Dr. James Tin Yau So, N.D., LAc., (1911–2000) also known as Dr. So, was one of the most influential individuals of the 20th Century in bringing acupuncture to the United States.
Dr. So’s teacher was Tsang Tien Chi who studied under Ching Tan An. He graduated from Dr. Tsang’s College of Scientific Acupuncture in Canton, China, in 1939. During the same year Dr. So opened his medical office in Hong Kong. In 1941 he opened his own school, The Hong Kong College Acupuncture. For the next thirty years, Dr. So established himself as one of the most successful and well-respected acupuncturists throughout Asia.
Several acupuncturists from the National Acupuncture Association (NAA) sought Dr. So’s assistance in 1972. At the time the NAA offered Dr. So a position as acupuncturist at the UCLA Acupuncture Pain Clinic, the only legal acupuncture clinic in California at that time. Dr. So accepted and joined the NAA staff of acupuncturists and the UCLA Acupuncture Pain Clinic in 1973.[1]
In 1974, Dr. So was part of the NAA group that traveled to Massachusetts and opened the first acupuncture clinic in Boston and a second clinic in Worcester. Dr. Steven Rosenblatt and Dr. Gene Bruno assisted Dr. So in the translation of his three books on the points of acupuncture, the techniques acupuncture and treatment of disease by acupuncture. Dr. So, with the help of Dr. Rosenblatt and Dr. Bruno founded the first school of acupuncture in the US in 1974. Dr. So, with the help of his students Arnie Freiman and Steven Breeker registered this school the next year and changed the name to the New England School of Acupuncture (NESA), in 1975.[2] With his approval Dr. Gene Bruno and Dr. Steven Rosenblatt founded a second school in the US, which became the California Acupuncture College, located in West Los Angeles.
Dr. So was posthumously awarded the Acupuncturist of the Year award in 2001 by the American Association of Oriental Medicine at their national conference in Hawaii. In 2007, Dr. So Tin Yau was among the first four acupuncturists to be inscribed on the Founders of the Profession Honor Roll by the American Association of Oriental Medicine.