Dr Heribert Schmidt's (1914-95) visit to Hong Kong in 1954 and the exchange of Chinese medicine between Hong Kong and Germany

Abstract

Heribert Schmidt, a German doctor, was an expert on Chinese medicine and acupuncture. He was renowned in both clinical practice and research on acupuncture in Germany and European countries. In March 1954 he visited Hong Kong and the visit attracted much attention and sparked discussions on the value of Chinese medicine. This paper aims to analyse the speech made by Heribert Schmidt during his visit to Hong Kong and also the follow-up discussions about scientification of Chinese medicine after his speech. The situation in which Chinese medical staff were pushed to the periphery in Hong Kong since the 1950s is also discussed. This should help us better to understand how practitioners of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong and Mainland China reacted to Heribert Schmidt's speech.