PĀNUI
NEWS
Cultural Exchange Strengthens Healing Traditions Between Rongoā Māori and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
18 / 11 / 2025
He Waka Tapu recently welcomed a group from the TCM Chinese Medical Centre, including Dr Xinyang Song, Senior Chief Physician at the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, alongside Thomas Lin, Dr Yunyi Deng and Patrick Guo.
“Wahio i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa” - Let us keep close together, not wide apart.
The hui began with a mihi whakatau, followed by kai and kōrero that highlighted the cultural and philosophical connections shared between rongoā Māori and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Dr Song said he was “blown away” by how strongly the two traditions align. He spoke about the importance of protecting rongoā Māori, noting that many people in China know very little about it. Their time at He Waka Tapu gave the group a deeper appreciation of its significance, the wairua behind the practice, and its place in Māori wellbeing.
He plans to return to Shanghai to write about rongoā Māori, hoping to encourage more Chinese people to visit Aotearoa to learn about and experience it for themselves.
As part of the visit, the practitioners were able to experience mīrimiri, which they described as emotionally and spiritually moving. In return, the TCM team shared their own knowledge, philosophy and healing approaches.
The visit has also opened the door to further collaboration. Thomas Lin, who runs a long-standing Chinese Medical Centre in Ōtautahi, has invited Tiana and the rongoā practitioners to visit his clinic and learn about the process of establishing a traditional healing space. This supports Tiana’s vision of developing a Rongoā Māori Medical Centre in the future.
He Waka Tapu extends heartfelt thanks to our manuhiri for their warmth, openness and genuine respect. This kaupapa represents the beginning of a long-term relationship between two ancestral healing traditions, connected through shared values of balance, energy, whakapapa and collective wellbeing.
