite the fact that her undergraduate studies were still being conducted at one of the top TCM university in China. This phenomenon caught my attention and I wanted to understand what caused this phenomenon. In the field of Chinese medicine, the "teacher-training" system is often highly valued, and as the family enjoys the priority to learn, and rely on the bloodline inheritance of the successors, why did not they make the choice to inherit the career of their ancestors? What are the dilemmas and challenges facing the development of TCM? What are the ways and means of spreading new forms of Chinese medicine? Bring these questions in mind, I have conducted research and rethinking, and have produced outputs in the form of websites and reports. I believe that the audience for this research topic is not only Chinese, but all those who are interested in the culture of Chinese medicine may wish to understand and explore this topic from a family history perspective. I hope my output will bring you some inspiration.
  • about me
Copyright © 2024 Reflections on the Family History of the TCM Heirs