In Memory of Shifu – Dr. Wei Tsuei

Dr. Wei Tsuei

Dr. Wei Tsuei, president and founder of ACCHS, 85, passed away on December 24, 2010 in his Oakland home.

Dr. Wei Tsuei was born in Wuxing County, Zhejiang Province, China, onApril 14, 1926. He learned traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts from boyhood, from several generations of family practitioners.

He studied TCM, Chinese philosophy and meditation, and Taiji / Taichi Chuan.  As a sixth-generation successor of traditional Chinese Xiu Shen Tao and Chi Kung from the school of Golden Elixir, he completed these studies in his middle years and started giving instruction at that time.

In the sixties, Shifu (or Sifu) began the formal study of acupuncture, completed his training in 1968, established his own medical practice, and also taught Chinese medicine at Tai Tung Clinic of Chinese Medicine and the Quang Wah Acupuncture Clinic in Taipei. He acted as consultant at the Taipei Academy of Acupuncture before coming to the United States in 1972. Consistent with his professional commitment to continue studying throughout his career, Shifu earned one of the first American doctorates in Oriental Medicine.

Believing that the traditional Chinese doctor ministers not only to individuals but to society as well, Shifu founded the Taoist Center in Oakland, California in 1973. Combining the best of China’s ancient culture with American science and technology, Taoist Center students learned traditional Chinese methods of developing good health and character. Building on the Taoist Center, Shifu established the Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Science (ACCHS) in 1984.  Throughout its existence, the Academy cultivated a community where people from all walks of life could receive affordable, effective TCM health care. Now, the ACCHS clinic is a busy center for preventative medicine and serves as the institutional teaching clinic where students train to become competent health care providers.

Currently, the ACCHS is approved by the California Bureau for Private Post secondary Education as a degree-granting institution, and is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education.  Today, Dr. Wei Tsuei’s dream, the integration of TCM within the Western medical modality, has become a reality.

Dr. Wei Tsuei is survived by his two sons Jack and David.

Friends were invited to the visitation held at the McNary Morgan Greene & Jackson Mortuary, 3630 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609. A funeral service will follow at 10 a.m.

A separate memorial service was held for ACCHS students, staff, and faculty in honor of Dr. Shifu Wei Tsuei at the Event Center -  the original location of the Taoist Center and Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences.

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Please see related article on his Commemoration Shrine which will be on the 2nd floor from 12/12/11 until 12/24/11.