Herbs, Laboratories, and Revolution: On the Making of a National Medicine in Vietnam

TY - JOUR

T1 - Herbs, Laboratories, and Revolution

T2 - On the Making of a National Medicine in Vietnam

AU - Wahlberg, Ayo

PY - 2014/3

Y1 - 2014/3

N2 - This article examines the making of a national medicine in Vietnam. How can it be that the medical traditions in Vietnam came to be described as Vietnamese during the course of the twentieth century? In this article, I suggest that historical contingencies in Vietnam have facilitated what might be thought of as a "doctrine of combination," somewhat in contrast to the institutionalized and contentious separation of, for example, Chinese and Korean medicine from modern medicine. In particular, I show how when it came to traditional medicine, Hồ Chí Minh and the people around him responsible for health-care-related issues were on the "offensive" from the very outset of their nation-building efforts.

AB - This article examines the making of a national medicine in Vietnam. How can it be that the medical traditions in Vietnam came to be described as Vietnamese during the course of the twentieth century? In this article, I suggest that historical contingencies in Vietnam have facilitated what might be thought of as a "doctrine of combination," somewhat in contrast to the institutionalized and contentious separation of, for example, Chinese and Korean medicine from modern medicine. In particular, I show how when it came to traditional medicine, Hồ Chí Minh and the people around him responsible for health-care-related issues were on the "offensive" from the very outset of their nation-building efforts.

U2 - 10.1215/18752160-2406625

DO - 10.1215/18752160-2406625

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1875-2160

VL - 8

SP - 43

EP - 56

JO - East Asian Science, Technology and Society: an international journal

JF - East Asian Science, Technology and Society: an international journal

IS - 1

ER -