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Bing Yin Lee, O.M.D. — Legendary herbalist in Oakland, CA
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Dr. Bing Yin Lee — A life in Chinese Medicine
As a teenager, Bing Yin Lee contracted a severe case of typhoid fever that was pronounced incurable by western-trained medical doctors in Beijing. She was bed-ridden and near death.
Her father would not give up hope and desperately took her to many different doctors. With his daughter near death, he sought out the most famous doctor of Chinese medicine in Shanghai, Dr. Ding Jie Wan. Though he had little faith in traditional medicine, Bing Ying Lee's father was willing to do anything to save his daughter's life.
Dr. Ding prescribed Chinese herbal medicine for his young patient - and in a few weeks Bing Yin Lee began to recover from her illness. When she was better, her father sent Bing Yin to study Traditional Chinese Medicine. During her severe illness, her father had made a vow to Guan Yin, Goddess of Mercy, that if Chinese Medicine could save his daughter, he would send her to study medicine to benefit the world.
Bing Yin Lee enrolled at the Chinese Medical Institute of Shanghai in 1929, at a time when Traditional Chinese Medicine was fighting to survive in China. The Manchu Dynasty had collapsed, and the new government considered traditional medicine superstitious and unscientific. Bing Yin graduated in 1934 amidst a climate of repression and distrust of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Students in her class were among the instigators of massive nation-wide demonstrations in support of Chinese medicine, culminating in the March 17 protests which blocked rail and road traffic in Shanghai and throughout China. These demonstrations led to the permanent legalization of Chinese medicine in its homeland, and are celebrated today as "International Chinese Medicine Day", March 17th of every year.
She continued her studies, and in 1935, she graduated from the Senior Research Class at the Oriental Acupuncture Institute of Shanghai.
She later continued her studies at the Chinese Acupuncture Research Institute in Kowloon, Hong Kong, and taught at the Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong.
In 1974, Bing Yin Lee moved to the United States, opening a practice in San Francisco's Chinatown. In 1984, she completed her Ph.D. at the San Francisco College of Acupuncture.
Later, she opened a practice in Oakland's Chinatown, where for decades she has seen patients 3 days a week. Dr. Bing Yin Lee never thinks of retirement. Even at age 93, she continues to practice medicine. She also continues to teach on topics in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Recently she began working with us at East Bay Pain Care. Her guidance of the younger acupuncturists at our practice is part of her dedication to Chinese Medicine in the United States. In a small way, it also represents the continued fulfillment of a desperate father's vow to have his daughter help the world through medicine.
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