The 2001 Cauldron Brews

Teaching ginseng in javascript

April 10, 2001
Web posted at: 1:12 AM EDT (0512 GMT)

By CNN's Kristie Lu Stout

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Greater China Technologies wants to take China's
ancient healing practice into the digital age. 

The company has joined forces with the School of Medicine at the Chinese
University of Hong Kong to offer an online education program on the art of
herbs. The program is scheduled to start in September. 

Professors at the university are excited about the plan to teach ginseng in
javascript. But bundling the ancient practice in new technology is much more
than a gimmick. 

Ancient art, new standards

Until three years ago, Hong Kong had no degree programs in Traditional
Chinese Medicine -- or TCM for short. Now, the study is getting more popular
as it takes on a more established status. 

"For the last two years, when we started our program, every year we received
about a thousand applications competing for 20 student posts in our program.
That can tell you how popular it is among students," says School of Medicine
professor Chun-Tao Che. 

Before, most TCM practitioners learned their trade the old school way. They
inherited their knowledge from their parents or studied under a master. As a
result, the standards of training have varied widely. 

An online education program in the healing arts could potentially narrow the
gap in standards among TCM practitioners. 

"Bringing TCM education to the students in a very conventional way like
classrooms, clinical research, and also on the Internet will actually help
traditional Chinese medicine practitioners to get standardized," says Kelly
Cheng, Greater China Technologies chief executive. 

"Standardization is the key word at this time for the development of TCM in
terms of narrowing the gap of the qualification standards, or learning
procedures as well as setting up good standards for the medicines," adds
Chun-Tao Che. 

The education project will be offered on a subscription basis. 

Greater China has fronted $130,000 to build and maintain the online courses
in English and Chinese. But Cheng says it's only the beginning. 

"Our website not only has Chinese and English, but will also have Japanese
and Korean. So with this collaboration I hope we can launch this Web site or
education system to the rest of the world."