This book consists of papers and discussions contributed to a conference, Comparative Study of Traditional and Modern Medicine in Chinese Societies, sponsored by the University of Washington and the Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, and held in Seattle, Washington, February 4-6, 1974. The papers have been revised by the participants and the discussions condensed by the editors. The editors have written introductions for each section, changed the format of presentations to make them more readable and have provided an Introduction and Epilogue.It is hoped the book reflects the excitement that the organizers and participants felt about the conference, and it is believed it will contribute to both the major themes of the conference: Understanding medicine in Chinese culture, and comparative cross-cultural studies of medicine. The conference was characterized by interchanges by social scientists and physicians, China scholars, and students of other cultures and systems of medicine, whose scholarly concerns constantly were intermixed with practical questions about health care.