ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

During the decade-long making of this book, I was fortunate to have had many people who helped me professionally and personally along the way. In the early stages of this project, I benefited immensely from guidance from Shigehisa Kuriyama for his comparative insight and poetic sensibility, Katharine Park for teaching me the history of European medicine, and James Robson for his expertise in Chinese religions (all at Harvard University). These excellent scholars and kind human beings helped me build a solid foundation for this project.

Other scholars in Chinese history and the history of medicine have played a key role in my intellectual growth and the development of this book. Miranda Brown ignited my interest in the history of Chinese medicine when I was studying at the University of Michigan, and has since been a solid support for my scholarly pursuit. TJ Hinrichs has provided much insight into this project and various opportunities to help develop my career. Marta Hanson has been very generous in offering her time and expertise, especially during the later stages of the project. I am also indebted to Li Jianmin, whose expertise in Chinese medical history yielded invaluable advice.

During my writing and revision of this book, I benefited greatly from many colleagues’ help and support. Fan Ka-wai, Chen Hao, and He Bian read the entire manuscript and offered critical suggestions to improve the book. Kristin Stapleton, Gianna Pomata, and Lan Li also read various chapters of the manuscript and gave useful comments. I also received excellent feedback from Michael Stanley-Baker, Chen Yun-ju, and Dolly Yang, the nucleus of a decade-long online reading group that I enjoyed greatly. I also appreciate the conversations and correspondence with many colleagues that in various ways helped me identify new directions and articulate my arguments for the book, and here I especially thank Chen Ming, Hsiao-wen Cheng, Constance Cook, Jeremy Greene, David Herzberg, Sean Hsiang-lin Lei, Liao Yuqun, Liu Xiaomeng, Margaret Wee Siang Ng, Michael Puett, Laurent Sagart, Nathan Sivin, Shao-yun Yang, Yanhua Zhang, and Zheng Jinsheng. I am also grateful to Elaine Leong and Pierce Salguero for offering me the opportunities to share my discoveries with public audiences at the Recipes Project and Asian Medicine Zone, respectively.

In the past years, I have presented sections of the book at various conferences, including the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Annual Conference, the International Congress of History of Science and Technology (ICHST), the American Academy of Religion (AAR) Annual Meeting, and the International Conference on the History of Science in East Asia (ICHSEA). I am grateful for all the insightful comments from the audiences. In addition, I presented chapters of the book at the University of Rochester, Johns Hopkins University, and Binghamton University, and I thank Sarah Higley, Laura Smoller, Marta Hanson, Tobie Meyer-Fong, and Meg Leja for their kind invitation and hospitality.

Research and writing of this book have been generously supported by a number of institutions and fellowships. A Frederick Sheldon Traveling Fellowship at Harvard University (2012–13) supported my one-year research at the British Library, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and Academia Sinica to collect research material and interact with experts in the field. In particular, my thanks go to Vivienne Lo, Catherine Despeux, and Li Jianmin for kindly hosting me at these various institutions. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supported a wonderful year of postdoctoral fellowship at the Jackman Humanities Institute of the University of Toronto, where I had vibrant conversations with colleagues that extended my knowledge of material culture studies beyond premodern Chinese history. I thank the entire cohort, including the director Robert Gibbs and my postdoctoral peers Matt Cohn, Chris Dingwall, Peter Jones, Eugenia Kisin, Gabriel Levine, and Rasheed Tazudeen, for the stimulating exchanges and fun time together. Special thanks go to Nicholas Everett and Yiching Wu, who helped me navigate my research at the University of Toronto. Other scholars in the Department of East Asian Studies, including Linda Rui Feng, Yue Meng, and Yurou Zhong, provided intellectual fodder to the development of this project.

I have an excellent academic base in the Department of History at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. The department has provided a supportive and congenial environment for junior scholars to flourish. I thank Victoria Wolcott and Erik Seeman for cultivating such an environment, and am particularly grateful for mentorship from Kristin Stapleton, whose generosity and kind heart have made my life in Buffalo enjoyable. Other colleagues in the department and beyond, including David Herzberg, James Bono, Susan Cahn, Ndubueze Mbah, and Walter Hakala, helped me think through the project at its various stages of development. Michael Kicey provided critical help with library resources at Buffalo. A Humanities Institute Faculty Research Fellowship and a College of Arts and Sciences Junior Faculty Research Fellowship at Buffalo offered me a much-needed one-year research leave to complete the manuscript. In addition, the Dr. Nuala McGann Drescher Diversity and Inclusion Leave Program at SUNY gave me a one-semester teaching release to finish the revision of the manuscript on time. The completion of this book would have been much harder without such generous support.

At the University of Washington Press (UWP), Lorri Hagman has offered superb editorship that assured the smooth publication of the book. I appreciate her confidence in this project and her professional help at every step of the process. I thank the two anonymous reviewers who offered constructive feedback to improve the manuscript. I am indebted to Oriana Walker, a fellow historian of medicine, who offered excellent substantive suggestions and editorial help in the final stage of revision. Richard Isaac excellently copyedited the manuscript. Susan Stone professionally prepared the index and Judy Loeven helpfully read through the page proofs to eliminate errors. I also appreciate Margaret Sullivan’s support during my proofreading of the manuscript, and the suggestion from Beth Fuget who, in collaboration with Christopher Hollister at Buffalo, steered me through the process of producing the open-access edition of the book. My special thanks go to the University at Buffalo Libraries, which generously funded the subvention for publishing the open-access edition.

In addition, I appreciate that the Library of Congress, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, and Wenwu Press granted permission to use their images in the book. Ben Pease offered crucial help to create the map. The publication of the book was generously supported by grants from the Traditional Chinese Culture and Society Book Fund, the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, and the Julian Park Publication Fund of the College of Arts and Sciences at Buffalo. I would also like to thank Academia Sinica in Taipei, which opened its wonderful database Scripta Sinica to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing me to track key sources and finish the book on time. All mistakes in the book, naturally, are mine.

In my pursuit of this project and my intellectual journey in general, I am fortunate to have had many friends along the way who not only helped me in my research but also greatly enriched my life: Margo Boenig-Liptsin, He Bian, Kuang-chi Hung, Natalie Köhle, Philip Zhang, Wen Yu, Xin Wen, Chen Liu, Macabe Keliher, Wayne Tan, Daniel Koss, Victor Seow, Kaijun Chen, Lijing Jiang, Edward Boenig-Liptsin, Megan Formato, Jenna Tonn, Wenzhao Meng, Hu Siyuan, and Priti Joshi, among many others. Back at the University of Michigan, when I decided to shift my path from science to humanities, I received unreserved support from Xuan Wang, David Parker, Jinhee Chang, Ken Cadigan, Eric Engel, and Christian de Pee. Without their encouragement, I cannot imagine that I would have reached this point.

Finally, I want to thank my parents for their unfailing belief in me and for understanding the unconventional path I took. My brother has been a source of support, joy, and alternative perspectives, which have sustained me throughout the journey.

I spent the final months of revising this book in the Pacific Northwest, in the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic. At this surreal moment, and facing many uncertainties ahead, I was extremely fortunate to be with Yige. Although writing is often considered to be a solitary endeavor, I never felt alone. Her intellectual power, unflagging encouragement, and keen sense of humor—let alone her many wonderful suggestions to improve the manuscript—have made the writing of the book both fulfilling and enjoyable. In these trying times, her company is a magic elixir in my life. This book is dedicated to her.