The author explores the nature of the Chinese reception of Indian medicine and suggests that certain socio-cultural factors and accepted behavioral models prevented the Chinese from fully assimilating Indian medicine into their own medical practices. Indian medicine in China was closely tied to Indian Buddhism. Buddhist Indian medicine offered novel explanations for the causes of sickness, many of which were not universally adopted or were adopted selectively. One reason why Buddhist medicine failed to fully take root in China, the author suggests, is due to its "thereapeutic tolerance" or practical emphasis on using whatever worked to eliminate suffering. Chinese medicine, on the other hand, held firmly to certain practices based on deeply rooted social and political values. (Zach Rowinski 2004-08-07)