Authentic traditions, authentic selves and healing at the end of the world: An auto-ethnography of Chinese medical practices

This dissertation explores the various ways in which Chinese medical practitioners in the United States work to authenticate Chinese medicine. While practitioner concerns with the medicine's authenticity are uneven, nevertheless several themes can be traced. These themes have to do with Chinese medical traditions, Chinese medical practices and the future of Chinese medicine. Many practitioners articulate an understanding that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a medicine invented in the People's Republic of China in keeping with Communist thought. The knowledge of TCM as an “invented tradition” causes many practitioners to seek out more authentic alternatives. This dissertation seeks to understand how these more real, or authentic, Chinese medicines might be recognized by practitioners. The dissertation also works to problematize the authenticating strategies that engender such recognition. Because the author is a practitioner of Chinese medicine, the research is grounded in auto-ethnographic methodologies.