Unexpected healers: Chinese medicine in the age of global migration (Lima and California, 1850-1930)

Abstract The massive waves of Chinese migrants arriving in California and Lima in the second half of the nineteenth century played a crucial role in expanding Chinese medicine in both settings. From the late 1860s on, herbalists expanded their healing system beyond their ethnic community, transforming Chinese medicine into one of the healing practices most widely adopted by the local population. This article uses a comparative approach to examine the diverging trajectories of Chinese healers in Peru and the USA, as well as the social and political factors that determined how this foreign medical knowledge adapted to its new environments.

摘要：19世纪下半叶，大规模华籍移民涌入加利福尼亚与利马，为两地中医药（Chinese Medicine）的发展发挥了关键推动作用。自19世纪60年代末起，中医草药从业者将其诊疗体系的服务边界拓展至族裔社群之外，推动中医药成为当地民众接纳度最高的诊疗手段之一。本文采用比较研究范式，探析秘鲁与美国中医从业者的差异化发展轨迹，以及决定这一外来医学知识如何适配全新本土环境的社会与政治动因。