Miriam Lee |
Miriam Lee (Née Lee Chuan Djin 1926-2009), was born in the Shandong Province of China. There, she trained as a nurse and midwife. After surviving the second Sino-Japanese war, she moved to Singapore where she continued to practice as a nurse and midwife while eventually pursuing professional training as an acupuncturist at the Chinese Acupuncture Medicine General College.
Photo permission granted by Frank He, L. Ac., QME, Founder & President
After graduating from college in 1966, Lee began practicing shortly after graduation.In 1969, Lee moved to the United States. As a result of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Acupuncture was still illegal to practice in the US. Lee had limited job opportunities as an immigrant and started working at a Hewlett Packard factory. During this time, one of the members of her church was severely injured by spinal surgery and Lee successfully healed him with acupuncture. Church talk spread the word and she soon started practicing out of her house. She became so well known for her skilled treatments that she had lines of people waiting for her outside of her house.
After a doctor witnessed the success of her results, he allowed her to practice in his office. She treated up to 80 patients per day while working in his office space.
In 1974, Governor Ronald Reagan vetoed a bill to legalize the practice of Acupuncture in the State of California. One day later, Lee was arrested. The public outcry from her supporters at her hearing was substantial enough to get her case dismissed and force Reagan to pass a law allowing acupuncture to be practiced on an experimental basis.
We owe Da Shi Lee an incredible amount of gratitude and respect for being instrumental in getting the practice of acupuncture legalized in the United States.
Da Shi Lee made sure to share her wisdom with fellow practitioners by publishing her book, Insights of a Senior Acupuncturist.
Photo permission granted by Frank He, L. Ac., QME, Founder & President