Professor Lu Aiping, Dean of School of Chinese Medicine, HKBU

The BUddy Post reporter has interviewed Professor Lu Aiping, the Dean of School of Chinese Medicine, who has just joined the family of HKBU. Professor Lu shares his visions towards his new job, and also introduces a healthy menu to our alumni.

Reporter: What motivated you to study Chinese medicine from the very beginning? You speak fluent English. When did you start learning English?

Prof. Lu:I entered university in the Mainland at the age of 15. At that time, the subjects students should study were decided by the university, and I was assigned to the discipline of Chinese medicine. Studying at university was a matter hard to come by. It was like winning a lottery, and I felt proud about this. Therefore, I was determined to do our best on our study.

I had English language lessons during my undergraduate life which gave me an opportunity to listen and write. Later when I went overseas, I got more chances to practise and my speaking skills also improved a lot.

Reporter: The Mainland has a long history in the development of Chinese medicine. How would you compare it with that in Hong Kong?

Prof. Lu: In fact, the development of Chinese medicine in both China and Hong Kong is similar though its history in China is relatively longer. They both have good cultural backgrounds for large scale for expansion. Hong Kong should be able to nurture Chinese medicine professionals by establishing its own Chinese medical hospital and gain more support from the government.

Reporter: As the Dean of School of Chinese Medicine, what are your visions?

Prof. Lu: I aim to nurture internationalised people with expertise in Chinese medicine through enhancing classic Chinese medicine theories and deliberate training. Also, I hope to turn Chinese medicine into an internationlised, standardised and integrated Chinese and Western medicine with contemporary technology.

On internationalisation, I hope HKBU can share the research performance with well-known universities in other regions, build up international reputation, and set up overseas Chinese medical centres, thereby enabling westerners to know more and benefit from the strengths of Chinese medicine.

On standardisation, I hope the industry of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong can set up an authentication system for diagnosis and quality control of Chinese drugs to meet the increasing expectation and needs of Hong Kong people. The system can also facilitate professional Chinese medicine practitioners to give diagnosis according to consistent standards. This is an important step for Chinese medicine to be internationalised.

Chinese medicine and Western medicine belong to two unique medical systems. I hope we can introduce to our Western counterparts the Chinese medical concepts, thus moving towards cooperation to reach a win-win situation.

Reporter: It seems that taking extracted tablets is gradually replacing boiling Chinese herbs in recent years. Is the medical effect the same? Do you agree to this method?

Prof. Lu: This is indeed a step forward for Chinese medicine advancement. For example, people quite often suffer from flu but they have different symptoms due to different physical conditions. Doctors can prescribe Chinese medicine tablets to the patients to treat on the common symptoms and at the same time advise individual patient to boil some herbs to treat specific symptoms. This is also a way of standardizing diagnosis and treatment provision.

Reporter: You have said that Hong Kong should establish a standard Chinese medical hospital. From the perspective of Chinese medicine, are there any surgical operations and emergency treatments?

Prof. Lu: From the angle of Chinese medicine, we have emergency treatments. A Chinese medicine hospital can provide diversified services. At the same time, we want to establish the first Chinese medicine hospital with Chinese medicine as the core to promote cooperation between Chinese and Western medicine. It will also be the training ground for the undergraduates of Chinese Medicine, integrating teaching, consultation and research.

Reporter: What is the difference of being a dean and a doctor?

Prof. Lu: The serving targets of are a dean and a doctor are different. As the Dean, I serve my students and as a doctor, I treat patients. I look forward to giving an impetus to the development of the School of Chinese Medicine. I hope our students can undertake clinical diagnosis and local practical trainings at our own Chinese medicine hospital in the near future and help in tracking the development of diseases and illness.

Reporter: Can you recommend us some healthy menu?

Prof. Lu:  I like eating. You may try to slice the verdant ginger and have them dipped in soy sauce for 2 to 3 days. Take 2 pieces everyday as snacks or go with staple food. It helps digestion and is good for our health.

Reporter: What is your motto in life?

Prof. Lu: “Be kind like water, Be natural in doing things”. We should have a kind heart and gentle attitude to do things, and not to blame too much. We can then discover the nice side of others.

Interviewees’ Biography:
Professor Lu Aiping
Professor Lu received his first degree in Chinese Medicine from the Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and obtained his master’s and PhD degrees from the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (now called the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, CACMS). He has been invited to serve as Visiting Scholar in a number of institutions including Lund University in Sweden, Ohio State University in the United States, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Prof Lu is regarded as a leading figure in the standardization of Chinese medicine diagnosis. Not only has he earned international reputation for his work, his distinguished achievements are also widely recognized through numerous awards and prizes received over years