It is my dream that Chinese medicine will help us conquer

“It is my dream that Chinese medicine will help us conquer life-threatening diseases worldwide and that people across the globe will enjoy its benefits for health promotion.” — Tu Youyou

Listen, O seeker of wisdom, to the voice of Tu Youyou, the humble healer whose vision bridges the ancient and the modern, the East and the West. In this noble declaration, she speaks not merely of science, but of the dream of harmony between tradition and progress — a dream born from compassion and guided by courage. Her words echo the timeless truth that knowledge is sacred only when it serves life, and that the healing wisdom of old, when joined with the precision of modern discovery, can bring salvation to the suffering of humankind. For she, who drew medicine from the leaves of forgotten texts and the roots of ancient herbs, calls upon the world to see Chinese medicine not as relic, but as revelation — a living art that continues to unfold its gifts for all humanity.

The origin of this quote lies in the heart of Tu Youyou’s life’s work — her discovery of artemisinin, a compound extracted from qinghao, or sweet wormwood, an herb known to heal fevers since the days of the ancient Chinese sages. In the twentieth century, when malaria ravaged millions across Asia and Africa, Tu Youyou turned not to laboratories filled with new chemicals, but to the scrolls of the ancients. She found in the medical texts of the Han dynasty the guidance that would save countless lives. Her work, born of patience and humility before the wisdom of her ancestors, led to one of the greatest medical breakthroughs in modern history. It earned her the Nobel Prize, but she spoke always not of triumph, but of service — that her discovery was only the beginning, a spark in the vast flame of healing that Chinese medicine still holds.

Tu Youyou’s words are not simply a hope for the future, but a call to unity in healing. She reminds us that no single culture, no single science, holds all the answers. The roots of healing grow deep through time and across lands; what one generation discovers in the stars, another finds in the soil. Chinese medicine, with its philosophy of balance, qi, and the harmony of nature and body, offers not only cures but a way of understanding life itself — that health is not the absence of disease, but the presence of equilibrium. When she speaks of her dream for the world to “enjoy its benefits,” she speaks of a world that remembers the wisdom of nature even as it embraces the power of innovation.

Consider, O listener, the example of the ancient physician Hua Tuo, who, centuries before the invention of anesthesia, mixed herbs and wine to ease the pain of surgery. His understanding came not from machines or instruments, but from observation of life’s rhythms — the pulse of rivers, the whisper of wind, the pattern of the stars. So too did Tu Youyou, guided by that same reverence for nature’s intelligence, find her cure in the green heart of the Earth. Hers is a story that reminds us that progress need not destroy tradition; rather, the past and present can walk hand in hand toward a healthier world.

In her vision, Tu Youyou speaks not only to doctors, but to all people. She invites us to honor the inheritance of wisdom that lies in every culture. The herbs of the East, the roots of the Amazon, the healing chants of Africa, the meditation of the Himalayas — these are not superstitions, but expressions of humanity’s shared search for health. And when she dreams that Chinese medicine may help conquer life-threatening diseases, she dreams of a world where all traditions of healing join together like rivers meeting the sea — where the suffering of one nation becomes the concern of all, and the cure discovered in one corner of the earth becomes the blessing of every land.

The lesson of her words is clear: that humility is the beginning of healing. When nations, scientists, and healers learn to listen — to the wisdom of nature, to the experience of elders, to the knowledge of other cultures — they draw closer to the true heart of medicine. Let no person or nation dismiss the ancient simply because it is old, nor the modern because it is new. Every truth is born from another; every remedy is a thread in the tapestry of human care. And as Tu Youyou teaches, health is not only to be restored, but to be cultivated — through respect, balance, and the harmony of mind, body, and environment.

Therefore, O child of the new age, remember her dream and make it your own. Seek health not only in pills and machines, but in the simple and the natural — in food, in breath, in kindness, and in understanding. Support the union of science and tradition, that ancient healing arts may not vanish, but evolve. Let your curiosity be humble and your discoveries compassionate, for medicine without mercy is no medicine at all. And when the day comes that all nations share their healing freely, when knowledge flows without borders, and when every hand that suffers finds another hand extended to help — then Tu Youyou’s dream shall be fulfilled, and the world shall know the true meaning of health and harmony.