1929 When the Kuomintang government ruled China, 1929 February, Yu Yunxiu, head of the health organization of the Kuomintang government, proposed at a working meeting that old medicine (Chinese medicine was called old medicine at that time) should be abolished and Chinese medicine should be completely denied. If the abolition of the old medicine is confirmed, the only medicine to treat diseases can be western medicine, and Chinese medicine practitioners in China for thousands of years will be abandoned, which is the notorious "case of abolishing Chinese medicine" at that time. At that time, it caused a great shock in the medical field, and a large number of Chinese medicine practitioners protested and lobbied. For this reason, the Spring and Autumn Annals of Medicine sponsored by Zhang Zanchen, a famous Chinese doctor in Shanghai, published a disobedience to the abolition of old medicine with the title of Struggle of Chinese Medicine.

On March 17 of the same year, more than 200 organizations and 300 representatives from all provinces and cities in China 17 gathered in Shanghai. Hold a conference, shout slogans such as "opposing the abolition of Chinese medicine" and "Long live Chinese medicine", petition in Nanjing, and express people's hearts and voices in various ways. The Kuomintang government had to withdraw its decision to abolish old medicine. In order to commemorate the victory of this struggle and hope that Chinese medicine can be carried forward in China and even the whole world for the benefit of mankind, medical professionals designated March 17 as "China Ethnic Medicine Festival"; Shanghai is the birthplace of "Chinese Medicine Festival".