← Cui Yueli · Zhang Xiaotong →
Reflections on Traditional Chinese Medicine
《中醫沉思錄》
Edited by Cui Yueli
In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Cui Yueli's birth
Origin
In May 1997, Cui Yueli proposed compiling the book to "prompt a sober, scientific reckoning with the history, current state, and future of Chinese medicine, so that — by comparing the divergent views — readers might discern a clearer path forward." The first volume came out in August 1997.
On January 8, 1998, Cui Yueli chaired what would be his last working meeting — for the manuscript work on the《Annotated Translations of TCM Classics》series. Fourteen days later, he died of a sudden heart attack from overwork. The day before he died, the last note he wrote to associate editor Li Zhizhong contained a single sentence:
"Please send me more copies of《Reflections on TCM》."
In 2021, marking the 100th anniversary of his birth, Hunan Science and Technology Press combined the original first volume with later compiled material into a two-volume centennial edition. The republication was facilitated by his son Zhang Xiaotong. Contributors include national TCM masters Gan Zuwang, Deng Tietao, Wang Mianzhi, and senior physicians Jiao Shude, Zhu Guoben, Li Zhizhong, Fan Zhenglun.
Structure
- Medical affairs (醫事) · TCM policy and administration
- Theoretical inquiry (理論探討) · TCM scholarship and scientific principles
- Strategic reflection (戰略思考) · Where TCM has been and where it is going
- Education (教育探討) · Cultivating high-level TCM physicians
What this book means to father and son
For Cui Yueli,《Reflections on TCM》is the spiritual summation of his twenty years (1979–1998) advocating for Chinese medicine after leaving the Ministry of Health. Together with his《Annotated Translations of TCM Classics》series — the other publishing project he was working on at the time of his death — it embodies his core conviction: "Chinese medicine must walk the road of its own development."
For Zhang Xiaotong, the 2021 centennial edition is a key node in his lifelong work of carrying forward his father's mission. After fulfilling his father's dying wish in 1998 by leaving public service to found the Pingxintang TCM Clinic — preserving his father's commitment to undiluted Chinese medicine — bringing《Reflections on TCM》back into print was one of the ways he formally presented his father's thinking to the next generation of TCM practitioners.